Arizona has long been home to pioneers who dig into the desert, forging a path forward, driven by an unstoppable spirit. And, as leaders from across the Charlotte Region saw, that entrepreneurial energy is still alive and well today, driving innovation and advancement, catapulting the Valley of the Sun into a spotlight that shows no signs of dimming.
Last week, the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance convened 130 business, education, and civic partners on a leadership expedition to explore what drives Phoenix’s regional economy.
The event kicked off poolside at a hotel in the heart of Scottsdale Tuesday afternoon as attendees took cover from the unrelenting sun.
“We all know how important this time is in our city, and our nation, right now,” Ali Summerville, business administration executive at Ally Financial and chair of the CLT Alliance, said. “As leaders across the Charlotte Region, we are also responsible for demonstrating that leadership by coming together and making solid decisions that will drive impact and sustainable change for our community.”
The group set off across the dynamic, fast-paced Greater Phoenix region to learn why people and companies are choosing Arizona’s urban heart.
At the Phoenix Bioscience Core, leaders in health sciences, innovation, and advanced manufacturing opened up about their approach to economic development and offered Charlotte a glimpse into its future. The bioscience core, a life sciences innovation district located in the heart of downtown Phoenix, has spurred advancements, new technology, and record-setting investments.
“We were a city that was born in innovation,” Christine Mackay, community and economic development director for the City of Phoenix, said. “We were a city built on growth.”
Charlotte will soon be home to an innovation district of its own, anchored by its first medical school. The Pearl will be an innovation ecosystem, grounded in research and academics, to attract businesses, incubate new ideas, attract venture funding and scale small businesses into the companies of Charlotte’s future.
In Greater Phoenix, leaders across different cities, sectors, and industries all seemed to sing from the same sheet of music: they take a collective approach to almost everything they do.
“We market as one and we go after those assets as one,” Mackay said. “The last 10 years it has been with surgical precision and we make no apologies about what we go after.”
At Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks MLB team, an all-star panel of sports and tourism industry pros said they bring teamwork and a winning mindset to every event they host and every project they try to land.
It was a theme echoed at Arizona State University, where its aspirations for economic and academic dynamism evolved around innovation.
“It’s all about excellence, accessibility, and impact,” Michael Crow, president of ASU, said.
The university partners with dozens of businesses to develop talent pipelines fueling economic growth and prosperity in the region. ASU has had a meteoric rise in the past two decades, much like its Greater Phoenix home. Phoenix is the fastest-growing city in the nation and is expected to be home to 7.6 million people in the next 30 years.
“There’s not just a growth for growth’s sake mindset,” Chis Camacho, president & CEO, Greater Phoenix Economic Council, said. “We’re always bringing a level of urgency. The civic leadership mindset has changed. We’re not measuring success predicated on whether people are moving here.”
The panelists agreed much of their success has been the result of investing in accessibility and entrepreneurship.
“The next few economic cycles will be driven by your ability to take those great minds and give them the insulation they need to launch a company.”
Leaders in the Valley of the Sun offered this advice to their Queen City counterparts:
“You’ll get more done if you can all partner together and the business community works with the local elected leaders,” Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said. “All people going in the same direction helps.”
“It’s good to be big, but you need to be innovative and dynamic. It’s good to have economic momentum, but innovation intensity is going to differentiate your market,” Camacho said. “There’s an absolute level of commitment to collaboration here. There is a rugged individualism here. There’s an entrepreneurial spirit here that I think is unlike any other place.”
