The leading knowledge exchange for Data Center, IT and Mission Critical professionals.
Stacey Odinas is the Proposal Coordinator for the MMC Contractors – Nebraska office. She has ten years of experience in entrepreneurship, nonprofits, and marketing, with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska Omaha in Nonprofit Management. Coming from a background of small businesses and nonprofit organizations, she brings unique insight to a national family of companies. As Proposal Coordinator for MMC Contractors, Stacey supports strategic project pursuits and development of RFP and RFQ responses, layout, design, and presentation of pursuit collateral, CRM administration, and coordination on corporate marketing. Stacey keeps the community at the forefront and works with leaders on workforce and community development initiatives in the A/E/C industry.
MMC Contractors is a national mechanical contractor specializing in building large, complex projects and in offering facilities/operations servicing capabilities. With a comprehensive offering of service and construction services, MMC Contractors works in diverse markets, focusing heavily on the mission critical and healthcare industries.
How did you get involved in 7×24 Exchange?
A colleague had attended the 7×24 Conference and returned to share their positive experience at the event. Without a local 7×24 Exchange Chapter to join (yet!), there was a call for members to join the national marketing committee that I am grateful to now be a part of. Sharing ideas with such a positive group of people and seeing STEM initiatives develop and gain interest across the country, like International Data Center Day, is a joy to see come to life. We celebrated our first International Data Center Day in Omaha, NE, with a tour of a data center and presentations from the end-users to rural high school students that had indicated an interest in an IT career path.
In speaking with educators, there is a substantial gap in understanding the industry, beginning with communities who are unaware of what a data center is and how they affect us. The best way to alleviate the potential for this knowledge gap to continue to snowball into a qualified workforce threat is to inform and educate about these systems and facilities that have such an influence on our daily lives. I am passionate about being at the forefront of these initiatives in our region and sharing the information and resources available from the 7×24 Exchange organization.
We’ve identified the need for a local 7×24 Exchange Chapter from the influx of mission critical entities in the Midwest region, serving as an industry-specific arena intentionally curated towards providing a space for leaders to share and collaborate, propel a qualified workforce, and provide education to those in the industry and the community. A new chapter of the 7×24 Exchange, the Silicon Prairie Chapter, was formed in March of 2021. This Chapter primarily serves the Nebraska and Iowa region.
“I am passionate about being at the forefront of these initiatives in our region and sharing the information and resources available from the 7×24 Exchange organization.”
-Stacey Odinas
We look forward to the opportunities to enhance and expand the community of the broader mission critical industry in the “Silicon Prairie.” In addition to providing networking and education to our participating companies, the Chapter focuses on providing STEM initiative scholarships to college applicants residing in the Silicon Prairie (Nebraska/Iowa). We intend to award scholarships annually, with the first scholarship being awarded in the Fall of 2021.
