By Mark Cowling | Pinal Central
FLORENCE — Automation in the decades ahead will eliminate many low-skill jobs, but Pinal County should look forward to the opportunity, according to the professor leading a planning study of the Pinal County tech corridor.
“We’re at the convergence of an exciting part of our economic future,” Greg Watson from the University of Arizona’s McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship told the Board of Supervisors Wednesday.
Watson said automation changes the job skills that companies are looking for. “When they want to relocate a business, Pinal now has an even greater opportunity to compete globally for businesses” as automation and robots fulfill tasks that once required human skills.
“So as much as automation is a scary concept to an awful lot of people, it is an incredible opportunity for us here in Pinal County. Because with the convergence of utilities, transportation and infrastructure that we have, the opportunities for Pinal are extraordinary,” Watson said.
