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Development chief looks ahead
Mesa newcomer sees
Gateway airport as
key to growth
By LINDSAY M BUTLER
TRIBUNE
Mesa s economic future hmges
on careful airport development
attracting high salary jobs and
encouraging quality redevelop
ment according to the city s new
economic development^ director
Wlham JabTmigr
But a strong economic develop
ment plan won t matter if the city
doesn t have money to spend a
prominent East Valley economist
says
As the city official responsible
fijr luring businesses to Mesa Jab
juaak must be an expert on all the
otherwise upsets — financial and
Mesa can offer over other cities
lH the Valley and the Southwest
po
s
about
cov
region
Jabjimak relocated from Rich
mond Va just more than three
months ago — after the Mesa
sttion had been vacant or tempo
rarily filled for two years
One reason the city had difficul
ty filling the position is because of
its light emphasis on economic de
VfJopment in the past said Mesa
^lamber of Commerce president
Charlie Deaton
It s important that we have the
r »ht guy in that position Deaton
SSud It s a very critical position
l«e city has in my opinion not
gwen the kind of attention to that
lfcshoufd We re seeing that hope
mly change
The city originally planned to
jpy for Jabjimak s relocation with
ajmx of public funds and private
dfinations collected by local busi
tSfcss consortium the East Valley
gCftnership but the deal fell apart
aTter media scrutiny
The relocation costs —
B5 000 in addition to his 142 400
annual salary — now will be
East Valley Tribune
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ered by the city
In an interview Monday Jabjin
lak shared his newcomer perspec
tive on the city and its economic
opportunities
When it comes to attracting
business Mesa gets the edge with
its transportation land outdoor
recreation and atmosphere Jab
jmiak said
It s a big city with a small city
feel he said
Deaton added quahty of life
amenities such as education
home prices arts and culture and
weather
All of those features will come
into play as the city drafts its plan
for the thousands of mostly unde
veloped acres near the Phoenix
Mesa Gateway Airport
First be wary of forgetting
there are two airports Jabjimak
said The city does want to grow
general aviation at Falcon Field as
well
Its focus at Gateway however
will be more specific
We re looking at Big P pas
senger and little c cargo Jabjin
aak said
With a focus on passenger
services at the airport the city
will have an opportunity to at
tract jobs It s shooting for at least
100 000 high paying positions in
such fields as research technol
ogy bioscience and health dare
And with those higher level
jobs the city will be looking to add
dining and shopping
We want it to be so that you
can go to the airport and fly to Dal
las for a meeting and be back for
dinner he said
City leaders are looking to the
airport area as an employment
hub and a boost to its own econ
omy now mostly funded through
© Copyright 01/09/2008 East Valley Tribune Cision USA, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Unlicensed Reproduction, Sale or Republication Prohibited.
City: Mesa
State: AZ
sales tax revenue
Mesa is one of the few cities
poised to capitalize on its local air
port and could follow the trend set
by the Scottsdale Airpark employ
ment hub said Tom Rex Arizona
State University professor of state
and metro Phoenix economy
With affordable housing prox
imity to ASU Polytechnic and
capacity for commercial flights
Mesa could really take a jump
ahead Rex said
But the city s ongoing financial
struggle could hinder its economic
development potential Rex said
When you don t have much
money you re not spending and
not building infrastructure that
companies want to see he said
You get what you pay for The
people of Mesa aren t willing to
pay for more taxes and more city
services so that dictates the na
ture of the community
Jabjimak said garnering more
sales tax revenue isn t necessarily
his purpose
My focus is on bringing qual
ity jobs he said
On the western side of the city
Jab mlak won t say exactly what
he has planned for downtown
Mesa just that he wants to make
it a destination point
The wide streets are not pe
destrian friendly he said We
need to get people out of their
cars
One ofthe keys to that develop
ment will be the extension of light
rail if the city decides to expand
its reach into downtown Mesa
Mesa has a center line planned
for light rail Jabjimak said Main
Street has a median — there
your light rail Do a loop around
and there is vacant land
Downtown and other older
Account: 2565G0
Date: 01/09/2008
Pub Num: AZ­D71
Section/Page: a3
Page Count: 1 / 2
RefNo: 335337