The Arizona Commerce Authority opened for business this week with two early successes, a big basket of economic development tools and an even bigger set of expectations.
The authority, a brainchild of Gov. Jan Brewer authorized by the Legislature last spring, is a public-private agency with a 31-member board of high-powered state businesspeople and political leaders.
Coinciding with its first working meeting, announcements came that the authority had helped increase by 116 the number of jobs at the Bombardier Inc. aircraft plant in Tucson and that the state was awarded $18.2 million in federal money for small business support.
Can its early successes translate to long-range reinvention of Arizona' low-wage, service-based job market? Arizona Week explored the topic for Friday's program, interviewing a leading state economist and an executive with the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce.
"What we do great here in Tucson, in Phoenix, across the state is create jobs -- low-wage jobs," said Jim Rounds, senior vice president and senior economist with Elliott D. Pollack & Co. of Scottsdale.
Rounds, who on behalf of his company is providing third-party economic and public policy advice to the commerce authority, said the new agency must focus selectively on the highest-quality jobs for the state, not those that are marginally higher paying than the current state median.
Long term, Rounds said, such a focus will help convert Arizona's boom-bust economic cycles into something sustainable that will drive the entire economic picture.
The commerce authority has the right tools -- a big fund to provide money for closing business relocation deals, small business incentives and a strategy to focus on key industries -- but it must carry them out with sharp focus, Rounds said.
"Think solar," he said, referring to the emerging alternative energy industry. "We have extremely aggressive incentives. In fact, they're more aggressive than I'd like to see. ... Some businesses are locating here. We'll have to see how everything plays out."
How the commerce authority works with already existing local economic development and business recruitment organizations around the state isn't known yet, Rounds said, but will be important to its success.
Bill Holmes, chief operating officer of the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, agreed, saying in an Arizona Week interview that he looks forward to working with the agency.
"I think we see it as a symbiotic relationship," Holmes said. "They need us; we need them. In order for them to deliver on their mission, they've got to reach out to local economic development organizations across the state."
At the same time, Holmes said, his high expectations for what the authority can do are already being fulfilled.
"It is absolutely going to create jobs," he said. "We're seeing that happening right now. So we applaud them for that."
Reporter Michael Chihak further explores the potential of the Arizona Commerce Authority on Arizona Week. Watch here:
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