By Gail Ayres

For The Vidette

This is the time of year when individuals tend to check their smoke detectors, put together an emergency kit and stock up supplies in anticipation of a possible power outage from a wind storm or other weather event.

But sometimes businesses don’t evaluate or prepare for all of their critical emergency needs.

Alissa Shay, business development manager for Satsop Business Park, wants to get the word out of what Satsop’s colocation center can offer organizations and businesses in the region and beyond.

“We offer an off-site backup computer system for businesses as well as hosting some organizations’ day-to-day computing activities. For most businesses and organizations, data is one of their most critical assets – we’re uniquely qualified to protect that,” Shay said.

“In addition, we also offer what is called ‘cold office space,’ which is unoccupied offices with desks, chairs, phones, meeting rooms and other facilities. This means that an organization can literally move their operation here with little work disruption,” Shay said.

In the historic winter storm of 2007, two Grays Harbor newspapers did just that, moving their newsrooms to office space at Satsop Business Park to keep providing news while power was out for at least five days in most of Grays Harbor County.

After that storm, several new customers sought out the colocation center to be ready for next time.

“It’s that absolute reliability of uninterrupted power and data backup that draws financial institutions, government agencies, Internet service providers and private industries to co-locate at Satsop,” Shay said.

“Not only is this located in a very stable environment — underground with constant temperatures and power supply — we also have a rigorous maintenance schedule and 24/7 monitoring,” said Chris Hunt, IT manager for the Port of Grays Harbor, which manages the business park.

“In general, it’s becoming more important for businesses to have a safe off-site location for their backup systems,” Hunt said. “It’s not just weather-related incidents, it could be a fire at their business or even something like a natural gas leak in the area where the business is fine, but the employees aren’t allowed access for a time.”

Built as a nuclear power plant, which was never completed, the site then became a technology center. Each of those chapters in Satsop Business Park’s history has contributed to a redundant infrastructure, Shay explained.

“Our backup systems have backup systems,” she said.

And while a tree falling across a power line, phone line or cable can often disrupt daily activities to thousands of homes and businesses, it is highly unlikely to affect the colocation center which has multiple power sources, including backup diesel generators and even an on-site fueling station.

“We are too high to be flooded, on incredibly solid ground in concrete vault space, able to withstand earthquakes, hurricanes or tornados and we’re supported by multiple power supply systems and cable providers,” Shay said.

Hunt also adds, “when it comes to colocation services, between Vancouver and Tacoma, this is pretty much it. It is definitely one of the largest in the area.”

“Especially this time of year that’s more prone to power outages, we want to get the word out that we’re available to help with this critical need,” Shay said.

For more information about the colocation facility at Satsop Business Park, call Chris Hunt at (360) 482-1575.