Tucson’s Economic Feels SPECIAL REPORT COVER PHOTO:DAVID LONG
The Momentum Continues to Build The Tucson Metro Chamber is jubilantly celebrating its past, present and future. Founded in 1896, the Chamber recently observed an amazing milestone – its 120th anniversary as the oldest, largest and most influential business organization in Southern Arizona history. Chamber investors and business interests throughout metro Tucson also have good reason to rejoice the here and now as Tucson has finally emerged from a lengthy, bearish economic hibernation and looks to be bursting into a ragingly bullish local business cycle. What a difference a year makes. At this time 12 months ago, Michael Varney, the Chamber’s president and CEO, was bemoaning the frustration being felt by business people throughout Tucson, who widely complained that local government policies were failing to create the pro-business environment needed to jump-start a local economy that had seen nothing but slow or stagnant growth since the onset of the Great Recession in 2008. Now, just 12 short months later, following a year in which the Chamber emphasized an aggressive, proactive 72 BizTucson
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Winter 2017
public policy and advocacy agenda, Varney is declaring Tucson and Southern Arizona to be “on a roll” and promises the chamber will do all it can to keep the high tide of local business growth and job creation rising well into the future. “Many business executives have told me that they have not felt this kind of positive momentum and economic adrenaline in our area in quite some
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Many business executives have told me that they have not felt this kind of positive momentum and economic adrenaline in our area in quite some time.
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Michael Varney President & CEO Tucson Metro Chamber –
time,” Varney said. “It feels good to win. Creating jobs and realizing a better community gives everyone a natural high and helps expand our economy.” In recent months the Tucson community has enjoyed a wealth of positive economic news, such as: • The announcement that about 2,000 jobs will be added at Raytheon Missile Systems over the next five years • The selection of downtown Tucson as home for Caterpillar Inc.’s surface mining and technology division, producing more than 600 high-paying jobs • HomeGoods’ move into its new $75 million West Coast distribution center, which employs some 400 people now and could grow to as many as 900 in the future • Comcast’s decision to renovate the former Home Furnishings building adjacent to Tucson Mall into a customer support center where about 1,200 are employed • Vector Space Systems will be a tenant at Pima’s County’s defense and aerospace park when it is fully built out, employing 200 www.BizTucson.com