The cities of Mesa, Scottsdale and Surprise and other communities recently received Golden Prospector Awards from the Arizona Association for Economic Development at an annual fall forum held in Flagstaff.

Ten Golden Prospector Awards and five Awards of Merit were given to recognize excellence, innovation and creativity in economic development. The Golden Prospector Awards were established more than 20 years ago to recognize excellence in economic development. This year’s awards were sponsored by the city of Scottsdale, according to a release.

Economic Development Deal of the Year Golden Prospector Awards included:

• The large population Economic Development Deal of the Year awards went to the city of Scottsdale for retaining Axon Enterprise Inc. in its international headquarter expansion and to the Office of Economic Development at the city of Mesa for recruiting the Vancouver-based electric vehicle manufacturer, ElectraMeccanica.
• The small population Economic Development Deal of the Year awards were presented to the Economic Collaborative of Northern Arizona and the city of Flagstaff for recruiting Whitehall Industries, a vehicle manufacturer and to the city of Prescott for recruiting headquarters and manufacturing operations for CP Technologies.

Economic Development Programs and Processes Golden Prospector Awards included:

• The Office of Economic Development at the city of Mesa for creating the HUUB platform to help small businesses with finance through the pandemic and to the Greater Phoenix Economic Council for its #AZFreeToBe campaign for recruiting businesses through digital channels.
• The Economic Collaborative of Northern Arizona received a Marketing Brochure Golden Prospector Award for its digital brochure that highlights the entrepreneurial resources available for start-up businesses.
• Discover Gila County was awarded a Website Golden Prospector Award for its new website that targets visitors from out of state. Since its launch, Gila County has seen a 23% increase in tourism sectors including hotels and outdoor activities.
• The Multimedia Promotion Golden Prospector Award was presented to the city of Surprise for its Virtual Ribbon Cutting project to celebrate and help create awareness for the businesses that have been launched during the pandemic.
• The Special Event Golden Prospector Award was presented to the city of Avondale for hosting the NASCAR National Championship Watch Party so fans could watch the race from the comfort of their own cars, similar to the concept of a drive-in movie.

“We are very proud of the collaboration and innovation that has taken place this past year to improve the lives of Arizonans,” AAED Executive Director Carrie Kelly said in the release. “This year our communities had to think outside of the box to support the economic growth of our state amidst the pandemic and they delivered.”

In addition to the Golden Prospectors, five Awards of Merit were presented to towns and cities that have made a positive impact on the economic growth of their respective communities:

• The town of Chino Valley received a Website Award of Merit for creating its first tourism campaign through the newly developed website Discover Chino Valley.
• Discover Gila County won a Multimedia Promotion Award of Merit for its social media campaign and #GoWild series that shows the various outdoor activities offered through the lens of a GoPro camera.
• The city of Goodyear was presented with two Multimedia Awards of Merit for its Shop Local website serving as the community’s shopping information hub and remains the city’s top viewed page on the website. The second was awarded to the city for creating a resource guide for small businesses to navigate available funds from both the state and federal government.
• The town of Sahuarita received a Multimedia Award of Merit for the Sahuarita Connects Quarterly Newsletter which focuses on informing business owners and residents about the economic development in the community.

About the Arizona Association for Economic Development

AAED, founded in 1974, has a mission to serve as Arizona’s unified voice for responsible economic development through professional education, public policy, and collaboration.

For more information on AAED, go to aaed.com or call 602-240-2233.