I remember that

... locations of the, of the dot-com bubble.

So we had some empty buildings that were built and never filled.

Um, so I thought, "Well, what can they be used for?" Figured out data centers and really went for it.

You know, went out there and worked hard to create that.

Um, got a little momentum around it.

For, uh, for me, it was never about creating a global hub.

Uh, what's your sense of how the industry has received some of this feedback, some of this publicity and, uh, you know, some of the things that could, uh, uh, could help lead to better conversations?

Do you see that model as being a potential way forward? And that leads me to my larger question to both of you, which is, what is the playbook now going forward for developers and builders of data centers and local governments into this moment of anti-data center sentiment?

Yeah, there's a lot in that question, so I'll try to remember it all and try to address as much as I can.

first of all, I think that, you know, I've been spoiled because here, you know, the data centers have always worked through my office and have, we've always worked on things together, but that's not the case in most communities.

You know, as I do consulting work around the country, I hear the same things like economic developers aren't involved.

And, um, you know, leaders, elected leaders aren't involved.

And, and that's a shame, because that's really the only path to the transparency that we all need.

And then you, you know, you see these communities that are, you know, I'm, I have 32 people on my staff, and we have you know, a lot of expertise in data centers.

And I just wanted to ask Buddy if, you know, for maybe some closing thoughts on, you know, how the industry can ease this situation and try to improve it.

Talk to me about that for a minute.

Yeah, I would say that you're right.

I cannot believe the vitriol conversation, the way that this has turned, especially in the last year to six, six months to a year.

Even in Loudoun where, you know, for 15 years we didn't get any pushback on data centers.

I mean, everybody was really positive because they saw the way we were transforming lives and going from a failing economy to the strongest local economy in the country.

So we were really happy about all of that.

But now there's this, what I call the whack-a-mole of accusations.

What is next? Is there more?