Q2 2015 Economic Development Report

The City of Mesa Office of Economic Development has just released an eight-page quarterly newsletter for Q2 of this year.

Some of the investment and expansion initiatives highlighted in the report are:  
See the whole newsletter after clicking on Read More

+ Morphing of vacant-in-2014 retail giant Macy's Fiesta Mall location into an office center for 1,300 employees to be developed by Verde Fiesta I LLC. It didn't take long for the city to plan and to regenerate a vacancy that was ripe for development - and find a developer .Construction of the remodel is scheduled to begin in Fall 2015.
Old shopping malls are regenerated into corporate campuses.

+ A $25 million dollar manufacturing expansion is planned at one of two AeroTropolis inside

the Mesa Micropolitan Area at the Mesa Falcon Field Economic Activity Area (FFEAA). The company, SDI, manufacturer of initiators used in the production of airbag inflators, broke ground last month on a 64,000 sq. ft. expansion of its facilities and acquired an additional 19.6 acres adjacent to its existing facility - Anybody else curious for what developments those extra 19.6 acres will be dedicated to??

An old World War II-era training site is regenerated into an AeroTropolis as an economic engine. Mesa has not just one but two!  EXCELLENCE IN AEROSPACE Click on Plaque

AEROTROPOLIS: 
"One of the ten ideas that will change the world "
                                             -Time Magazine 2011  


According to what's said on this 2008 plaque mounted on the City Hall Plaza Heritage Wall, in 2011 over 100 companies adjacent to Mesa's two "airports" employed more than 10,000 high valued jobs.  Now, just four years later, the two Aerotropolis in Mesa are propelling the growth of more than just jobs . . . stay tuned-in for a look at a report here on MesaZona blog
 
Some readers might ask "Why is this reporter for the New Urban Mesa writing articles about economic developments outside of the original "One-Square Mile"?
It's simple, folks: We can't "be square" any more [Think outside the box, right?] and Mesa has expanded from a small downtown area into a Smart Growth Micropolitan Area . . . no doubt there's suburban sprawl and all that goes with that, but keep in mind that the future is now.

Regeneration is all around: people and places and the inconvenience that goes hand-in-hand with progress.

Gotta give a Hats Off! and Shout Out! to the head honcho in the City of Mesa Office of Economic Development, Bill Jabjiniak - a Latter Day transplant like yours truly. 
It's not only from "old roots" that new growth gets regenerated.

Bill writes a couple of columns in the Quarterly Newsletter titled Quick Jab ... this quarter is focused on

Bill Jabjiniak

Adaptive Reuse:

Revitalizing Mesa’s Urban Core

You can see Bill in action in this link to a 25:53 minuteYou Tube video uploaded by Mesa Morning Live on March 13, 2014
Bill Jabjiniak talks about Mesa's Economic Future

Read his piece and all the development news in this link to the Second Quarter 2015 Economic Report Newsletter Mesa Office of Economic Development Q2 2015