Our latest stop on the 2015 Road Show took us to Arizona’s Copper Corridor, where we had the opportunity to visit with the chambers of commerce in Superior and Globe-Miami.
Our conversations made clear that copper is commerce. The precious metal is one of the “Cs” of Arizona’s five Cs, so integral not only to Arizona’s history but its future. The thousands of direct and indirect jobs that are coming to the Superior area once permitting on the Resolution project is complete will be a shot of adrenaline for Gila and Pinal Counties and the rest of the state.
Visiting with community leaders in the area left no doubt of the impact our congressional delegation had in getting the land swap that made the project possible across the finish line, specifically Sen. John McCain, whose deft legislating ensured the project was included in “must-pass” legislation.
We were privileged to hold a roundtable in Globe attended by Globe Unified School District Superintendent Jerry Jennex, who shared his vision of “Capturing Hearts, Empowering Minds,” and what it could mean for the future of his schools, students and teachers.
Two big items for the area’s to-do list:
- Work to upgrade the broadband infrastructure; today’s business environment requires it.
- It’s hard enough to recruit teachers to rural Arizona. We should be doing all we can to remove bureaucratic barriers for qualified teachers to bring their talents to our state.
Message delivered, message received. We’re studying what we can do in these two areas to move the needle in a positive direction.
In each community we were joined by state Reps. Frank Pratt and TJ Shope. Covering a large rural district isn’t easy, but our Chamber has been consistently impressed by their commitment to know and understand each of their communities’ needs and concerns and represent them with honor at the state Capitol.
I want to thank Superior Chamber of Commerce President Sue Anderson and Globe-Miami Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Ellen Kretsch for bringing together their towns’ business communities for two excellent roundtables where we discussed the latest in business policy issues facing the state and our A for Arizona project. Employers in the area are engaged, asked great questions, and clearly want their communities to thrive.
When in Superior, be sure to visit Porter’s Café, which catered our meeting. In Globe, check out Bernard’s Coffee Station & Café, our meeting location host.
