On June 25, the Arizona Data Center Alliance brought more than 100 people into one room at ASU SkySong to work through the questions Arizona is asking about data center growth. The event, Building Community Trust in the Data Center Era, was the first industry-led, structured session of its kind in the state. It was a working conversation between the people who make these decisions and the people who live with them.

The room included data center operators and customers, developers, utilities, mayors and county supervisors, economic development groups, and community voices. Operators and customers in attendance included Microsoft and EdgeCore. Economic and infrastructure perspectives came from the Arizona Commerce Authority, the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, APS, and JLL.

The day opened in plain English: what data centers are, how they support everyday digital life, why Arizona became a major market, and how the state got here. From there the conversation moved to the issues residents actually raise. Water. Power and grid timing. Rates. Transparency. Jobs. Noise. Land use.

"This work did not come out of a vacuum. Governor Hobbs' Energy Promise Taskforce called for proactive community engagement around large-load energy users, and the Alliance took that seriously," said Andrea Clinton, Director of Community Engagement for the Arizona Data Center Alliance. "Arizona communities are asking specific questions about water, power, rates, transparency, jobs, land use, and whether they have a meaningful voice before decisions feel final."

Local leaders backed growth, and made the case that better engagement is how you keep it on track. "It'd be a bad day if we decided that we're not building any data centers. I think we would lose on a lot of different issues," said Mayor Eric Orsborn of Buckeye.

They were just as clear that communities need real information early. Mayor Andy Sutton of Eloy said one of the first priorities should be making community benefits clear "before anything happens," adding that "it cannot be a surprise to them."

The bar for what counts as engagement got raised, too. "Do not do an open house and call it collaboration, because you are going to lose trust," said Jessica Western of the Institute for Rural Collaboration. "Collaboration means working together."

A live poll of the room put numbers to the mood. Two-thirds said community engagement should begin before site selection, the earliest point in a project. Asked who should own that responsibility, the top answer was everyone together: operators, developers, cities, utilities, and economic development groups. Asked what communities need most, the room pointed to honest discussion of tradeoffs and clearer information about water and power.

This was the start, not the finish. The full recap, including who took part and what the room told us, is on the June 25 recap page. That next conversation happened on September 17 and centered on water. Read the Part Two recap.

Good neighbors make good industries. June 25 is where Arizona started that work.