Top Five Priorities

Super-Serve Small Business

The majority of jobs and the country’s GNP come from small businesses. Small businesses are facing unprecedented challenges during the current economy. To help them meet those challenges and grow their companies, the Tucson Metro Chamber has formed the Small Business Growth Committee, a group of small business owners and executives who support small businesses by helping them:

• make money;

• save money; 

• make important contacts, build relationships and gain access to new channels of business development; and,

• access opportunities to learn how to operate a smarter, more profitable company. 

Advocate with an Aggressive Pro-business
Government Affairs Agenda 

If business isn't at the table, business is on the menu. 

Government seldom realizes the impact that taxes and burdensome regulatory requirements have on businesses. We need to improve appreciation for the role that a strong business community plays in creating jobs, providing families with household income and contributing to the local tax base. 

The Tucson Metro Chamber is working to ensure that public and private entities work together to create a better community. 

• Committee for Responsive Government PAC

• Government Affairs Advisory Board 

• Candidate evaluations 

• Elected officials report cards 

• Government Affairs Alerts

• Candidate endorsements 

• Get out the vote communications and mobilizations strategies

Promote Effective Economic Development Practices

The more companies our community attracts, keeps and grows organically, the stronger our local economy will be. The Tucson Metro Chamber Economic Development Committee is committed to:

• promoting a Business Bill of Rights to improve the interface between city and county government and business;

• promoting the redevelopment of a strong central city;

• conducting outreach to support and retain companies already doing business in Tucson and Pima County; 

• helping emerging businesses succeed so we can grow our own companies locally; and,

• promoting local preference purchasing practices for city and county governments.

Education

Employers need a qualified workforce in order to bring the high technology jobs of the future to the Tucson area. We need to improve education performance at every level if we are going to be an attractive location for companies outside of Pima County that are searching for relocation sites.

The Tucson Metro Chamber is working at many levels of education to help bring support and change to the education of our young people.

• Disseminate objective information about local education performance using credible data from Voices for Education.

• Identify the needs of local industry to help coordinate education delivery that is aligned with college and career opportunities.

• Increase high school graduation and alignment between business and education regarding workforce needs.
  
• Provide scholarships to local high school students who plan to attend The University of Arizona, Pima Community College and local accredited career-specific institutions.
 

Community Affairs to Improve Quality of Life

The Tucson Metro Chamber's Community Affairs Committee has a series of community improvement projects called First Impressions. Each is designed to improve the quality of life in Tucson and Pima County.