Business View Magazine | August 2020

194 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE AUGUST 2020 systems. All in all, the Tucson region is fast becoming one of the nation’s most innovative business centers. In fact, it has the highest concentration of startups of any U.S. city its size and is ranked as a top-five city for entrepreneurs by Entrepreneur Magazine. “We’re hard at work fostering and developing our entrepreneurial ecosystem,” says Barbra Coffee, Economic Initiatives Director for the City of Tucson. “Another accolade we received is a CBRE (Coldwell Banker Richard Ellis) report that named us as one of the number one up- and-coming tech talent markets,” she adds. An important piece of Tucson’s entrepreneurial ecosystem is Tech Parks Arizona, UA’s research campus affiliate that creates the environment and interactive ground that generates, attracts, and retains technology companies and talent in alignment with the research, mission, and goals of the university. “The UA Tech Park site at Rita Road is over 1,300 acres and home to 6,000 employees,” Coffee notes. “The exciting news is that the Tech Park is developing two more campus locations including one that’s closer to downtown which is under construction now.” According to Coffee, their first building is being developed by Boyer Company. It will be called The Refinery and will house research and development companies and the University of Arizona Center for Innovation. “When complete, The Bridges site will be home to a dynamic community of technology companies, recreational facilities, and high-quality retail and residential development,” says Coffee. “In addition, in Oro Valley, neighboring town to the north, the Tech Park is developing a life sciences research campus where Roche Pharmaceuticals is located.” All of these entrepreneurial and research activities help make Tucson an attractive place for other companies looking to relocate. “It’s a live/work/play environment where people feel inspired,” Coffee proffers. “The University, alone, has now topped $700 million in annual