$5M grant awarded to improve economy
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Southern Arizona business and political leaders started a $5 million venture Tuesday to improve the region's economy through education and innovation.
The money comes from a three-year federal grant meant to kickstart collaboration among four southern Arizona counties.
Gov. Janet Napolitano was in Tucson on Tuesday to talk to the area leaders who won the grant.
"The money is a reward for good regional cooperation," she said.
The U.S. Department of Commerce awarded southern Arizona and 12 other regions in the country $65 million to foster economic development.
The money comes as part of the Workforce Innovation Regional Economic Development program (WIRED) and will be spread through Pima, Cochise, Santa Cruz and Yuma counties. Pima County will be responsible for the money but an oversight committee will decide what gets spent.
The region won the grant in June but got going on the effort Tuesday with a luncheon at J.W. Marriott Spa and Golf Resort Hotel.
Southern Arizona's growth, proximity to the border and quality research institutions make it economically blessed, but the state's workers need more skills to compete, said Emily DeRocco, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor.
The quality of an area's work force has eclipsed incentives packages as the top concern about where companies choose to locate, DeRocca said.
"Individuals with skills are the most important commodity in the market," DeRocco said.
The collaboration is more important than the cash, said Ron Curtis, with the National Bank of Arizona in Sierra Vista.
"The grant is not for a lot of money," Curtis said, "but it's a catalyst to bring us together to do what we should have been doing in the first place."
Focusing on work force training is vital not just in southern Arizona but across the country, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords said.
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