Safford, Arizona

5 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 5 strengthen the community of Safford. There are internships available through AZ Works, where high school students find employment with local organizations. Another workforce development program through GVIT, the Gila Valley Institute for Technology, works with high school students and gets them ready for college or trade school. “We do have a large workforce development program throughout those different competencies,” explains Cassella. “There is also a small business development center at the college, and they will do business plans with people who walk in – give them advice or just try to help.” The Graham County Chamber of Commerce was recently designated as the official Tourism and Destination Board for Safford. They work both with the city and with small businesses to host events, develop strategies, and look at ways for everyone to move forward together. One of those strategies is to take a long hard look at developing the downtown. “It is an area with older infrastructure, and about two years ago, we did an entertainment district overlay on the main street,” Hoshal explains. “And so right now there are some local entrepreneurs who are in the process of renovating an early 20th- century movie theatre into an open-air theatre – maintaining the original motif in terms of the aesthetic. We think that will give people a reason to come downtown at night, which will then spur additional restaurants and growth. We want to find a way to encourage current landlords to open up their property to more development.” One of the city’s current infrastructure projects is the expansion of the road in front of the hospital, Mount Graham Regional Medical Center. Hoshal notes, “It was originally a three-lane road, one in each direction with a turn lane, and we are expanding that to five lanes, two in either direction with a turn lane, With the growth of population, the previous road layout just was not able to accommodate hospital traffic. It also