By Gary Nelson | Arizona Business Gazette | azcentral.com
Let’s face it: Not a lot of little kids dream of becoming economic-development directors when they grow up.
But in the grown-up world — a competitive world where cities must hustle to find jobs for their residents — economic-development directors
have become all but indispensable.
Win a battle, and your town has a little more jingle in its jeans, a little more spring in its step, another timber in the edifice of civic pride.
Lose too often, and a city can slide into mediocrity or decrepitude.
The guy who’s fighting those battles for Mesa has won more than he has lost lately, and he’s in the hunt for even more high-profile companies willing to hang their shingles in Arizona’s third-largest city.
