James Smith

• Direct a team of seven (7) professionals to implement all economic and workforce development initiatives.
• Lead County economic development recruitment efforts in collaboration with our cities and towns. Key projects have included LG Energy Solutions, Kohler, Procter & Gamble, CCP, LCY and the expansion of Lucid Motors, which will create thousands of jobs and result in billions in capital investment.
• Oversee the development of branding and marketing efforts to bring increased awareness to Pinal County developments and opportunities. This includes coordinating partnerships with the Phoenix Business Journal and BisNow for events and to run editorial content, advertising with key trade publications, leading the creation of videos, creating a new economic development profile, updating the tourism visitors' guide, enhancing the department's website, developing Powerpoint presentations for various stakeholders, and leading the production of an economic development asset mapping tool.
• Direct County workforce development efforts, including supervision of staff and service providers, as well as the administration of local hiring incentives for companies.
• Oversee tourism related programs including marketing the region and administering an event sponsorship program that seeks to bring additional visitors to the area.
• Represent the County with various economic development, advocacy and workforce related groups and committees. Further details below.

• Directed a team of three (3) staff to coordinate all Town Economic Development and Tourism efforts, including business attraction, retention and marketing/branding.
• Led efforts to secure two (2) healthcare facilities – Fountain Hills Medical Center – the Town’s first hospital – and HonorHealth’s Urgent/Primary Care facility, and assisted in the development process. Results were approximately 160 high-wage jobs and $15M in capital investment.
• Led Town efforts on additional high-priority projects, including a co-working/incubator space, the development of an International Dark Sky Discovery Center and the redevelopment of underperforming commercial sites.
• Initiated partnerships with Phoenix Sky Harbor and Phoenix Mesa Gateway airports, the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Barrett-Jackson, and the Chicago Cubs, Arizona Diamondbacks and Oakland Athletics.
• Worked with multiple publications, including the Canadian Snowbird Association, Phoenix Magazine, WanderAZ, and ExperienceAZ to place strategic advertisements that would encourage visitation to the community.

Acting Economic Development Director (August 2014 – December 2014)

Economic Development Specialist (November 2006 – August 2014)

• Lead New Business Attraction and Retention and Expansion Efforts by managing two (2) Economic Development Specialists to ensure the City was well-positioned for development and employment opportunities, in partnership with the ACA, GPEC, site selectors and commercial real estate brokers.
• In final 18 months, directed City attraction efforts that resulted in major business locate projects, including Fortune 500 companies, such as Allstate, Liberty Mutual, Walgreens, and Voya Financial. These projects represented over 8,700 jobs, absorption of approximately 1.5M square feet of commercial space, and capital expenditures of over $105M. Additional high-profile business attraction projects included: Waymo, Amazon, CVS Health, Republic Services, Dignity Health, Zovio (headquarters relocation), Cascade Financial, Arvato Bertelsmann, Cardinal Financial, Compound Photonics, State Forty-Eight, and Good Health Manufacturing.
• In final 18 months, directed City retention and expansion efforts that resulted in projects with major corporations including Northrop Grumman, Wells Fargo, and Rogers (headquarters relocation), representing the potential for 2,000 jobs, absorption of approximately 1.1M square feet of space, and capital expenditures of $118M. Additional significant retention/ expansion projects included: Intel, NXP, Bank of America, Garmin, Toyota Financial, Microchip, MSR-FSR, Turbo Resources, Arizona Nutritional Supplements and Pilgrim Screw.
• Working with key partners, recruited and/or assisted in locating several retail, entertainment and hospitality users, including first in the Phoenix market or first in Chandler: Cadillac, Porsche, Subaru, and Jaguar/Range Rover dealerships, PGA Tour Superstore, Natural Grocers, WinCo, Dutch Bros., Sandbar, Firehouse Subs, Rudy’s BBQ, Jersey Mike’s, Jimmy John’s, Culver’s and Planet Fitness, as well as several hoteliers.

• Managed Air Service Development Research and Recruitment Programs, which assisted in bringing expanded service from several carriers, including the first-ever JetBlue flights to SJC.
• Directed SJC’s Community Outreach Program through supervision of two (2) Marketing Representatives, ensuring successful execution of public outreach efforts, events, media relations and the production of a monthly newsletter.
• Served as a liaison to City Councilmembers to address their priorities, particularly related to noise and traffic issues, and provided quarterly reports on community outreach efforts.