Data center incentive moratorium risking one of Arizona’s labor success stories

Mike Dea

Submitted photo/Candice Ulibarri, LiUNA 1184

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OPINION — Every week, I meet apprentices who are building more than data centers. They’re buying their first homes, supporting young families and creating careers they never imagined possible. For many of them, construction has become a pathway into the middle class.

Arizona earned its title as a national leader in data center development through smart, innovation-focused policies, a highly skilled workforce and union members who have proven they can build some of the most advanced infrastructure in the world. However, the Legislature’s three-year moratorium on data center tax incentives now risks the very momentum making Arizona one of the country’s greatest labor success stories.

Today, Arizona is home to nearly 100 operating data centers, with dozens more planned or under construction. Those projects are creating thousands of jobs, expanding apprenticeship programs and bringing billions of dollars in private investment into communities across our state.

In Mesa, Meta’s more than $1 billion data center investment is expected to support more than 2,000 jobs once completed. In Buckeye, Tract is developing one of the country’s largest campuses, creating multiple years’ worth of union work. These aren’t one-time projects. Large campuses are built in phases over many years, providing stable careers allowing workers to raise families and plan for the future.

The benefits extend well beyond the construction site. Every major project supports local suppliers, trucking companies, equipment rental businesses, restaurants, hotels and countless small businesses serving these job sites. When Arizona wins these projects, entire communities benefit, because every dollar of data center construction flows back into local economies.

The demand for skilled trades is only growing with the rise of artificial intelligence. Arizona is projected to need more than 20,000 additional construction workers by 2030, and Gov. Katie Hobbs already invested millions to expand construction apprenticeships. Those investments only make sense if Arizona continues attracting projects to employ those workers after they complete their training.

As business manager of Laborers Local 1184, I see the impact firsthand. Arizona now has more than 9,300 registered apprentices, with over 1,000 joining last year alone. Young people are choosing careers in the skilled trades because they can earn family-supporting wages, receive excellent benefits and build something meaningful. Many who once believed they would have to leave Arizona to find opportunity are now choosing to stay because opportunity exists here.

Arizona also demonstrates these investments can strengthen union labor. Project Blue’s $3.6 billion development is Arizona’s first major data center being built exclusively with union labor. It represents the kind of project growing apprenticeship programs, developing the next generation of skilled workers and keeping good-paying jobs here at home.

These facilities support far more than cloud storage. They provide computing infrastructure powering industries ranging from advanced manufacturing and healthcare to finance, education, agriculture and national security.  They are quickly becoming as essential to our economy as highways, railroads and other critical infrastructure.

As America competes with China for leadership in AI and other emerging technologies, the infrastructure making those technologies possible is becoming a strategic advantage. If we want American workers and American companies to lead this race, we need to build the infrastructure here at home.

With demand for advanced AI technology in nearly every sector of the economy, these projects will continue to be built. The question is whether they’ll be built in Arizona or in competing states eager to welcome the investment, the jobs and the economic growth coming with them.

Arizona demonstrated what happens when forward-thinking policy meets a world-class workforce. We’ve built an environment where companies want to invest and where workers can build careers to support a family. Lawmakers have long said they stand with organized labor and believe every worker deserves a pathway into the middle class. Standing against this moratorium is an opportunity to prove it.

Arizona became one of America’s premier data center states through smart policy, skilled workers and willingness to compete. Interrupting our progress building an innovation economy means giving away the economic benefits we worked hard for.

We shouldn’t be the state training the workforce, building the talent pipeline and then watching those opportunities move somewhere else. Before lawmakers decide the future of this industry, they should hear directly from the workers driving its success.

Mike Dea is business manager of Laborers International Union of North America, Local 1184, based in Phoenix. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.