ATLANTIC CITY — With a focus on diversifying the regional economy to include sectors outside casino gaming and tourism, the greater Atlantic City region has begun to further embrace technology as a means for job creation and economic development.
Continent 8, a U.K.-based network solutions and data center provider, opened a nearly 6,000-square-foot data center in the Atlantic City Convention Center in 2019 after inking a multiyear lease with the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority.
Marshall Spevak, deputy director of the authority, said that while esports, online casino gaming and sports betting operations will benefit immediately from the data center, there are opportunities for other industries.
“Those (gaming industries) are obviously huge markets for the data center,” he said. “But, when you move past that, you see an opportunity for other businesses that are not just gaming businesses. Bigger companies that invest in IT infrastructure really need reliable internet, server space and all those type of things to really operate where they want to.”
Moore said the data center has the potential, and the capacity, to attract production, hardware, software and technology companies to the region. The idea, he said, would be for those industries to cluster in the area, creating additional job opportunities for Atlantic City residents and increasing economic output for the region.
“These things take time. Economic development is not a sprint, it’s a marathon,” Moore said. “We’re looking to create jobs for Atlantic City residents, but the jobs might not necessarily be in Atlantic City.”
