Sep 2, 2026 · 57 min · 11 segments
Henrico turned people away from White Oak for years — the crypto guys, companies waving billions. Anthony Romanello had a hand in most of those calls, and he retired from Henrico in January, so he can…
Anthony RomanelloGuestDavid McCallHostIt reminded me when you started with that conversation a year or two ago, Buddy was here.
Areas were always intended to have industry, but industry wasn't moving very quickly.
To your point earlier about the chip fab plant that had left, a park had been made, a chip fab had left, but there are areas that had been set aside for something like the White Oak Park that hadn't been built yet, just sitting there.
And then technology events happened in a way that they coalesced and came together at a scale and a volume That it felt like overnight yesterday.
We were driving on a road together that she doesn't, I drive this route almost every day.
And so it's been probably four months and we come around a corner and the landscape had changed.
And Buddy said in his community, when already zoned, already intended, was always going to be that it was just the speed.
All of a sudden the landscape changed and there wasn't a quick explanation for why and what and And then that vacuum came in with misinformation in most cases, because let's face it, a lot of us data center guys were introverted engineers.
I know I'm the exception, but the process didn't exist to go in and say, hey, FYI, these things are going to now, they've been sitting there paused.
It reminded me when you started with that conversation a year or two ago, Buddy was here.
Areas were always intended to have industry, but industry wasn't moving very quickly.
To your point earlier about the chip fab plant that had left, a park had been made, a chip fab had left, but there are areas that had been set aside for something like the White Oak Park that hadn't been built yet, just sitting there.
And then technology events happened in a way that they coalesced and came together at a scale and a volume That it felt like overnight yesterday.
We were driving on a road together that she doesn't, I drive this route almost every day.
And so it's been probably four months and we come around a corner and the landscape had changed.
And Buddy said in his community, when already zoned, already intended, was always going to be that it was just the speed.
All of a sudden the landscape changed and there wasn't a quick explanation for why and what and And then that vacuum came in with misinformation in most cases, because let's face it, a lot of us data center guys were introverted engineers.
I know I'm the exception, but the process didn't exist to go in and say, hey, FYI, these things are going to now, they've been sitting there paused.
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