Pinal County Shines With A Pair Of EDDE Awards

(PINAL COUNTY, Ariz. – Oct. 29, 2020) – Aaron Moon, business development coordinator, ARIZONA@WORK Pinal County, and the Pinal County Economic Development (PCED) office

have been named winners of the Arizona Association for Economic Development’s (AAED) Economic Development Distinguished by Excellence (EDDE) awards.

Moon was honored as AAED’s Workforce Practitioner of the Year, sponsored by Newbridge Technology Solutions and PCED was named AAED’s Large Organization of the Year, sponsored by Salt River Project.

With almost 10,000 new jobs predicted over the next two-to-five years in Pinal County, Moon works closely with ARIZONA@WORK Pinal County’s service providers to deliver streamlined, customized approaches to meet employers’ labor force needs.

Moon has been instrumental in the development of two significant products on behalf of the Pinal County Workforce Development Board’s Career Pathways Committee.  The committee has produced a training module for ARIZONA@WORK Pinal County’s service providers’ use in training staff on how best to guide career-planning.  It has also developed an interactive tool for the public, allowing individuals to quickly view occupations and inter-related occupations within an industry, as well as other pertinent career-related information.

PCED has been actively involved in a number of initiatives that benefit not only Pinal County, but the entire state, including water conservation, community blight, I-10 freeway widening from Phoenix to Casa Grande, Santa Cruz, San Pedro and Gila rivers preservation, state and federal lands issues, Dark Sky policies, state and federal transportation policies, and state and federal workforce issues, all in an effort to foster sustainable and responsible economic development.

PCED also works throughout central and southern Arizona to educate developers, business owners, prospective clients, elected officials and residents about the advantages of financially participating in opportunity zones.  PCED is also currently working with the University of Arizona and Arizona State University on the implementation of the new Arizona Innovation and Technology Corridor (AITC), stretching from Maricopa County and extending southeast on I-10 through Pinal and Pima counties to the University of Arizona Science and Technology Park in southeast Tucson. This massive-sized corridor will take an expected 25-30 years to fully develop and build-out, bringing billions of dollars in capital investment in high tech businesses and creating thousands of new high tech jobs throughout the entire corridor.

Overall, 10 EDDEs were presented during a virtual awards ceremony at the AAED Fall Forum.  The other winners are:

• Greg Tilque, CEcD, the William Lampkin Award for Long Term Excellence in Economic Development, presented by the Greater Phoenix Economic Council.
• Karla Moran, AZED Pro, economic development analyst, Salt River Project, Member of the Year, presented by Pat Davis Design Group, Inc.
• Jennifer Graves, CEcD, deputy director, Gilbert Office of Economic Development, Economic Developer of the Year, Large Community, presented by Sigma Contracting.
• Tami Ursenbach, economic development director for Mohave County, Economic Developer of the Year, Medium Community, presented by Concord General Contracting.
• Tom Doyle, economic development manager for the city of El Mirage, Economic Developer of the Year, Small Community, presented by Speedie & Associates, Inc.
• Crystal Pierce, business development representative, CCS Presentation Systems, New Member of the Year, presented by CCS Presentation Systems.
• Town of Queen Creek, Medium Organization of the Year, presented by the Arizona Regional Economic Development Foundation.
• Price Corridor, Best of Arizona Award, presented by the Greater Phoenix Economic Council.

“The EDDEs showcase the best in economic development for all of Arizona,” said Carrie Kelly, AAED’s executive director. “Without the work of these individuals and organizations, the economic vitality we see across the state would be nowhere near the high level that we see today.  They truly have a role in the growth of their individual communities and we are pleased to recognize them and their accomplishments.”

AAED, founded in 1974, has a mission to serve as Arizona’s unified voice advocating for responsible economic development through an effective program of professional education, public policy and collaboration. For more information on AAED, visit www.aaed.com or call (602) 240-2233.

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