Tech Parks Arizona has released a new study documenting the economic impact of the University of Arizona Science and Technology Park, also known as UA Tech Park. The report indicates that the UA Tech Park and its resident companies have an annual economic impact of $2 billion. 

UA Tech Park tenants generated $51.5 million in state and local taxes in 2017.

The study also reflects that the Tech Park is a center for high-wage jobs. The average annual wage of a worker at a UA Tech Park tenant is $74,028, which is significantly higher than the Pima County average of $47,327. In 2017, park companies paid $465.3 million in direct wages to their employees.

The UA Tech Park remains one of the largest employment centers in the southern Arizona region, hosting 52 companies and organizations that employ 5,870 skilled workers from 15 different industries.

UA Tech Park tenants were surveyed to quantify the impact that their operations have on the state and regional economy. The current study, authored by independent consultant Vera Pavlakovich-Kochi, analyzed the economic and tax revenue impact of the UA Tech Park in Pima County for the calendar year 2017.

For nearly 25 years, Tech Parks Arizona has helped to advance UA technology innovation and commercialization through the UA Tech Park.

Binational Award for Tech Parks

Tech Parks Arizona received special recognition during a conference highlighting binational innovation, entrepreneurship and competitiveness between the state of Arizona and the Mexican state of Sonora.  

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and Claudia Pavlovich, Sonora's governor, presented the award to Tech Parks Arizona during the Arizona Mexico Commission Summit, held in Tucson recently. 

Tech Parks Arizona received the Paul J. Fannin Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Arizona-Mexico Commission. The award is given to an Arizona company or organization that has demonstrated acts of goodwill and support for the development of the Arizona-Mexico relationship. Tech Parks Arizona received the award for its persistence in advancing economic development within the Arizona-Sonora region.

Tech Parks Arizona is a strong advocate for trade and business with Mexico and the Arizona-Sonora region. Previously, as the UA Office of Economic Development, it partnered with other universities in Arizona and Sonora in developing the concept of Arizona and Sonora as a binational region within the North American Free Trade Area. The office conducted a series of studies documenting the interconnectivity and interdependence of the Arizona and Sonora economies in a number of key economic sectors.  It developed the original Arizona-Sonora Regional Economic Indicators, which are produced by the Office of Economic and Business Research in the Eller College of Management at the UA. 

Another cross-border collaborative initiative of Tech Parks Arizona is the Global Advantage Program, which seeks to recruit high-tech, fast-growth business from around the world to the Arizona-Sonora region. Global Advantage leverages the benefits and assets of the region by providing access to the technology development and commercialization expertise of the UA and the integrated manufacturing support services of Sonora.