Data center to be built in Mission Critical
Brennan Crawford
147 views
By Kurt Johnson of the Aurora News Register
AAIM CEO has vision for bringing jobs to community
More than a decade after the Aurora Development Corporation purchased 135 acres along Highway 14 as a site targeting data center development, a 2.5-acre parcel was sold last week to a company planning to build an expandable 5 megawatt data center expected to be operational by the spring of 2024.
Anthony Levesque, CEO of AAIM DataCenters, said the fact that the Aurora community was well versed in data center logistics was a huge factor in his company’s decision to plant its flag in the Mission Critical subdivision. With similar data centers already operational in Missouri, he said he was also attracted to Nebraska’s public power philosophy.
“About a year ago we started to look into where we could expand and Nebraska came to mind,” he explained. “I liked the fact that NPPD (Nebraska Public Power District) is designed to be nonprofit and I felt there could be a good relationship built into that.
“A real estate agent pointed us in this direction,” continued Levesque, a native of Quebec, Canada. “Aurora was brought to our attention and we liked the fact that you guys had been trying to get a data center there for many years. You had already done the research that you needed to understand the business, so I thought when we met for the first time we were on equal footing, meaning you guys had a lot of information on what we would try to bring to the table, what we needed. I just felt we were on the same page.”
Jim Ediger, ADC president, reported that a great deal of time and effort was invested in making sure a data center would be a good fit for the Highway 14 subdivision.
“ADC has been approached and has passed on data center prospects in the past because we did not feel like they were a good fit for this property,” Ediger said. “We did our due diligence with this project and believe that we have found the right company with the right design for both the Mission Critical property and our community.”
AAIM purchased land from ADC along East 11 Road, a lot that will be the first to tout a Kremer Avenue address in honor of the late Sen. Bob Kremer. The plan is to build a 7,300 sq. ft. metal building on a 2.5-acre site located just west of Mid-Nebraska Land Development. Dirt work was scheduled to begin this week, with Levesque sharing his intent to work with local contractors as much as possible.
“It’s going to be a metal building and it’s designed to be self-sustaining,” he said. “We also took into consideration the fact that though we’re in the industrial zone, we want to be respectful of our boundaries and our neighbors. It’s designed to be as any other building or industrial building in terms of noise, water consumption, sewer and all that.”
What is a data center?
Asked to describe the data center’s functionality, Levesque said the business model he and his partners created is to build and operate co-location facilities filled with high-tech computers. By design, AAIM oversees the center’s infrastructure, network locations and energy management.
Also of note, a gross revenue tax will be collected on electricity used at the center, with the City of Aurora contracted to receive a 2 percent franchise fee on all electricity sales once the property is annexed into the city in late 2026 or early 2027.
“We own the infrastructure and we operate them,” Levesque said of company’s existing operations near Columbia, Mo. “We’re putting people’s equipment into our facility. So imagine a condo complex where you would have tenants. We own the condo complex. We manage it and we control everything from start to finish. It’s high-tech and it’s designed to be able to power identity servers, or High Performance Computing (also known as HPC). We don’t have a client locked in for the facility yet and we’re agnostic to this.”
The Aurora data center’s initial capacity will be around 5 megawatts (MW), Levesque noted, though the plan is to ramp that up to a targeted 15MW within the first year as AAIM has space within its 2.5-acre lot to expand.
As for the number of jobs to be created, Levesque had this to say.
“Once the data center is energized, most likely we will need around four or five employees, but there will be in-direct jobs as well,” he said. “We’re trying to hire local (subcontractors), so those in-direct jobs are very important. Our initial goal is that we want to show the community that we are going to be a good corporate citizen, doing it step by step and being very respectful. I have learned in business that win-win deals are best. That is what is sustainable and I think that is what is fair.”
In addition, Levesque said his hope and plan is to maximize his company’s presence in the community by looking for opportunities to create other businesses, not necessarily related to the data center.
“We want to work closely with our partners, NPPD and ADC,” he said. ‘We’re trying to plan for the future so it is much easier if we locked in an option to grow now on from a plan. Without going into details, we’re looking at other alternative businesses not related to the center overall as well.
“We like to diversify,” he continued. “When we set up shop somewhere, we have to hire people locally and you also have to have a team that is able to respond 24/7. By having this team in place already, we’re trying to maximize and see if we could do other business related to that.”
Levesque said he is excited to see what the future holds for his company in Aurora, though the initial focus is on getting the center operational.
“Working with our local partners we are very confident that we will be able to get this up and running by Q2 (the second quarter) of next year,” he said. “We don’t foresee a lot of delay because of the winter. Working with local partners, you guys have a lot of experience doing work during the winter, so we estimate some delays, but not a complete shutdown.
“Like I said, the idea is to work with the local community to be able to implement the project,” he concluded. “Kelsey (Bergen) and the ADC board helped a lot. I didn’t rush people because it takes time to do it properly. We went through all the processes and got a permit last week. We’re pretty happy with the results so far.”
Now that AAIM’s pending arrival has been announced, Levesque said he looks forward to spending time in Aurora.
“Honestly, when I walked around the town square I had a great feeling,” he concluded. “I have already found my favorite coffee shop, which is just a bonus. Like I said earlier, we felt the interaction we had with all the participants has been great. Some people may have more questions and we’re happy to answer them, but the way we were welcomed as a business into the community has been great.”
Background
A native of Quebec, Levesque grew up in a small town near Montreal. He studied in college for a semester before going to work 19 years ago with a partner who introduced him to data center space. Eight years ago, he helped fund Bitfarms, which is now listed on the NASDAQ/TSX, where he helped secure and build more than 60MW of the company’s mining capacity. He later went on to build Tier-3 data centers with a private Canadian company.
Levesque eventually decided to go out on his own, launching AAIM DataCenters, which specializes in High Performance Computing operations. The company has 20MW operations currently being built out, with plans to operate 70MW by the fourth quarter of 2024.
https://www.auroranewsregister.com/news/data-center-be-built-mission-critical
147 views
By Kurt Johnson of the Aurora News Register
AAIM CEO has vision for bringing jobs to community
More than a decade after the Aurora Development Corporation purchased 135 acres along Highway 14 as a site targeting data center development, a 2.5-acre parcel was sold last week to a company planning to build an expandable 5 megawatt data center expected to be operational by the spring of 2024.
Anthony Levesque, CEO of AAIM DataCenters, said the fact that the Aurora community was well versed in data center logistics was a huge factor in his company’s decision to plant its flag in the Mission Critical subdivision. With similar data centers already operational in Missouri, he said he was also attracted to Nebraska’s public power philosophy.
“About a year ago we started to look into where we could expand and Nebraska came to mind,” he explained. “I liked the fact that NPPD (Nebraska Public Power District) is designed to be nonprofit and I felt there could be a good relationship built into that.
“A real estate agent pointed us in this direction,” continued Levesque, a native of Quebec, Canada. “Aurora was brought to our attention and we liked the fact that you guys had been trying to get a data center there for many years. You had already done the research that you needed to understand the business, so I thought when we met for the first time we were on equal footing, meaning you guys had a lot of information on what we would try to bring to the table, what we needed. I just felt we were on the same page.”
Jim Ediger, ADC president, reported that a great deal of time and effort was invested in making sure a data center would be a good fit for the Highway 14 subdivision.
“ADC has been approached and has passed on data center prospects in the past because we did not feel like they were a good fit for this property,” Ediger said. “We did our due diligence with this project and believe that we have found the right company with the right design for both the Mission Critical property and our community.”
AAIM purchased land from ADC along East 11 Road, a lot that will be the first to tout a Kremer Avenue address in honor of the late Sen. Bob Kremer. The plan is to build a 7,300 sq. ft. metal building on a 2.5-acre site located just west of Mid-Nebraska Land Development. Dirt work was scheduled to begin this week, with Levesque sharing his intent to work with local contractors as much as possible.
“It’s going to be a metal building and it’s designed to be self-sustaining,” he said. “We also took into consideration the fact that though we’re in the industrial zone, we want to be respectful of our boundaries and our neighbors. It’s designed to be as any other building or industrial building in terms of noise, water consumption, sewer and all that.”
What is a data center?
Asked to describe the data center’s functionality, Levesque said the business model he and his partners created is to build and operate co-location facilities filled with high-tech computers. By design, AAIM oversees the center’s infrastructure, network locations and energy management.
Also of note, a gross revenue tax will be collected on electricity used at the center, with the City of Aurora contracted to receive a 2 percent franchise fee on all electricity sales once the property is annexed into the city in late 2026 or early 2027.
“We own the infrastructure and we operate them,” Levesque said of company’s existing operations near Columbia, Mo. “We’re putting people’s equipment into our facility. So imagine a condo complex where you would have tenants. We own the condo complex. We manage it and we control everything from start to finish. It’s high-tech and it’s designed to be able to power identity servers, or High Performance Computing (also known as HPC). We don’t have a client locked in for the facility yet and we’re agnostic to this.”
The Aurora data center’s initial capacity will be around 5 megawatts (MW), Levesque noted, though the plan is to ramp that up to a targeted 15MW within the first year as AAIM has space within its 2.5-acre lot to expand.
As for the number of jobs to be created, Levesque had this to say.
“Once the data center is energized, most likely we will need around four or five employees, but there will be in-direct jobs as well,” he said. “We’re trying to hire local (subcontractors), so those in-direct jobs are very important. Our initial goal is that we want to show the community that we are going to be a good corporate citizen, doing it step by step and being very respectful. I have learned in business that win-win deals are best. That is what is sustainable and I think that is what is fair.”
In addition, Levesque said his hope and plan is to maximize his company’s presence in the community by looking for opportunities to create other businesses, not necessarily related to the data center.
“We want to work closely with our partners, NPPD and ADC,” he said. ‘We’re trying to plan for the future so it is much easier if we locked in an option to grow now on from a plan. Without going into details, we’re looking at other alternative businesses not related to the center overall as well.
“We like to diversify,” he continued. “When we set up shop somewhere, we have to hire people locally and you also have to have a team that is able to respond 24/7. By having this team in place already, we’re trying to maximize and see if we could do other business related to that.”
Levesque said he is excited to see what the future holds for his company in Aurora, though the initial focus is on getting the center operational.
“Working with our local partners we are very confident that we will be able to get this up and running by Q2 (the second quarter) of next year,” he said. “We don’t foresee a lot of delay because of the winter. Working with local partners, you guys have a lot of experience doing work during the winter, so we estimate some delays, but not a complete shutdown.
“Like I said, the idea is to work with the local community to be able to implement the project,” he concluded. “Kelsey (Bergen) and the ADC board helped a lot. I didn’t rush people because it takes time to do it properly. We went through all the processes and got a permit last week. We’re pretty happy with the results so far.”
Now that AAIM’s pending arrival has been announced, Levesque said he looks forward to spending time in Aurora.
“Honestly, when I walked around the town square I had a great feeling,” he concluded. “I have already found my favorite coffee shop, which is just a bonus. Like I said earlier, we felt the interaction we had with all the participants has been great. Some people may have more questions and we’re happy to answer them, but the way we were welcomed as a business into the community has been great.”
Background
A native of Quebec, Levesque grew up in a small town near Montreal. He studied in college for a semester before going to work 19 years ago with a partner who introduced him to data center space. Eight years ago, he helped fund Bitfarms, which is now listed on the NASDAQ/TSX, where he helped secure and build more than 60MW of the company’s mining capacity. He later went on to build Tier-3 data centers with a private Canadian company.
Levesque eventually decided to go out on his own, launching AAIM DataCenters, which specializes in High Performance Computing operations. The company has 20MW operations currently being built out, with plans to operate 70MW by the fourth quarter of 2024.
https://www.auroranewsregister.com/news/data-center-be-built-mission-critical
