Tucked away in the former Brunswick Naval Air Station is a building where potentially life-and-death decisions were made and classified materials were stored in massive vaults. Since the base’s closure, however, that building is now what Gov. Paul Le- Page praised as an economic engine.
The expansion allows for additional cloud computing, data storage and backup, and disaster recovery services out of the former Navy facility.
The company in January announced it would expand its secure data center at Brunswick Landing by 7,000 square feet, resulting in 12 new jobs. The announcement came a few days after Oxford Networks’ shareholders approved a buyout by equity firm Novacap.
Oxford said that the data center is the largest of its kind in northern New England, and the only one of its kind in Maine.
Built in 1988, the 32,000- square-foot former military secure data and communications facility was designed and constructed to NATO specifications. Among its functions, the building housed classified materials in its secured vaults. The Navy’s maritime patrol squadron members would also receive briefings there before missions.
The $6 million expansion allows Oxford Networks to offer additional collocation, cloud computing, data storage and backup solutions along with disaster recovery services.
The data center serves customers including Polar Beverage, MCHO, True Textiles, Maine Oxy and Bowdoin College.
Mitch Davis, Bowdoin College’s chief information officer, recalled how the college had examined several alternatives to its data storage needs, but decided that partnering with Oxford Networks made the most financial sense.
Speaking at the ceremony, LePage praised the efforts of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority for the massive undertaking of converting the former base for civilian use.
LePage recalled an earlier conversation with a lawmaker, who he said called a Down East prison “an economic engine.” Gesturing to the banks of servers behind him, LePage said, “This is an economic engine.”
That engine needs to be powered by a skilled work force, something that has been lacking in the state. The governor said that, if Maine is unable to attract talent from out of state, it becomes necessary to build its own “farm team.”
“We have to move forward and keep up with the rest of the world,” LePage said, speaking with reporters after the ceremony. “Because we’re no longer Maine-against- Maine. We’re Maine-againstthe country, Maine-againstthe world. We have to compete in the world, and this is going to help us do that.”
“Our investment in our data center at Brunswick Landing has been key to our success as it is not only scalable, given the total size, but has inherent high-security features and infrastructure for a myriad of clients and market needs,” said Craig Gunderson, Oxford Networks’ president and CEO, in a statement. “We are thrilled to be able to now offer existing and new customers expanded offerings in our unique high security data center. This facility is a great asset for Maine and will help drive economic development for the state.”
In an interview after Wednesday’s ceremony, Maine District 10 state Sen. Stan Gerzofsky recalled the importance of the building to the Navy, noting that it was used to monitor the Maersk Alabama hijacking of 1999, which served as the basis for the film “Captain Phillips.”
However, Gerzofsky said he was concerned that the facility requires additional back-up energy supplies in addition to its main line to Central Maine Power and its emergency generators that date back to when the Navy operated the building. Due to the sensitive information Oxford Networks handles day in and day out, a secondary power source is imperative.
“They really can’t go down,” said Gerzofsky. “They can’t have a hurricane or a blizzard knock them out of business.”
Based in Lewiston, Oxford Networks was founded in 1900 in Oxford County as a local telephone provider. In September 2011, it formed a $5 million partnership with the Resilient Tier-V Corporation that allowed Oxford to acquire Resilient’s data center in Brunswick in 2012.
jswinconeck@timesrecord.com
OXFORD NETWORKS in January announced it would expand its secure data center at Brunswick Landing by 7,000 square feet, resulting in 12 new jobs. Oxford said the data center is the largest of its kind in northern New England, and the only one of its kind in Maine. The data center serves customers including Polar Beverage, MCHO, True Textiles, Maine Oxy and Bowdoin College.
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