For Star subscribers: Education system, population growth, job training opportunities, shortages and infrastructure are among the issues that remain in Tucson.
David Wichner In a shiny new factory just west of Interstate 10 in Marana, workers at Roche Tissue Diagnostics are making automated instruments to help detect cancer, while across the street, two mammoth buildings are going up as part of a major new logistics center.
People are also reading… But much like other areas, the region faces some significant challenges including worker shortages and a lack of ready industrial space — not to mention currently high inflation and the risk of a possible recession in the near term. Major new investments in technical education programs at Pima Community College promise to shore up the local pool of qualified workers, Snell said, citing PCC’s establishment of Centers of Excellence in applied technology, aviation, information technology and cybersecurity, health professions, public safety, hospitality leadership and arts and humanities.
“We’re increasing in that, but we’re still low compared to Denver, Austin, Seattle, and those cities have much stronger economies,” Snell said, adding that higher-educated voters are much more likely to vote to tax themselves to improve schools and pay for infrastructure like roads and rail. SALC, a nonprofit led by a board made up of top local business executives, has advocated for higher teacher pay, supports financial assistance for quality early-childhood education programs and is a big supporter of the Pima Joint Technical Educational District, which offers an array of technical training programs to high school students, and has supported boosting funding for community colleges and the UA.
“Infrastructure is ultimately the backbone or the spine of any economy. If you don’t have solid in infrastructure, it’s going to significantly impact your ability to do to business to create jobs, but more importantly, even to move people to and from those jobs,” Maxwell said. “Infrastructure tells a lot about a community. You can look at a community’s infrastructure and see how much they care or on the flip side, they don’t care.
Population growth in the Tucson metropolitan statistical area, which is all of Pima County, is expected to drop from about 0.9% this year to 0.6% in 2024. Local population growth averaged about 1.5% from 2001 through 2018 and hasn’t topped 2% since 1999, according to census data. But Greg Hayes, chairman and CEO of parent Raytheon Technologies, has said that labor shortages and supply-chain disruptions continue to challenge the company’s efforts to ramp up production of key weapon systems, and other defense contractors have expressed similar worries.
Tucson-based Sion Power Corp. announced plans to double the size of its local operations, as it ramps up production of new, high-energy batteries for electric vehicles. The UA Center for Innovation helps incubate startups with workshops, educational training and business-pitch preparation assistance at the UA Tech Park on South Rita Road and in recent years has added satellite programs in Vail, Sahuarita and Oro Valley.
Team effortLocal business groups and government agencies have teamed up to lure new companies to the Tucson area. A look aheadGoing forward, Tucson’s economy will continue to be affected by the lingering aftereffects of the pandemic, including labor shortages and supply-chain issues, as well as high inflation and high energy costs due to disruptions caused by the war in Ukraine, the UA economists say.
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