Data centers can represent significant construction and economic-development opportunities. These highly specialized facilities require substantial investments in electrical systems, backup power, cooling infrastructure, security, telecommunications, and building controls.

They can also place unusual demands on the communities in which they operate.

Unlike a typical commercial building, a data center can require enormous amounts of electricity, operate critical computing and cooling equipment around the clock, and generate continuous mechanical noise. Its infrastructure demands can affect electric utility capacity, adjacent land uses, infrastructure investment, and long-term community planning.

St. Louis’ new framework attempts to establish expectations before proposals reach the construction phase.

Greater Certainty—With Additional Responsibilities

For owners and developers, clearly defined regulations can provide something every project needs: predictability.

Knowing where a facility may be located and which environmental, operational, and community requirements will apply allows project teams to evaluate feasibility earlier. It also makes early coordination with utilities, design professionals, public officials and surrounding neighborhoods increasingly important.

Project teams considering data center work in the city should expect greater attention to:

• Site selection and zoning compliance
• Electrical and utility capacity
• Mechanical-system noise
• Environmental impacts
• Community engagement
• Long-term operational performance

These issues will need to be addressed during planning—not after design is substantially complete.

Why It Matters to the St. Louis Bi-State Region

Data centers are becoming a major construction market, but for the St. Louis region, their impact could extend well beyond the facilities themselves. One of the most significant concerns for owners and the broader AEC community is workforce capacity.

Data centers are highly labor-intensive projects with particularly strong demand for electricians, mechanical trades, controls specialists, pipefitters, and other skilled workers. As multiple large projects compete for an already constrained workforce, the effects can ripple across the entire regional construction market.



For SLC3 members, that could mean greater competition for skilled labor, rising labor rates, reduced workforce availability, longer schedules, and increased project costs—even for owners who never build a data center.

This makes workforce planning a regional issue, not simply a data center issue. Owners may need to engage contractors and trade partners earlier, evaluate labor availability during project planning, consider procurement and scheduling strategies, and build greater flexibility into budgets and timelines.

Data center investment can bring substantial construction activity to the region, but the industry must also prepare for what that level of demand could mean for every other project competing for the same skilled workforce. Understanding and planning for that ripple effect may be one of the most important conversations our region needs to have now.

Why Construction Owners Should Pay Attention to the 2026 New Markets Tax Credit Round

Some projects with the greatest potential community impact are also the hardest to finance.

On September 17, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund opened the 2026 New Markets Tax Credit allocation round, making $5 billion in allocation authority available for investment in qualifying low-income communities.

Although the program operates through specialized financial and community-development organizations, its effects can be highly tangible: renovated buildings, expanded manufacturing facilities, community-serving developments, new jobs, and construction activity in areas where conventional financing may not be sufficient.

How the Program Works

The New Markets Tax Credit program encourages private investment in economically distressed communities.

Certified Community Development Entities receive authority to offer federal tax credits to investors. Those organizations then direct the resulting capital into qualifying businesses and projects. Investors may claim credits totaling 39% of their qualified investment over seven years.

Since the program began in 2000, the federal government has awarded $91 billion in allocation authority. According to the CDFI Fund, the program has supported millions of square feet of manufacturing, office, and retail development while creating or retaining more than 950,000 jobs.

What the City’s New Regulatory Framework Means for Owners, Developers and Project Teams

As demand for artificial intelligence, cloud computing and digital services grows, communities across the country are preparing for a new wave of data center development.

The City of St. Louis has now established its own framework for managing that growth.

On September 17, Mayor Cara Spencer signed Board Bill 49 into law, updating the city’s zoning code to create specific land-use requirements and community protections for future data center projects. City officials describe it as one of the country’s most comprehensive municipal approaches to data center regulation.

A New St. Louis Program Is Preparing Participants for Building-Trades Apprenticeships

The construction industry cannot deliver tomorrow’s projects without building tomorrow’s workforce.

That effort gained new momentum this month as the Missouri Works Initiative launched a new St. Louis Apprenticeship Ready Program in Construction. The program runs from September 14 through October 16 and is designed to prepare participants to enter registered building-trades apprenticeship programs.

Rather than placing individuals directly onto jobsites without preparation, the program helps participants understand what the skilled trades require and equips them to compete for formal apprenticeship opportunities.

Apprenticeships Remain a Critical Entry Point

Registered apprenticeships offer one of the construction industry’s most effective workforce-development models. Participants earn wages while learning a trade through a combination of classroom instruction and supervised, hands-on experience.

However, beginning an apprenticeship can still present barriers.

Applicants may be unfamiliar with the available trades, entrance requirements, jobsite expectations or long-term career opportunities. Some need assistance developing basic industry knowledge and workplace readiness before they can successfully move into a registered program.

Apprenticeship-ready initiatives help bridge that gap.

Why Preparation Matters to Employers

Workforce development is not simply about bringing more people into construction. It is about helping people enter the industry prepared to remain, advance and succeed.

Participants who understand attendance expectations, jobsite culture, safety responsibilities and the demands of construction work are better positioned to complete apprenticeships and become productive journey-level workers.

That matters because the cost of workforce turnover extends far beyond recruitment. It affects productivity, training capacity, scheduling, safety and the ability to staff future projects.

Pre-apprenticeship programs can help create a more reliable pipeline by allowing individuals to make an informed commitment before entering a trade.

The Owner’s Role in Workforce Development

Owners may not directly recruit apprentices, but their project decisions influence the strength of the regional labor pipeline.

Long-term capital planning, realistic schedules, consistent project demand, and support for workforce partnerships all give contractors and labor organizations greater confidence to invest in training.

Owners can also ask important questions during procurement:

• How is the project team developing new workers?
• Which apprenticeship programs does it support?
• How will entry-level workers be trained and supervised?
• What steps are being taken to improve retention?
• How will workforce availability affect the project schedule?

These conversations make workforce capacity part of project planning instead of a problem discovered after construction begins.

These conversations make workforce capacity part of project planning instead of a problem discovered after construction begins.

Why It Matters to the Region

• The St. Louis region has billions of dollars in proposed and active construction work. And, delivering that work will require more than projects, materials, and technology. It will require people.
• The new Apprenticeship Ready Program represents an important front door into the industry—one that can connect more St. Louis residents with sustainable careers while strengthening the labor pipeline available to regional owners and contractors.
• Workforce development is not separate from project delivery. It is one of the conditions that makes successful project delivery possible.

When Everything Is a Priority, Nothing Is

Have you ever started your morning with a plan—and by 9:30 a.m. you were already working on something completely different?

Welcome to the modern workday.

An email arrives. Someone needs a quick answer. A client calls. A project issue surfaces. A meeting gets added. Someone stops by with, "Do you have a minute?"

Suddenly, the work you thought was important has been replaced by whatever arrived most recently.

And by the end of the day, you've been incredibly busy—but you're not sure you accomplished what actually mattered.

That's a capacity problem.

Not Everything Can Be a Priority

When we have 15 priorities, we really have none.

One simple way to regain control is something we're calling the 3-3-3 Reset.

At the beginning of your day, identify:

• 3 things that truly need to happen.

Not everything you'd like to accomplish. What actually matters today?

• 3 things that can wait.

Make a conscious decision to postpone them instead of carrying them around mentally all day.

• 3 things someone else can handle.

Delegate, automate, ask for help—or consider whether they need to be done at all.

That's it.

Nine decisions before the day starts.

Here's the Hard Part

Once you've identified your three priorities, you have to protect them.

Before abandoning one because another email, request or problem appears, ask:

"Is this more important than what I already decided was important today?"

Sometimes the answer will absolutely be yes.

Construction and design don't always cooperate with our calendars.

But you'd be surprised how often the answer is no.

Try It Tomorrow

Before opening your inbox, write down your 3-3-3.

Then see what happens.

You may not get everything done.

That's not the goal.

The goal is making sure the right things get done.

Because reducing burnout doesn't always require a vacation, a new productivity app or a complete lifestyle overhaul.

Sometimes it starts with deciding what deserves your attention today—and what doesn't.

Materials Management: Procurement Has Become a Strategic Advantage

Not long ago, procurement was viewed primarily as an administrative function—order the materials, track delivery, and keep the project moving. Today, it has become one of the most strategic components of successful project delivery.

The Construction Industry Institute (CII) recognizes Materials Management as a Best Practice because the availability of materials directly impacts labor productivity, project schedules, and overall project performance.

In today’s market, it’s not uncommon for critical equipment such as electrical switchgear, transformers, generators, HVAC equipment, and specialty mechanical components to have lead times measured in months rather than weeks. If those materials aren’t available when the workforce is ready, valuable labor sits idle, schedules slip, and costs increase.

Forward-thinking owners are changing their approach by engaging procurement much earlier in the project lifecycle. Rather than waiting until construction begins, they’re identifying long-lead items during design, coordinating closely with suppliers, exploring alternate products when appropriate, and sequencing work around procurement realities.

This proactive strategy doesn’t just protect the schedule—it helps maximize the productivity of today’s limited workforce.

Questions Every Owner Should Ask

• What materials have the longest lead times?
• Can any critical equipment be released early?
• Are there approved alternate products if availability changes?
• How will procurement delays affect the construction schedule?
• Are suppliers communicating regularly with the project team?

As labor shortages continue and demand for construction grows, the companies that successfully integrate procurement into project planning will be better positioned to deliver projects on time and with fewer surprises.



Owner Takeaway

The right people can’t install materials that haven’t arrived. Strategic procurement planning ensures skilled labor stays productive instead of waiting on deliveries.

Industry Insight

Many of today’s highest-performing project teams now include procurement discussions during the earliest planning meetings—not after design is complete. By treating materials management as a project strategy instead of a purchasing task, owners can reduce risk, improve schedule certainty, and keep projects moving despite ongoing supply chain challenges.