Tucson Shines With Best of Arizona EDDE Award

Contact: Sara Goodwin

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tucson Shines With Best of Arizona EDDE Award

(PHOENIX – May 1, 2017) Bruce A. Wright, the University of Arizona’s associate vice president for Tech Parks Arizona, has been named winner of the Arizona Association for Economic Development’s (AAED) Economic Development Distinguished by Excellence (EDDE) Best of Arizona Award.

The prestigious EDDE Awards honor individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to the advancement of the organization and also to the economic growth within the state of Arizona. Recipients are selected from a pool of nominations made by members of AAED.

Wright was recognized for his role over more than two decades in raising the profile of Arizona and Tucson to the national and international business community. He opened one of the first university economic development offices and under his guidance pioneered several strategic initiatives that are still in place today, including cluster analysis on key industries, such as optics, bioscience, cybersecurity and energy.

The Tech Park continues to be an economic powerhouse with significant impact in the Tucson and Pima County regional economy. It is one of the area’s largest employment centers with 6,000 employees who work at more than 40 companies located at the Park.

It’s most recent economic impact figures show the following:

38 tenants
9,023 total job impact
$609.5 million in total wage impact
$37.9 million in total tax revenue impact
$1.5 billion in total impact.

The Tech Park hosts more than 3,000 visitors annually from around the world. Many of these visitors, including elected officials, researchers and students, come to the facility to learn more about research-park operations.

“Bruce is a true leader in Arizona,” Joyce Grossman, AAED’s executive director, said. “His contributions to economic development have had a significant impact on our state and its growth.”

Overall, eight EDDEs were presented during an evening awards dinner at the AAED Spring Conference in Lake Havasu City. The other winners are:

Tom Pitts, economic development consultant in Yavapai County, Member of the Year.
Mitchel Allen, vice president, business development, Greater Phoenix Economic Council, Economic Developer of the Year, Large Community.
Tim Kanavel, Pinal County economic development manager, Economic Developer of the Year, Small Community.
Salt River Project, Large Organization of the Year.
Arizona Regional Economic Development Foundation, Sierra Vista, Small Organization of the Year.
Deeidra Skipton of Goodwill Industries of Central Arizona, Workforce Practitioner of the Year.
Cori Garcia, economic development administrator for the Gilbert Office of Economic Development, New Member of the Year.

AAED, founded in 1974, has a mission to serve as Arizona’s unified voice advocating for responsible economic development through an effective program of professional education, public policy, and collaboration.

For more information on AAED, visit www.aaed.com or call (602) 240-2233.