By InBusiness Phoenix
The Arizona Association for Economic Development (AAED) announced the results of its State of Arizona Economic Development survey at its recent spring conference in Tucson. AAED surveyed its membership of more than 500 economic development practitioners and those that provide goods and services from the private sector.
With the economy on everyone’s mind, the survey showed that economic developers are an optimistic group and 46 percent expect strong growth to continue in 2023. Just 6 percent expect an economic downturn and the remainder expect slower growth or little change (no growth).
In contrast, 40 percent of service providers expect weakening growth in 2023, another 40 percent expect little change (but not a recession) and just 17 percent expect strong growth.
It was the second year for the survey taken to better understand current trends in economic development and the relationships between practitioners and service providers who are AAED members. Out of the 120 respondents, 88 were practitioners, and 32 were providers. This representative sample mirrors the makeup of the AAED membership. There was strong representation of practitioners from both urban and rural parts of Arizona.
