091619IB.DOC

Maricopa County — Formal (2020-12-09)

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Informal Meeting Minutes
Monday, September 16, 2019
9:30 AM
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Maricopa County, Arizona 
(and the Boards of Directors of the Flood Control District, 
Library District, Stadium District, Improvement Districts, 
Housing Authority of Maricopa County and/or Board of 
Deposit)
"The mission of Maricopa County is to 
provide regional leadership and fiscally 
responsible, necessary public services 
to its residents so they can enjoy living 
in healthy and safe communities”
Board Members
Bill Gates, Chairman, District 3
Clint Hickman, Vice Chairman, District 4
Jack Sellers, District 1
Steve Chucri, District 2
Steve Gallardo, District 5
County Manager
Joy Rich
Clerk of the Board
Fran McCarroll
Meeting Location
Supervisors' Conference Room
301 W. Jefferson, 10th Floor
Phoenix, AZ 85003
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
The Board of Supervisors of Maricopa County, Phoenix, Arizona, convened in Informal Session at 9:30 AM 
on Monday, September 16, 2019, in the Supervisors' Conference Room, 301 W. Jefferson, 10th Floor, 
Phoenix, AZ 85003, with the following members present: Bill Gates, Chairman, District 3; Clint Hickman, 
Vice Chairman, District 4; Jack Sellers, District 1; Steve Gallardo, District 5 (entered late).  Absent: Steve 
Chucri, District 2. Also present: Fran McCarroll, Clerk of the Board; Kelly Gardiner, Minutes Coordinator; 
Joy Rich, County Manager; and Andrea Cummings, Legal Counsel.
PRESENTATION
Budget Office
1.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PRESENTATIONS
Economic Development Presentations
          Chris Camacho, Greater Phoenix Economic Council
          Mike Mooney, Visit Phoenix
          Jennifer Mellor, Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce
          Greg Tilque, Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce (C-49-19-048-P-00)
Chairman Gates opened the meeting welcoming the County’s Economic Partners: Greater Phoenix 
Economic Council, Visit Phoenix, and Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce.
Chris Camacho, President & CEO, Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC) came forward to give a 
presentation to the Board.

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Mr. Camacho said the County investments are focused primarily on private sector investment and the 
return on that money has been 40 to 1, meaning for each $1 invested, $40 comes back.
Mr. Camacho said he would recap this past year and started with the following slide. He stated 
Phoenix is considered one of the top three markets for corporate investment due to the strong labor 
pool and the production that is coming out of the colleges and universities in the valley.
~ Supervisor Gallardo entered the meeting ~
There have been many projects spread across the valley with nine new projects in the last two months 
in the west valley. Phoenix is doing well with low unemployment relative to other major cities in the 
country.
Supervisor Hickman asked what was considered a “high wage” job. Mr. Camacho said 130% of the 
County median wage which is mid $40,000.

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The following three slides show the many companies involved in advanced manufacturing which have 
contributed to the economic growth. Mr. Camacho spoke about the diverse industries that have come 
to the valley in part due to the strong presence of financial services.

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The companies listed below are tech only and if those same companies were here ten years ago, they 
would likely be customer service based rather than technology based.

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Mr. Camacho said the map shows where many of the projects are landing in the Phoenix area. There 
has been a lot of growth on the central corridors including I 17, the Loop 101 and projected growth on 
the up-coming Loop 303

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Greater Phoenix economy is strong and anticipates the next 6-12 months will show continued growth. 
There are six technology hubs in the US and Greater Phoenix is one of them. He said the major 
competitor markets to contend with are Dallas, Austin, Seattle, Denver, and Salt Lake City.
Mr. Camacho reviewed the above slide looking at the last five years. He stated GPEC has 
experienced a steady economic recovery since 2008 with an uptick in the last five years.
Mr. Camacho gave a brief review of the above slide outlining the six goals for GPEC.

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Mr. Camacho thanked the Board and asked if there were any questions
Supervisor Sellers commented on the importance of direct airline access to Phoenix for international 
travel to improve our marketability.
Mr. Camacho stated the importance of making the region attractive to international markets.
Supervisor Hickman asked Mr. Camacho to explain Magnet Sites.
Mr. Camacho said Magnet Sites are designed to encourage growth. The Magnet Sites with the 
corresponding Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ), a federal designation, allows tax deferred or tax free (tariffs, 
duty) on goods. Specifically, Magnet Sites allow goods to pass through the FTZ expeditiously without 
the need for concurrence from all the taxing jurisdictions. Mr. Camacho stated, “our region currently 
has an expeditious process and the Magnet Sites do not have a significant benefit.”
Chairman Gates thanked Mr. Camacho and GPEC for being a good economic partner.
Mike Mooney, Executive VP and COO for Visit Phoenix came forward to present FY 2018-19 Contract 
Performance.

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Mr. Mooney started with an explanation of what Visit Phoenix does in the Greater Phoenix region, with 
the slide illustrating the different elements of the Visit Phoenix model.

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Mr. Mooney stated the economy is good and the budget reflects that.

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Mr. Mooney reviewed the Mission and Vision Statement saying that it better reflects what destination 
organizations do today. Unlike GPEC, Visit Phoenix’s goal is to have people come, spend their money, 
have a great time, then go home with the desire to return.
The Greater Phoenix Region is experiencing growth as the numbers on the following slides reflect. 
Financials, Convention Services, Visitors Services, and Convention Sales.

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Marketing has been going well with email and website activity on the increase.  Media Relations, 
Membership, Tourism slides which follow were also reviewed, and highlights were noted as reflected 
by the statistics on the slides.

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Mr. Mooney continued his presentation by outlining the activity on the contract goals for this 
organization.  Each slide related to contract goals provided the statistics to date related to that goal.  In 
discussing Convention Business, he stated that 991 total meetings were held and the County Revenue 
impact had reached 97% of the stated goal.  He commented on the Board’s question regarding a 
downturn in the economy stating that some Associations have backed out of planned conferences or 
events and explained that they are changing some of their marketing from Facebook to Instagram.
This portion of the presentation concluded with statistics and graphs showing distribution of various 
aspects of the organization’s focus by Supervisorial District including Booked-Room nights and Travel 
Impacts.

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Mr. Mooney continued by outlining the 2019-20 Business Development Plan which included fiscal year 
objectives and strategies for convention sales, convention services and marketing among other 
objectives.

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The presentation from Visit Phoenix concluded with a look back at the economic impact of some 
significant special events like the NCAA Final Four in 2017 and Super Bowl XLIX in 2015.

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Jennifer Mellor and Greg Tilque from Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce came forward to 
present an overview of the Greater Phoenix Chamber’s accomplishments.
Mr. Tilque provided a summary of the previous year’s goals and performance metrics.   He explained 
that retention of contacts as well as expansion is important.  The Chamber exceeded their goal in this 
category as the number of visits has increased.  The Performance Metrics slide provided additional 
statistics on their goals, actual numbers, the percentage of the goal achieved and setting new goals for 
2020.  He commented that small businesses have gotten value from Chamber, and, even though there 
are projections of a recession, businesses are optimistic for their future. The biggest issue of concern 
is the workforce – the availability, cost and retention of workers is one focus of their “Find Your 
Phoenix” program.

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Jennifer Mellor presented the next segment for the Chamber which included information about the 
creation of the “Greater Phoenix Chamber Foundation.”  She explained the development of Workforce 
Collaboratives – Construction, Cybersecurity, Financial Services and Health Care.
Specifically, she gave an example of the hospital collaborative recognizing that there is a shortage of 
nurses, but a waitlist at schools for training, and the unavailability of space for training.  This 
collaborative received $5.8 million for new training facilities.  The plan is to work on similar strategies 
for two new collaboratives in the coming year – Advanced Manufacturing and Information Technology.
In response to a question from Supervisor Gallardo about the effect of light rail’s expansion to the 
south and the possible adverse impact on small businesses along that route, Ms. Mellor indicated they 
would work on including that issue in the plans and goals for the coming year.

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2.
ECONOMIC FORECAST PRESENTATION 
Economic Forecast Presentation
          Alan Maguire, The Maguire Company (C-49-20-003-P-00)
Chairman Gates asked Alan Maguire, The Maguire Company to come forward and give the 
Board an overview of the economic forecast.
Mr. Maguire reviewed the information on the following slides and commented on the 
following points:

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A Global projection of 3.5% growth forecasted may be too optimistic

Germany, Hong Kong and India are all facing problems

Brexit is a significant issue to be aware of

The United States has moved again to the economic leader in the world

GDP isn’t the best indicator, but many continue to use it

Employment has increased dramatically with many getting their first job ever

The recovery has been choppy and somewhat inconsistent.
Factors impacting the choppy recovery include:

A “just in time” supply mentality which means a large inventory is not always 
available

The workforce could be laid off quickly, but was hired back slowly

These factors make the economic quarters vary dramatically
Mr. Maguire reviewed the role of the Federal Reserve over a number of years, and 
especially in light of the difficulties in the banking industry.  During that time two of the 
strongest banks took in the four worst lender institutions.  He also reviewed record 
employment statistics which showed the lowest unemployment claims since the 1960’s.  
The next slides reviewed the history of the US Treasury Yield Curve.

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Mr. Maguire then provided several slides related to the US Economic Outlook.  These 
included projections of a steady continued growth but with a watchfulness toward some 
international issues including Europe, China’s internal challenges and continued concerns 
about Brexit.
The review and outlook for Arizona looks much like the entire United States with consumers 
still showing a cautious attitude. In several of the following slides Mr. Maguire showed 
overlays of Arizona and the United States, and, at times, including an overlay of the Phoenix 
metropolitan area.  He felt that a recession, if it comes, would be more of a slow fade instead 
of a crash.  The slides show a multi-year review of employment overall, and then employment 
by various sectors including construction, manufacturing and financial.  Mr. Maguire pointed 
out that the distribution of employment among the sectors is now showing good diversification 
and that job in Arizona are getting better wages.
In response to a comment that some national retailers seem to be in some economic trouble, 
Mr. Maguire commented that consumers are not necessarily buying less, but rather, buying in 
different places.  He also stated that Arizona is now more than the traditional “Five C’s,” 
where the state sent out more raw materials.  Now, Arizona is making more here and sending 
the goods around the world with main export destinations being California, Texas, a 
combination of the other 48 states, Mexico and Canada.

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Mr. Maguire’s presentation then turned toward population growth and consumer confidence.  
The entire state population continues to grow with Maricopa County showing to be the 
continued area of significant population increase.  The continuing main reason that people 
are moving to Arizona is for a job.
Although there have been some slips in consumer confidence, has been strong over the past 
few years.  Recently, there has been a slight weakening and Mr. Maguire commented that 
there could be a decline.  However, another important measure of consumer confidence is 
auto sales which have remained strong.  There could be some discounting in auto sales and 
offers of zero interest.

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Mr.Maguire began the conclusion of his presentation with information regarding the Maricopa 
Road tax (which is a sales tax) and general sales tax revenues.  These are always indicators 
to watch.  The sales tax revenue is still growing and two factors to watch would be retail sales 
and contracting.
With 2020 being an election year, that is a factor to consider in projections.  This coming year 
promises to have a lot of activity around the elections which may affect the economy.  At this 
point Mr. Maguire did not see a financial crisis on the near horizon.

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3.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Vote to convene in Executive Session to consider items on the Executive Agenda dated 
September 16, 2019, for Board of Supervisors and relevant Special Districts pursuant to statutory 
authority listed for each item.
Motion to approve by Supervisor Hickman, seconded by Supervisor Sellers
Ayes: Sellers, Gates, Hickman, Gallardo
Absent: Chucri
MEETING ADJOURNED
There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned.
___________________________
Bill Gates, Chairman of the Board
ATTEST:
____________________________
Fran McCarroll, Clerk of the Board