Gains & Losses
GyEdC highlights trends, challenges impacting yuma County
It’s been a roller coaster ride for the Greater Yuma Economic Development Corp., which experienced highs and lows during an unprecedented year that included a worldwide pandemic.
Julie Engel, president and CEO, shared some of those ups and downs during a recent presentation to the Yuma County Board of Supervisors.
RESKILLING AND RECOVERY
“Reskilling and recovery” are now the national priority due to the COVID-19 fallout. “We have learned that COVID has displaced many, many millions of people and the reskilling of that talent and workforce is critical to moving forward from this epidemic,” Engel said.
Workforce and talent remain a driving force in site selection, retention and expansion. Companies are getting involved in the training programs to help retrain.
In addition, “work, live, play communities” are magnets for innovation due to the “lifestyle balance” employees are demanding. Therefore, inclusive economies are the
next wave of talent mining. Promotion of innovation, entrepreneurialism and local investment is paramount to diversifying the economic base, Engel pointed out.
“What hasn’t changed is that urban areas continue to recover at a much greater rate than the remainder of the U.S., and we will continue to see disruptions due to COVID,” she noted.
Urban areas are
enjoying historic prosperity exceeding 2007 levels while rural regions like Yuma County have not reached pre-2007 recovery levels. The historic recovery in urban areas, like metropolitan Phoenix, masks the decline of rural areas.
An Economic Development Incentive Program bill, sponsored again by Rep. Tim Dunn, had been designed to even the playing field. After receiving pushback last year because the proposal wasn’t statewide, the bill was revamped into a statewide program and it received support from the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, Southwest Gas, Arizona Association of Economic Development and Local First.
However, the bill failed in a legislative committee. “It’s done. We lost in a tie 5-5,” Engel said. “Once again, ATRA came at us very hard. ATRA changed their stance from last year to this year. It’s plain unfair. Our Republican representatives voted with ATRA.” ATRA is the Arizona Tax Research Association.
“I’m gutted that we weren’t successful because this really was a game changer to rural Arizona. It was going to actually have companies consider other areas besides metro Phoenix,” she added.
GYEDC also pushed to modify the boundaries of the Opportunity Zones to include the port of entry and some of the industrial areas in Somerton and Yuma, which “would have been critical for investment attraction.”
It got a lot of traction right before the election, but then “it died,” Engel noted. “Again, another devastating blow. However, we continue to fight, and we’ll see if we can come up with something else that will make this work for those areas that don’t have enough infrastructure yet and need that additional investment.”
She added: “It just didn’t resonate that rural Arizona is in critical condition right now and we have to do something. What that is now, I’m not sure. But we will continue to wave this flag and try to get the message across that as a state we’re in trouble because there’s only one area in the state that is doing well, and that’s Maricopa. They have all the wealth, they have all the investment in infrastructure.”
LABOR TRENDS
Due to the pandemic, GYEDC is keeping a close eye on labor trends. However, local manufacturing, food production and logistic operations have not been affected and have not had to lay off workers.
Nevertheless, there are some issues to consider. The average age of farmworkers is 55 years old. The Yuma unemployment quotient in agriculture is 13 times higher than the U.S. average.
The good news is that local workforce groups are focused on retraining the traditional ag worker, and industries recognize the discipline and work ethic of the labor segment.
Engel noted that cross-border collaboration will drive future development and the Yuma Bi-National University Memorandum of Understanding seeks to bridge the labor gap. J-1 visas, which offer cultural and educational exchange opportunities, will become more prevalent in supplementing domestic skilled positions. Cultural exchange programs and English proficiency within Baja California schools will accelerate worker assimilation.
INVESTOR GAINS AND LOSSES
When COVID-19 began, GYEDC was greatly concerned with how its investor partners would fare with the “new normal.” While the organization had some losses, it also had some gains.
GYEDC currently has 118 private sector investors and five public sector Investors. Due to COVID-19, three investors discontinued their investment, one investor decreased its investment and one investor was not able to pay its fourth quarter investment.
However, GYEDC also gained four new investors “so we’re actually ahead of where we were when all this started,” Engel said.
Several projects are in the works, and they’re “not tentative.” Companies have either signed an agreement or are in negotiations to acquire land, with three in Yuma, three in San Luis and two in East County.
These projects would bring in 278 new jobs,
$95 million in capital investment and $9 million in new payroll income. This might all change, however, if another major project comes to fruition.
“They are going to surpass all of this in our project. It’s a $100 million investment. It is several hundred jobs. It is food production. It’s an international company that has been in business for 250 years. It has an incredible reputation. If we are able to secure this, it would be a tremendous opportunity. They are looking at San Luis and they are looking at Yuma,” Engel explained.
The company is a large water user, and “that was one of the drawing points for us, our ability to meet those needs,” she added.
HOUSING CHALLENGES
GYEDC assisted the Greater Yuma Port Authority with a grant for a housing study. The multi-family housing report was presented in November.
“The purpose of the study was, we have a lot of military families that are separated when they come to Yuma because the housing allowance does not cover the expenses of coming to Yuma. They can’t afford to bring their family and that’s because we do not have a surplus of multi-family homes,” Engel said. “So it’s cost prohibitive for them to do it.”
Yuma County has the same problem with educators. School districts are losing teachers after a year because of a lack of housing. Teachers can’t find a place to stay where they feel safe and they can’t afford single-family homes, Engel explained.
The study was done to demonstrate the need for housing and hopefully attract new development. Engel praised a Jacobson Homes project that will develop multi-family housing at Avenue 8E in the Foothills.
SPACEPORT AND MULTIVERSITY
GYEDC received a grant to compare a spaceport analysis. “I’m very happy to say that analysis came back very favorable, and we’re moving forward with an FFA application. Keep in mind, this has to be a statewide asset. It can’t just be a Yuma asset. We are going to need funding from the state. We are going to partnerships from the universities so this is also an educational opportunity for research and development and actually satellite development,” Engel said.
Right now the estimated cost for FFA licensing is $500,000, “so we will need partnerships to get this done.”
Engel noted that
GYEDC is “very excited” by the opportunity being presented to Yuma County because the location means a satellite can get out to the Sea of Cortez in 6 seconds.
The University of Yuma “multiversity” campus is still a priority. GYEDC, as a nonprofit, has submitted the grant to the Economic Development Administration for Phase 2.
“The brick and mortar is very important because we are going to be a destination. With our international boundaries, we are going to have students coming from Mexico who are going to need to stay here and are going to need to have this opportunity to have their education in the U.S. and have the whole experience.”
Engel pointed out that there is a great demand for “dual” teaching, credits and certifications, with nursing and teaching being two of the most critical areas of need.
VIRTUAL TRIPS
GYEDC participated in virtual trips to Germany, Israel and Italy, with each meeting including more than 30 company meetings.
“I’m very, very proud to report we have leads from every single one of these trips,” Engel said.
Three startups in Israel have started working with the Yuma Regional Medical Center Cancer Center. “They are doing research and development and they are going to partner with our cancer center,” she added.
BUSINESS RETENTION
“Business retention has become even more important due to the fact that this attraction is not as easy as we would like to see it be,” Engel said.
GYEDC has partnered with several organizations and manufacturers to offer training sessions, certifications, incentives and programs. Meetings have been held in support of new and existing manufacturers in Yuma to help promote new hires and with expansion plans.
GYEDC, in collaboration with OPRODE (the San Luis Rio Colorado counterpart), Greater Yuma Port Authority and 4FrontED, worked together to create a series of binational trade webinars, which attracted up to 1 million viewers from the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Italy.
This webinar series was part of a strategy to promote the 4FrontED megaregion covering Baja California, California, Sonora, and Arizona and all its assets such as the port of entries. The webinars focused on trade and the advantages of doing business in this region and the proximity to the maritime ports of Ensenada and San Diego.
“I am so proud of Yuma County and how we embrace our cultures, how we embrace our demographics. It is a very unique place and a proud palace to live and do business, and I am honored to be doing economic development in this region,” Engel said.