By Daniel Stefanski |
Fresh off of 14 years of influence from Republican governors and legislators, Arizona remains one of the top economic states in the nation.
This month, CNBC published its Top States for Business for 2023, showing that Arizona was ranked 14th among the 50 laboratories of democracy. Arizona was ranked 3rd in the Workforce category (16% of weight), 7th in Infrastructure (15.6%), 15th in Economy (14.4%), 35th in Life, Health & Inclusion (14%), 33rd in Cost of Doing Business (11.6%), 18th in Technological Innovation (10.8%), 13th in Business Friendliness (8.6%), 42nd in Education (5%), 17th in Access to Capital (2%), and 40th in Cost of Living (2%).
In summarizing why Arizona grabbed the 3rd ranking for workforce, CNBC wrote, “Educated workers are flocking to the Grand Canyon State, and a growing number of them are highly skilled as the state boosts its tech sector. With unemployment roughly in line with the national average, worker shortages are not as severe as they are in some other states. Arizona is a right-to-work state with a solid career education system, though worker training programs could use some improvement.”
The 2023 rank for Arizona’s workforce had improved from 7th (in 2022) to 3rd; economy from 22nd to 15th; life, health & inclusion from 50th to 35th; technology & innovation from 29th to 18th; access to capital from 41st to 17th. The overall ranking rose from 34th to 14th.
According to CNBC’s Economic Profile for Arizona, the GDP growth in quarter one of 2023 was 2.70%, the unemployment rate as of May 2023 was 3.40%, the top corporate tax rate was 4.90%, the top individual income tax rate was 2.5%, and the gasoline tax is 37.40 cents per gallon.
The state’s top-rated economic status was the result of years of policies and calculations made by its leaders – both in the executive and legislative branches. In his online portfolio of his eight years in office (theduceyyears.com), former Governor Doug Ducey touted the expansion and moves of several industry leaders in Arizona. Those leaders included Intel, which “announced a $20 billion expansion to create two new semiconductor fabrication facilities;” and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, which “will create over 1,600 new high-tech jobs and generate thousands of additional jobs in the state for suppliers and other companies within the semiconductor industry.”
The former governor also noted that “Arizona passed the largest income tax cut in the state’s history, making our flat tax the lowest in the nation at 2.5%.”
Soon after taking office, Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs retained the services of the President and CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA), Sandra Watson, perhaps hoping to maintain the state’s successful business reputation at a critical juncture in its history. The Governor’s Office highlighted that “under Ms. Watson’s leadership, the ACA has worked with over 1,100 companies that have committed to creating more than 240,000 jobs and investing over $103 billion in capital in Arizona.” Watson was installed in her position under the Jan Brewer administration in 2012, and she continued in that role throughout Ducey’s tenure.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
