diff --git a/services/tunnelbroker/src/database.rs b/services/tunnelbroker/src/database.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3d77801a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/services/tunnelbroker/src/database.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+use aws_config::SdkConfig;
+use aws_sdk_dynamodb::Client;
+use std::sync::Arc;
+
+#[derive(Clone)]
+pub struct DatabaseClient {
+  client: Arc<Client>,
+}
+
+impl DatabaseClient {
+  pub fn new(aws_config: &SdkConfig) -> Self {
+    let client = Client::new(aws_config);
+
+    DatabaseClient {
+      client: Arc::new(client),
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/services/tunnelbroker/src/main.rs b/services/tunnelbroker/src/main.rs
index bbda76dc9..8f2cebd98 100644
--- a/services/tunnelbroker/src/main.rs
+++ b/services/tunnelbroker/src/main.rs
@@ -1,41 +1,44 @@
 pub mod config;
 pub mod constants;
+pub mod database;
 pub mod grpc;
 pub mod websockets;
+
 use anyhow::{anyhow, Result};
 use config::CONFIG;
 use dashmap::DashMap;
 use once_cell::sync::Lazy;
 use tokio::sync::mpsc::UnboundedSender;
 use tracing::{self, Level};
 use tracing_subscriber::EnvFilter;
 
 pub static ACTIVE_CONNECTIONS: Lazy<DashMap<String, UnboundedSender<String>>> =
   Lazy::new(DashMap::new);
 
 #[tokio::main]
 async fn main() -> Result<()> {
   let filter = EnvFilter::builder()
     .with_default_directive(Level::INFO.into())
     .with_env_var(constants::LOG_LEVEL_ENV_VAR)
     .from_env_lossy();
 
   let subscriber = tracing_subscriber::fmt().with_env_filter(filter).finish();
   tracing::subscriber::set_global_default(subscriber)
     .expect("Unable to configure tracing");
 
   config::parse_cmdline_args()?;
-  let _aws_config = config::load_aws_config().await;
+  let aws_config = config::load_aws_config().await;
+  let _db_client = database::DatabaseClient::new(&aws_config);
 
   let grpc_server = grpc::run_server();
   let websocket_server = websockets::run_server();
 
   tokio::select! {
     Ok(_) = grpc_server => { Ok(()) },
     Ok(_) = websocket_server => { Ok(()) },
     else => {
       tracing::error!("A grpc or websocket server crashed.");
       Err(anyhow!("A grpc or websocket server crashed."))
     }
   }
 }