Tucson: From the Wild West to High-Impact Innovation

The Wild West spirit remains alive and well in Tucson. It’s no longer like that portrayed by the many Westerns shot at Old Tucson Studios or nearby Tombstone. The spirit now draws people from entirely different walks: the ever-evolving technology-industry-business community; and the rich arts and cultural side.

“I’ve worked at places that do not have what Tucson has – arts, culture, diversity, history, and openness; all of this makes business development easy,” Economic Initiatives Director Barbra Coffee said. “It’s certainly an exciting time to be in Tucson. We have an emerging entrepreneurial ecosystem, and the organizations who have done their groundwork to create it over the years are hitting their stride.”

Defense contractor Raytheon, meet autonomous trucking company TuSimple. That’s how it is in this metro area of one million-plus, rimmed by the Catalina Mountains and encompassing much of Saguaro National Park. 

Speaking of TuSimple, autonomous trucking is one of the new industries calling Tucson home. TuSimple is testing autonomous (driverless) and assisted-driver longbed trucks on Interstate 10 between Phoenix and Tucson. They have forged a workforce development partnership with Pima Community College to create one of the first autonomous trucking certificates in the country.

That’s not all. The three biggest community colleges in Arizona – Pima, Maricopa, and Central Arizona – are partnering on a shared curriculum for automated manufacturing, such as robotics and 3D printing. “The courses are offering more standardized training to use in places like Raytheon, Boeing, Caid … Now, their skills will translate right into these workplaces,” Coffee said.

Here’s a deeper look at Tucson’s highly innovative deep dive into technology, advanced manufacturing, education-fueled initiatives, and workforce development:

Speaking of UA, much is happening to retain fresh graduates from the 43,000-student campus within the Tucson workforce. “The talent pipeline is here,” Coffee said. “What’s so important is strengthening the industry clusters to keep these young engineers here when they graduate. We are expanding opportunities in many different ways.”

To that end, UA’s commercialization entity, Tech Launch Arizona, focuses on creating networks of people who can become supportive mentors for emerging companies. “With UA, we’re strengthening our network of mentors in community,” Coffee said. “It’s a very collaborative environment here.”

Another launch pad, Startup Tucson, will provide access to capital and connections for emerging businesses, with more than 17,000 active subscribers in their network.

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