State of The Midwest Market

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  Chris Bair

  As Senior Vice President of Sales and Leasing, Chris Bair brings over 20 years of experience in the data center sector to Stream Data Centers. With a firm belief in teamwork and a reputation for delivering exceptional results, Chris is directly involved in helping Stream identify and meet the needs of its customers. He is excited to leverage Stream’s unique position as a data center solutions and service provider that also has deep-seated real estate expertise from being a subsidiary of Stream Realty Partners. Most of all, Chris appreciates Stream’s dedication to improving the data center experience through exceptional people and service and feels fortunate to be joining the organization at the same time new hyperscale campuses are opening in Arizona, Chicago and Dallas. Prior to joining Stream, Chris was one of two data center professionals hired to launch Iron Mountain’s Data Center division and led CoreSite’s leasing team pre and post-IPO. A former Pilot and Captain in the United States Air Force, Bair holds a B.S. from the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO, and a M.S. in Management from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time outdoors and participating in The 24 Hours of LeMons automobile races, a growing trend in amateur endurance racing across the US, Australia and New Zealand.

  Stream Data Centers

  Senior Vice President

  Chris Bair

  Senior Vice President

  Stream Data Centers

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  Jennifer Herson

  Jennifer Herson has more than a decade of experience in high tech marketing and operations. Jennifer is creative and versatile, having contributed directly to the success of a variety of organizations, including small startups, mid-sized firms, and multi-national enterprises. A communication specialist, with an eye for design, Jennifer has developed highly effective marketing content and campaigns for a variety of channels in the B2B high tech space. She approaches every challenge with a can-do collaborative spirit to deliver superior quality and results. Jennifer is a member of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Alumni Association Board of Directors. She is also an avid O's fan and can often be found cheering them on with her husband and son.

  Data Canopy

  President

  Jennifer Herson

  President

  Data Canopy

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  Craig McKesson

  A former U.S. Air Force officer who helped launch GPS satellites into orbit, as Chief Customer Officer, Craig leads the cross-functional management of T5’s customer engagement and success programs along with the development and execution of all corporate marketing and communications strategies. Craig holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from the University of Miami and a Master of Business Administration with concentrations in finance and marketing from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

  T5 Data Centers

  CCO

  Craig McKesson

  CCO

  T5 Data Centers

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  Ed Sitar

  Ed Sitar (pronounced “sitter”) is the Senior Manager of Economic Development at ComEd, where he oversees the company’s strategy and efforts to recruit and retain large business customers and grow jobs and investment in key industries across northern Illinois. Ed is a 29-year veteran of the company, where he has worked closely with development partners to leverage ComEd’s reliable, affordable, and clean energy services to secure major business investment wins for the region. During his tenure with ComEd, he has been a part of the company’s competitive business attraction efforts, helping prospective customers’ to navigate a decision to expand or grow in Illinois amid a changing regulatory climate (prior to the industry’s deregulation in 1997, and on to Illinois’ nation-leading CEJA law). He has also shaped commercial energy efficiency policies and programs to serve the needs of ComEd’s large customers and helped support development projects with commitments to create 250,000 jobs over the last decade.

  ComEd

  Manager, Economic & Business Development

  Ed Sitar

  Manager, Economic & Business Development

  ComEd

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  Andy Cvengros

  Andy Cvengros is a Managing Director with JLL and is member of the firm’s Data Center Services Practice. Focusing exclusively in mission critical tenant / user representation and project management, Andy assists his clients in strategic planning, acquisition and disposition of heavy infrastructure and data center assets, financial analysis, geographic risk planning, lease analysis and negotiations, market valuations and technology consulting services. He has worked with many multi-national F500 organizations to help define and implement their data center sourcing and site selection strategy globally. Prior to joining JLL, Andy worked within Hewlett Packard’s Data Center Consulting group (formerly EYP), assisting clients in aligning their IT, Facility and Business requirements. He draws on his experience in working with IT to match virtualization, cloud computing and disaster recovery strategies to data center facility builds and capacity planning. By understanding the dynamic drivers of a data center, he is able to provide valuable insight to all parties.

  JLL

  Managing Director

  Moderator

  Andy Cvengros

  Managing Director

  JLL

Strategic Project Delivery: Construction, Design and Engineering Solutions of Tomorrow

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  Kevin McNicholas

  Kevin McNicholas is the vice president of network infrastructure and design at Lucera, an industry-leading technology service provider delivering performant, secure and scalable solutions designed to power demanding financial applications. He is a versatile, top-tier commercially astute Information Technology executive with over 20 years of experience including, strategic planning, enterprise architecture, network design, technology delivery and project management, while providing executive leadership to the organization and optimizing capital and operational expenditure.

  Lucera

  VP, Network Infrastructure & Design

  Kevin McNicholas

  VP, Network Infrastructure & Design

  Lucera

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  Jason Rafkind

  Based in Chicago, Jason leads STACK’s Solutions Engineering team to provide best-in-class technical support to our clients, sales team, and overall business. Jason joined STACK from Digital Realty where he led a global team focused on supporting the largest hyperscale, cloud, and content companies. Originally from the San Francisco area, Jason has over 25 years of experience supporting mission-critical IT in the US and globally.

  STACK Infrastructure

  VP, Solutions Engineering

  Jason Rafkind

  VP, Solutions Engineering

  STACK Infrastructure

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  Nathan Welch

  With nearly 20 years of industry experience, Nathan Welch is currently serving as a project executive for Mortenson’s Chicago region with a primary focus on the data center market. Nathan has managed numerous large-scale projects throughout the Chicagoland area, most recently leading multiple critical data center projects at the QTS Chicago Data Center in the Heart of Chicago. A cornerstone of Nathan’s career has been the development of strong customer relationships based on mutual respect and trust. Considered a foremost expert in the financial and operational performance requirements in data center construction, he has successfully navigated some of the most complex construction challenges while continuing to provide customers with an exceptional experience. Nathan holds a Bachelor of Science in Construction Engineering from Purdue University and is a DBIA Associate and LEED Accredited Professional.

  Mortenson

  Project Executive

  Nathan Welch

  Project Executive

  Mortenson

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  Mike Whitman

  Data Center / Computer Operations specialist with experience in a variety of industries including manufacturing, telecom, healthcare and ISP. – ITIL v2.0 Certified. Experienced in running multiple sites across time zones. Specific project activities have included process improvement, data center remodeling, energy efficiency and data center infrastructure hardening. Prior to joining ServerFarm, Whitman worked as a VP of Facilities Operations for Canara, Inc. as well as for Thomson Reuters and CBRE.

  Serverfarm

  Head of Critical Facilities Services

  Mike Whitman

  Head of Critical Facilities Services

  Serverfarm

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  Dave Hall

  Dave Hall joined Clune Construction as a Project Manager in 1996. At that time, the company consisted of two small offices, one in Chicago and the second in Los Angeles. Both locations solely performed tenant interior construction projects. In 1997, while managing construction of a trading floor, Dave was approached by the same financial client about upgrading their existing Chicago data centers. While Dave barely knew what a data center was, he jumped in with both feet and created a small team to specialize in this type of work. Between 1997 and 2005 the team performed hundreds of small-to-medium sized Mission Critical projects for banks, financial institutions and communications companies across Chicagoland. In 2004, wholesale and colocation data center REITs began focusing on the Midwest. In response, Dave and his team began pursuing and successfully completing larger data center projects in this area. As the tenant interiors market slowed dramatically in 2008, Clune realigned resources to grow the Mission Critical Team and began building data centers in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Florida and Texas, prompting Clune Construction’s national expansion. In 2010, Dave was promoted to Managing Director and the Mission Critical division continued to grow significantly under his leadership. He also served other leadership roles, including President of Clune’s Midwest Region. In 2020, Dave was named Clune’s CEO. His leadership, ability to foster relationships across the country, and his deep technical knowledge of the data center market, enables him to steer Clune into its next chapter. Dave has built a strong culture of outstanding client service while maintaining Clune’s core values. Under Dave’s leadership, Clune has consistently been ranked a top contractor and a Best Place to Work across the country.

  Clune Construction

  CEO

  Moderator

  Dave Hall

  CEO

  Clune Construction

Next Generation Operations and Infrastructure Modernization

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  Phillip Koblence

  Phillip Koblence is a strategic executive and thought leader in the data center and network space. He co-founded NYI (www.nyi.net) in 1996 and has successfully navigated through an ever-shifting infrastructure landscape, growing the company from a single data center in Lower Manhattan to a robust network with executional capabilities in key national and international markets. His leadership, focus on customer experience, and ability to cut through complexity and hype, has positioned NYI as an industry leader in high-touch infrastructure solutions. Phillip is also CEO of Critical Ventures, a consulting agency offering a range of services to help clients, owners and investors optimize the value of critical infrastructure assets. Phillip sits on the DE-CIX North America Advisory Board as well as on the Board of OIX (formerly Open-IX). Phillip is Co-Founder of the Nomad Futurist Foundation and Podcast, designed to demystify the world of critical infrastructure and inspire younger generations to join the industry. He is a frequent speaker at industry events and has been profiled by Data Center Knowledge, TheWHIR, MSPMentor, and NJ BIZ. He has an engineering degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

  NYI

  Co-Founder & COO

  Phillip Koblence

  Co-Founder & COO

  NYI

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  Mitchell Fonseca

  Mitch Fonseca leads the global datacenter product management and commercial services teams for Cyxtera, responsible for product pricing and positioning. With over 11 years in IT infrastructure, Fonseca has experience in product management, operations, sales, finance and business development. Mitch Fonseca leads the global datacenter product management and commercial services teams for Cyxtera, responsible for product pricing and positioning. With over 11 years in IT infrastructure, Fonseca has experience in product management, operations, sales, finance and business development. Most recently, Fonseca served as Sr Director of Strategy and Operations at General Electric, where he helped develop GE’s long-term datacenter and cloud strategy and headed GE’s datacenter operation teams. Prior to GE, he joined Digital Realty, through their acquisition of Telx. At Digital Realty, Fonseca served as Director of Global Product Management for Colocation and Services. There he managed Digital Realty’s retail colocation product within North American, Europe and Asia; driving increased profitability to a wholesale datacenter footprint.

  Edged

  Chief Operating Officer

  Mitchell Fonseca

  Chief Operating Officer

  Edged

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  Nabeel Mahmood

  Nabeel Mahmood is a Technologist, Futurist and a Keynote Speaker. His career is driven by one question – what’s next? He is passionate about the power of technology to deliver competitive and transformational change and the need to develop digital leadership that will create the enterprise of the future. He believes strongly in simplification, with a purpose. Nabeel brings 18 plus years of experience leading large-scale global technology organizations through seasons of explosive growth via M&A, global expansion, implementing new business models and technology innovation. His expertise includes leading organizations through transformation changes, connecting IT to the needs of the business, technology innovation, Big Data, Cloud, ERP, IoT, Mobility and Data Centers. He brings a unique blend of experiences spanning the entire breadth of technology from Grid to Chip. At, heart he’s a true technologist and futurist, he is a proven strategist, winsome communicator and leader with extraordinary vision and operational expertise within very large, complex organizations. Nabeel is a strategic CIO identifying opportunities that are being underpinned by emerging technologies. He serves on multiple boards and is an advisor to CIOs and CEO across a number of industries.

  Nomad Futurist Foundation

  Co-Founder

  Nabeel Mahmood

  Co-Founder

  Nomad Futurist Foundation

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  Raymond Parpart

  Director, Data Center Strategy & Operations

  University of Chicago

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  Sean Farney

  Sean is the Vice President of Data Center Strategy for the Americas, charged with developing deeper client relationships, broader industry awareness, and enhanced partner collaboration by evangelizing JLL’s broad facility management, sustainability, commissioning, capital market, colocation and cloud advisory services. He works with clients to fully leverage the firm’s capabilities to maximum digital infrastructure value, minimize facility risk and drive data center innovation. Sean has also led Digital Transformation strategic programs at two Fortune 500 companies, executing global data center consolidation and cloud migration, and initiatives that resulted in reduced time-to-revenue. He is active in the industry, participating in panels, roundtables, podcasts, and other speaking events. Sean publishes regularly on such venues as Data Center Frontier, Data Center Dynamics, Mission Critical Magazine, and Data Centre Magazine.

  JLL

  VP, Data Center Strategy - Americas

  Moderator

  Sean Farney

  VP, Data Center Strategy - Americas

  JLL

Building and Investing In Infrastructure To Support The New Age of Chicago Facilities

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  Josh Grodzin

  Josh has worked in the field of Economic Development for over twenty years. For the past eleven years, Josh has been the Director of Business Development and Marketing for Elk Grove Village, IL. Josh is responsible for coordinating all aspects of Elk Grove Village’s economic development program. This includes business retention, expansion, and attraction activities. Josh is also the Interim Executive Director of Next Level Northwest (NLNW). NLNW is a not-profit business accelerator. Josh grew up in the northern suburbs of Chicago. Josh has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from DePaul University and a Masters in Urban Planning and Policy from the University Illinois at Chicago. Josh and his wife Beth live in Evanston, IL with their two sons Zev and Asher.

  Elk Grove Village

  Director, Business Development & Marketing

  Josh Grodzin

  Director, Business Development & Marketing

  Elk Grove Village

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  Rafal Rak

  Rafal Rak is Vice President of Digital Realty and serves as the company’s Portfolio Manager for Midwest and West regions. In this capacity, he has overall responsibility for strategic planning, development, operations, leasing and financial performance of 48 buildings with 9.2 million rentable square feet. Digital Realty is a leading global data center Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) with 215 properties in 14 countries and 36 markets representing 34 million square feet in North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America and Australia. Digital Realty is the 8th largest publicly-traded REITs in the U.S. with a market capitalization of approximately $27 billion, a member of the prestigious S&P 500 and has been recognized by the EPA as one of the top 100 largest buyers of renewal energy.

  Digital Realty Trust

  VP, Portfolio Management

  Rafal Rak

  VP, Portfolio Management

  Digital Realty Trust

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  Haynes Strader

  Haynes Strader brings 8 years of real estate experience, with 7 entirely focused on mission critical facilities. Haynes spent the majority of his career as a data center site selection, acquisition and disposition expert, completing more than 200 transactions totaling more than 250 MW in 26 global markets since 2015. Haynes joined the Skybox team in January 2021 and leads the site selection and acquisition team in tandem with the sales and marketing process. Relevant experience: • Chief Development Officer, Skybox Datacenters • Vice President, CBRE Data Center Solutions • Senior Manager, HfS Research Mr. Strader continues to participate in a number of data center professional organizations including Infrastructure Masons, GLG, BWG, and 24x7. His expertise is often relied on by investors and users alike as they approach new strategies in the data center space. Mr. Strader is a graduate of Southern Methodist University and serves on SMU Dedman College Executive Board and the SMU Folsom Institute Associates Board.

  Skybox Datacenters

  Chief Development Officer

  Haynes Strader

  Chief Development Officer

  Skybox Datacenters

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  Mike Rechtin

  Mike has more than 30 years of sophisticated and broad-based real estate experience representing clients in buying, selling, developing, leasing and financing real estate assets in all asset classes. Since 2010, he has been at the forefront of the expanding, multi-disciplinary data center, digital infrastructure and IT commercial contracting fields that straddle real estate and technology. Mike was named the 2023 Lawyer of the Year in Chicago for Privacy and Data Security Law by Best Lawyers. He is in-demand for presentations at digital infrastructure conferences and is often quoted in trade periodicals. Mike's clients include insurance companies, Fortune 500 companies, pension funds, investment advisers, enterprise companies, financial institutions, real estate developers, high-tech companies and data center developers/providers. His recent transactions include representing multiple platform data center companies in acquiring land for development, developing data centers and entering into leases and master services agreements with major technology companies; acquiring operating data centers for private equity-backed real estate and technology funds; representing a financial services client in the outsourcing of all of its legacy IT infrastructure supporting its banking operations and applications, including mission-critical banking applications; negotiating joint venture agreements related to the development of data centers and multi-family developments; and representing a real estate investment company in the sale of a carrier hotel/data center in a major US market.

  DLA Piper

  Partner

  Moderator

  Mike Rechtin

  Partner

  DLA Piper

The Enterprise Public Sector: How Has Midwest Infrastructure Enhanced Public Sector Opportunities for Growth?

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  Roger Fahnestock

  Roger Fahnestock is the Chief Information Officer for Kane County, Illinois. Kane County is the fifth largest county in Illinois, 45 minutes west of downtown Chicago, and home to Illinois’ second largest city, Aurora. Roger has led the technology transformation of Kane County through partnerships with the elected officials, department heads, technology providers, and public/private partnerships. Roger has over 25 years of experience managing technology in education, government, and business. During his tenure at Kane County, he has managed the county’s technology strategy including the creation of a publicly owned and operated fiber optic network, migration to data center colocation services, new public safety systems, judicial systems, government finance, and a host of other government systems and services. Recent projects include design and construction of a regional fiber optic network with a private data center that will provide on network services to public and private partners enhancing and improving opportunities for colocation and Infrastructure as a Service technology. Current projects include technology planning for the next generation of infrastructure, middle-mile fiber and wireless solutions for broadband in underserved areas, and addressing digital equity.

  Kane County, IL

  CIO

  Roger Fahnestock

  CIO

  Kane County, IL

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  Michael Pegues

  Michael Pegues was appointed by Mayor Richard C. Irvin as Chief Information Officer for the City of Aurora, Illinois in June 2017. As an Aurora native, he began his career working in various IT Support roles for AT&T and Pepsi-Co in the Greater Chicago Area. Pegues has worked for the US Department of Defense as a civilian Automation Management Officer at US Army Garrison in Vicenza, Italy. Additionally, he has held various senior IT positions in Hewlett-Packard France, Vodafone Hungary and Morgan Stanley in Budapest, Hungary and New York, NY. Michael holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from DeVry University and an Executive MBA in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management from Central European University Business School from Budapest, Hungary. Michael is a proud Veteran of the US Army.

  City of Aurora, IL

  CIO

  Michael Pegues

  CIO

  City of Aurora, IL