Labor and National Infrastructure
Build with workers. Win with communities.
America is undertaking the largest infrastructure buildout since the interstate highway system. The projects that get built will be the ones communities say yes to. Think Big's Labor & National Infrastructure Advisory Practice helps companies earn that yes.
The Problem
Permission to build is the new bottleneck
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Data centers, energy projects, and industrial facilities aren't stalling on capital or technology. They're stalling on trust. Opposition now spans rural conservatives, ratepayer advocates, local officials, and civic institutions, and once a community believes a project is being done to them rather than with them, tax revenue and jobs claims stop working.
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The old playbook of economic-impact studies and late-stage PR is failing in public, project after project. Companies need a better model, not a louder message.
The Practice
A worker-first acceptance model
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We help companies bring labor in early as a standards-setting partner, put worker and community commitments in writing, protect ratepayers in local terms, and deploy trusted messengers before opponents define the project. The result is a project compact communities can believe and local validators can defend.
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This is a private advisory offering for companies with real capital at risk: developers, hyperscalers, utilities, and infrastructure investors.
Leadership
Led by former U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer
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As Labor Secretary, Lori Chavez-DeRemer visited all 50 states, sat with union leaders and workers on factory floors, and championed the expansion of registered apprenticeships and protections for skilled trades. She is one of the few figures in American public life trusted across labor, business, and both political parties, and she now serves as Senior Counselor to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
She advises Think Big clients on labor engagement, workforce standards, community acceptance strategy, and responsible growth. No one else offers her combination of cabinet-level experience and standing with the workers who will build these projects.
Former U.S. Secretary of Labor
Lori Chavez-DeRemer
Where we work
AI and data center infrastructure.
Siting, community acceptance, labor engagement, and ratepayer strategy for the backbone of the AI economy.
Energy and
utilities.
Generation, transmission, and grid projects facing local resistance and permitting fights.
Agriculture and food supply chain.
Workforce policy, labor relations, and rural community strategy for producers and processors.
Manufacturing and logistics.
Reshoring, plant siting, and workforce pipeline strategy for companies rebuilding American industrial capacity.
How it works
From risk audit to launch-ready
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Every engagement begins with our Community Acceptance Diagnostic: a rapid audit of local opposition, trust risks, and validator gaps. From there we build the project compact, message architecture, and trusted-messenger program, and prepare your team for public engagement. Then we help you execute.