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Amazon Announces Agreement with Corning to Boost U.S. Fiber Optics Manufacturing

William Attardi on June 11, 2026

Amazon announced a multibillion-dollar agreement with Corning Incorporated, a leading manufacturer of advanced glass and fiber optic technology, to supply the optical fiber, cable, and connectivity solutions that power Amazon’s expanding data center infrastructure across the United States. The investment will create 1,000 new, highly skilled jobs at Corning’s manufacturing facilities across North Carolina, and support hundreds of additional construction jobs to expand Corning’s facilities. Through the agreement, Amazon will work with Corning on a new program that will expand its Fiber Optic Technician Training Program with Catawba Valley Community College to train students for careers in fiber optic manufacturing and related technical roles. https://www.ledinside.com/news/2026/6/2026_06_10_03

Report: Global Data Center Capex Projection Passes $1 Trillion

William Attardi on June 11, 2026

According to a recently published report by Dell’Oro Group, the worldwide data center capex outlook for 2026 was raised as hyperscale AI deployments accelerated, complemented by continued investments in general-purpose infrastructure and rising component costs. Dell’Oro Group’s Data Center IT Capex Quarterly Report details the data center infrastructure capital expenditures of each of the ten largest Cloud service providers Additional highlights from the 1Q 2026 Data Center IT Capex Quarterly Report:

  • The global data center capex outlook was raised to more than $1 trillion for 2026.
  • The Top 4 US cloud providers—Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft—increased data center capex by 78 percent.
  • Dell led server OEM revenue in the quarter, followed by Supermicro and Lenovo, while white-box vendors serving the hyperscale market accounted for the majority of server revenue. Nearly all server vendors benefited from higher memory-driven system pricing.

Report: Global Data Center Capex Projection Passes $1 Trillion

TSMC Says It Can’t Meet Chip Demand

William Attardi on June 4, 2026

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturing company, says it will take “a very long time” to meet the current computer chip demand due to AI. CEO C.C. Wei says the ongoing demand for advanced computing and cutting-edge semiconductors will not slow down due to the growth of AI. TSMC recently invested nearly $165 billion to increase manufacturing at it’s U.S. location in Arizona. The investment is expected to play a significant role in supporting U.S. customers over the long term. But, Wei admitted that fully meeting domestic demand through American production alone will take a “very long time.” Business News Today – tEDmag

 

Electrical Wholesaling’s 2026 Top 100 Ranking

William Attardi on June 4, 2026

This year’s listing of the largest electrical distributors in North America is sponsored by LEDVANCE. Electrical Wholesaling’s2026 Top 100 electrical distributors remain quite bullish on their 2026 sales prospects despite economic uncertainty in the overall economy because of the war in Iran, the related spike in inflation, a still-slumbering residential market and sluggish new office construction in many metros. Despite these concerns, the average 2025 revenue increase for the 70-plus distributors who provided sales data was +9.3%. Data centers were by far the most common large construction projects mentioned by Top 100 execs. Leon Mowadia, COO, Facility Solutions Group (FSG) , Austin, TX, said FSG has also worked on several large Manhattan office buildings, as well as Netflix’s studio being built in Fort Monmouth, NJ, and other large commercial projects in Denver, Chicago and Los Angeles.  Electrical Wholesaling’s 2026 Top 100 Ranking | Electrical Wholesaling

Successfully Incorporating AI Into Building by Gretchen Catlin

William Attardi on June 4, 2026

Operations Artificial Intelligence (AI) is emerging as one of the most practical tools: not as a replacement for skilled staff, but as a workforce multiplier that captures knowledge, sharpens decisions and extends the capacity of the teams we have. Key Takeaways:

  • With a large portion of the facilities workforce nearing retirement, AI can help preserve critical institutional knowledge before it is lost.
  • AI can improve facility operations by supporting predictive maintenance, analyzing data and streamlining everyday tasks such as communications, documentation and capital planning.
  • Organizations can successfully adopt AI by starting with small, practical applications while addressing cybersecurity, cost and workforce training considerations.

Successfully Incorporating AI Into Building Operations – Facilities Management Insights

Walmart Enters the Facility Services Industry by Elaina Myers

William Attardi on June 3, 2026

Walmart is stepping into the facility services arena. Known for running one of the largest retail operations in the world, the company is turning the maintenance experience behind its thousands of stores into a commercial service for businesses nationwide. Upstream Facility Serviceswas launched in April 2026 and will use the same systems and technician network Walmart uses to maintain its stores and Sam’s Club locations. Upstream will offer HVAC, refrigeration, plumbing, electrical and general maintenance services combined with urgent repair responses and preventive and predictive strategies. The goal is to reduce downtime, extend asset life and improve operational consistency, according to the company. Because of the high volume of Walmart locations, they will be able to deploy technicians close to customer locations nationwide. This density could offer faster response times than other regional vendors.  Walmart Enters the Facility Services Industry – Facility Management Maintenance & Operations Quick Read

NAED, IDEA Launch ProjectNexus From ‘Where’s My Stuff?’

William Attardi on June 3, 2026

NAED has selected the joint venture of IDEA and Pull Logic to build ProjectNexus, the first industry-owned middleware solution giving the electrical channel real-time visibility into order status, from manufacturer to job site. Tracking material across the electrical supply chain still means phone calls, emails, and endless spreadsheets. Frontline teams spend their days fire-fighting instead of moving projects forward. A first-of-its-kind, industry-owned middleware solution that lets manufacturers, reps, and distributors share trusted order and shipment information directly between systems. ProjectNexus – IDEA

  • Real-time PO Status – Every order, every line. Confirmed, in production, shipped, or delayed.
  • Proactive ESD alerts – Slips flagged before the call comes in. From reactive to proactive.
  • Secure and role-based – You decide what to share and with whom. Role-based controls give every partner access to exactly what they need, and nothing more.

DOE Issues Request for AI Information

William Attardi on May 28, 2026

(DOE) The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is helping ensure America leads the world in Artificial Intelligence (AI) while helping to lower energy costs by co-locating data centers and new energy infrastructure on DOE lands. To support this effort, DOE’s Office of Policy released a Request for Information (RFI) the full PDF RFI to inform possible use of DOE land for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure development to support growing demand for data centers. DOE has identified 16 potential sites uniquely positioned for rapid data center construction, including in-place energy infrastructure with the ability to fast-track permitting for new energy generation such as nuclear. The Department is seeking input from data center developers, energy developers, and the broader public to further advance this partnership. DOE Issues Request for AI Information

NVIDIA to Invest Up to $500B in AI Data Center Construction in US

William Attardi on May 28, 2026

NVIDIA is working with its manufacturing partners to design and build factories that, for the first time, will produce NVIDIA AI supercomputers entirely in the U.S.NVIDIA Blackwell chips have started production at TSMC’s chip plants in Phoenix, Arizona. NVIDIA is building supercomputer manufacturing plants in Texas, with Foxconn in Houston and with Wistron in Dallas. Mass production at both plants is expected to ramp up in the next 12-15 months. Within the next four years, NVIDIA plans to produce up to half a trillion dollars of AI infrastructure in the United States through partnerships with TSMC, Foxconn, Wistron, Amkor and SPIL. .  NVIDIA AI supercomputers are the engines of a new type of data center created for the sole purpose of processing artificial intelligence — AI factories. NVIDIA to Invest Up to $500B in AI Data Center Construction in US – tEDmag

Nvidia to Increase Spend in Taiwan by $150 Billion

William Attardi on May 28, 2026

Nvidia announced its plan to expand spending on chip manufacturing in Taiwan to $150 billion, up from $10 billion just a few years ago. By the end of the year, Nvidia will have a brand-new office complex called Constellation, and could have as many as  4,000 employees in northern Taipei when it opens by the end of the decade. Right now, Nvidia has about 1,000 employees in Taiwan. Nvidia will design the new AI computer chips. TSMC, the world’s largest chip maker, will manufacture them. As a result, Nvidia will be TSMC’s largest customer, surpassing Apple. Business News Today – tEDmag

Remembering the Solemn Purpose of Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States observed on the last Monday in May to honor and mourn U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the armed forces. The holiday traces its roots to the years immediately following the American Civil War (1861–1865), which caused massive casualties—roughly 620,000 soldiers dead, about 2% of the U.S. population at the time. Communities across the North and South began spontaneously decorating the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers, wreaths, and flags, a practice that gave rise to the original name: Decoration Day. On May 5, 1868, Major General John A. Logan, commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR)—a powerful Union veterans’ organization—issued General Order No. 11. This proclaimed May 30, 1868, as a nationwide “Decoration Day” to honor those who died in the Civil War. After World War I, the holiday expanded to honor all American service members who died in any war, not just the Civil War.  In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act to create more three-day weekends for federal employees. This moved Memorial Day to the last Monday in May, effective in 1971, when it was also officially named “Memorial Day.” As one 1868 quote put it: “That Nation which respects and honors its dead, shall ever be respected and honored itself.”