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Cheyenne firms, climate and infrastructure position Wyoming as a growing data‑center hub
Summary
Local tech leaders and CTAC members discussed Lanavi’s history in Cheyenne, why firms including Microsoft and Meta are investing in Wyoming and what drives location decisions: land, fiber, power and the state’s dry climate, not just tax incentives.
Courtney Thompson, introduced by CTAC as Lanavi’s representative and who identified herself as the company’s chief information officer and co‑founder, told the Cheyenne Community Technology Advisory Council that Lanavi began in Cheyenne about 18 years ago and has since expanded to multiple U.S. regions.
“We started the company about 18 years ago in Cheyenne, Wyoming and have just been continuing to grow and evolve it,” Thompson said, summarizing Lanavi’s local roots and its role in hosting and cloud services. CTAC president Matt Fields opened the session by noting that major firms — “we have Meta. We have Microsoft.” — are increasingly evaluating Wyoming sites.
Thompson said early state incentives helped attract investment but are no longer the primary driver. “I kinda look at it as, like, the spark that starts the fire,” she said of incentives, adding that Lanavi now makes multi‑decade investments in the state and does not depend on ongoing subsidies for its operations.
Instead, Thompson pointed to Wyoming’s combination of available land, existing fiber routes, and a dry, cool climate that enables adiabatic or ‘‘free’’ cooling much of the year. She cited tariff structures from local utilities as another factor that allowed large power consumers to be served without raising residential rates.
Local officials and CTAC members discussed the scale of planned builds — including proposals that could reach hundreds of megawatts or more — and the need for long‑term utility planning, but Thompson emphasized staged, modular development to limit abandonment risk and to align capacity with demand.
The session closed with CTAC members saying they will continue tracking data‑center recruitment and coordinating with local partners to ensure communities are prepared for new projects.
