TUCSON LOOKS TO ADD QUALITY JOBS

BYLINE: Chad Graham, The Arizona Republic

Following a decade of double-digit population jumps, the area's economic-development group on Wednesday unveiled a long-awaited plan to increase competitiveness globally.

Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities Inc.'s economic blueprint attempts to add quality jobs, better educate the workforce, encourage better collaboration among local governments, make communities livable and revitalize Tucson's urban core.

"Without a highly trained and better-educated workforce, this region will not be prepared to either accommodate the labor demands of existing employers or attract the best companies to the area and successfully transition workers to higher-wage jobs," it warned.

Joe Snell, president and chief executive officer of the group, said, "We can no longer let growth drive us, we have got to get in a position to balance our growth with prosperity."

Late last year, metro Tucson topped 1 million residents for the first time. By 2036, it is expected to grow to 1.7 million, according to "Securing Our Future Now: An Economic Blueprint for the Tucson Region."

Nearly 6,000 Tucson residents participated in the process via focus groups, interviews, surveys and presentations.

Among other improvements, the plan recommends:

* Focusing on increasing jobs in sectors with the highest-growth potential.

* Weaving the University of Arizona into the fabric of every aspect of economic development.

* Strengthening the region's science and technology base.

* Developing a regional urban corridor promoting smart growth.

* Reducing and maintaining the crime rate to below the national average.

The report also advises officials to "launch a marketing effort to change the perception of the Tucson area as a low-wage community."

During the past decade, total employment in the region jumped by nearly 21 percent and is expected to grow an additional 24 percent to 471,104 workers by 2015.

"We've got to move from quantity to quality in our jobs," Snell said. "We are nearly fully employed. We have outpaced the nation in job creation, it just hasn't been the right kinds of jobs."

Workers in and around Tucson earn about 88 percent of what the average worker in the U.S. earns, according to the report.

"The bulk of the new jobs in the next six years are projected to be generated in the service-producing sector," according to the plan.

The service sector accounted for 38.2 percent of total employment in 1997. Last year, it accounted for 41.3 percent and is set to grow to 46 percent by 2015.

Meanwhile, employment in the two largest manufacturing industries, computer and aerospace products, is expected to account for a smaller percentage of future jobs, according to the plan.

It fell from 8.7 percent of total employment in 1997 to 7.5 percent in 2006. By 2015, it is expected to be at 5.6 percent.

Traditionally, service-sector jobs have not paid the highest wages.

Still, as companies look to cut costs, some well-paying positions are being handled by outside firms and are reclassified.

"As we go forward, we see decreases in manufacturing, which used to be the gold standard," said Marshall Vest, UA economist. "What's going on is most manufacturers are outsourcing those kinds of functions like HR, payroll, data processing, and a lot of the good-paying jobs are now being counted in the services sector rather than manufacturing."

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