INFRASTRUCTURE

THE 5 W'S

Infrastructure is critical to moving projects forward. This month we are diving into the infrastructure world to provide you some tips to be prepared. These tips and suggestions will help you understand where, who, and how often to have these conversations. When reviewing the 5 W's consider all of these types of infrastructure. Water, Wastewater, Natural Gas, Electric, Roads, Broadband, etc.

Who: Know who the contact is locally for each of these types of infrastructure. EX: Your city engineer might have some information but they won't have all of the information. Reach out and find a contact at each provider directly.

What: Know the types of questions to ask them. What is your current capacity? What is the desired future capacity and the timeline to get there? When is your peak demand and what are constraints to be aware of if a project comes along? Do they have industries they would prefer to target? Are their industries they don't wish to work with?

Where: Get to know these people in person. You should also keep a repository of all of this information in some type of database so you have access to it when it comes up.

When: Meet a few times a year to make sure that capacity or constraints haven't changed. The key is to have these conversations BEFORE projects happen.

Why: Infrastructure is critical when it comes to development. Having these relationships built before a project comes along is the best way to stay prepared.

Remember, if you don't know these answers, it is your job to find them out. You are the community advocate for making these types of projects happen.



If you have questions about what this might look like in your community reach out to a PR rep to have a bigger discussion.