Brook Aken from OPPD
Tue, Sep 01
|Scott Conference Center
Brook Aken is Director of Economic Development & External Relations at OPPD, leading business attraction, retention, and community development efforts across OPPD's 13-county service territory.
Time & Location
Sep 01, 2026, 7:15 AM
Scott Conference Center, 6450 Pine St, Omaha, NE 68106, USA
About the event
About Brook Aken
Brook Aken is Director of Economic Development & External Relations at OPPD, leading business attraction, retention, and community development efforts across OPPD's 13-county service territory. She's been with the utility since 2014, previously working as an Economic Development Consultant for the state. Aken serves on several regional economic development boards, is a past president of the Nebraska Economic Developers Association and was named the organization's Professional of the Year in 2020.
About OPPD
OPPD is navigating a major growth phase driven by Nebraska's booming economy, particularly data centers, manufacturing, biotech, and food/ag processing. The utility has added 23,000 new meters in five years — equal to a city the size of Grand Island — and expects roughly 100 MW of new load annually for the next 5-6 years, up from just 4 MW/year a few years ago. Data centers alone are projected to drive most demand growth…