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Digital First Communities

From reactive defense to proactive partnership: take control of your community's digital future.

Don’t wait for a proposal to hit your inbox.

Digital First Communities helps local leaders set the rules first, ensuring planned growth and protected resources.

Digital infrastructure is expanding, and communities often get inquiries sooner than expected. Digital First Communities helps you plan before a proposal arrives. We bring local leaders and residents to the same table to set clear, community-backed priorities that protect local preferences, reduce friction, and signal readiness to the market.

Digital First Communities is designed for communities that want to be prepared before decisions feel rushed. By engaging early, you can set expectations, align partners, and define local priorities before external pressure takes hold.

Communities consider Digital First when:

Developers inquire about large-scale or energy-intensive uses
Local leaders want to establish clear rules before public debate
Residents raise concerns about growth, infrastructure, or quality of life

Core Service Components

Scenario Planning

We help you evaluate the long-term impact of digital infrastructure development on the local tax digest. We provide insights into various growth paths, ranging from a single-building scenario to a full-scale campus. Our analysis covers industry-standard investment cycles, specifically how recurring server replacement schedules can bolster property tax assessments over time. We also provide development type cost comparisons, helping you see how digital infrastructure projects perform financially compared to residential or traditional industrial projects.

Community Engagement

We offer a framework for community-engaged planning to help bridge the gap between technical projects and local resident interests. We can facilitate structured dialogues, such as “Ask an Expert” town halls and Risk vs. Reward workshops, designed to address common community questions. Our approach can include visual preference surveys and design charrettes to help you identify potential community benefits and foster transparent communication. This collaborative process helps stakeholders explore the technical realities of development while identifying opportunities for Good Neighbor Agreements that align with local priorities.

Resource Stewardship

We leverage technical expertise to help you evaluate the core requirements of digital infrastructure projects. Our program facilitates discussions around infrastructure and resource stewardship, with a specific focus on power and water considerations. This support allows communities to explore sustainable solutions, such as Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE) plans and heat recycling opportunities, ensuring that potential developments align with long-term environmental and utility standards.

Ordinance Benchmarking

We help you evaluate the existing regulatory environment to determine readiness for digital infrastructure inquiries. Through ordinance benchmarking and gap analysis, we provide a framework for modernizing local standards before developers arrive. This support is designed to align with broader planning efforts, helping local governments and Regional Commissions consider how new industrial categories, including specific codes for noise, power, and water, fit within established comprehensive plans. We can assist in setting priorities for environmental protection triggers and stealth architecture standards, so that any new development may maintain the visual and ecological integrity of your community.

Ready to talk through digital infrastructure scenarios?

We’ll follow up with the right next step—whether that’s a quick consult, a scope conversation, or examples from similar communities.

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The CEDR Difference

Digital infrastructure development can move quickly and quietly. We help communities shift the conversation from reacting to proposals toward defining expectations early. Our approach emphasizes transparency, coordination, and community trust, so growth happens on your terms.

For Economic Development Organizations (EDOs)

Better information for your community

When asked about building digital infrastructure in your area, you need clear information to help you decide if it’s the right fit. Our research helps you look at your resources ahead of time. We help you move from guessing to knowing, so you can feel more prepared when opportunities come your way.

For Local Government Officials

Tools to understand your local tax digest

Big projects bring big changes to your budget. We help you look at how new development might affect your local tax digest over many years. Our team helps you explore how these buildings pay taxes compared to how much they use in public services. This helps you make choices that protect your community’s financial health for the long term.

For Regional Commissions

A shared plan for the region

When many counties are growing at the same time, it helps to have a shared playbook. We provide a framework that helps different communities and counties follow the same standards. We help you look at your regional plans and state rules, so everyone stays organized and follows best practices as the area grows.