High-Tech Business is Beautifully Connected to a High Quality of Life in Southern Arizona

In 1992, Arizona achieved a "first-mover" advantage by becoming an early adopter of industry clusters as one of its key economic development strategies.

Clusters are regional concentrations of companies, suppliers, institutions and foundations within a business sector which leverage their competitive advantages and limited resources to more effectively collaborate, cooperate, partner and compete. High-tech clusters are those that leverage their competitive advantages and limited resources within a technology as opposed to business sector. 

The high-tech clusters operating in Southern Arizona are: Aerospace, Manufacturing & IT; BioIndustry; E-learning; Environmental Technology; Nanotechnology; and Optics. They entail over 1,000 companies employing more than 30,000 people with annual revenues in excess of $7.0 billion.

The companies comprising the high-tech industry clusters are important because they are: 1) export oriented (bring in new dollars); 2) high-paying (salaries are 50% or greater than the average private-sector wage); 3) high-growth (5 to 15% or more annually); and 4) environmentally sensitive (nonpolluting).

The following organizations helped sponsor this website: Arizona Department of Commerce;  City of Tucson;  Pima County; Southern Arizona Tech Council; Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities; and University of Arizona.

Should you need additional information about the high-tech business connection in Southern Arizona, please either directly contact the organizations identified in this website or send an email to Bob Hagen at  bob@satc-az.com.