The revamping of Virginia’s IT infrastructure continues to take shape under the commonwealth’s $2 billion, 10-year contract with Northrop Grumman Corp.

Northrop Grumman Program Director Joe Fay says the recently opened 192,000-square-foot data center at the Meadowville Technology in Chesterfield County now houses 550 workers. The $35 million facility eventually will be staffed by about 600 employees. Servers and mainframes are being transferred to the data center from downtown Richmond.

Meanwhile, Northrop Grumman expects to open a 100,000-square-foot, $23 million facility in Russell County in November. That center will provide help desk and disaster recovery services for the Chesterfield site. Fay said the company has made offers to 25 applicants who would start work in Russell County in mid-October.  When fully staffed, the center is expected to employ more than 400 workers. 

Northrop Grumman hopes to create a labor pipeline for the Russell County through its collaboration with the University of Virginia at Wise. The company provided $1 million for a new software engineering program at the four-year public college.

“Overall it’s been an exciting ride,” Fay said in reviewing the IT project’s progress.