Overview of the Region…
The Arizona-Sonora Borderlands Region, comprising Baja (Southern) Arizona and Alta (Northern) Sonora, stretches from Casa Grande in the north to Guaymas in the south, and east to Agua Prieta/Douglas. With the Tucson Metropolitan Area serving as the capital of Baja Arizona and Hermosillo as the capital of Sonora, Ward 3 in the City of Tucson is uniquely positioned to lead as the capital of the Region. Especially because of the CANAMEX trade corridor linking Canada, the U.S., and Mexico that runs directly through it. Major communities include Bisbee, Casa Grande, Douglas, Nogales, Sierra Vista, and Tucson in Baja Arizona, and Agua Prieta, Cananea, Guaymas, and Hermosillo in Alta Sonora.
The Region is home to the Apache (Nde), Pascua Yaqui (Yoeme), and Tohono O’odham peoples, and reflects a blend of indigenous, Spanish, Mexican, and “Wild West” history. Tucson itself was founded as a Spanish presidio in 1775 and incorporated as a city in 1877. Its economy rests primarily on human and natural capital: agriculture (cotton, dairy, produce, livestock), copper mining (Baja Arizona produces over 60% of U.S. copper), and a growing maquiladora manufacturing partnership with Alta Sonora. The Tucson Metro Area itself is driven by aerospace and defense, education, government, biosciences, optics and photonics, and renewable energy.
Tucson’s Current Economic Challenge…
The City faces budget deficits from declining federal and state revenue, and lacks sufficient job diversity to support quality of life for all residents. Ward 3 has higher poverty than other wards, and business dissatisfaction with the City’s economic development approach is rising. Though Tucson sits at the region’s economic “capital,” opportunity largely “passes through” unleveraged. Most urgently, Tucson is losing young people and University of Arizona graduates to a lack of employment opportunities. A “silent crisis” that weakens neighborhoods, local businesses, and schools. Because small lifestyle businesses have thin margins and limited capacity for high-paying jobs, growth requires attracting larger corporations while still supporting entrepreneurship.
Opportunities for Ward 3, the City, and the Region …
Ward 3 is positioned to lead a strengthened economy for Tucson and the Region, serving as a commercial, industrial, transportation, and logistics hub supported by Interstates 10 and 19, Union Pacific rail, the Port of Tucson, and proximity to the University of Arizona and Pima Community College. By integrating its residential, commercial, and industrial assets, Ward 3 can help Tucson become an economic powerhouse for Baja Arizona and promote itself, with neighboring cities, as capital of the Region.
Six major economic development opportunities stand out for the Region, with Ward 3 as a hub…
- Gastronomy- leveraging Tucson’s UNESCO Creative City designation and cross-border organic supply chains
- Lapidary- leveraging the world’s largest Gem, Fossil, and Mineral Showcase
- Travel and Tourism- promoting the Region’s natural beauty and “Wild West” history with Visit Tucson and area chambers
- Mining Technology Innovation- positioning the Region as a center of excellence in environmentally preserving technologies
- Knowledge-Based Industries- research, design, and engineering, including data-center, transportation, and maquiladora consulting technologies
- High-Tech Industries- artificial intelligence, robotics, cybersecurity, climate resilience, energy, and water management
Across all six, the goal is the same: transfer technology from the University of Arizona into the local marketplace to stimulate entrepreneurship with robotics and AI in particular offering transformation across agriculture, healthcare, manufacturing, and textiles, and a recent memorandum of understanding with Taiwan opening further high-tech opportunities.
Implementation…
The path forward calls for a collaborative plan for the Ward 3 hub, with Tucson’s governmental, business, and non-profit communities working together to build a unified vision that encourages entrepreneurship and business development across the City and the Region.