Civil and Municipal - Mar 2023

84 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 12 DOUGLAS , ARI ZONA As a longtime Southern Arizona broadband provider and community partner, Cox Communications is invested in the continued success of our neighbors in Cochise County. From network upgrades to affordable internet programs, we are committed to providing robust and reliable broadband services across the region so everyone has access to the advantages connectivity brings. Public/private partnerships are a powerful tool for bridging the digital divide and Cox is proud to work with the City of Douglas. Together, we recently announced our plan to bring gigabit internet speeds and other services to nearly 8,000 residents and businesses in the area – including the Douglas Campus for Cochise College. Working towards digital equity, Cox is making private investments and leveraging federal funding opportunities to power the next generation of internet users. Over the next three years Cox has committed $400 million to expand service in underserved communities. In Arizona, Cox has helped nearly 140,000 households with our affordability and digital equity programs. At Cox, connectivity is at the heart of everything we do. From economic development to education to social support, we remain steadfast in our commitment to be the internet provider Douglas can count on to make those valuable connections a reality. Lisa Lovallo, an Arizona native, is the Southern Arizona market vice president for Cox Communications, leading a team of 250+ local Cox employees. Reach her at lisa.lovallo@cox.com. Cox expanded internet services power prosperity in Cochise County There are 50 locations along the 1,969-mile U.S.-Mexico border where people can legally cross. Twenty-five of these gateways between the two countries is designated as Points of Entry (POEs), under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency. Arizona is home to six LPOEs – Land Ports of Entry, and the town of Douglas, a city in Cochise County, some 120 miles southeast of Tucson, is an LPOE that shares, not only the border with its sister city to the south, Agua Prieta, Mexico, but also its history, culture, and economy. Douglas, with a current population of approximately 16,534, was originally incorporated in 1905 and named after mining pioneer, James Douglas. For most of the 20th century, the town served as a smelting location for ore from the copper being mined in the nearby Mule Mountains. “Because we were downhill, it was natural for us to receive the cars down here,” notes Mayor Donald Huish. Unfortunately for the city, and it’s 160 residents who worked there, the smelting plant closed in 1987, and all its employees were furloughed. “So that affected our economy negatively. The movement that bridged the gap was on the Mexican side of the equation.” Agua Prieta is a city of over 90,000 that shares with Douglas what is known as maquiladoras, or twin plants -- factories that are largely duty- and tariff-free entities. On the Mexican side, workers assemble products to export back to their sister plants in the United States, where they are packaged and shipped. Maquiladoras allow companies to capitalize on the less expensive labor force in Mexico and also receive the benefits of doing business in the United States. “So that is what helped to provide jobs on our side, as well as the economic impact of people buying goods and services on this side of the border,” says Huish. That being said, Huish goes on to explain that most of Douglas’ workers in the 21st century are actually employees of the federal government -- people that