Will Bisbee’s Future be tied to the Future of the World’s Mining Industry?
Chuck Alton
There is some interesting economic development brewing in Bisbee, and while the project could fail to meet fruition for a variety of reasons, the real possibility that Bisbee could become a magnet for average to high paying jobs does exist at this moment.
Months ago, retired banker Stanley Stern of city commission “The iBisbee Committee” and City Manager Jestin Johnson called on UA Tech Parks Associate V.P. Bruce Wright “for some other reason” according to Stern. Wright quickly moved the conversation to an idea he had for developing a center in Southern Arizona for the testing and evaluation of future mining technologies. His strong hunch was that Bisbee could very well be the ideal location for such an enterprise.
Ever since then meetings between iBisbee members, facilitator and business executive David Smith, several City councilpersons, City Manager Jestin Johnson, and members of the UA Tech Parks team have vigorously but cautiously energized the hopes of many involved that this could well be a perfect fit and likely possibility for Bisbee.
Two weeks ago in a meeting at Turquoise Golf and RV in Naco, Wright reported through UA graduate student researchers that the empirical data accumulated on Bisbee assets and what they could bring to such an endeavor is favorable, and in the next couple of months more will be learned about the extent to which giant mining company Freeport McMoran Copper and Gold could and would be a mutually beneficial player and partner.
The UA Tech Parks that Bruce Wright designed and implemented attract companies of every size that have technology advances in early stages of development and have chosen the UA Tech Parks to ultimately help take their new inventions to market. Today, more than 6,000 people work at the parks in Tucson for the companies that have set up shop there at an average salary of more than $90,000 a year, and this world class development center in various ways is responsible for billions of dollars injection into the local economy annually. Also, part and parcel to its mission to seek innovative solutions in the areas of interest to the University is to improve economies in Arizona municipalities. They are regional economic developers who have a keen eye on Bisbee, AZ.
Of no small consideration for this mining industry related project is the fact that between Sonora, MX and Arizona, U.S., there is today a greater concentration of mining operations as can be found just about anywhere in the world. And, in today’s sustainability conscious environment, the world’s giant mining companies are eager, hungry, for the development of technologies that will satisfy the discerning concerns of local populations and regulatory agencies that ultimately decide if a mining project happens, or not. And make no mistake… mining is vital in our World and is here to stay.
At a meeting two weeks ago at the Turquoise Golf Course in Naco, Wright, amply recognized for his brilliance in economic development, explained to a small group what the Tech Parks are, the purpose they serve, and what his idea is for Bisbee as a logical and practical choice for a place to test and evaluate new sustainable mining technologies and procedures. The meeting was organized by local businessman David Smith who was asked by the iBisbee Committee to take the lead in this stage of bringing parties together to explore the assets of a potential relationship between the UA Tech Parks, Freeport McMoran, the University of Arizona, and the City of Bisbee.
