The last 30 days say a lot about where the national data center conversation is headed.

Ohio paused its data center tax exemption after a $1.4 billion overage. Pennsylvania's governor unveiled stricter grid standards. A small town in central Oregon voted down a data center project. New Jersey lawmakers are working on guardrails. Residents in Pennsylvania and Iowa are showing up at county meetings with prepared questions about water, noise, and grid load. The headlines are a pattern.

Arizona is in a different position, for now. The industry here supports an estimated 81,000 jobs and $863 million in state and local taxes. Mesa's Google campus is on track to generate roughly $156 million in tax revenue over 25 years. Compass Datacenters is bringing 1.8 million square feet and 350 MW to Goodyear. Updated economic incentives passed earlier this month. The numbers are strong, the projects are real, and the workforce pipeline is starting to fill in.

That position holds only for now. Every state currently restricting data centers had the same numbers a few years ago.

The lesson from Ohio, Oregon, and New Jersey: the industry waited too long to engage. Tax abatements were quiet. Grid impacts surfaced after the fact. Water reporting came late. By the time operators showed up to explain, residents had already organized around the gaps in the story.

The Arizona Data Center Alliance is hosting Building Community Trust in the Data Center Era on June 25 at ASU SkySong to do the opposite. Operators, developers, utilities, contractors, community leaders, and partner organizations are coming together for an open, working conversation about public education, sustainability, workforce development, infrastructure impacts, and long-term community partnership. A real room where the hard questions get asked and the answers get worked out together.

The format is interactive on purpose. Attendees are asked to bring their ideas, thoughts, concerns, and questions on community engagement, transparency, growth, infrastructure, and the future of the data center industry in Arizona, and the room works through them together. The goal is to create a meaningful, engaging discussion on a serious topic.

In-person registration is filling quickly. Seats are limited to 100 attendees. A virtual option is also available. Speakers will be announced as confirmed. Special thanks to lunch sponsor Instrata.

Reserve your seat through TicketStripe. Event details and venue information are on the events page.

Good neighbors make good industries. June 25 is where we start the next round of that work.