By Mark Cowling | Pinal Central
FLORENCE — Florence will have few opportunities in the next few years to land a major manufacturer but can set the table to attract its share of the “spin-off” businesses serving Pinal County’s new industries, an economist said.
“The town can indeed provide the workers and ancillary businesses that support the base sector manufacturing businesses,” economist Jim Rounds wrote in a “Retail, Industry and Workforce Analysis” for Florence. Each new manufacturing job leads to another 1.4 jobs in supplier and tangential industries throughout the region.
If the town attracts only 10% of spin-off businesses, an additional 3,500 jobs will be added to the local employment base within 10 years. These jobs would generate $12.1 million in town tax revenue every year. The town can also expect retail and “local market offices,” such as doctors, dentists and other professional services that follow population growth.
Rounds summarized his findings for the Town Council Monday. More than a year ago, the council approved a contract with Rounds Consulting Group to prepare an economic analysis focusing on workforce demand, targeted industries and development opportunities, and identifying how Florence can take advantage of the broader economic momentum in Pinal County.
