Attachment A - 3.11.26 EDA Subcommittee Minutes_.pdf

Subcommittee Members Absent    
City Council Chambers 
200 W. Jefferson St. 
Phoenix, Arizona 
Subcommittee Members Present     
Councilwoman Ann O’Brien, Chair 
Councilwoman Debra Stark  
Councilman Kevin Robinson 
Councilwoman Laura Pastor
CALL TO ORDER 
Chairwoman O’Brien called the Economic Development and the Arts Subcommittee to 
order at 10 a.m. with three members present. Councilwoman Pastor arrived at 10:05 
a.m.
CALL TO THE PUBLIC 
None. 
MINUTES OF MEETINGS 
1. Minutes of the Economic Development and the Arts Subcommittee Meeting
Councilwoman Stark made a motion to approve the minutes of the February 11, 2026,
Economic Development and the Arts Subcommittee meeting. Councilman Robinson
seconded the motion which passed unanimously, 3-0.
CONSENT ACTION (ITEMS 2-3) 
Items 2-3 were for consent action. No presentations were planned, but staff was 
available to answer questions. 
2. Acquisition of Vacant Land in Spark Area 2 Located at 627 S. 9th Place
3. Youth Workforce Development Services Contract
Councilwoman Stark made a motion to approve Items 2-3. Councilman Robinson 
seconded the motion which passed unanimously, 3-0.  
INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION (ITEM 4) 
4. Phoenix Economic Overview and Update: Part 2-Global Positioning and Market
Access
ATTACHMENT A
Phoenix City Council 
Economic Development and the Arts (EDA) Subcommittee 
Summary Minutes 
Tuesday, March 11, 2026

The Community and Economic Development Director Ryan Touhill introduced Deputy 
Community and Economic Development Director Nathan Wright, Program Manager 
Claudia Whitehead and International Relations Administrator Joesph MacEwan to 
present the Phoenix Economic Overview and Update.  
Mr. Touhill stated Phoenix has had one of the fastest economic turnarounds since the 
Great Recession and this is because of intentional strategies, policies, land use 
decisions, and partnerships that have helped push the City toward global growth. He 
explained Phoenix is competing on a global stage for investment, talent, and market 
access. The Community and Economic Development Department (CED) has developed 
a strategy of creating innovation hubs across Phoenix to catalyze growth. He described 
the six sectors anchoring these innovation hubs: advanced manufacturing, aerospace 
and defense including emerging sectors like advanced air mobility and electronic and 
autonomous vehicles, biosciences and healthcare, the circular economy, corporate 
headquarters, and emerging technologies including artificial intelligence and quantum 
computing.  
Mr. Touhill shared CED helps facilitate company locates and expansions, job creation, 
and private investment across these six target industries using a multifaceted approach. 
He explained this approach includes building connections with site selectors, attending 
industry trade shows to meet companies and build relationships, meeting with existing 
companies to help them remain and grow in Phoenix, talking to brokers and real estate 
developers, and partnering with state, regional, and international partners to build leads 
that can be converted into company locates and expansions. Mr. Touhill announced this 
work has resulted in 11 business locates this fiscal year with a goal of 12, over 2,600 
job creations, 1.3 million square feet of commercial space occupied, and $647 million in 
capital investment. Mr. Touhill emphasized the average salary of the jobs created is 
$96,830.  
 Mr. Touhill stated Phoenix benefits from its strategic location and export-oriented 
industries driving economic growth due to strong relationships with trading partners in 
Mexico and Canada. He shared the Phoenix Hermosillo Trade Office has helped drive 
activity in Mexico and has assisted over 812 businesses over the last five fiscal years, 
helped 26 incorporate in Arizona, and located nine in Phoenix. Mr. Touhill announced 
the Arizona Commerce Authority reported Phoenix as a leader since 2020 in 
international investment driven by Mexico, Canada, Taiwan, and other countries. He 
highlighted exports are growing in areas where Phoenix ranks 3rd in the nation for 
computer equipment, 5th for semiconductors, and 10th for aerospace parts and 
production. Mr. Touhill emphasized that our CED locates have grown by 30 percent in 
the last 10 years, and the City is benefiting from the increased activity. Mr. Touhill 
reported Phoenix has added more than 262,000 jobs from 2010 to 2024 and Arizona 
businesses have seen a 37 percent increase in exports from 2024 to 2025.

Deputy Community and Economic Director Nathan Wright stated the 2020 $12 billion 
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) announcement, which has 
since grown to $165 billion, and its effects are being felt throughout the City. He 
explained TSMC has been a great company to work with, is a Top Ten market cap 
company globally and is acquiring 900 additional acres from the State Land 
Department. Mr. Wright highlighted the TSMC project as the largest construction project 
in North America, bringing thousands of construction workers to Phoenix and building 
some of the most complicated buildings in the world. He stated the company’s supply 
chain is putting Phoenix on the map for new technologies including space, quantum, 
aerospace, medical device manufacturing, and CED is focused on using this supply 
chain to attract additional companies. Mr. Wright explained that every Council district 
has TSMC suppliers, creating a 5.8 percent economic multiplier and ripple effects 
across the City with suppliers from Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands and 
existing local companies. He stated Phoenix is ranked 4th as a corporate headquarters 
destination and although office vacancies rose after the pandemic, Mayor and Council 
leadership allowed the City to protect key buildings, resulting in 90 percent of CED 
locates going into existing space. He added there is significant new office growth along 
the 101 in North Phoenix, including campuses such as Republic Services and Fender, 
and CED will provide feedback to Public Works to explore future office space 
opportunities. Mr. Wright stated Arizona is the 3rd most attractive state for aerospace 
and defense due to engineering talent and legacy companies like Honeywell, which 
recently spun out its aerospace division in Deer Valley. He emphasized thanks to Mayor 
and Council leadership, Phoenix has become a place where new mobility companies 
can operate and has been named the #1 large city for startups.  
CED Program Manager Claudia Whitehead stated that under Council leadership 
growing biosciences and health care in Phoenix has been a priority because residents 
benefit from bio innovations, which positively impact health and create quality jobs. She 
explained a recent study showed bioscience jobs on average pay 30 percent higher 
than the rest of the private sector in Arizona. Ms. Whitehead shared Phoenix has 
experienced unprecedented growth with almost $7 billion in new capital investment, 
more than 8 million square feet of new primary facilities, and 14,000 new quality jobs 
since 2020. She shared the example of Backfax, a homegrown early-stage company 
originating at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, which developed vaccines for ear infections 
and caught the attention of Australian company GPN Vaccines, which acquired Backfax 
and is committed to scaling and growing in Phoenix because of the strong ecosystem. 
Ms. Whitehead stated Phoenix is home to a number of incubators, accelerators, and 
soft-landing programs providing resources for growth, including the Healthcare 
Innovations Accelerator led by Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University (ASU). She 
explained companies such as NeuroCatch and MyHealth have located in Phoenix 
through this accelerator, which helps introduce companies to the local ecosystem. Ms. 
Whitehead stated Phoenix is home to world-class research hospitals with built-in 
institutes of research excellence, contributing to Arizona’s ranking as 8th in the nation 
for clinical trials. She noted Phoenix is also home to top tier research universities, with 
ASU and the University of Arizona each investing $1 billion in research last year,

making them global research institutions and key partners for industry collaborations. 
Ms. Whitehead stated Phoenix is home to TGen, the Translational Genomics Research 
Institute, which has made Phoenix a global leader in precision medicine, and 
international manufacturers such as Schott Minifab, which strengthens the City's 
Australian connections. She highlighted Venture Café Phoenix as a key part of the 
infrastructure supporting local, national, and global connections, with more than 150 
innovators attending weekly gatherings and international delegations participating. She 
stated through the leadership of the Taipei Sister Cities partnership, Taiwan signed a 
declaration of collaboration to open the Taiwan AI Smart Health Showcase Center on 
the Phoenix Bioscience Core campus bringing 18 Taiwanese companies to Phoenix. 
She added Venture Café Phoenix is part of an international network of 16 cities and was 
recognized at the global gathering in Tokyo with the Making It Happen Award for the 
2nd time, where the City’s hackathon was featured as a model for other cities.  
CED International Relations Administrator Joseph MacEwan stated Phoenix Sister 
Cities has been the backbone of the City’s economic diplomacy for decades and has 
kept key relationships with key markets strong. He explained, an example is Phoenix’s 
engagement with Grenoble including an outbound delegation in 2024, reconnection with 
companies at the CES event in 2025, and a follow-up business delegation later that 
year, which supports Phoenix’s ability to attract capital, talent, and partnerships. Mr. 
MacEwan stated the recent Global Links luncheon brought key strategic leaders across 
industries, resulting in active conversations on quantum opportunities for Phoenix and 
Arizona and securing partnerships and speakers for the upcoming Phoenix Global 
Forum. He emphasized convenings are used to identify opportunities for long-term 
engagement and execute on them. Mr. MacEwan highlighted the civic side is equally 
important, with the strongest recent example being the Double Ten event, which under 
Chairwoman O’Brien’s leadership has become a signature event for Phoenix and is now 
the largest Double Ten celebration in North America. He stated Phoenix and Sister 
Cities are not doing this work alone and are part of an ecosystem including universities, 
GPEC, the Arizona Commerce Authority, trade groups, the consular community, and 
other civic partners. Mr. MacEwan explained Sister Cities utilizes this network to 
maintain strong connectivity with Sky Harbor playing an important role enabling trade, 
investment, executive travel, and technical visits for global firms and those being 
attracted to Phoenix. He stated Sister Cities is where opportunities and ongoing 
engagement are brought together so Phoenix can be ready to act when opportunities 
present themselves rather than starting from scratch. 
Councilman Robinson stated he had the opportunity to sit down with the leadership from 
China Airlines, which is headquartered in District 6, and they had nothing but good 
things to say about economic development including CED’s outreach and assistance. 
He stated China Airlines are very happy and looking forward to a long-term relationship.  
Councilwoman Stark agreed with Mr. MacEwan on the Double Ten event, congratulated 
Chairwoman O’Brien, and asked are there any other cities we are trying to zero in on.

Mr. MacEwan replied there are a number of cities such as Colombia and specifically 
Melbourne, Australia. He stated there are other cities CED is exploring but cannot 
announce those at this time.  
Councilwoman Stark thanked the team for the presentation.  
Councilwoman Pastor thanked the team for the presentation and stated it is a testament 
to all the work being done. She shared she has learned more about the business 
market of TSMC and the suppliers of TSMC are now wanting to move here. She 
congratulated the team and thanked them for their great work.  
Chairwoman O’Brien highlighted the increase in average salary from $36,000 to 
$86,000 between 2014 and 2025 and noted the presentation showed the average 
salary for jobs created in the last several months is now $96,830. She applauded the 
department for continuing to raise the bar for community members and citizens and 
emphasized the importance of Phoenix ranking 4th as a corporate headquarters 
destination. Chairwoman O’Brien explained Phoenix came out of the Great Recession 
because leaders before her, including the Mayor, made a conscientious decision to 
pursue TSMC, and as Councilwoman Pastor mentioned, the ripple effects of TSMC and 
its suppliers. Chairwoman O’Brien stated Ms. Whitehead noted life sciences jobs pay 30 
percent higher, and it is remarkable leaders made difficult decisions that resulted in 
attracting major businesses while not resting on prior success to raise the bar for 
Phoenix and surrounding communities. Chairwoman O’Brien added Phoenix welcomes 
wins, including when companies locate in nearby Arizona communities. She stated she 
was reminded at an event of a comment made by a small business owner and 
requested staff to develop the six-part series including a discussion of small businesses, 
which are the backbone of the community and the support of larger companies. 
Chairwoman O’Brien noted people often comment on how differently the City of Phoenix 
approaches the Sister Cities program, focusing not only on cultural exchanges and 
friendship but also on the economic aspect, which contributes to success. She added 
the department does amazing work and must continue because there is still much to 
accomplish for citizens and businesses in Phoenix. 
Councilwoman O’Brien recognized and thanked board members.  
 
CALL TO THE PUBLIC  
None. 
 
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS 
None. 
 
ADJOURNMENT 
Chairwoman O’Brien adjourned the meeting at 10:42 a.m.

Respectfully submitted, 
 
Taniya Williams  
Management Fellow