Fogo Data Centers—a private cloud, data hosting, and colocation company headquartered in Carrollton, Ga.—is expanding its New Orleans facility.
Fogo owns and operates regional data centers focused on providing 24-hour data center solutions to small and mid-sized businesses, educational institutions, healthcare organizations, and local governments. The company’s original facility is in Georgia. Originally opened in January 2011 with a staff of 17, the New Orleans office—on the 10th floor of the New Orleans Exchange Centre—is Fogo’s second location. The expansion represents a $5 million capital investment and will create approximately 20 new direct jobs.
“Having suffered through Hurricane Katrina, businesses here are well aware of the need for secure colocation, private clouds, and disaster recovery products,” said Brooks Snow, CEO of Fogo Data Centers. “We believe our network of regional and fully replicated data centers will be a perfect fit for New Orleans’ businesses as they expand and rebuild.”
“We look forward to being an economic development partner with GNO, Inc., and Louisiana Economic Development to bolster the New Orleans community and serve as a backbone provider to help with the recruitment of new technology companies and consumer savvy startups,” added Josh Rhine, Business Developer with Fogo Data Centers.
Thanks in large part to some of the most aggressive tax incentive programs in North America, the Greater New Orleans region has been steadily building its digital and film industries. In May of this year, Forbes announced that the information sector in the Greater New Orleans area had expanded by nearly 39% in the past year, making it the top metro area for information sector job growth in the country. Concurrently, the film industry in the region continues to be a robust economic driver, with 24 movies filmed in New Orleans in 2010, creating $355 million in direct spending. Thus far in 2011, 16 movies have been filmed in the area resulting in $325.5 million in direct spending.