When regional opportunity changes, rethink where your community can win

Lessons from CivicSol’s economic development strategy for Gilbert, Arizona

Gilbert, Arizona, has attracted many of the people who power Greater Phoenix’s economy. As semiconductor and advanced manufacturing investment expands across the region, the Town can create more local career opportunities connected to that growth.

That opportunity requires a specific strategy. Gilbert is approaching buildout, with limited employment land remaining. Large industrial campuses need land and power that other communities are better positioned to provide. The engineering teams, supplier offices, and research operations serving those campuses have different requirements, many of which fit Gilbert’s workforce and existing properties.

This finding shaped CivicSol’s recently completed opportunity analysis and economic development strategy with Gilbert’s Office of Economic Development. Our work identified which business activities fit Gilbert’s workforce and remaining employment sites, and what the Town needs to do to compete for them.

For other communities, the lesson begins with a question: how is the economy changing around you, and what does that change about the opportunities you should pursue?

Follow the business activity beyond the major investment

A major industrial investment creates more than one location decision. Equipment suppliers need access to customers. Engineering teams support production. Research and business operations help the industry grow. Each has its own requirements for workers, space, and infrastructure.

Understanding those differences was essential to Gilbert’s strategy.

Nearly half of Gilbert’s adults hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. Northrop Grumman and Moog Broad Reach provide an established technical employment base. Corporate operations at Rivulon demonstrate the Town’s ability to accommodate professional and technology businesses. Many residents already work elsewhere in the regional economy.

Those strengths support a focused recruitment case. Gilbert can pursue supplier offices, engineering, applied research, and headquarters functions connected to regional industrial growth. Its health care institutions also provide a foundation for clinical research, medical devices, and related activities.

The distinction between an industry and the work within it matters. “Semiconductors” might describe a fabrication plant or a supplier’s applications engineering office. They belong to the same industry but make very different demands on a community. Naming the industry alone leaves staff with too little guidance about which employers to approach or what to offer them.

Our analysis made those choices more explicit. It also distinguished opportunities Gilbert could support now from those requiring additional preparation. Clinical and device-related work, for example, has a stronger immediate foundation than laboratory-intensive discovery requiring specialized facilities.

For other communities, this is how regional analysis becomes useful locally. Examine the businesses and functions a major investment will need. Then determine which fit your workforce, existing employers, and available space. That inquiry can identify opportunities for both recruitment and the expansion of businesses already in the community.

Make the recruitment strategy specific to the property

Gilbert’s talent gives employers a reason to consider the Town. Buildings and infrastructure determine whether they can locate there on a workable schedule.

Our office-market analysis found a consequential difference: Gilbert could accommodate a tenant of roughly 50,000 square feet in existing Class A space, while a requirement of 100,000 square feet or more would depend on construction tailored to the employer. Older Class B buildings account for roughly two-thirds of its office inventory.

That finding made existing properties central to the strategy. Recruiting professional and technical work would require relationships with owners and developers who could improve older offices, fill available space at Rivulon, and prepare options for larger tenants.

Power posed a separate constraint. Development partners reported substation lead times of four to five years. A site could attract a tenant before it was ready for the advanced industrial activities Gilbert hoped to secure.

For a community with limited employment land, that is a strategic issue. The timing of infrastructure can influence which employers occupy the remaining sites and what those properties contribute for years afterward.

The opportunity analysis therefore proposed evaluating prospects against the jobs, wages, and fiscal value they would generate, alongside their demands on land and power. The final strategy connects recruitment to building reuse, site preparation, utility coordination, and predictable development approvals.

Other communities should apply the same test to their plans. If a desired employer would need a building conversion or utility investment, that preparation belongs in the economic development work plan. The recruitment goal should help guide the decisions of the departments responsible for making it possible.

Reassess before today’s decisions narrow tomorrow’s choices

Gilbert’s strategy builds on assets the Town has developed over many years. Regional industrial growth creates additional demand for its talent and new possibilities for its properties. Our work translated that change into decisions about which employers to pursue and how to prepare for them.

Implementation now moves into annual work planning. Employer conversations will help test whether the anticipated demand is materializing. Property owners and utilities will help establish what can be delivered and when. Those findings should inform priorities and budgets as conditions change.

This is a discipline communities need between strategic plan updates. A major investment nearby should prompt a review of local opportunities. A shift in employer requirements should inform work with property owners. A change in infrastructure timing should affect which projects staff pursue.

Communities make land-use and infrastructure decisions every year. Those decisions can commit scarce sites and public resources long before the next strategy is written. Keeping the strategy current gives leaders a better chance to prepare for the economy taking shape around them, while they still have choices about their place in it.

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