About
Welcome to the 4th Infraday Midwest. This event aims to bring together policymakers, industry experts, researchers, and stakeholders to discuss the challenges and opportunities related to infrastructure development and modernization across the Midwest region.
Public infrastructure in the Midwest plays a crucial role in supporting economic growth, connectivity, and quality of life for its residents. The region encompasses a vast network of infrastructure, including roads, bridges, airports, railways, water and wastewater systems, energy grids, and public facilities. Investments in the Midwest's public infrastructure aim to address maintenance and modernization needs, enhance transportation efficiency, promote sustainable practices, and ensure resilient infrastructure systems. These efforts are crucial for fostering regional development, attracting businesses, facilitating trade, improving mobility, and providing essential services to communities throughout the Midwest. Public-private partnerships, federal funding, and collaboration among various stakeholders are vital for sustaining and advancing infrastructure initiatives in the region.
2023 Topics Will Include:
Infrastructure Investment – State of the Market
Project Delivery – Delivering Projects More Efficiently and Cost-Effectively
Kansas City – Sustainable Projects
Equity in Public Infrastructure
EV Infrastructure in the Midwest
Tools, Tips, and Tech for ESG - Best Practices for Managing and Measuring Your Environmental, Sustainability, and Governance Goals
Leveraging Spectrum Innovation to Bridge the Digital Divide in South Bend
Multi-State Corridor Infrastructure: Transforming Northwest Indiana with Trains, Trails, and Terabytes
Watch Your Assets: Risk vs. Crisis Management
Can Technology Meet the Moment? Build Public Trust & Improve Outcomes with Asset Lifecycle Management
Climate and Infrastructure
Stormwater Infrastructure
StormStore™ – a market-based approach to building green stormwater infrastructure and nature-based solutions
How will the Inflation Reduction Act Transform Infrastructure Development
The event provides both the public and private sector an opportunity to interact, network and gain knowledge of where the infrastructure market is heading in the Midwest – where the opportunities lie, and what the deficits are, directly from the project owners.
We invite you to join us this June 13 in Chicago!
Infraday Sessions on YouTube
2023 Speakers Include










Platt’s successes so far include:
Crafting a balanced $1.73 billion budget that addressed a pandemic-induced $70 million shortfall. The budget avoided staff layoffs or furloughs, maintained essential city services, and even invested in additional resources and essential programs in key areas including housing and homelessness, snow removal, and equity issues.
Developed a comprehensive strategy to improve street maintenance with three key components: digital analysis of pavement; more than doubling the funding for street resurfacing with a new goal of 240 miles of streets to be paved this year; and adopting a stricter excavation policy that requires better coordination between the city and utility companies.
Vision Zero logoLaunched the Vision Zero Campaign, with the goal of eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2030. Transportation Director Jason Waldron is implementing intersection improvements, traffic signal upgrades and an aggressive plan to install 30 miles protected bike lanes over the first two years, as well as better ways for residents to request safety improvements.
Platt worked with Human Resources Director Teri Casey to build a more inclusive workplace by hiring our first Chief Equity Officer and additional staff to both expand professional development and employee training, with additional efforts to ensure the City’s workforce reflects and supports the people it serves. We developed a policy for all-gender restrooms, negotiated new Fire Department union contract that works to end eliminating discriminatory and racist practices of the past, and have restructured Human Resources to provide more training and support to staff.
KCMO snow plow in actionCreated and implemented a more aggressive approach to residential plowing that now includes a 24-hour snow removal operation, overnight shifts to plow residential streets, increasing the amount of salting during storms, and adding 100 new drivers and 50 new snow removal vehicles.
Feasibility study underway to build the largest city-owned solar farm in the country on thousands of acres at Kansas City International Airport.
Next up, Platt’s vision for improving the delivery of city services includes:
Developing new sustainability initiatives seeking to reducing waste, energy usage, and dependence on fossil fuels
Creating additional programs to produce more affordable housing and to address homelessness
Finding new ways to leverage technology to improve city services
Brian previously served as City Manager for Jersey City, New Jersey. He has served as Jersey City's first Chief Innovation Officer and established the City's Office of Innovation in 2015. His previous work experience includes management consulting with McKinsey & Company and serving as a kindergarten teacher with Teach for America. Mr. Platt earned his Master of Public Administration Degree at Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy at Emory University.









Dr. Elizabeth Kocs has over 27 years developing and managing environmental projects and leading stakeholder engagement and community participation for applied research, planning, and policy initiatives locally, regionally, and globally.
Prior to her current role, Elizabeth served as Director of Partnerships and Strategy at UIC Energy Initiative, where she led strategic energy, sustainability, transportation electrification, and environmental and climate justice programs. She authored the report "Guiding Principles for Beneficial Electrification of Transportation: A Framework for Transportation Electrification in Illinois," which has been foundational for local and statewide agencies in planning for EV infrastructure since the passing of IL CEJA. Elizabeth was also co-Founder of the Illinois Center for Urban Resilience and Environmental Sustainability (CURES) where she led strategic directions on energy focused stakeholder engagements and leveraged tools for implementing integrated solutions to address environmental disparities across urban and rural communities.
Recently she has received the Chicago Area Clean Cities (CACC) Community Leadership Award for her work in transportation electrification, and the COP26 Climate Challenge Cup for the climate justice research project.
Elizabeth holds an executive MBA, a PhD in Environment Behavior Science, and a 5-year professional B.Arch.


• Oversees Chicago's benchmarking ordinance strategy and enforcement. As part of this work, Gavin manages contracted staff to implement the document collection, data analysis, reporting, and fining mechanism for over 2,800 buildings (700 million sqft) in the City, saving an estimated $20 million annually (emissions equivalent of removing 400,000 cars from the road).
• Develops building decarbonization policy alongside a working group of over 50 organizations, creating a framework for a building performance standard.
• Leads the community organizing, strategy development, and project management of Chicago's industrial decarbonization strategy. Working with ComEd, Peoples Gas, and the EPA Region 5 staff to offer energy saving incentive programs, challenges, and financing opportunities to lower the emissions profile of industrial facilities, specifically focusing on operations in environmental justice communities.
• Coordinates a low-income housing climate resiliency strategy for Chicago's Department of Housing alongside Bloomberg Associates.
• Designed and secured $188 million in climate investments for the City of Chicago, equitably illuminating the needs of the City's environmental advocacy network. The investments represent the single largest down-payment on climate action in Chicago's history. Examples of projects include a three-fold increase to urban tree planting, a $26 million commitment to low-income housing resiliency, and funding for the historic African American Heritage Trail.
• Secured an A- climate adaptation and mitigation score for Chicago per CDP reporting criteria in conjunction with C40.



























Interested in becoming a partner or exhibitor? Please contact ken@infraday.com
2023 Partners Include

As a construction owner’s strategic partner, Avicado reduces churn on construction programs and fosters healthy, data-driven decision-making. We bring our unparalleled construction technology expertise to every project, no matter the size.

As a telecom infrastructure provider, we offer reliable satellite and terrestrial connectivity that’s simple, fast, secure, and affordable. With our low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite network, we connect and protect assets, transmit key operational data, and save lives —from any location —for consumers, businesses, and government agencies in over 120 countries.
Our terrestrial spectrum, Band 53, offers carriers, cable companies, and system integrators a versatile, fully-licensed channel to improve their customers’ wireless connectivity.
In addition to our SPOT GPS messengers that connect people in remote environments, Globalstar offers next-generation IoT hardware and software products that efficiently track and monitor assets, process smart data at the edge with AI-enabled applications, and manage analytics with cloud-based telematics solutions —all of which drive safety, productivity, and profitability.
We transform smart ideas into smarter solutions.


Kahua is a lifecycle solution, with applications for capital planning, sources of funds, design review, bid management, document management & control, cost management and asset handover. Kahua is available on all mobile devices to easily connect field to office.
Kahua apps are built on kBuilder, an Enterprise Low-Code Application Platform which enables Kahua partners and customers to rapidly build new apps or customize existing apps to extend or enhance Kahua solutions. This gives you the agility you need to adapt as your business needs evolve. To date, over 600 private and public apps have been developed on kBuilder, and public apps are available to the Kahua community on the kStore app marketplace.




Since 1900, we have worked to encourage communication and cooperation between labor and management, establish the highest standards of safety, reliability, training and expertise, and to promote the union electrical industry in the Chicago region.
In doing so, Powering Chicago’s members have shaped the growth of Chicago, often building many firsts in the city, including helping execute Daniel Burnham’s groundbreaking lakefront plan, installing Chicago’s first telephone system and wiring the city’s first subway system – not to mention helping build the city’s first skyscrapers, homes, churches, hospitals, high-rise apartments, airports and theaters. We’ve also helped build many of Chicago’s iconic landmarks, such as Sears Tower, Wrigley Field, O’Hare International Airport and the Art Institute of Chicago. Powering Chicago’s members are proud to have been an integral part of Chicago’s history and are dedicated to its ongoing growth as one of the world’s great cities.




Trimble products are used in over 141 countries around the world. Employees in more than 30 countries, coupled with a highly capable network of dealers and distribution partners serve and support customers worldwide. As the market leader in most of our businesses, we offer a compelling value proposition to our customers based on productivity, return on investment and environmental stewardship. Come position yourself with an innovative industry leader and position yourself for success.


2023 Agenda - Last Update - 6-12
2023 Venue
Hotel Chicago Downtown, Autograph Collection
333 N Dearborn St, Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 245-0333
