We thought some of our readers would be interested in Joe's concerns---especially those about TREO.
Art
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[Here is a link] to Mayor Tommy Battle's Fox Business interview on why Huntsville is thriving even in a down economy. With a population of 200,000. What do they have that we don't?
Raytheon is our regions largest employer with 11,500 employees. What are we doing every day to let them know we appreciate them? Who's on point to make sure Raytheon is happy? And no, the answer is not building a $200 million hotel on the taxpayers dime.
The team that brought Raytheon to the Hunstville market included:
Mayor and Board of Supervisors, The Local Chamber which also houses their Economic Development department, Governor's office in conjunction with the state Commerce Department. This is the type of leadership we need in Tucson. Why on earth does it have to be so hard?
What does Tucson do?
1. Mayor Walkup used to work for Raytheon AND he's representing Tucson on the TREO board. The scary thing is he didn't even know about the possibility of a Raytheon expansion!
From the ITB article:
Walkup said he left negotiations of the site with TREO but that he was willing to help build whatever Raytheon needed here. He also said he wasn’t made aware of it at the start of Raytheon’s search 18 months ago, saying he relied on the Raytheon senior executives to tell TREO and for TREO to tell him.
2. The Board of Supervisors pays little attention to job creation, their main focus is on environmental preservation. We know they don't want the Rosemont mine but what do they want?
3. Our Chamber isn't at the table, the brain power left the chamber 15 years ago to form SALC.
4. TREO either doesn't know how to sell Tucson or is paralyzed to fix the core problems because that would mean biting the hand that feeds them.
5. Our state Commerce Dept was disbanded and restarted because it's short term political appointments (based on patronage) have rendered the department a non-factor. Remember Gov. Napolitano appointed Marco Lopez as director, who at 27, was one of the youngest mayors in the country from Nogales. He had virtually no business experience when he took the top job.
6. Arizona's Governor and Legislature can push through a 1 cent sales tax, a law legalizing sparklers, the ability to carry guns in restaurants and SB1070 but we can't pass a jobs bill (SB2050) or get our state off the boom bust growth cycle.
As Rome burns, we all lose.
This stuff would be funny if it weren't so sad.
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1 comment:
It is unfortunate but true that Oro Valley economic abilities are tied to Tucson's ability to attract quality jobs.
Raytheon is, by far, Tucson's largest employer (Over 12,000). What happens to Raytheon and Honeywell (employs 800 in Oro Valley) matters to us big time.
TREO's absolute failure to bring the Raytheon expansion to Tucson is tragic.
Another reason the Town of Oro Valley should not support TREO's meager efforts, efforts that produce only meager results.
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