Tucson-area business and government leaders say they have a plan to help get the Old Pueblo on the path to a robust post-pandemic recovery.
Among the ideas: an effort to get investors to build more large, speculative industrial buildings, setting up career “micropathways” to help workers progress without four-year degrees and a new, online portal for people looking to move to the Tucson area.
Sun Corridor Inc., the Tucson region’s main economic-development group, on Thursday released “The Pivot Playbook,” which focuses on five major areas to help Tucson and Southern Arizona redefine its economy in a post-COVID world.
The five focus areas are company recruitment; talent recruitment and retention; workforce development and training; shovel-ready real estate offerings; and tourism recovery.
In a online video presentation announcing the plan, Sun Corridor Chair Judy Rich cited several national rankings placing Tucson among the top places to live and work post-pandemic, including a recent ranking by Moody’s that placed Tucson among the top 10 cities best positioned to recover from the coronavirus.
Rich, president and CEO of TMC Healthcare, said Tucson suffered less from the coronavirus than other larger cities, owing to its size and relatively low population density, and those same attributes will help the city recover.
Rich said Tucson must seize upon the opportunity to become the top choice of people and companies relocating in a post-pandemic world.
“No one here thought it would happen on its own — we knew we had the opportunity before us that other communities didn’t have,” Rich said.
Sun Corridor CEO Joe Snell said Tucson’s economy was booming before the pandemic, adding a string of new employers since Caterpillar announced in 2016 that it would build the headquarters of its surface-mining and technology division near downtown Tucson.
“When the pandemic hit, we saw an overnight change,” Snell said.
Sun Corridor began taking a closer look at what business site selectors — consultants who scout sites for relocation or expansion — are looking for, and is working to capitalize on Tucson’s strengths in an aggressive marketing campaign, he said, noting that the group’s investment in marketing tools such as drone footage is now paying off.
Some new ideas in the playbook are still in their early stages, with details and formal programs still being worked out.
Here’s a look at the five Pivot Playbook focus areas:
Recruit companies
Sun Corridor’s Snell said Tucson must capitalize on targeted industries, fix its aging infrastructure — especially its roadways, and provide shovel-ready sites for businesses looking to move or expand.
The transportation and logistics industry was one of 10 “targeted industries” in an economic blueprint for Tucson issued in 2007 and updated in 2014. Others are aerospace and defense, renewable energy and mining technology, and bioscience and health care.
“We have go to get our existing roads and infrastructure repaired — these logistics companies need healthy roads,” Snell said.
When it comes to commercial real estate, Tucson has been a “victim of our own success” as it now has a shortage of buildings 100,000 square feet and larger, he said.
Snell said the recovery playbook recommends a program to encourage investors to build “spec” buildings — constructed without ready tenants on speculation they will be filled.
Recruit talent
Alex Horvath, TMC vice president and chief human-resources officer, said readily available talent is the No. 1 factor in companies deciding to locate to an area.
To succeed, Horvath said, Tucson must promote its positive attributes, including its wide-open spaces, stability and sense of community.
To help get that message out, Sun Corridor has launched a new website, Thrive in Tucson, at suncorridorinc.com/thrive-in-tucson, offering a guide to what the Old Pueblo has to offer in terms of quality of life, major employers and cost of living.
Horvath said the community also must strengthen ties to young professionals and make a special effort to court “dual-career” couples, for spouses of workers looking to relocate here.
Workforce training
Pima Community College Chancellor Lee Lambert said workforce development was important before COVID-19 hit and is now even more critical, as the region looks to recover from its economic ravages.
PCC has intensified efforts to collaborate with local companies to develop workers with today’s skills, but a focus on “reskilling” workers is needed as many people have been forced to do something completely different in the wake of COVID-19, he said.
The playbook supports the establishment of a Southern Arizona Technology and Innovation Workforce Development Fund to help fund local training efforts.
Lambert said PCC also plans to focus on creating career “micro-pathways” — two or more stackable credentials that can be packaged together to quickly connect learners to employment in high-growth careers.
The plan also advocates expanding dual-credit enrollment with high school technical education programs, increasing work-based learning such as apprenticeships and bolstering “integrated education and training,” which combines basic education with workplace readiness programs and work-based experience.
Shovel-ready
Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry said the county already has begun studying “shovel-ready” sites for development, taking into account local government jurisdictions, development constraints like floodplains and military exclusion zones and existing infrastructure. The county included some of those sites in its most recent economic-development plan.
“You can have a road to it, you can have and sewer and electric there, but if it doesn’t have water, it isn’t shovel-ready,” Huckelberry said.
The Tucson region should map and maintain an inventory of shovel-ready sites to give prospective companies an array of options, he said.
The community also should invest in improvements to fill any infrastructure gaps, such as transportation shortfalls and strategically market shovel-ready properties, Huckelberry added.
Tourism recovery
Though the local industry has recovered to about 40% to 50% of its business before the pandemic, with some recovery seen particularly in leisure travel, the industry needs the community’s help to fully recover, said Brent DeRaad, CEO of Visit Tucson.
DeRaad and the Pivot Playbook panel on tourism recommended that the community invest in quality-of-life initiatives to attract visitors and that funding for Visit Tucson be increased to allow increased promotion of the area, citing a drop in city bed-tax collections that help fund the organization.
The plan also recommends full vaccination of U.S. residents, reopening of the Mexican and Canadian borders to restore revenue from foreign visitor spending and supporting Tucson International Airport by booking flights there.
DeRaad said the land borders have been closed to nonessential travel, “but for us, it’s essential and we need to make sure we get those leisure travelers back.”
Support is also needed for struggling businesses in downtown Tucson, which had experienced a renaissance in recent years, he said.
“We need to find a way to get these businesses reopened, get the festivals and events restarted and make sure our local sports franchises are supported,” DeRaad said.
