Gov. Janet Napolitano calls for better public-private collaboration in speaking about the state’s new economic development model before the business community at an SCF Arizona Association meeting.

Gov. Janet Napolitano is forming a new public-private entity and expanding the role of another to better direct the state’s economic development.
The Arizona Economic Resources Organization (AERO) will be organized with representatives of at least six primary constituencies: major private-sector companies, Science Foundation Arizona, the Commerce and Economic Development Commission, the Greater Arizona Development Authority, the universities, and venture capitalists. AERO will be a 501(c)(6) entity and funded with private money. It will help provide a single, unifying vision and strategic direction for economic development efforts in the state, the governor said.
“We’ve always had a piecemeal approach to economic development,” the governor said, “We’ve never brought all the important pieces together to give a consistent focus to our plans.”
She said the current economic situation presents an opportunity “to pool resources and to invest in innovation,” adding that “to weather tough economic times we need a single entity giving direction to our development efforts, and AERO will give us a full toolkit to help us.”
Gov. Napolitano also announced on Oct. 4 an expanded role for Arizona Global Network, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) entity that will now take direction from AERO in marketing Arizona to foreign businesses that wish to locate some of their operations in the U.S. It will seek input from the various economic development organizations in the state the state’s universities, the Department of Commerce and other entities.
Incorporation papers for AERO will be filed next week and members of its board of directors will be announced soon, the governor said.
The governor’s announcement took place at the luncheon of the annual association safety meeting of SCF Arizona, the state’s largest workers’ compensation insurance carrier.