2019 rankings of business-friendly states put the Grand Canyon State high in efforts to attract today’s growing industries. That translates to more Arizona tech jobs and business moving here.
Tech. Supporting it. Providing workers for it. That’s my big take-away from Commercial Real Estate Group of Tucson’s annual look at the rankings for business-friendly states.
Tucson is doing its share to help Arizona rise in these polls. Last year CBRE deemed it the No. 1 momentum market in tech, meaning it added more tech jobs as a percentage of its tech workforce than any other North American market.
Tucson logged a 90% tech jobs growth over five years, according to the commercial real estate firm’s “2019 Scoring Tech Talent” report. Its total tech wage growth of 29% for the same period also was tops among 25 areas described as “up-and-coming tech talent markets.”
Coupled with low cost of living and innovation spun out of the University of Arizona, site selectors in the high-tech sector take serious looks at potential Tucson R&D space and Tucson office space.
The Computing Technology Industry Association sees the same thing at the state level. Its “Cyberstates 2019” report put Arizona No. 2 among the states with the largest year-over-year increase of net-new tech business establishments. It was second only to California.
Here are other things that rankings that I follow have to say about Arizona.
Area Development
Arizona took the No. 16 spot in magazine’s 2019 “Top States for Doing Business” ranking that’s based on site selector surveys.
The Grand Canyon state tied at No. 4 with North Carolina in the metric of most improved economic development policies. The magazine noted Arizona’s efforts to improve its infrastructure as the reason for its high placement.
In the metric for having a competitive labor environment, Arizona tied with Virginia at no. 9.
The magazine also awarded Arizona its Gold Shovel Award that recognizes achievement in attracting high-value investment projects that generate significant new jobs. Arizona won in the population category of 5 to 8 million.
This year’s awards noted the impact of Amazon’s search for a headquarters and related major projects. Tucson earned one of those projects: a facility for customer returns, light assembly and customer pickups that will generate 1,500 jobs.
“The state of Arizona basked in a wealth of location announcements with job totals of a thousand or more apiece,” according to the magazine. “Financial services and IT were particularly strong winners in the Grand Canyon State.”
A $1 billion plant in Coolidge for building hydrogen-electric trucks was named one of the magazine’s projects of the year. An article noting the award mentioned that Arizona is attracting forward-looking transportation companies, including TuSimple, which is developing self-driving commercial trucks in Tucson.
These new businesses help to establish our state as the place to locate to tap quality workers in Arizona tech jobs. Amazon and TuSimple demonstrate that Tucson logistics space is in demand.
Chief Executive
An annual survey of chief executive officers resulted in Arizona inching up to seventh place in the magazine’s 2019 “Best and Worst States to do Business.”
“Business is booming in Arizona,” according to the magazine, “and a recent report from the Office of Economic Opportunity estimates the Grand Canyon State will add nearly 543,000 jobs through 2026.”
Top of its list of biggest deals: the Amazon fulfillment center in Tucson.
CNBC
Arizona is stuck at No. 20 in the business-news cable station’s 2019 “America’s Top States for Business.” It’s the same ranking as the previous year.
The rankings are based on 60 measures of business competitiveness. Arizona placed No. 2 for workforce, No. 9 for business friendliness, No. 12 for its economy, No. 13 for infrastructure and No. 18 for access to capital.
That last ranking is important. Economic development advocates have been working on expanding the availability of venture capital for startups that will add Arizona tech jobs. In Tucson, UAVenture Capital, Diamond Ventures and BlueStone Venture Partners are recent additions. They complement the long-time Desert Angels for pumping funds into promising startups.
“It is no longer just retirees flocking to this state,” according to the report. “Skilled workers are coming in droves, ready to be hired.”
Forbes
The business magazine put Arizona in the 18th spot in its 2019 “Best States for Business,” which scores states on 40 metrics.
Arizona ranked third for growth prospects. It ranked 12th for economic climate and in labor supply. It was placed 18th for regulatory environment.
Like the previous year, the magazine says forecasts of Arizona’s job and economic growth for the next five years are “among the best in the U.S.”
Site Selection
Arizona’s standing continues to inch up, according to the magazine’s “2019 To State Business Climate Rankings.” Its overall ranking was as No. 11. In its executive survey—important because it’s the subjective view of what decision-makers think—Arizona returned into the top 10 in the No. 8 slot.
Even better news, site selectors in an annual magazine survey put Arizona in a tie for second place with Tennessee among states that have done the most to improve their overall business climate in recent years.
Arizona also maintained its top spot among eight mountain states in the magazine’s Prosperity Cup rankings. The program looks at the success of business recruitment and retention efforts of state economic development offices. The Arizona Commerce Authority fulfills that role.
The geographic group stretches from Wyoming and Idaho to Arizona and New Mexico.
Bottom Line
After a long, shaky recovery from the Great Recession, Arizona is hitting its stride. Its incentives, workforce development efforts and growing capital resources are getting praise and attention from site selectors and other executives responsible for deciding commercial real estate issues.
I’m glad that these rankings recognize that the growth of Tucson office space and Tucson manufacturing space plays a crucial part in the state’s good rankings. People recognize that all segments of the state are important to raise the economy of the entire state. That’s a good outlook that will serve Arizona well in the future.
Commercial Real Estate Group of Tucson can help you translate these rankings into a strategy to bring, open or expand your business with a Tucson office space or other type of Tucson commercial real estate lease. Contact me for your free consultation.
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