Wages in the manufacturing sector in Tucson tend to be higher than the average wage and considerably higher than wages for services and retail trade. With a Pima County location quotient of approximately 57.0 percent, manufacturing employment in Tucson is roughly half as intensive as it is in the U.S. as a whole. To successfully raise average wages in the area, it is critical for Tucson to retain and increase its existing manufacturing base, as well as recruit additional firms in target industries. The community should target these industries in its business expansion and retention programs because of the relative ease of growing local firms versus recruiting firms from outside. Two major Tucson industries that were not included as targets for business expansion and retention are mining and tourism.
Mining is a high wage industry that has a substantial economic impact on the region.
The rationale for not targeting mining is that it is essentially a captive industry. Mines are located within the region because of the existence of copper ore. There is little that the community can do to assist the industry s expansion or contraction plans. The industry is driven primarily by conditions in world copper markets. GTEC, however, will continue to target higher paying mining support industries.