Pub. 4 2014 Issue 1

12 www.azbankers.org I n Mesa we are building a community where resi- dents can complete their education, find a great job and raise their families in safe neighborhoods. We are constructing new and better parks, roads and extending light rail while attracting private investment to our downtown and beyond. The question is, how did we do it? We created a smarter city. We recognized the financial mess that exists in Washington and realized we needed to do things differently to move forward. For example, the reuse of Williams Air Force Base has become one of our smartest investments as a city. Phoenix- Mesa Gateway Airport now serves more than 100 cities and is building its fourth terminal expansion. Across the street from Gateway, we creatively reused the Air Force Research Lab, now called AzLabs. The city was able to maintain the high security feature of the facility in the transfer of ownership, making it one of only a handful of facilities in the country designed for secure aerospace research and development. Partnering with the private sector has also helped develop the Gateway area outside of the military reuse zone. Able Engineering, an aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul company, moved hundreds of employees into a new building at Gateway. Mesa and the airport own the facility while Able Engineering operates the business. Most recently, Mesa celebrated the announcement that Apple Inc. will establish a new U.S. manufacturing facility to the Gateway area, creating 2,000 new jobs in engineering, manufacturing and construction. Bringing in companies that offer high wage jobs requires a buildup in our workforce. Mesa needs to provide a variety of education options to meet the needs of the companies com- ing in. In an unprecedented effort to expand higher education options, Mesa reached out to nearly 1,000 private liberal arts colleges across the country. The results were Albright University, Benedictine University, Upper Iowa University, Westminster College and Wilkes University opening campuses and offering classes in Mesa this year. These five institutions have rich histories and were established from 80 to more than 160 years ago in their home towns. Within five years, we expect to see several thousand stu- dents enrolled at the colleges in downtown Mesa. I believe that by having these “legacy schools” located here, we will create the atmosphere and vibrancy of a college town. These students, educators, staff – and new businesses to support them – will add to the built-in advantages of our core: Street- facing retail, a growing restaurant and entertainment scene, a world-class arts center and the extension of light rail. The downtown colleges and universities cited the light rail extensions as one of the major selling points in their decision to come to Mesa. Knowing that light rail would be a game changer for our city, we found a creative way to finance a sec- ond extension to Gilbert Road, which is a more natural end of the line for our city. We believe this extension will drive new private investment. These partnerships and creative approaches are how cities can successfully provide the high quality of life our residents deserve. We will continue to partner—smartly—with the private sector in ways that will provide long-term growth and a healthy economy for our citizens. w Mesa Economic Development By mayor scott smith