Metropolitan Tucson Business & Industry

Southwest Charm & Cultural Diversity

 

According to a forecasting project at the University of Arizona, Tucson is on track for the future with a robust economy, and projections estimate the population will top one million by 2010. Tucson’s competitive edge as a profitable place to do business is based on multiple factors, such as competitive wages, a moderate tax structure, a low cost of living, and availability of industrial sites, education and training programs. An $800 million downtown urban redevelopment project for revitalization, the Rio Nuevo Master Plan, is underway.

Tucson is ranked the third most Creative City in the U.S among medium-sized cities in the Washington Monthly. The Creativity Index ranks cities in terms of percent of employees working in creative and high tech fields, percent of high-tech industry within the local economy, innovation and diversity (measuring an area’s openness to different kinds of people and ideas). Tucson also is ranked Number Two nationwide in the Top 10 digital cities by the Center for Digital Government, rating how cities use technology to increase public access to local government and improve the delivery of services to their citizens. The Milkin Institute’s “Best Performing Cities” index gives Tucson an overall enviable rank of 17 out of 200 metropolitan areas, based on economic performance and ability to create, as well as keep, the greatest number of jobs in the nation.

Employment
The University of Arizona and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base are the two main employers in the city. Tourism, one of the most rapidly growing industries in the area, accounts for one of every 10 jobs and is expected to continue to be a major job provider. The arts contribute significantly to Tucson’s prosperity and provide 3,554 jobs. Federal, state and local governments employ more than 72,000 people in the Tucson area. Manufacturing employment in metro Tucson has more than doubled since the 1990s, with growth primarily due to the increase of high-technology manufacturers locating and expanding in Pima County.

Other strong sectors in the local economy are natural resources and mining, wholesale trade, construction, financial services, aircraft and missile manufacturing, dude ranching, and electronics research. Significant areas include aerospace, computer software, telecommunications services, and a growing infrastructure of biotech firms.

Housing
Land is abundant in the Tucson Metropolitan Area and, although Tucsonans treasure their pristine desert surroundings, new housing starts are consistently higher than the national average and prices are generally less than in other major metropolitan areas. Despite Tucson’s growth, housing and land costs are still well below the norm and the recent boom in real estate investing and construction is expected to continue. Diverse housing options range from 100 year-old haciendas to trendy downtown lofts, adobe estates designed by architect Josias Joesler, Santa Fe and Territorial designs, contemporary California Ranch styles, and environmentally-friendly solar and strawbale construction.

Tucson is one of a handful of cities to be awarded a Federal Empowerment Zone designation from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, bringing a $500 million package of tax, financing, and work force training incentives to workers and businesses in economically depressed areas of Tucson in order to encourage better paying jobs, economic development, and revitalization.

Transportation

Tucson International Airport, the second largest commercial airport in Arizona, is served by 11 air carriers and is an air freight hub via Evergreen International. AMTRAK, Southern Pacific Railway, and two transcontinental bus lines serve the city. The Sun-Tran public transportation system was named the 2004 Outstanding Transit Organization by Arizona Transit Association. The city is located on Interstate 10, a major transportation and trucking route between California and Florida.

Education
The University of Arizona, with an enrollment of more than 30,000 students and located in the heart of Tucson, is ranked among the top 10 research institutions nationally and is renowned for advances in optical sciences, medical sciences, electronics, scientific instrumentation, astronomy, geology and business studies. It has the heaviest concentration of astronomical science study programs and facilities in the world, and its Management Information Systems Department program (part of the Karl Eller Center in the School of Business) is ranked fourth in the country.

Pima Community College, the fifth-largest multi-campus college in the U.S., has an enrollment of more than 90,000 students at five Tucson campuses and 145 satellite facilities in region. The University of Phoenix, the largest private institution in the country, attracts to its Tucson campus thousands of working adult students seeking bachelors and masters degrees.

Metropolitan Tucson has eight school districts serving approximately 125,000 students in more than 120 elementary schools, 35 middle schools and 20 high schools. There also are 27 parochial, 103 private, and more than 10 vocational training schools in the area. Twenty technical and trade schools are in Tucson, with seven offering bachelors and masters degrees in subjects ranging from art to aeronautical science. The Southern Arizona Institute for Advanced Technology offers technician training programs to corporations and businesses in the areas of electronics, plastics, optics, telecommunications and information technology.

Tourism
Tourism represents a significant part of Tucson’s economic base, contributing more than $2.3 billion annually to the metropolitan area. Ten top destination resorts - Westin La Paloma, Sheraton El Conquistador, Loew’s Ventana Canyon, Omni Tucson National Golf Resort and Spa, Westward Look, Miraval, Canyon Ranch, Dove Mountain, Tanque Verde Guest Ranch, La Tierra Linda, and Starr Pass Marriott - attract conventions and visitors from all over the world with first class services and facilities. Five regional malls - El Con, Park Place, Foothills, Tucson and La Encantada - and more than 180 shopping centers serve the greater Tucson area.

The Arts and Events
The arts contribute significantly to Tucson’s prosperity and represent a total economic impact of $96.8 million by eight major organizations: Arizona Opera, Arizona Theatre Company, Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson Symphony Orchestra, UA Presents, the University of Arizona Center for Creative Photography, the University of Arizona College of Fine Arts and the University of Arizona Museum of Fine Art. The film, video and production industry contributes to the local economy, and the Tucson Film Office aggressively markets Tucson to the film and commercial production industry.

The annual International Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show in February- the largest of its kind in the country - generates $76.5 million for the metropolitan Tucson area, and almost $6 million in state and local tax revenue.. Major conventions feed more than $15.6 million into Tucson’s economy.

Sports & Recreation
Tucson hosts spring training for three professional baseball teams: the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Colorado Rockies and the Chicago White Sox. The city is also home to the Tucson Sidewinders Triple-A baseball club, nationally televised PAC-10 intercollegiate sports, men’s and women’s golf tournaments, bowling tournaments, bicycling races, and the world-famous Tucson rodeo. Outdoor recreation adds to the local economy with the more popular activities being hiking, backpacking, rock climbing, hang gliding, mountain biking, paragliding and tennis.

Healthcare
The Greater Tucson area has 15 hospitals, including the Tucson Heart Hospital, and a medical community of more than 2,000 physicians and 400 dentists. The University of Arizona’s Health Sciences Center has the state’s only College of Medicine and eight Centers of Excellence, including primary facilities for cancer, arthritis, heart, aging, respiratory, the Children’s Research Center, the Program in Integrative Medicine, and University Medical Center, with one of only nine organ transplant programs in the nation. Tucson Medical Center was named in the 100 Top Hospitals list in 1995.

The metropolitan area is home to several leading managed care companies, including Intergroup Health Care Corporation and Partners. The Muscular Dystrophy Association and the American Board of Radiology are headquartered in Tucson.

There are more than 4,000 Holistic medicine providers in the city. The nationally accredited Desert Institute of the Healing Arts offers certification in Massage Therapy, Zen Shiatsu, Reflexology and Thai Massage. The nationally accredited Arizona School of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine and the Asian Institute of Medical Studies offer masters degrees in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.

Military
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, headquarters for the Twelfth Air Force, is a key Air Combat Command installation generating an annual economic impact of $750 million in Tucson. The base is responsible for the combat readiness of eight active-duty wings in the western United States and Panama, with more than 35,000 personnel and 450 aircraft. In addition, the Twelfth Air Force is responsible for 21 units of the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard, with an additional 21,000 people and 360 aircraft.

Formerly the largest municipal airport in the country, Davis-Monthan was established as a military base in 1925 and was dedicated by Charles Lindbergh in 1927. Other federal agencies using the base include the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Customs Service Air Service Branch, the U.S. Corps of Engineers, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, and a detachment of the Naval Air Systems Command.

 

(Information current as of 6/2004 – check for updates later this year)

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