Appleton-based construction firm The Boldt Co. recently named former Microsoft leader Dale Lewis its director of data centers, a new role meant to position the company to seize opportunities as Wisconsin attracts numerous large-scale data center projects. Lewis has more than 40 years of experience in the construction industry and most recently assisted Microsoft as
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Dale Lewis[/caption]
How did you first enter the data center industry?
“I took a little hiatus (from construction) around 2008 and opened up seven different restaurants. When COVID hit, I decided to get out of that industry. I got back into construction, but I wanted to do something I hadn't done before. I wanted to build something new. I've always been a techie at heart. I've always been an early adopter, bringing technology into my career and utilizing it to make myself more efficient, more effective. I knew what data centers were. I just had never built one before, and the industry was just starting to take off. I had some connections from my history who were already involved in data center development, so I jumped on board. I started to learn as much as I could, building some facilities for some decent sized players in the market at the time.”
How did you end up working on Microsoft’s Mount Pleasant project?
"There was another general contractor that was competing with (Chicago-based) Walsh (Construction) to become the prime contractor for that project for Microsoft. I decided I was going to chase that specific project because it was the first of its kind. It was enormous and groundbreaking and filled with new technologies. I chased that project with one of the firms that was in the running and ended up getting hired by them. Through some friends of mine, I learned Walsh had won it, so I immediately pivoted, got in front of Walsh, and got hired early on with the leadership team to develop out Walsh's data center program on that particular project. I accomplished the goal, got on that project, and then six months later, was recruited by Microsoft to be their director of construction for that project. I spent a year with Microsoft before Boldt reached out.”
What did you learn working on the Microsoft project?
"None of us had ever done a multi-billion-dollar project before... a campus development of that size and scale. We were running seven days a week with 3,500 people. That's a mini city basically that we had to build from scratch in a farm field. I garnered a ton of experience on how to do that effectively and built of a book of best practices. With the entire project being first of its kind, you run a lot of trial and error. We had a lot of smart people on the project, so we minimized our mistakes. We learned from it, and that has given me a skill set to take forward in my career."
Is Wisconsin seeing a larger data center boom than other parts of the country?
“Wisconsin has developed into an amazing market that's very attractive for data center developers. The United States is broken up into tier one through four markets, with tier one markets being Texas, Chicago, Virginia… and then you're getting other markets, like Atlanta, that are growing into tier one markets because there's so much activity. Wisconsin was a tier four region not too long ago. But we've got seven hyper scale projects that are either proposed or planned to be built in this state. So, we are catching up to the rest of the nation at a very rapid pace and eclipsing most other states in that race to be a technology focused state. That's because of many factors. We've got a very progressive government that is favorable to the data center environment. We do have teams in the state that are assembling to market Wisconsin as a data center friendly state. We have energy suppliers that are very proactive in growing their generation and enhancing their grid to supply more intense customer base. All of these combined efforts are helping promote Wisconsin as a technology leader."
How big of an opportunity is this for The Boldt Co.?
"The United States has always been able to dominate in emerging markets and industries like during the Industrial Revolution. This is a similar growth pattern and an industry that has just exploded over the past few years. As with any innovative company that is paying attention to market growth, Boldt sees an opportunity to leverage their internal talents, their connection to the state of Wisconsin, their deep roots here to help guide and build what that future looks like for the state of Wisconsin."
Where are the current challenges in building large-scale data center projects?
"These projects require a tremendous amount of resources from a manpower perspective. We have people that we pull from the local union halls who are experienced tradesmen. These projects really draw a lot of resources out of the halls, and that has a benefit. If you have an industry that is developing on a normal pace, let's say it's 10 years, then you have the ability to not only put people to work constantly and give them premium pay for these types of projects, but now you're actually offering an opportunity for the younger generation to learn these trades instead of putting them on the bench to wait for a project.”
How is the technology used within these centers changing?
"I will say, whether it's believed or not, the data center industry has always been an active steward from an environmental standpoint. They understand the kind of impact their designs have on our world and on our resources. They've always been driven to be environmentally conscious and to evolve their programs to become better at it. Designs have changed rapidly in the past two years to minimize our impact on local water resources. Instead of having a open air system that runs water from the municipality across a membrane for cooling, we've developed closed loop systems that you fill once with a combination of water refrigerant. Now, we cool the new servers with a closed loop system that doesn't require a constant draw from a local municipality. It's the same thing with energy. We're developing technologies for behind-the-meter solutions so that data centers can bring their own power now, and it's clean power. It's fuel cell technology that is of ultra-low emissions or zero emissions, depending on the architecture of it."
Are tariffs pausing any data center projects?
"No. And the reason why is the industry is full of very bright people. We find ways around obstacles. But the tariffs have impacted the industry. We don't have access to reduced pricing on specific equipment, but we have found a way to work with American manufacturers and suppliers to fill those voids. We've gotten creative and found ways to maintain our industry’s momentum. It is a challenge. We'll see what happens in the future."
What’s next for The Boldt Co.?
"We're basically spending this time building what this business is going to look like and the structure that’s required to support it. We do have deep relationships with Microsoft and Vantage Data Centers. We're going to be performing some of the work on the Port Washington project. We're going back for phase two and phase three on the Milwaukee project in Mount Pleasant. We're working with other developers that are coming or planning to come to the state of Wisconsin. We're getting out in front and developing those relationships and planning our three, five and 10-year business plans."
Does the firm hope to expand more nationally with data center work?
"Boldt is in seven different states and we have 18 independent offices across the United States. The goal of the data center division here in Waukesha is that we're building this specialized group that will support data center development efforts in our other markets. We have a lot of activity up in the Minnesota area, in Michigan and in Kansas right now. This industry is explosive across the continent, so we plan to offer as much support as we possibly can in a very short period of time. Our segment is growing, and we're just going to have to manage that growth across all seven of our different markets."
