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What is the Bisnow DICE Series?
DICE (Data Centers Investment Conference & Expo) is Bisnow's dedicated conference series for the data center industry. Each event convenes the developers, investors, operators and infrastructure providers actively shaping data center growth in that market, with programming built around the deals, challenges and opportunities specific to the region or topic. View all upcoming DICE events here!
Are you an end user?
Hyperscalers, colocation providers (non-sales), investors, private equity, or enterprise tenants - email Virginia.Baker@bisnow.com to be considered for a complimentary pass.
Speakers and Panels
The Business of Building Data Centers: The Conversations Happening in the Boardroom
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Phillip Koblence
Co-Founder & COO
NYI
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Jason Carolan
CTO
CSquare
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Meghan Reckling
CEO
Victory Field Operations (VFO)
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Bill Winsininski
CEO
CWC Consultants
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Shawn Ronda
Shareholder
Greenberg Traurig
Earning the Right to Build: What It Takes to Get a Midwest Project Off the Ground
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Maria Poyer
Principal, Strategic Programs & Global Expansion
CoreWeave
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Abhijeet Shrivastava
Program Manager - Global Land Development Strategy
Microsoft
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Mike Kenny
Director Data Centers
Prologis
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Louis Liu
Sr. Sustainability Project Engineer
Rehlko
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Axel Kretschmer
Strategic Account Manager
Schneider Electric
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Brian Chen
VP
Stewart Title - Energy & Infrastructure
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Jeffrey L. Hamera
Partner
Duane Morris
Building with Optionality: Protecting Your Schedule, Capital and Customer Commitments
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Kamila Kennedy
Principal, Digital Infrastructure
Blue Owl
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Tyler Riegle
Sr. Program Manager, Land Development
Microsoft
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Nikhil Gandhi
Director of Customer Success, Major Projects
Buildots
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Mario Calderone
Chief Real Estate Officer
ServerFarm
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Chrissy Olsen
VP, Critical Power Solutions
MPI Energy
From Shovel to Shell: Delivering Midwest Data Centers at the Speed of Demand
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Pavan Kundurthi
Manager, Field Engineering
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
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Andrew Krebs
Associate Partner
Syska Hennessy Group
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Travis Tomanek
Executive Manager, Mission Critical Infrastructure
USG
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Nida Ghaffar
Office Managing Partner
Husch Blackwell
Unlocking Stranded Assets: Adaptive Reuse for Data Center Development
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Daniel McJacobson
Managing Principal
Callan Consulting Engineers
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Steve Brown
Senior Project Executive
Syserco Midwest
Water Is the New Power: The Resource Battle That Will Define the Next Wave of Midwest Development
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Raymond Parpart
Director, Data Center Strategy & Operations
University of Chicago
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Gabriel Schaap
Director of Liquid Cooling Engineering
Gradian Thermal Solutions
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Mark Ardire
Director
LG Electronics (LGE)
Where It All Lands: Operating Through the Midwest's Energy and Demand Transformation
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Doug Chansky
Director
Wesco Data Center Solutions
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Alex Larence
Regional Manager, Fuel & Fuel System Products
ESI Total Fuel Management
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Justin Leon
Business Development Manager, Data Centers
Avtron Power Solutions
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Kurt Lindorfer
Founding Principal
PARADIGM Structural Engineers
Remarks From the Podium
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Amber Zurcher
Senior Account Manager
Power and Data Management
The Midwest data center market has a new set of rules. This is where you learn them.
Chicago still convenes the market. But Indiana, Ohio, Iowa and Illinois are now where the real decisions get made. Power certainty, state incentive durability, community acceptance and utility queue credibility all have to be solved at the same time — and the teams navigating that reality are doing it without a playbook.
The power market has changed Ohio's 85% take-or-pay precedent, Indiana's utility-linked hyperscale agreements and Iowa's nuclear-backed energy strategy have rewritten the underwriting logic for every Midwest project.
The approval gauntlet is real Utility queue credibility, state incentive durability and community acceptance now have to be solved simultaneously. The projects moving forward are the ones that built strategies for all three at once.
Construction has a new set of constraints Energization timelines are uncertain, rack densities are climbing mid-build and the Midwest's labor and supply chain dynamics are unlike anything the coastal markets have dealt with.
The regulatory environment is still being written Illinois' proposed incentive pause, water reporting requirements and community opposition across the region mean operators are managing relationships with utilities, regulators and host communities simultaneously.
What You Will Learn: Leave with answers to the questions your market is already asking
On the market, approvals and power side:
How evolving utility frameworks across PJM and MISO territory are creating a more defined path for Midwest projects that can meet the new standard and what it means for projects that cannot.
What separates Midwest data center projects that move confidently through the approval process from those that stall at the utility queue, incentive or community stage.
How the most resilient teams are building flexibility into their schedules, capital structures and customer commitments to stay on offense when energization timelines shift.
On the delivery, operations and resource side:
What it actually takes to deliver large-scale data center projects in the Midwest today, including how regional labor markets, supply chain dynamics and multi-building campus sequencing differ from the coastal construction playbook.
How cooling design decisions being made today will be evaluated by regulators and host communities in two years and what the coming wave of water reporting and resource accountability requirements means for operators building now.
What operating a Midwest data center actually looks like once the ribbon is cut: managing utility relationships that have fundamentally shifted, building technical teams in markets where the talent infrastructure is still catching up and meeting a rising bar from enterprise and cloud customers on resilience and reporting.
Which Midwest markets are emerging as genuine long-term winners as hyperscale demand and energy infrastructure converge across Indiana, Ohio, Iowa and Illinois and what the next decade of regional growth depends on getting right.
Who You'll Network With: Built for the people making Midwest data center decisions
Developers, Owners and Operators: Actively building, acquiring and running Midwest capacity and navigating the approval, delivery and operational challenges that come with it.
Construction and Engineering Professionals: General contractors, structural engineers, procurement specialists and construction technology leaders delivering projects in one of the most active regional build cycles in the country.
Utility and Grid Partners: Utility executives, grid planners and energy strategists from across PJM and MISO territory shaping how Midwest power gets allocated, priced and delivered.
Investors and Capital Partners: Infrastructure lenders, private equity sponsors and capital advisors actively underwriting Midwest data center opportunities and pricing the region's evolving risk profile.
Legal and Public Policy Voices: Land use counsel, economic development officials and state and local policymakers defining the approval, incentive and community engagement landscape across the region.
Technology and Solutions Providers: Cooling, power, construction technology and operations platform companies whose products are being deployed inside the Midwest's most demanding new facilities.
Relevant News and Developments
Amazon Announces $15B Additional Investment in Northern Indiana
Ohio Sets New Precedent: AEP's Power Rules Shift Data Center Cost Burden
Google and NextEra Announce Collaboration to Restart Iowa's Duane Arnold Nuclear Plant
Google and NextEra to Revive Iowa Nuclear Facility as AI Energy Demand Surges
Illinois Governor Pritzker Proposes Two-Year Suspension of Data Center Tax Incentives
Illinois Freezes Data Center Tax Incentives Amid Energy Concerns
Illinois Lawmakers Debate Data Center Regulations as POWER Act Advances
NiSource Announces Long-Term Energy Agreements with Alphabet and Amazon for Indiana Data Centers
NIPSCO to Supply 3 GW to Amazon Data Centers in Northern Indiana
Microsoft Pauses $1B Data Center Plans in Licking County Ohio
Ohio Regulators Approve AEP Data Center Interconnection Rules
More headlines: https://www.bisnow.com/data-center
For questions or interests in becoming a speaker or sponsor, please email our global director, data centers, Adam Knobloch, at adam.knobloch@bisnow.com
To request disability-related accommodations, please contact ally.araco@bisnow.com no later than seven business days prior to the event.
Venue
Loews Chicago O’Hare
5300 N River Road
Rosemont, IL 60018
Ballroom/Floor: Guggenheim Ballroom / Main Lobby Level
Parking: Event parking at $10 for the day per car. Guests must pull a ticket for access and bring it to registration to have it validated for the discounted rate.
Looking to save on your stay?
Save on your stay near the event venue! Enjoy convenience, comfort, and special rates—book now while availability lasts HERE.
Agenda
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
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7:30 AM
8:30 AM
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Registration, Breakfast and Networking
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8:30 AM
9:15 AM
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The Business of Building Data Centers: The Conversations Happening in the Boardroom
Data centers are the most capital-intensive, politically exposed and publicly scrutinized asset class in commercial real estate right now. Explore how development firm executives and project leads are actually navigating the reputation problem, community relations arms race, gap between announced commitments and deliverable capacity, and pressure to move faster than the grid or public debate will allow. |
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9:15 AM
10:00 AM
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Earning the Right to Build: What It Takes to Get a Midwest Project Off the Ground
The bar for what constitutes a viable Midwest data center project has risen. Utility queue credibility, state incentive durability, community acceptance and entitlement certainty now have to be solved simultaneously rather than sequentially. Explore how the most sophisticated teams are building approval strategies that hold up under scrutiny. |
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10:00 AM
10:30 AM
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Coffee Break and Networking
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10:30 AM
11:15 AM
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Building with Optionality: Protecting Your Schedule, Capital and Customer Commitments
The most resilient Midwest projects are not the ones where everything goes according to plan. They are the ones where enough flexibility was built into the schedule, the capital structure and the customer commitments to absorb uncertainty without losing momentum. Explore how leading teams are rethinking phasing strategies, long-lead procurement and financing structures to stay on offense when energization timelines shift and what the most effective approaches look like for keeping projects moving and capital productive through the delivery process. |
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11:15 AM
12:00 PM
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From Shovel to Shell: Delivering Midwest Data Centers at the Speed of Demand
The Midwest is in the middle of one of the most aggressive data center build cycles in its history and the construction teams delivering that capacity are navigating a set of challenges that didn't exist five years ago. Examine what it actually takes to deliver large-scale data center projects in today's Midwest: how the region's labor markets, supply chain dynamics and structural procurement strategies are shaping project timelines, how teams are sequencing multi-building campuses to keep capital productive across long build cycles and how the best teams are staying ahead of shifting rack density requirements and power architecture decisions without letting mid-build changes blow up the schedule or the budget. |
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12:00 PM
1:15 PM
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Lunch and Networking
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12:30 PM
12:50 PM
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Unlocking Stranded Assets: Adaptive Reuse for Data Center Development
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1:15 PM
2:00 PM
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Water Is the New Power: The Resource Battle That Will Define the Next Wave of Midwest Development
The Midwest's cooler climate and available land were never going to stay uncontested advantages forever. Illinois lawmakers are advancing water reporting requirements and closed-loop efficiency mandates. Communities in Sangamon County, Waverly and Metro East are asking for peak-day water demand figures that host communities are only beginning to ask for. Examine what the coming wave of resource accountability looks like in practice, how cooling design decisions being made today will be evaluated by regulators and host communities in two years and whether the industry gets ahead of the disclosure conversation or waits to be forced into it. |
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2:00 PM
2:30 PM
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Networking Break
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2:30 PM
3:15 PM
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Where It All Lands: Operating Through the Midwest's Energy and Demand Transformation
The Midwest has become one of the most watched data center markets in North America, driven by hyperscale demand, evolving utility structures and a regional energy landscape still in transformation. As we close out the day, examine where the region stands: which markets are emerging as long-term winners and what the next decade of Midwest growth depends on getting right. On the ground, that transformation means operators are renegotiating three relationships in real time, with their utility, their workforce and their customers, none of which look the way they did at underwriting. Explore how operators are navigating shifting utility expectations, building technical teams where talent infrastructure hasn't caught up to the build cycle and meeting customer demands on resilience and reliability that are outpacing industry standards. |
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3:15 PM
4:30 PM
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Post-Event Cocktail Party
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Tickets
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