 Press Room September 5, 2008 NEW INVOLTA COLOCATION DATA CENTER IN MARION, IOWA IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS Involta also announces the additions of Steve Gray and Mike Frantz to its board of directors. ( Cedar Rapids, IA) Involta, LLC announces the completion and opening of its 18,000 square foot hardened enterprise data center at 5055 REC Drive in Marion, IA. Construction of the facility began on October 1, 2007. The data center became fully operational on September 1. The first of its kind in the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Technology Corridor, the high-security co-location data center securely houses mission critical computer systems and related components for businesses, government and educational institutions. The $8.5 million facility is a stable, predictable, high-performance data center complete with environmental systems and controls, redundant back-up power, specialized fire suppression, and reinforced concrete building construction. The 18,000 square foot facility features 10,000 square feet of conditioned data center space for housing mission critical computer systems. "The Involta data center will not only support local businesses, it will attract other high technology businesses to the area," said Bruce Lehrman, CEO, Involta. "Co-location data centers create a sort of 'gravity' that attracts technology oriented business", said Lehrman. "Increasingly, organizations require facilities such as this one for their critical computer infrastructure. By co-locating in a common data center, organizations can take advantage of a highly secure and protected environment while actually cutting costs." Involta also recently completed the consolidation of previously separate business units. In connection with the consolidation, Involta has added two new members to the company?s board of directors. Effective September 1, Steve Gray and Mike Frantz joined the Involta board. Mr. Gray has over 25 years of management and leadership experience in the telecommunications and technology industries. He currently serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ImOn Communications, LLC a provider of cable television, Internet and telephone service in Cedar Rapids and Marion, Iowa. Mr. Gray is also the Chairman of SecurityCoverage, Inc. a provider of personal security software and service. Additionally, he serves on the Board of Directors for Insight Communications Company Inc. and Hawaiian Telcom Communications, Inc, representing The Carlyle Group as a Senior Advisor. He is also involved in many entrepreneurial activities. "The contribution of Involta to the technological infrastructure of Eastern Iowa is really quite significant," said Mr. Gray. "I look forward to working with the Involta board of directors to help guide the company as it continues to change the technological landscape of our community and the region." Mr. Frantz is an entrepreneur and a commercial real estate investor with holdings of approximately $100 million in Iowa including properties in Cedar Rapids, Cedar Falls and Iowa City. He also has holdings in South Dakota and Texas. Mr. Frantz is also a consultant for the New York based private equity firm, SlipStream where he assists in the acquisition of business to business integrated marketing services firms. Mr. Frantz was the founder, president, CEO and board chairman of DataCo, a data analytics firm which was sold in 2005. "This segment of the technology industry is very attractive to our investment group," said Mr. Frantz. "We see growth ahead for the sector and for Involta. I am very impressed with the management team and am pleased to have the opportunity to contribute as an investor and member of the Involta board." Lonnie Bloomquist, Chairman of the Involta board of directors said, "The additions of Steve and Mike bring new levels of expertise to the board. Their expertise business development and as entrepreneurs as well as their extensive experience in the technology sector will offer Involta new vision, problem solving ability and will help provide an overall assurance of good governance." These additions bring the total number of members serving on the Involta board to seven. They join Lonnie Bloomquist, Chairman and Chief Technology officer of Involta, Bruce Lehrman, Chief Executive Officer of Involta, Ken Kremer, Chief Operating Officer of Involta, Jeff Quint, Chief Financial Officer of Involta and Randall Rings, Board Secretary and Chief Counsel for Involta. Involta will hold a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony at the new data center in Marion on October 22. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 27, 2008 Mount Mercy College Teams with Involta to Offer Business Continuity Workspace to Businesses Displaced by Flood CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (June 26, 2008) Mount Mercy College has opened its campus to area businesses displaced by the worst natural disaster in the history of Cedar Rapids. The college made Basile Hall available for the use of businesses that are unable to use their own facilities due to damage caused by the flood. Involta, LLC of Cedar Rapids has joined the effort by assisting businesses using the facility with business continuity services and technical assistance. Mount Mercy College was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1928 with a mission to provide an education grounded in service to those in need. Today the college staff, faculty and student volunteers are providing a myriad of support services to businesses in need of space and assistance in continuing normal operations. "This situation was not unanticipated. Months before the flood, Mount Mercy partnered with Involta to implement plans and processes to help area businesses recover from disasters of any kind," said Mount Mercy?s Vice President of Finance and Business Operations Barbara Parks Pooley. "An ethic of community service is a key component of the education we strive to provide. We feel this service is consistent with that ethic. Mount Mercy's reaction to the catastrophic flooding is a powerful example of the college's mission to serve those in need. Working with Involta and housing these businesses is not a diversion of our mission, but a sad fulfillment of it." Businesses have been located in classroom in Basile Hall. Mount Mercy summer session classes are continuing in other campus buildings. In addition to classroom space, businesses have been given access to telephones, network connectivity and technical support services to help make being displaced from normal business locations as painless as possible. "I can't begin to thank the administration of Mount Mercy College for the support they have given my law firm during this recent disaster," said Tim White, President of White & Johnson, PC of Cedar Rapids and a Mount Mercy Board of Trustees member. "Not only did the college immediately provide us with wonderful and comfortable space, but it additionally provided communication access so necessary to our business through the auspices of Involta. Through this joint effort we were up and running in a matter of hours." "Disaster recovery and business continuity planning are an increasingly important part of any organization's success," said Rob Smith chief marketing officer for Involta. "Mount Mercy is a key contributor to our effort to help businesses plan for and survive any disaster." ----- For Immediate Release June 15, 2008 Business Recovery Workspace Available For Organizations Displaced by Flood Involta, LLC of Cedar Rapids today announced that a limited amount of emergency business continuity workspace is available for businesses affected by the flood. Involta, in conjunction with Iowa colleges, offers work stations, network connectivity, computers and phone lines for organizations to use in the event that primary work areas are not functional. Workspace will be made available first to customers who have previously arranged for space and then on a first come, first served basis. Businesses leaders interested in acquiring space and technical support at any location mentioned above should contact Michaela Coyle at (319) 364-3061 ----- Downtown data center keeps running despite flood By George C. Ford Updated June 15, 2008 The Gazette CEDAR RAPIDS ? With floodwaters swirling around them in the streets of downtown Cedar Rapids, about 20 employees of the Involta computer data center have kept their facility running in the Armstrong and Granby buildings. Rob Smith, Involta chief marketing officer, said the data center, which serves about 20 clients, was forced to resort to a number of portable generators after main power failed on Friday. "With a lot of cooperation from the Cedar Rapids police and National Guard, we were able maintain essential network services and never left our facility," Smith said. "We managed to keep the switch gear in the basement of the Granby Building and the network gear in the basement of the Armstrong building operational. "We kept the electrical switch gear up and running until the water reached 27 feet. When we realized it was going to go higher, we brought in a generator from Peoria on Thursday morning that's about the size of a semi truck. "Unfortunately by that time, the water was higher than the switch connection points on the building." Smith said Involta switched to eight small generators, losing power to the core network for about 20 minutes while it made the appropriate connections. "We've had people running five-gallon cans of gasoline through the building to keep the generators running," Smith said. "We moved some customers to other partner data centers and we moved ImOn Communication's e-mail server into some space it still leases at AEGON Financial Park. "Dynamic Broadband was a tremendous help to us. We're really proud of the way our employees pulled together and kept things going." Smith said Involta is offering computer network connections, work space, computers and phone lines at Hawkeye Community College, Des Moines Area Community College and other locations. For information about acquiring space and technical support, businesses should contact Michaela Coyle at (319) 364-3061. Smith said Involta hopes to hook up the large backup generator in the alley of the Armstrong/Granby buildings as early as today. ----- March 5, 2008 ----- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 5, 2007 INVOLTA TO BUILD CO-LOCATION DATA CENTER IN MARION ImOn Communications to be shared owner and anchor tenant (Cedar Rapids, IA) Involta, LLC announces plans to build and operate a 20,000 square foot hardened enterprise data center at 5055 REC Drive in Marion, IA. Construction is scheduled to begin in October. The Involta Data Center expects to be operational in August 2008. The first of its kind in the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Technology Corridor, the high-security co-location data center will house mission critical computer systems and related components for area businesses, government and educational institutions. The $6.8 million facility will be a stable, predictable, high-performance data center complete with environmental systems and controls, redundant back-up power, specialized fire suppression, and reinforced concrete building construction. The 20,000 square foot facility will feature 10,000 square feet of conditioned data center space for housing mission critical computer systems. The Involta Data Center will provide many advantages for Corridor businesses, including the ability to share the high costs of housing and managing mission critical data and the option of off-site data storage for disaster preparedness planning, said Bruce Lehrman, CEO, Involta. It is often not cost effective for businesses to independently build and support the redundant systems and security features this data center will offer, said Lehrman. By co-locating in a common data center, businesses can take advantage of a highly secure and protected environment while actually cutting costs. Use of this data center will allow business leaders to focus on their core businesses rather than complex infrastructure and facilities issues.? It will also be a significant addition to the Marion community. The Involta Data Center will fill a gap in Marion's digital infrastructure, said Lon Pluckhahn, Marion City Manager. For the facility to be built, a fiber loop will be developed in an area that is currently under served with Internet access. Fiber optics infrastructure will be provided by ImOn Communications. Upon completion of the data center, 3,000 square feet of the facility will be immediately occupied by ImOn Communications, LLC. "The data center presents us with the opportunity to locate our new and existing digital video and data equipment, satellite dishes and other customer infrastructure in an extremely secure facility," said Steve Gray, executive chairman of ImOn. "After analyzing several alternatives we believe this facility's architecture, fully redundant power and support systems represent the best alternative for ImOn. Secure, redundant systems mean dependable, quality service for our customers." ImOn Communications will also supply the facility with fiber optic connectivity. "The data center will mean more network connectivity and more technology infrastructure in this market. Construction of this data center represents a win for the cities of Marion and Cedar Rapids, a win for local business and a win for consumers of telecommunications and technology services in our community." "Marion is a perfect location for a technology based company such as Involta; the community provides all the infrastructure required by a data center," added Mark Seckman, President, Priority One. "This project will have a positive impact on the entire region." The Involta Data Center will be built on ten acres of land to be acquired from Linn County REC and located next to REC headquarter offices. "We have been impressed with the knowledgeable people at Involta and the great deal of potential their company will inevitably bring to Marion," said Kim Colberg, General Manager and CEO of Linn County REC. The project is subject to formal approval for state and local financial assistance, which includes Tax Increment Financing through the City of Marion and funding from the Iowa Department of Economic Development. The company also plans to receive funding through the Iowa Industrialized New Jobs Training Program, which is administered locally through Kirkwood Community College. The architect for the project is Solum-Lang Architects, LLC of Cedar Rapids. The project general contractor is Rinderknecht Associates, Inc. also of Cedar Rapids. Mechanical and Electrical design is provided by KJWW Engineering Consultants of Rock Island, Illinois. ----- |
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