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DIRECTOR FIBER

KURT STOEVER – COO

February 2024

https://www.dcblox.com/

Andy Lane @ CFS Partners

M +414 807 4085
andy@criticalfacility.com

DC BLOX COMPANY OVERVIEW

 

DC BLOX vision is simple. Serve Locally, Connect Globally – Our mission is to empower growing communities with the digital infrastructure required to thrive in the digital economy. We do this by developing and operating secure, reliable tier III data centers, a robust connectivity ecosystem, and dark fiber solutions to businesses in growing markets in the Southeast US.

The rapid business growth in the Southeastern US, the massive increase in the production of data, and the desire of hyperscale cloud providers, technology companies, and content providers to deploy infrastructure closer to their consumers in the region is driving massive investments to expand digital infrastructure. The accelerating scale of digital communications and the need for richer user experiences in accessing content is driving demand for data center capacity across the region, with Atlanta alone expecting over 1 gigawatt of absorption over the next 10 years.

With its capabilities to fund, build and manage data centers and dark fiber networks across the region, DC BLOX is in an excellent position to capitalize on these compelling industry opportunities.

DC BLOX understands that businesses are facing increasing challenges that will have a profound impact on their ability to compete and grow in their markets. Key business challenges include:

  • Digital transformation is changing the way businesses operate and deliver services, requiring an ability to connect customers to infrastructure in their markets and across the globe.
  • The paradigms of IT infrastructure are radically shifting. The cloud, SaaS, and virtualization require businesses to increase their agility to shift to the speed of business today.
  • New physical and network infrastructure is needed, and businesses must work with state and local governments to build that infrastructure and to develop the workforce and culture to grow their tech economies.
  • DC BLOX exists to provide foundational infrastructure for the digital economy, focused on serving growing markets where secure, reliable multi-tenant data centers is limited.

MAP OF CURRENT AND FUTURE LOCATIONS

 

Current DC BLOX data center locations are in Atlanta, GA, Chattanooga, TN, Huntsville, AL, Birmingham, AL, Greenville, SC and our most recently completed Cable Landing Station and data center campus located in Myrtle Beach, SC.  There are several others in various planning phases with major announcements expected soon.

TIER III COLOCATION DATA CENTERS ACROSS THE SOUTHEASTERN, US

 

Atlanta East, GARockdale County, GA Hyperscale Data Center Campus (Coming Soon)
– One 30MW and One 80MW building with possibility of future expansion
-Dark fiber to 55/56 Marietta, 180 Peachtree and Myrtle Beach

Atlanta West, GADouglas County, GA Hyperscale Data Center Campus (Coming Soon)
– One 80MW and One 40MW building
– Dark fiber to 55/56 Marietta, 180 Peachtree and Myrtle Beach

Birmingham, ALhttps://www.dcblox.com/data-centers/birmingham/
The Birmingham data center is located in downtown Birmingham near UAB’s campus and the Innovation Depot, with easy access from Birmingham Shuttlesworth Airport and I-65. It is a 31,000 square foot colocation facility and is phase 1 of our plan to develop a Technology and Innovation Campus that will drive the connected digital economy in Birmingham and all of Alabama.
-31K sq ft, expandable to 200K sq ft / 5MW critical load, expandable to 60MW / Tier III N+1 generator backup, UPS, and cooling / Private, optical connectivity across the SE – 100% SLA

Chattanooga, TNhttps://www.dcblox.com/data-centers/chattanooga/
The Chattanooga data center is Strategically located within 150 miles of major metropolitan areas, so surrounding cities like Atlanta, Knoxville and Nashville can benefit from Chattanooga’s Gig. Its location also makes it an ideal Disaster Recovery site to businesses in nearby cities.
– 8K sq ft, expandable to 16K sq ft / 1 MW critical load, expandable to 3.5MW / Tier III N+1 generator backup, UPS, and cooling / Private, optical connectivity across the SE – 100% SLA

Huntsville, ALhttps://www.dcblox.com/data-centers/huntsville/
Huntsville is the fastest growing metro in Alabama with a strong industry base in government, manufacturing, healthcare and professional services. Located near Redstone Arsenal, the Marshall Space Flight Center and Cummings Research Park, DC BLOX serves the needs of the Huntsville business community with a secure Tier 3 colocation facility equipped with high-speed connectivity to Internet Exchanges, other DC BLOX data centers and public cloud providers.
– 9K sq ft, expandable to 52K sq ft / 1.5MW critical load, expandable to 13.5MW / Tier III N+1 generator backup, UPS, and cooling / Private, optical connectivity across the SE – 100% SLA

 Greenville, SChttps://www.dcblox.com/data-centers/greenville/
The DC BLOX Greenville data center will be located in the Global Business Park off of I-85 and less than 2 miles from the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research. The data center, designed to Uptime Institute’s Tier III standards, is the first-of-its-kind multi-tenant data center located in South Carolina.
– Up to 54K sq ft of data hall space / 1.5MW critical load, expandable to 16.5MW / Tier III N+1 generator backup, UPS, and cooling / Private optical connectivity across the SE – 100% SLA

High Point, NChttps://www.dcblox.com/data-centers/high-point/
– Up to 54K sq ft of data hall space / Up to 18MW critical load / Tier III N+1 generator backs, UPS, and cooling / Private, optical connectivity across the SE – 100% SLA

 Myrtle Beach, SC – Cable Landing Station https://www.dcblox.com/data-centers/myrtle-beach-sc-cable-landing-station/
In partnership with global hyperscale partners, DC BLOX is redefining the hyperscale Cable Landing Station (CLS) with its new facility in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, set to open in the second quarter of 2023. The Myrtle Beach CLS will be located in the International Technology & Aerospace Park (ITAP).

CONNECTIVITY & DARK FIBER SOLUTIONS

 

DC BLOX provides Data Center Connectivity Services for easy, reliable, and cost-effective network integration between all of the components of their customer’s IT infrastructure. In addition, DC BLOX Dark Fiber solutions and Custom-Network Construction services enable the most scalable, high-capacity network solutions to meet specific customer network needs.  READ MORE 

DC BLOX Connectivity eXchange = DCB : CX

The DC BLOX Connectivity eXchange enables participants anywhere within the DC BLOX connectivity ecosystem to peer across a high-bandwidth, low-latency software-defined fabric. https://www.dcblox.com/data-center-connectivity/connectivity-exchange/

Dark Fiber –

While traditional providers are focused on filling existing pipes in major cities, DC BLOX strategically designed routes connect to all the places their customers need to be in the Southeast for subsea access, cloud performance and key peering points at the edge and at hyperscale capacities. DC BLOX is building the first dark fiber route between the new Myrtle Beach cable landing station in South Carolina, connecting through Charleston, Augusta, Atlanta’s major connectivity centers, and landing in Lithia Springs Georgia. Using our knowledge and relationships in the local region, we negotiated key rights of way to give high-capacity enterprises and hyperscalers the only direct east-west option in this part of the country.

https://www.dcblox.com/data-center-connectivity/dark-fiber/

ATLANTA TO MYRTLE BEACH ROUTE

Atlanta to Myrtle Beach Dark Fiber Route
DC BLOX built the first dark fiber route between the new Myrtle Beach cable landing station inSouth Carolina, connecting through Charleston, Augusta, Atlanta’s major connectivity centers, and landing in Lithia Springs Georgia. – https://www.dcblox.com/atlanta-to-myrtle-beach-dark-fiber-route/

Custom Network Construction –
DC BLOX designs and builds digital infrastructure, be it new dark fiber, cable landing stations or data centers – https://www.dcblox.com/data-center-connectivity/custom-network-design-construction/

Cloud Ramp –
Cloud Ramp provides private, high-performance network connectivity to public cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure – https://www.dcblox.com/data-center-connectivity/cloud-ramp/

Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) –
Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) is a multi-homed service with speeds from 50Mbps to 10Gbps and more – https://www.dcblox.com/data-center-connectivity/dedicated-internet-access/

Ethernet Services –
DC BLOX is now MEF 2.0 certified and include Ethernet Private Line (EPL), Ethernet Virtual Private Line (EVPL) and Ethernet Virtual LAN (E-LAN) – https://www.dcblox.com/data-center-connectivity/ethernet-services/

Hybrid IT –
Flexible Hybrid IT Solutions allow customers to choose what workloads are in public clouds and what systems remain on premise or in a DC BLOX colocation facility – https://www.dcblox.com/data-center-connectivity/hybrid-it/

Peer-to-Peer Connectivity –
DC BLOX data centers provide customers access to a private, high-speed network fabric that enables interconnection with any organization in any DC BLOX data center – https://www.dcblox.com/data-center-connectivity/connectivity-exchange/

Rural Broadband –
DC BLOX Southeast regional network ecosystem enables rural broadband cooperatives to offer businesses and residents reliable, high-speed Internet and access to a variety of public and private digital services – https://www.dcblox.com/data-center-connectivity/rural-broadband-cooperative-solutions/

DC BLOX LEADERSHIP TEAM

The DC BLOX leadership team is comprised of seasoned entrepreneurs, service providers and technology innovators with a fervent desire to change the data center and connectivity landscape in the southeastern United States. With over 200 years of combined experience in data center, networking, cloud, and managed services, we share a passion for building data centers with the services needed to meet the advanced IT needs of today’s growing enterprises, hyperscale customers and beyond. https://www.dcblox.com/leadership/

Jeff Uphues 

CEO

Executive Bio

LinkedIn Profile

Mark Masi

EVP Data Center Development

Executive Bio

LinkedIn Profile

Chris Gatch

EVP of Corporate Development

Executive Bio

LinkedIn Profile

Kevin O’Donnell

CFO

Executive Bio

LinkedIn Profile

Kurt Stoever

COO

Executive Bio

LinkedIn Profile

John Dumler

VP Data Center Design & Engineering

Executive Bio

LinkedIn Profile

CFS Placement 2021

MELIH ILERI

SVP of Capital Markets & Strategy

Executive Bio

LinkedIn Profile

CFS Placement 2022

CULTURE – THE DC BLOX WAY

 

“We win financially and operationally because of our people, not our assets.  It’s our service mentality.” – Jeff Uphues, CEO

– Three Pillars of Cultural Growth: Trust, Teamwork and Tenacity
– Values: Integrity, Pursue Excellence, Lead through Service & Value Diversity
– Operating System: Alignment of Vision, Mission, Values to Critical Success Metrics by operating group.

DIRECTOR – FIBER

POSITION OVERVIEW

Businesses located in growing cities in the Southeastern US no longer have to settle for second-rate data centers, limited network reach, or lack of local high-capacity fiber. DC BLOX builds and operates Tier III data centers, connects them with a high-speed regional network, and offers dark fiber solutions to enable the most challenging digital transformation goals.

DC BLOX builds new, Tier III-designed, state-of-the-art data centers fully connected by high-speed, low-latency private networks throughout major and emerging markets across the Southeast. Their Connectivity Services enable customers collocated in any DC BLOX data center or connected to the DC BLOX Connectivity eXchange to get resilient Internet access, interconnect with built-in carriers and regional exchanges, and gain private access to public cloud providers.

This unique offering of data center, connectivity, and dark fiber solutions makes DC BLOX one of the fastest growing digital infrastructure companies in the world. This growth has created demand for an accomplished fiber construction and operations executive to manage and lead this important business segment in close coordination with the executive team in achieving value creation targets.

 

CHARTER

Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and working in close collaboration with sales, the Director Fiber (DF) will lead DC BLOX fiber organization’s focus on organic and inorganic growth for fiber builds and subsequent operation. The forecasted pace and speed of DC BLOX requires an operational business strategist with foresight and financial acumen to keep pace with their capital deployment and value creation charter.

The DF will be a high energy, intelligent professional who thrives in an entrepreneurial, fast-paced decision making, and dynamically shifting environment. He/She will work strategically with discretion and integrity as a convicted and responsive decision maker. He / She will possess a unique combination of talent and drive to lead and achieve operational performance goals in parallel with DC BLOX leadership team.

The DF requires a unique combination of construction, operational engineer, and business minded professional who can effectively balance strategic requirements (operational due diligence, acquisitions, integration, etc.) while setting up and effectively managing the fundamental business operational delivery and controls. The DF proactively advocates for and protects stakeholder equity value creation through operational excellence, corporate development, and leadership.

Operational Excellence

-Provide leadership and direction to the Service Delivery, Network Cost Savings, Inside Plant Installation and Outside Plant Construction Center functions.
-Provide recommendations based on analysis and projections, cost identification and allocation, and key performance indicator analysis monthly.
-Distill, interpret, and manage operational information to identify both positive and negative trends and provide supportive insights to the COO.
-Partner with the COO to develop and implement short- and long-range operational objectives, plans, budget, and forecast based on succinct goals and objectives.
– Continuously appraise the organization’s operational position and offer dynamic interpretation and forward-thinking scenario analysis.
– Manage risk and ensure operational process integrity is maintained.
– Measure, analyze, and help interpret operational information and prioritize multiple weights and measures to determine and justify appropriate resource allocation.
– Identify continuous improvement opportunities to enhance existing operational structure and processes ensuring sound internal controls and efficient decision making throughout the organization.

Corporate Development

– Participate in corporate development activities including construction and operational due diligence process.
– Prepare strategic plans for new initiatives, including industry and competitive analyses, and monitor and benchmark those previously launched.
– Participate and support COO in preparation and presentation of strategic plans
– Develop, evaluate, and analyze the fiscal impact of new construction builds on operations.
– Build an enduring foundation of operational and service excellence which supersedes any single person’s presence or participation.

Leadership

– The DF will elevate the overall talent of the construction and operations team through improved processes, productivity, efficiencies, training, and performance accountability.
– Embrace and is most effective in a dynamic, creative, entrepreneurial environment.
– Proactive self-starter with “roll up your sleeves” lead by example style with the ability to shift gears when necessary and work autonomously.
– Direct, candid, apolitical presentations to internal and external audiences including employees, Executive Team, Board, and other investors and stakeholders.
– Having a clear impassioned vision of how to bring DC BLOX core strengths and combination of assets to life, and motivating employees with clear vision and purpose.

 

KNOWLEDGE & COMPETENCIES

The DF is expected to be both a fiber subject matter expert and a business executive. Executive characteristic and communication demands include:

– Explain the relevancy of information to executive team and board of directors.
– Plan, organize, and implement the delivery of major projects. Anticipate risk factors and identify issues in advance of critical problems developing.
– Perform well in high accountability, interdependence, and optics environment.
– Negotiate effectively and command the respect of general contractors and vendors.
– Understand and implement preventive and predictive maintenance procedures.
– Solid analytical and decision-making skills to evaluate complex problems, including selecting the best solution for various circumstances.
– Strong understanding of fiber design, construction, and operational practices and how they impact delivery and contractual agreements.
– Prioritize work based on business and customer demands, articulate concepts and ideas to a non-technical audience, and lead customer-requested business reviews and audits.
– Responsible attitude, ability to take initiative and ownership, and adapt in a fast-paced environment.
– Requires travel as required to secure fiber projects and build trusted relationships with partners, prospects, and customers.

 

KEY QUALIFYING CRITERIA

Performance – Substantial experience leading fiber construction and operations performance and strategic planning process demonstrated by a successful track record of delivering fiber build and expansion projects on schedule and on budget.

Growth – Demonstrated leadership and decision making in a high growth environment related to opportunity identification, participation in due diligence, integrations, team development, and ongoing performance optimization.

Digital Ecosystem – Ideal candidate will have experience working across an integrated digital infrastructure environment (fiber, network, data centers, cable landing stations, etc.) converge to serve hyperscale, cloud, enterprise, and progressive technology customer’s complex requirements.

 Business & Financial Acumen – Growth oriented commercial disposition with innovative thought leadership and nuanced understanding of P&L, human capital leverage, resource allocation, and technology utilization.

Operational Excellence – Success in this role equates to a collective effort and pride associated with achieving more with less as it relates to technology, systems, process, and productivity. The culture is practical, direct, and fast.

 Investment Environment – Familiar with investor rates of return, asset acquisition, and platform standardization for value creation. Succinctly articulate business case scenarios related to performance status against plan, present solutions to fill gaps, and managing expectations.

Executive Leadership – Demonstrated history of leading a team to consistently perform at or above plan. Share some examples of professional growth of talent from those who have worked on your teams.

 

WHY CONSIDER THIS OPPORTUNITY WITH DC BLOX

Impact – Put your fingerprint on the formidable growth chapter of an established yet emerging company poised for continued growth and scale. The DF will impact rate of growth trajectory and value creation.

Leadership – DC BLOX’s executive teams’ precedent success and credentials growing successful businesses together rival anyone’s in the industry. The confidence in the success this organization can provide to existing and prospective customers is a rare find.

Focus – DC BLOX’s success is a result of an intense commitment to empower digital commerce across the Southeast. They are capitalizing on and leveraging their matrixed infrastructure assets to deliver a unique and exceptional value proposition in and across their target markets.

Financial StrengthDC BLOX success has attracted a myriad of financial partners to fuel the continued deployment of capital investment to create interconnected capacity across existing and new data centers, fiber, network, and cable landing station assets and operations.

Culture – DC BLOX’s culture embodies the dynamics of a start-up, with opportunities for every single person to define their contribution to progress. This requires creative, confident, forward-thinking professionals who solve problems rather than wait for answers.

 

COMPENSATION

The compensation package for the DF is comprised of a competitive base salary, annual performance bonus, and long-term incentive compensation in the form of equity participation. A comprehensive benefits program to Include medical, dental, optical, and pharmaceutical, and 401K participation is also included.

 

SEARCH PROCESS

CFS Partners makes formal candidate recommendations following a situation and interest call, receipt of resume, and establishment of mutual interest. We’ll make introductions to Kurt Stoever, COO, resulting in a short list of candidates who will meet other members of the Senior Leadership Team, either via videoconference and/or in person. A finalist will be selected and offer extended, the acceptance of which will be contingent upon positive references and background check.

For additional information or to schedule a time to connect, contact Andy Lane, Managing Partner at andy@criticalfacility.com.