SyBridge Technologies, a leader in advanced manufacturing solutions, is pleased to announce the significant expansion of its partnership with Carbon, Inc., a pioneering 3D printing company known for its Digital Light Synthesis™ (DLS™) technology.
As the first phase of this investment, SyBridge is more than doubling its dedicated manufacturing space at its Chicago-area headquarters, with a focus on DLS capacity expansion. This strategic collaboration underscores SyBridge’s commitment to investing in cutting-edge manufacturing capabilities and its dedication to scaling operations to meet increasing demand and support North American customer reshoring initiatives.
Carbon’s Preferred North American Partner
This plant expansion also marks a milestone in the growing partnership between SyBridge Technologies and Carbon, strengthening their commitment to scaling additive manufacturing in North America. Since partnering eight years ago, SyBridge has printed almost 2 million DLS parts, demonstrating extensive experience and reliability.
“We’re thrilled to further strengthen our relationship with Carbon as a preferred North American partner for high-volume DLS applications,” said Byron J. Paul, CEO of SyBridge Technologies. “This investment establishes SyBridge as the largest domestic solution for cost-effective, high-volume DLS production, enabling American companies to localize manufacturing, reduce supply chain risks, eliminate tariff exposure, and lower total production costs.”
Philip DeSimone, CEO, Carbon, stated, “SyBridge has been an invaluable partner in advancing the adoption of DLS in North America. This latest expansion reinforces its position as a leader in high-volume additive manufacturing giving our customers globally a North American production partner that can help reduce dependence upon overseas contract manufacturers. SyBridge’s commitment to innovation and efficiency aligns perfectly with Carbon’s vision for the future of manufacturing.”
The DLS Manufacturing Advantage
Carbon’s DLS technology delivers significant advantages over traditional manufacturing methods:
Enhanced Design Freedom: The technology enables complex geometries that could not be made with other forms of manufacturing and excels in flexible lattices for foam replacement applications.
Accuracy and Repeatability: The Carbon DLS process offers excellent accuracy and repeatability, within tolerances as tight as +/-40 μm.
Consumer-Grade Production: The Carbon platform enables end-use consumer products that offer comfort, performance, and protection benefits with extensive color capabilities and options for customization.
Cost-Effective Scaling: SyBridge’s lean manufacturing approach makes high-volume DLS production economically viable.
About SyBridge Technologies
SyBridge Technologies is a global leader in precision tooling and advanced manufacturing solutions. We are North America’s second largest injection molding tooling platform with capabilities that span the product lifecycle, from design and prototyping through to high volume tooling and aftermarket services. SyBridge Technologies is backed by Crestview Partners and comprises acquisitions of 15 industry leaders that bring together different products, services, and technologies into a unified technology-enabled platform. SyBridge is headquartered in Itasca, Illinois and operates through 18 locations across North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information, please visit www.SyBridge.com.
About Carbon
Carbon is a leader in 3D printing technology, enabling companies to develop superior products and bring them to market faster. The Carbon DLS™ process, utilizing state-of-the-art printers, advanced software, and high-quality materials, empowers engineers and designers to surpass conventional expectations in product development. Carbon’s innovative solutions support prototyping, low-volume production, and scale production, offering a robust network for printing functional end-use parts as needed. Headquartered in Redwood City, CA, Carbon is dedicated to advancing the future of manufacturing. To learn more, visit www.carbon3d.com.
For those interested in economic development, few things are more frustrating than untapped potential. For Carol Stream, a community known for its thriving industrial sector, the epitome of untapped potential was, until recently, an abandoned property that sat vacant for nearly a decade.
Once the site of a sprawling chemical plant—complete with a production facility, a warehouse, and an R&D laboratory—the property was abandoned in the early 2010s. At the time, many in the community assumed that a buyer would soon come along. Yes, the property needed work; the buildings had to be demolished, and the soil remediated. But then again, it was 11 acres at the heart of central DuPage, in a community with one of the region’s highest industrial concentrations. Of course it would sell.
But then, it didn’t. Nearly ten years passed, and nothing happened. Occasionally, a developer would express interest, then pull back. The longer the property sat vacant, the less appealing it seemed—between its boarded-up windows and faded 1970s aesthetic, what had once been a community showpiece was on its way to becoming an eyesore.
Then, within the past few years, the story took an unexpected turn. A developer acquired the property; the aging chemical plant was demolished; the soil was remediated; and a buyer, Oppidan, purchased the land. Now, construction is underway on a 90,000-SF data center—the first of its kind in Carol Stream. What was once an eyesore is on its way back to becoming a showpiece, and possibly an inspiration for further development.
“This is our first data center,” says Don Bastian, Community Development Director at the Village of Carol Stream. “We have manufacturing businesses, distribution warehouses, logistics facilities, food processing operations, and steel fabricators. But this is the first time we’ve welcomed a data center into our diverse business community.
“And to see the land, this land that sat unused for years, being redeveloped with a modern building and new landscaping—we’re very excited about it.”
For the community, this is a good ending to what was becoming a long and drawn-out story. For the rest of Chicagoland, however, this is only the latest development in a story that’s just begun: the rise of a new generation of data centers.
A rendering shows an overhead view of CyrusOne’s planned Wood Dale campus. The site, which is expected to be complete by 2032, will feature six data centers and about 1.4 million-SF of facility space.
Data 2.0
Data centers are nothing new; in fact, their roots stretch back to the 1940s, when a single computer could fill an entire warehouse. But now, due to rising consumer usage and more data-intensive technologies—from state-of-the-art quantum computers to your iPhone’s “Genmojis”—the demand for data is quickly rising. And the demand for data centers is rising with it.
According to an industry profile from the Greater Chicagoland Economic Partnership (GCEP), within the past four years, the size of the U.S. colocation data center market has doubled. (“Colocation” refers to facilities that rent space where businesses can house their servers.) Think about that: Four years ago, in 2021, we were using a not-small quantity of data. Since then, the market, or at least a significant measure of its footprint, has doubled. It’s not showing any signs of slowing down, either. As of 2024, AI-related data represented about 20% of new demand. As the technology scales up, so will the need for storage capacity.
To account for this rising demand, data centers are cropping up all over the nation, including right here in DuPage County.
In Carol Stream, the previously mentioned 90,000-SF Oppidan data center is set to open in 2026.
In Itasca, Japanese company NTT DATA has recently purchased two office buildings; it plans to demolish them to make space for a cloud storage facility. This will be the fourth of its data centers at Hamilton Lakes, a sprawling corporate campus that historically focused on office and hotel space.
In Wood Dale, development is underway on a new CyrusOne location, West of Route 83, between Bryn Mawr Avenue and Foster Avenue. The site will house six data centers, for an aggregate footprint of about 1.4 million-SF. That’s a lot of server space.
But will it be enough? Probably not. To keep pace with demand, businesses must exponentially increase their data storage capacity, which means they’re going to have to build more data centers. To do that, they’re going to have to find The Goldilocks Zone.
A rendering shows NTT DATA’s planned cloud storage facility at Hamilton Lakes corporate park in Itasca, IL. Hamilton Lakes historically focused on office and hotel space; recently, however, the development has pivoted to welcome data centers.
The Goldilocks Zone: What Makes Chicagoland ‘Just Right’ for Data Centers?
It’s an unfortunate fact of life that you can’t just build a data center anywhere. Servers are fickle. Their cargo is precious. Their thirst for energy is high. And they don’t like hurricanes, earthquakes, or wildfires, which threaten to instantly wipe out exabytes of precious data. To host a data center, a location must meet a long list of conditions—everything must be “just right.” The few that do are considered Goldilocks Zones. Chicagoland is one of the best.
Ranked among the top two markets for data centers globally, the Chicagoland region offers all the conditions data centers need to thrive. State tax incentives and relatively affordable land make it a cost-effective location, while access to abundant water and affordable, reliable energy—not to mention the “free cooling” you get during a Chicago winter—provide the power and natural resources that data centers need.
Meanwhile, Chicagoland’s larger plats of available land make it possible to develop hyperscalers, large-scale facilities designed to store and process data from billions of users. A deep, diverse workforce and a local pipeline of nationally renowned academic institutions offer all the talent that facilities need to function. And access to a skilled labor force means that facilities can be built efficiently and go to market faster—a critical feature for an industry where speed is everything. (Read more about what the region offers data centers here.)
Another key advantage is Chicagoland’s diverse economy. The region is a hub for many of the most data-intensive industries, including finance, administrative services, logistics, life sciences, and the government sector, as well as a massive consumer base, meaning there’s always a high demand for local data centers. As these industries grow, and as the region invests in quantum computing and other high-tech fields, that demand is only rising.
Of course, that’s just one side of the story. Because while Chicagoland is transforming the data center market, data centers are returning the favor.
From ChatGPT to GDP: How Data Centers Impact the DuPage Economy
One common criticism of data centers is that they don’t create many jobs and therefore don’t generate significant value for communities. There’s a kernel of truth here—a typical data center will have a smaller staff compared to similarly sized facilities from other industries—but it ignores the potentially transformative economic impact that data centers have on the communities around them.
Starting with the staff: While data centers tend to create relatively smaller quantities of jobs, the ones they do create are high-earning. According to a report provided by JobsEQâ, the average data center employee in the Chicagoland region earns over $142,000 annually, meaning they have greater spending power than most employees from other sectors and can inject more money into the local economy. Beyond their own earnings, every data center position is estimated to create more than four jobs in the region, for a total of over $474,000 in additional earnings. It’s the data center domino effect.
And that’s only accounting for regular staff. Building a facility like the Oppidan data center in Carol Stream—not to mention the six that NTT is developing in Wood Dale—requires numerous construction jobs. Much like white-collar staffing positions, construction jobs generate additional employment; every construction role creates an estimated 1.64 additional jobs, producing over $239,000 in additional earnings. Factor in the cost of construction materials, as well as the fees for permitting and utilities, and you can see how data centers generate more revenue for communities than meets the eye.
In Wood Dale, for example, CyrusOne estimates their financial investment in the project will be over $1 billion. When all six buildings are complete, the City is projected to generate at least $2 million in annual utility taxes alone, money that can be reinvested in the community. Countywide, data centers have a significant impact on gross domestic product; in 2022, sectors directly related to data centers (such as computing infrastructure providers, data processers, and web hosting businesses) produced nearly $1 billion in GDP, with an average worker output of $986,000.
As impressive as those figures are, they don’t cover the full impact that data centers are making across DuPage. For Carol Stream, the new Oppidan facility is about more than generating revenue; it’s about taking a stagnant, abandoned property and transforming it into an attractive showpiece, one that’s both grounded in the community’s past and looking forward to the future. For Itasca, NTT DATA’s new cloud storage facilities aren’t “just another” development; they represent a reimagining of a suburban office park, one potential solution to a widespread challenge.
As communities across DuPage grapple with new ways of working, shifting industry trends, and other complex challenges, they’re rethinking economic development norms and repurposing spaces in creative ways. And while data centers aren’t the solution to everything, one thing is certain: They’re a key part of the equation.
Nagase Holdings Americahas leased 48,500 square-feet on the top floor of 300 Park Boulevard, located at Hamilton Lakes in Itasca, Illinois. Currently located in New York City, the company will establish an office here to work more closely with Nagase Specialty Materials. Additionally, Prinova Group will relocate their corporate headquarters to the space.
Masaya Ikemoto, Representative Director and Senior Managing Executive Officer, Nagase & Co., Ltd. commented on the move, “We have approximately 120 group companies worldwide, and our business in the U.S., mainly in the chemical and food materials fields, has grown significantly in recent years to be the Group’s driving force. We will use this opportunity to co-locate multiple US entities and create synergies and collaboration between operating units. NAGASE is looking forward to this new chapter in the continued growth of NAGASE in the U.S., specifically the Chicagoland Area.”
NAGASE Group was represented by Jonathan Metzl of Cushman and Wakefield. 300 Park, owned by Hamilton Partners Inc., was represented by Patrick McKillen of Hamilton Partners.
About NAGASE Holdings America
Founded in 1832, Nagase offers global trading services of chemicals, plastics, electronics materials, cosmetics, and food ingredients. With more than 110 Group companies in 30 countries and regions, Nagase offers unique values to customers by combining group functions of manufacturing, processing, and R&D.
About Hamilton Partners Inc.
Hamilton Partners Inc., is one of the nation’s leading privately held commercial real estate development companies. The company is headquartered in Itasca, Illinois and has regional offices in Buffalo Grove, Downers Grove, Salt Lake City, Utah, Phoenix, Arizona, and Denver, Colorado. Hamilton Partners has full-service management offices in 15 additional locations throughout the Chicago area. Over the past 34 years, the company has developed over 39 million square feet and continues to own numerous prestigious, office, industrial, retail, and multi-family projects.
Construction has progressed at ComEd’s Itasca Substation expansion project, which is part of a long-range plan to meet an anticipated need for more power in the western O’Hare region. ComEd crews have braved cold temperatures and winter weather to keep the project on-schedule. The Itasca substation expansion project will begin supporting economic development growth in a variety of sectors in Cook and DuPage Counties starting June 1, 2018.
Increased energy capacity to help power development of new data centers and western O’Hare construction
ComEd has broken ground on an expansion project at its Itasca Substation as part of a long-range plan to meet an anticipated need for more power in the region, in part due to expected growth in the construction and operation of data centers in the Elk Grove area as well as business in the western O’Hare market.
Features of ComEd’s newly expanded facility also will increase energy capacity within an approximate five-mile area—enough new capacity to ultimately serve the power equivalent of 80,000 residential homes. The new substation is designed with an “Intellegent Substation Dashboard,” which offers digital technology that makes it easier for ComEd to identify potential issues and respond quicker.
“ComEd actively supports economic development throughout northern Illinois, and substation projects, like the Itasca expansion, will help ensure the electrical infrastructure is in place to meet the region’s growth and future energy demand,” said Fidel Marquez, senior vice president of Governmental and External Affairs. “We look forward to working with prospective businesses like data centers and other operations who are interested in moving their companies into the area.”
“Elk Grove is one of the most desirable data center locations in the Chicagoland market and the new Elk Grove Technology Park provides additional sites for growth,” said Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson. “With ComEd’s electricity capacity expansion projects underway, existing and future businesses will have the confidence that power requirements can be met now and well into the future.”
“The western O’Hare market and projected growth of 65,000 new jobs by 2040 in the new Illinois tollway corridor is an important initiative for Choose DuPage,” said John Carpenter, Choose DuPage President & CEO. “We can now add ComEd’s substation expansion as one of the many reasons for businesses to grow in or move to DuPage County.”
ComEd has multiple existing substations serving customers in the area and goes through an annual short- (5-year) and long-range (10-year) planning process to assess expected load growth based on economic forecast modeling and actual customer usage.
Additional long-range capacity plans for the area call for construction of another new ComEd substation in north Elk Grove Village in the future.
ComEd’s grid modernization program, called Smart Grid, is almost complete and has contributed to record reliability for its customers over the last four years. Now the company is focused on implementation of the Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA), ground-breaking legislation which will build off the Smart Grid foundation to help move Illinois to a clean energy future and provide greater access to renewables, energy efficiency and valuable job training within Illinois communities.
Tiny cars may help solve a very big problem in transportation. “The first mile/last mile challenge” is an issue that says you can only take a bus or train so far. But then how do you get to your final destination, when it’s not an easy walk away?
Progressive communities are bucking a current trend by improving the reverse commute to attract large companies and talent to the suburbs. The missing link is the lack of connection between existing transit stations and key employment centers that are beyond walking distance—aptly named the “first mile last mile.” By bridging this gap with shared-use mobility, hundreds of thousands of workers can be connected to existing opportunities that were not previously viable. This gives companies much more flexibility when choosing the right location, and encourages their participation in determining the best first mile last mile solutions.Continue reading →
When you think of luxury rental developments, what do you picture? Modern apartment towers rising from the busy downtowns of major cities, right? That doesn’t have to be the case. The suburbs might not get as much press when it comes to new multifamily projects, but plenty of developers are bringing high-end rental units to suburban communities across the Midwest.
The American Academy of Pediatrics is moving its headquarters from Elk Grove Village to a 183,000-square-foot building in Itasca being constructed by Opus Group.
