David Smallhouse 

Managing Director, Miramar Ventures
Secretary/Treasurer – Sun Corridor Inc.

If you were to be asked by a site selector, what is the best part of doing business in Tucson, what are the areas you would highlight?

The best part of doing business in Tucson is how closely connected and friendly the community is. At Sun Corridor Inc., we continue to hear from our prospects plus newly recruited members of our business community that with just a phone call or two they can easily connect with decision makers; whether it’s leaders of our business community, members of any level of government or with our highly acclaimed research and education institutions. 

What are some of the emerging trends in your industry that could have an impact locally on site selectors looking at the Tucson region?

One of the results of current domestic and international central banks’ monetary policy being focused on bringing inflation under control is that the funding of capital investment has become more costly. Decision makers are now more focused on their projected returns on investment. This in turn, I believe, has made the site selection and expansion decision process place more emphasis on how quickly the business can profitably ramp up. A key factor in ramping up is whether critical team members are willing to make a move to a new community. Quality of life with an attractive cost of living are significant drivers in that decision process. We all know that Southern Arizona is a very attractive region when looking at those two factors. Plus, our community with its existing highly skilled and educated labor force and its ability to expand its workforce via our highly acclaimed university and community college is very compelling. 

Aside from the areas you would highlight to a site selector, what are you most optimistic about for the future economic development in the region?

Southern Arizona’s diverse industry sectors including aerospace and defense, bioscience, healthcare, information technology, mineral and agriculture technology, tourism and logistics will continue to be key economic drivers Our diverse economy combined with its unique biodiverse open space, entrepreneurial spirit, highly acclaimed higher education and research institutions plus it’s rich cultural amenities will continue to be very attractive to employers and employees. Southern Arizona has a very bright future.

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