[Commissioner Lea Márquez Peterson] Economic Development tool for rural Arizona

by Lea Márquez Peterson | Arizona Corporation Commissioner

Commissioner Lea Márquez Peterson

At the end of October, my fellow Arizona Corporation Commissioners and I offered support for economic development in Graham County by authorizing Graham County Electric Cooperative (GCEC) to leverage the Rural Economic Development Loan & Grant Program established by the USDA.

The goal of the program is to help create or retain jobs for rural communities and foster economic development. I enjoyed leading the support for such an important rural development program. Businesses across our state are challenged with access to capital and this issue is even more prevalent in rural communities.

So far, GCEC has issued two loans totaling $875,000 that have resulted in 55 new jobs. The approved expansion of the program will allow GCEC to now access up to an additional $6 million dollars of federal funding to continue lending to businesses.

Our commission heard from passionate local leaders about the success of the program. The Town of Pima, for instance, partnered with GCEC on a loan to expand operations for Optimal Health Systems, and the success of the expansion will allow the town to pay off the five-year loan two years earlier than expected.

Sean Lewis, Pima’s Town Manager, appeared at the meeting and said, “I think it’s a no-brainer, it has been fantastic for our community.”

Pima Mayor C.B. Fletcher told the commission that, “our young people are leaving because they don’t have jobs and we can’t grow like metropolitan areas.” But then echoed support for the program adding, “our town is coming together like never before. We now have four or five other businesses that want to come into Pima because they saw this development occur.”

I was appointed to my position as Commissioner by Governor Ducey this spring, and this is a part of the job I really enjoy. As former president and CEO of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, I worked with thousands of businesses throughout Southern Arizona in both rural and urban settings. Finding ways to bring communities together and partner on creative economic development solutions is what drives me, and I was excited to support this program.

Kirk Gray, GCEC general manager and CEO, said it best when he told us, “The main reason this works is because we are the community, our members are the community. Everything we do is focused on our membership because we don’t have a profit motive.”

I am glad to see rural Arizona finding ways to think outside the box and bring development and jobs to their communities. I hope that other areas will see the success of GCEC and that their work can become a template for other small utilities to follow.

Lea Marquez Peterson was appointed to the Arizona Corporation Commission in 2019. Previously, she served as CEO of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce from 2009-2018.