City of Tucson Gets 2024 Golden Prospector Award for Academy of International Trade
The Arizona Association for Economic Development honored the City of Tucson Office of Economic Initiatives with the prestigious Golden Prospector Special Event Award for hosting the Academy for International Trade series.
The Golden Prospector Awards were established more than 20 years ago to recognize excellence in economic development and were presented at AAED’s annual Fall Forum, held recently in Prescott, Ariz.
The award recognizes a meeting, seminar, marketing tour, event, or trip designed to develop projects and promote economic development. This is the Office of Economic Initiatives’ second Golden Prospector Award, having won previously in the Marketing Brochure category for the 2022 “Connect Tucson” promotional piece. It is also the second time the Academy for International Trade has been awarded, having received an IEDC Gold Award of Excellence in September.
The City of Tucson’s Academy for International Trade was created to facilitate the growth and expansion of small and medium-sized Mexican businesses into the Arizona market. According to Barbra Coffee, the city’s director of economic initiatives, this program is an economic development business attraction strategy intended to implement the City’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy and help achieve the goal of attracting investment to diversify Tucson’s economy. “This program provides a platform for sharing with prospective businesses the information they need to successfully set up and launch business in the U.S.,” said Coffee. “It is our hope that they find Tucson the right fit for their next expansion and investment.”
The Academy for International Trade was made possible by generous financial support of the U.S. Consulate General in Nogales. The City of Tucson Office of Economic Initiatives hosted eight workshops for 31 business owners, kicking off in Nogales, Sonora in the fall of 2023 and ending with a graduation in Tucson on Jan. 19, 2024.
Through this series of eight in-person workshops, Mexican entrepreneurs gained valuable knowledge and skills to navigate the complexities of international trade, facilitate the creation of new business partnerships across the border, and increase the likelihood of commercial success in the U.S.
Twenty-four participating companies indicated they are interested in investing in the U.S. within 6-12 months.
