Arizona is a powerhouse of an emerging economy in the Sunbelt region. Even with the new administration halting Biden’s federal investments, there is still $122 billion in private investments on the horizon, launching a boom in construction, retrofitting, technological advancement, manufacturing, and employment.
According to Arizona’s Office of Economic Opportunity, by 2030, Arizona will create 400,000 new jobs, including 26,000 manufacturing jobs, 20,000 jobs in the construction trades, 12,000 clean energy jobs, and 16,000 jobs in broadband, telecommunications, and information technology. The state’s GDP has grown 32% in the last three years. The state is number one in the country for manufacturing job growth.
Power Up Arizona will wage a campaign to ensure that Arizona’s economic boom benefits the people of Arizona.
But the new economy brings risks as well as promises. Without active involvement by workers and communities, the new jobs could be low-wage, non-union jobs with unsafe working conditions – an implicit reason for Arizona’s attractiveness to employers. Without the voices of local working class communities leading this massive new economic development project, rents and home prices are skyrocketing, pushing working class families out of their neighborhoods. And without the public participation of communities across the state, the new factories could use vast quantities of water in a drought-stricken state, hasten the damaging effects of climate change through excessive energy use, and drive population growth in a state that is environmentally fragile. Indeed all of these outcomes are already visible.
Our mission is to build power to drive our agenda for the state’s development.
We will pursue the following objectives:
Collaboration
Establish a strong collaborative table between community organizations, environmental organizations, and labor to create a shared understanding of the economic development happening in Arizona by industries, sectors and regions. Through this process identify strategic shared targets and anchor campaigns to advance our collective agenda.
Development
Scale up accessible workforce development programs that include partnering with vocational high schools and school districts and growing multi-industry pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs preparing workers for employment in construction and manufacturing.
Pathways
Create pathways for underrepresented workers in manufacturing and the trades, including women, local residents, and working-class residents of Arizona. This will require comprehensive career training for workers and expanded supportive services.
Building
Build a broad, organized base of Maricopa and Pima County residents with the capacity to win community demands and participate in public decision-making.
