The QTS Experience

Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell never planned to run City Hall. Now she’s making the case that Cedar Rapids spent decades preparing for its next chapter. We get into data centers, water and power questions, jobs, property-tax relief, why relationships matter, and the kitten who briefly joined the conversation. Chapters: 00:00  Why a pilot, media personality and entrepreneur ran for mayor 02:45  What people really want from local leadership 03:20  Building a city her children might come home to 05:03  Data centers, public debate and the leadership gap 07:08  Why Iowa and Cedar Rapids fit hyperscale infrastructure 10:07  From skepticism to facts: what communities should evaluate 12:03  Water, power and the deeper debate about AI 13:16  Property-tax relief and the economic-development case 16:25  When facts no longer change the conversation 17:50  Data sovereignty and where digital life actually lives 20:42  “Why not us?” Cedar Rapids prepared for this moment 23:00  Not every data center is a hyperscale campus 26:27  What other mayors are asking about data centers 28:19  Meet Lewis, the mayor’s very vocal kitten 29:16  Trust, direct access and choosing long-term partners 35:55  How Cedar Rapids keeps its identity while it grows 38:33  How companies earn trust: be present and build relationships 39:43  Sicilian meatballs, a Delta 88 and the Cutting Crew 43:20  The takeaway: leadership is hard, and it matters Links: Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell — official City of Cedar Rapids mayor page: https://www.cedar-rapids.org/local_government/city_council/mayor_and_city_council/mayor.php City of Cedar Rapids: https://www.cedar-rapids.org/ QTS Cedar Rapids campus: https://q.com/data-centers/cedar-rapids/ Thank you for visiting our channel, be sure to Like, Comment, and Subscribe! For more information, go to https://www.QTSDataCenters.com Learn More about QTS Data Centers on the QTS YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/users/qtsdatacenters Think you have a great topic for a podcast or would like to schedule an interview with Dave? Send in your requests to [email protected]

Mark Gusakov is back, and told me about a town hall where the EMS guy fighting the data center didn't know it answers his 911 calls. Mark’s answer isn’t a better argument. It’s listening first, and he’s got a Lamborghini story to prove it. Chapters: 00:00:06 Mark's road back: Uptime, nine months around the world, and founding the Digital Infrastructure Alliance 00:05:42 CONN3CT DATA, Cristo Rey students, and a Miss America who is a nuclear engineer 00:08:18 Why data centers are suddenly in the public conversation 00:10:19 Listen, talk, understand: why the pushback is appropriate 00:13:18 Is fear fair when the facts are wrong? The rake story 00:18:03 Lamborghinis for dirt-road folks: find out what a community needs 00:20:30 Amateur hour, not malice: when it stopped being engineer to engineer 00:25:42 The EMS worker who didn't know a data center answers 911 00:30:11 SWAT in the data center, “please come with your concern,” and being understood 00:33:29 Skeptics, cynics, and Ken at the town hall 00:38:02 Who wins the AI race? The town that asks you to come back 00:44:34 “It's just no”: John Dutton, the Amish, and Mr. Ford's softer seats 00:53:50 Ego, mentors, and the pushback inside the industry 01:01:08 Forcing functions, PUE, and why the lava is soft again 01:06:54 Two concrete actions, and “We are not the enemy” Links: Mark Gusakov on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-gusakov-a5b4741/ The Digital Infrastructure Alliance: https://www.thedigitalinfrastructurealliance.com CONN3CT DATA event series: https://conn3ctdataevents.com Kirk Busch, Arizona Data Center Alliance: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirkbusch/ Brian Smith, Idaho National Laboratory: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-smith-65469121/ Grace Vanderhei, Miss America 2023: https://www.gracevanderhei.com Infrastructure Masons: https://imasons.org QTS Community Commitments: https://q.com/commitments Thank you for visiting our channel, be sure to Like, Comment, and Subscribe! For more information, go to https://www.QTSDataCenters.com Learn More about QTS Data Centers on the QTS YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/users/qtsdatacenters Think you have a great topic for a podcast or would like to schedule an interview with Dave? Send in your requests to [email protected]  

Ana Tardio grew up a picky eater in Spain. Then her aunt in Mexico served her ant eggs. Her TEDxAtlanta talk is about food as a bridge, so I asked how a company like ours earns a seat at the table. Listen more than you talk. Chapters: 00:00 From the south of Spain to a Chicago winter 01:33 Food as a way in, and a plate of ant eggs 08:15 Food is for sharing: tapas, raciones and sobremesa 09:59 How a company talk became a TEDxAtlanta talk 21:31 What this has to do with data centers 26:36 How does a company earn a community's trust? 29:30 Listen more than you talk, and ask about allergies 34:11 What the red dot taught her Links: Ana Tardio's TEDxAtlanta talk, “From Cocido to BBQ. What Food Taught Me About Empathy”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds6hQXVpUCs Ana Tardio's TEDxAtlanta speaker page: https://www.tedxatlanta.com/ana-tardio/ Thank you for visiting our channel, be sure to Like, Comment, and Subscribe! For more information, go to https://www.QTSDataCenters.com Learn More about QTS Data Centers on the QTS YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/users/qtsdatacenters Think you have a great topic for a podcast or would like to schedule an interview with Dave? Send in your requests to [email protected]

Former Ranger Regiment psychologist Jeremy Noble is the stranger on a plane who talked me through a racing heart. He swears by the good guy factor, and joins a couple of our crew, Greg Wuestner and Jeff Sangillo, two veterans, to talk leaving the military and asking for help. Chapters 00:00 A stranger on a plane: "Hey, how's the heart?" 06:24 Greg Wuestner: from Army infantry to QTS through SkillBridge 08:09 Jeff Sangillo: from Navy nuclear propulsion to the QTS energy team 10:00 What nobody tells you about leaving the military 11:10 207 hours walked at West Point 16:08 Autonomy, mastery and belonging: what disappears overnight 24:12 Googling "what is a data center?" 29:30 When a mistake can cost a life 33:11 Picking the right people first 35:54 Psychological safety: more mistakes, or more honesty? 42:18 Why asking for help is the hardest part 46:10 Nobody calls a torn ACL weak 52:20 The sergeant major who stopped in the rain 57:02 What people need to flourish 1:02:46 What a veterans group can do for new vets 1:15:33 If you feel cut off from your team 1:21:52 Parting words: ask for help, and be a good dude Links Jeremy Noble: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-noble-phd-abpp-b93a7617a/ Noble Organizational Consulting: https://www.psychology.consulting/home Greg Wuestner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregory-wuestner/ Jeff Sangillo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsangillo/ QTS Data Centers: https://qtsdatacenters.com Dan Ferriter: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danferriter/ Darrian Winston: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrian-winston/ "Why You Should Hire a Ranger," Jeremy Noble: https://www.psychology.consulting/post/why-you-should-hire-a-ranger More articles from Jeremy Noble: https://www.psychology.consulting/blog Amy Edmondson, "Learning from Mistakes Is Easier Said Than Done" (1996): https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0021886396321001 DoD SkillBridge: https://skillbridge.osd.mil/ VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline on Suicide Risk (2024 synopsis): https://scholar.usuhs.edu/en/publications/assessment-and-management-of-patients-at-risk-for-suicide-synopsi/ Also mentioned: self-determination theory (Ryan and Deci), Good to Great by Jim Collins, The Assessment of Men (OSS) Thank you for visiting our channel, be sure to Like, Comment, and Subscribe! For more information, go to https://www.Q.com Learn More about QTS Data Centers on the QTS YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/users/qtsdatacenters Think you have a great topic for a podcast or would like to schedule an interview with Dave? Send in your requests to [email protected]

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 finally tell me how they made them. Turns out the community was vetting us the whole time. Chapters: 00:00:06 Chapter Two After 34 Years 00:08:56 Frito-Lay Chips, Not Semiconductors: How White Oak Happened 00:11:57 When the Conversation Turned Political 00:14:58 The Landscape Changed and Nobody Explained Why 00:17:47 Communities See What You Say Yes To 00:20:19 Fencing Off the Revenue for Affordable Housing 00:25:13 Why Henrico Added a Conditional Use Permit 00:27:59 The Photo on His Phone 00:32:05 Stop Talking and Listen 00:41:41 Who's Actually Paying for the Power 00:52:50 Half the Calls, People Need a Neighbor Links and References: Anthony Romanello — LinkedIn — linkedin.com/in/anthony-romanello-510723157 S.I.R. — Richmond — sirhq.com Henrico Economic Development Authority — henrico.com DE-CIX Richmond — de-cix.net Thank you for visiting our channel, be sure to Like, Comment, and Subscribe! For more information, go to https://www.Q.com Learn More about QTS Data Centers on the QTS YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/users/qtsdatacenters Think you have a great topic for a podcast or would like to schedule an interview with Dave? Send in your requests to [email protected]

José Luis Friebel got into data centers by accident — second job interview in London, start tomorrow, we've got a conference in six months. Best accident of his life, he says. He told me the thing slowing this whole build-out down isn't power. It's plumbers. I did not expect that. Chapters 00:00:00  From a sunny coastal town in Spain to the global data center business 00:07:13  Why an industry that built the cloud still doesn't talk to itself 00:12:08  The panel where somebody says "you're full of crap" — and nobody's offended 00:17:03  The human capital crunch, and the unsung heroes of modern civilization 00:19:57  Scholarships, electricians and plumbers: not charity, industry survival 00:29:26  What communities actually say when you ask them 00:34:11  Water, energy, and what it takes to be a good neighbor 00:38:50  Why the industry got caught by surprise on transparency 00:43:55  AI as infrastructure, and 90 billion in Aragon 00:48:16  Radiologists, drones, and why AI creates more jobs than it destroys 00:54:41  AI cities, and the jobs question: direct, indirect, and induced 01:02:22  "You're not an island, you're a peninsula" 01:04:49  What José wants you to remember Links & References José Luis Friebel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jose-luis-friebel-dcd/ InfraXmedia: https://www.infraxmedia.com/ DatacenterDynamics: https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/ AI Cities Summit Europe 2027: https://www.aicitysummit.com/europe/2027 AI Cities Summit launch: https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/marketwatch/infraxmedia-launches-ai-cities-summit-series-to-support-governments-navigating-ai-infrastructure-growth/ SPAINDC (Spanish Data Center Association): https://spaindc.com/ MEXDC (Mexican Data Center Association): https://asmexdc.com/ Infrastructure Masons: https://imasons.org/ Lays Rodrigues: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lays-rodrigues/ George Rockett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-rockett-b18a3b4/ Dan Loosemore: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-loosemore-marketing-specialist/ Thank you for visiting our channel, be sure to Like, Comment, and Subscribe! For more information, go to https://www.Q.com Learn More about QTS Data Centers on the QTS YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/users/qtsdatacenters Think you have a great topic for a podcast or would like to schedule an interview with Dave? Send in your requests to [email protected]

Jake Dukes runs programs at Zac Brown's camp for veterans and kids. Years ago he came to me and said he didn't want to talk about money or sponsorship — he wanted us to show up. I stayed till one in the morning. Their chef is also unreasonably good. Chapters 00:00:06 Pastor, camp, and a friendship that started on a beach 00:04:29 The mission: find what makes a person unique, then magnify it 00:07:30 What a data center has to do with a camp in Georgia 00:12:22 Warrior Week, Warrior Path, and the invisible wounds of war 00:16:56 A lumpy first eighteen months, and the go/no-go stations 00:21:23 Why trust is the hardest thing to rebuild 00:26:31 Don’t scrap who you were — reforging instead of starting over 00:35:39 What the week is actually for: making one real friend 00:39:41 Zac Brown’s heart for veterans and at-risk kids 00:42:07 Who pays for it: 93% of the kids are on scholarship 00:43:35 The light in the eyes, and a cucumber that tasted like a Kit Kat 00:45:50 Why kids and veterans belong in the same place, and what neurodiversity means 00:50:28 What a hiring manager should know about the veteran across the desk 01:06:48 Twenty years of building in communities, hiring from them, and being welcomed 01:09:30 How to tell whether a company that says it hires vets actually does 01:20:52 “I don’t want to talk to you about money” Links & References: Camp Southern Ground: https://campsouthernground.org/ Camp Southern Ground staff: https://campsouthernground.org/staff/ Jake Dukes, Vice President, Strategic Initiatives: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jachindukes/ Mike Caimona, incoming CEO: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbcaimona/ Thank you for visiting our channel, be sure to Like, Comment, and Subscribe! For more information, go to https://www.Q.com Learn More about QTS Data Centers on the QTS YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/users/qtsdatacenters Think you have a great topic for a podcast or would like to schedule an interview with Dave? Send in your requests to [email protected]

When James told me the best early warning for a job-site injury isn’t a safety number, I said what you’re probably thinking — that’s ridiculous, and how would you even measure it? What came next changed how I look at it. Come find out what the number is. Chapters: 00:00:00 A Gaelic footballer walks into a data-center podcast 00:02:07 Culture as bedrock: measure the inputs, not the score 00:05:30 Scaling culture when you’re hiring thousands 00:06:34 What PepTalk does: feedback from the field, and morale as a leading indicator 00:11:57 The blind spot: why the once-a-year survey misses it 00:16:18 The data: low-morale stretches vs. high-incident stretches 00:19:43 People leave unsafe sites: retention as the early warning 00:36:14 Construction vs. operations: human error and reinforcement 00:40:19 Staying alert in a “fully operational Death Star” 00:45:39 Reading the site like a body: must-have or nice-to-have? 00:51:11 Measuring the truth, and the one big takeaway Links / References James Brogan (guest) — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesbrogan1/ Bernard Brogan (co-founder) — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernardbrogan/ PepTalk — website: https://www.peptalk.com Thank you for visiting our channel, be sure to Like, Comment, and Subscribe! For more information, go to https://www.Q.com Learn More about QTS Data Centers on the QTS YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/users/qtsdatacenters Think you have a great topic for a podcast or would like to schedule an interview with Dave? Send in your requests to [email protected]

Rob Hopewell’s been in data centers so long I keep accusing him of starting at 11 — UUNET, EdgeConneX, now running QTS sales. We get into why this AI moment isn’t the dot-com bust, why the phone in your hand is a data center, and how our industry can finally explain itself. Chapters: 0:00  From UUNET to now — the early internet, peering, MAE East/West 5:44  “Unprecedented” — solving first-time problems (spiky AI load, the utility) 7:47  Selling power, not square feet — the model that changed the industry 11:48  A day in the life running QTS sales — deals at the C-level 14:16  What the dot-com bust taught him — strategy, relationships, hustle 15:29  The 2016 hyperscale pivot — the Freedom Design and the availability zones 19:04  “Plan B: make plan A work” — the first deal, and Blackstone 24:09  EdgeConneX and what “the edge” really is 30:37  Building speculatively — the formula that won Atlanta 36:04  The messaging problem — what a data center actually is 40:09  Why AI isn’t a bubble (and meeting OpenAI in 2017) 45:08  “One throat to choke,” building sales talent, and the takeaway: culture Links: Rob Hopewell on LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/robhopewell/] QTS Data Centers: Q.com Thank you for visiting our channel, be sure to Like, Comment, and Subscribe!  Learn More about QTS Data Centers on the QTS YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/users/qtsdatacenters Think you have a great topic for a podcast or would like to schedule an interview with Dave? Send in your requests to [email protected]

A West Texas frac company turned out to be one of the best-positioned energy players of the AI era. Luke Saladyga explains how that happened, why power got scarce so fast, and why the steadiest jobs of the next decade might be ones nobody told you to want. Chapters: 00:00:00 Welcome back on Star Wars Day 00:02:13 The perfect storm: how power got scarce 00:09:10 From Oracle to VoltaGrid: frack fields to AI power 00:10:21 Moving 25 to 40 megawatts in under 24 hours 00:12:38 The hard part: load transients in milliseconds 00:20:24 Why Luke joined, and betting before the contracts 00:24:00 8.3 gigawatts contracted, and why competition matters 00:30:09 How Oracle burned the ships 00:36:14 Will the grid catch up? The swing-set problem 00:46:01 Is this a bubble? Why turbine makers stay cautious 00:54:04 Communication and energy: the engine of every advance 00:56:20 Behind the meter, explained simply 00:58:50 Take-or-pay contracts and the coming efficiency push 01:03:38 Labor: the real constraint and the aging-talent crisis 01:11:18 The markers of who adapts well 01:28:37 Mike Rowe, welders, and the trades PR battle 01:31:19 Georgia's free trade tuition and a welder who blew his mind 01:35:23 Where to follow Luke, and the one takeaway: embrace the chaos References and Links: Luke Saladyga LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saladyga/ VoltaGrid: https://voltagrid.com Jim Gao (Phaidra): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimgao/ Texas SB6 — load-transient / large-load interconnection bill Thank you for visiting our channel, be sure to Like, Comment, and Subscribe! For more information, go to https://www.QTSDataCenters.com Learn More about QTS Data Centers on the QTS YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/users/qtsdatacenters Think you have a great topic for a podcast or would like to schedule an interview with Dave? Send in your requests to [email protected]