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January 9, 2024
HARRISON – Involta, a colocation, hybrid IT and managed services firm, is expanding its reach into Northeast Wisconsin with the purchase of a data center in the Village of Harrison.
The Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based company purchased a facility on a 24.5-acre site formerly owned by Kimberly-Clark Corp.
Brett Lindsey, who was named Involta’s CEO earlier this month, said Involta has already begun tours of the facility for businesses interested in using the data center.
The goal, Lindsey said, is to create a campus that will eventually provide up to 20 megawatts of capacity.
He said the data center will support the fast-growing needs and performance requirements of critical high-tech industries with the colocation and services needed for enterprise workloads and AI applications.
A growing trend in business colocation, Lindsey said, is when organizations place their servers and essential computing hardware for data storage in space rented in a physical data center owned by a third party.
Brett Lindsey
“The demand for these types of services is high, especially in finance, manufacturing and health care – three industries that are strong in the (Northeast Wisconsin) area,” he said. “Though, we are also getting interest from businesses outside of that sector.”
Brandon Yansky, Involta’s vice president of new markets, said the data center’s purchase will amplify the company’s capacity to drive unmatched business evolution across Northeast Wisconsin and beyond.
“This is our first double-digit data center campus investment, and the New North region is the ideal location to expand our footprint on a large scale,” he said.
New North, Inc. President and CEO Barb LaMue said Involta and the services it provides will be an economic boon to the region.
“We’re looking forward to Involta stimulating growth across key sectors with the data center capacity and expertise needed to enable modern business technology advancements,” she said. “Involta’s dedication to the communities it serves, combined with sustainability efforts and entrepreneurial spirit, closely align with New North’s mission. We look forward to collaborating for years to come.”
More about Involta
Involta has 12 other data center locations in the United States.
The investment in the Harrison site, Yanksy said, is the company’s largest to date.
“The Green Bay market is a sought-after region to be located in,” he said. “As this market continues to grow, our evolving footprint in this vibrant region will deliver the capacity, fiber infrastructure and hybrid IT services required to support high-performance computing for the most demanding and complex regulated industries.”
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The new Involta campus is located in northern Calumet County, about 40 miles south of Green Bay.
Lindsey said the facility will utilize the Involta SecurePower colocation model, which provides mission-critical data center space coupled with industry-leading power, security and connectivity services directly embedded into its facilities.
“We’re looking to grow in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets and across the Midwest, and the data centers are key pieces,” he said.
Lindsey – who brings three decades of telecommunications industry experience to his new role at Involta, most recently working at Everstream (an internet service provider based in Cleveland, Ohio), where he served as CEO for eight years – said the region’s moderate temperatures help regulate power demands, making the location an attractive site for a data center.
The Harrison location, Lindsey said, will:
Serve as the epicenter of Involta’s expansive data center networkBoost the company’s future development of energy-efficient data centers while bringing its robust, redundant fiber infrastructure to WisconsinDrive more connectivity and deliver increased access to its other data centers in Iowa and Minnesota to Ohio
Initially, Yansky said Involta would have a few employees on-site to maintain the data center but would eventually add more employees, including salespeople.
“As we grow, we will add more people, potentially up to 15 or more,” he said. “Involta not only creates jobs but helps organizations reduce their overall spending through our services.
Involta has acquired a 24.5-acre site housing an existing data center in the Northeast Wisconsin area – more specifically in the Village of Harrison. Submitted Photo
Yansky said Involta is looking to not only strengthen relationships with businesses in the New North but the Milwaukee and Madison markets as well.
“This unique project also emphasizes our dedication to innovation, delivering more tech-driven opportunities to the area with the expanded capacity, scalability and fiber infrastructure to support high-performance compute, private cloud, edge and secure interconnectivity,” he said.
President Joe Biden recently designated the State of Wisconsin as a Regional Technology Hub for its leadership in the personal medicine and biohealth fields.
Gov. Tony Evers said those industries in the Badger State will rely more on AI and big data and require large amounts of local computing power, which Yansky said Involta can provide.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who advocated for Wisconsin’s designation as a hub, said the state has a long tradition of innovation, and bringing a Tech Hub to Wisconsin will help it continue that legacy into the future.
LaMue said the designation and attractive tax incentives helped attract Involta to the region.
She also said the Involta data center will also serve as a recruitment and development asset for the 18 counties of the New North.
