As Arizona industries produce products in high demand like semiconductors, aircraft engines, electric vehicles and copper ore, the state is well poised to help the world recover from the pandemic.

But strong U.S. leadership is needed to ensure that Arizona and other states are able to flourish on the international stage, said government and business leaders from across the world who spoke at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s inaugural Global Forum on Economic Recovery. 

“We now join a small number of generations that have collectively experienced disruption on a  global scale“ the president and CEO of the , Suzanne Clark, said at the event. 

Moving forward, the chamber is advocating for policies that will help American businesses better reach the 95 percent of customers that live outside of U.S. borders, she said. 

“The wrong policies from government could stop the U.S. economic recovery in its tracks. That’s why the Chamber is fighting back against proposals such as raising corporate tax rates to the highest in the developed world, which would disincentivize inbound investment. And it’s why we are fighting for policies to rebuild our infrastructure, welcome global talent, and enable our workforce to get back on the job and drive our economy forward.”  

Business and political leaders from 140 countries attend   

Attending the virtual event were government leaders and business executives from 140 countries across six continents. Amazon, Google and UPS were the sponsors. Participants spoke about strategies for recovery. Free enterprise and strong alliances with trading partners were overriding themes. 

Among the speakers were: Janet Yellen, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury; the president of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta; the president of Colombia, Iván Duque Márquez; the prime minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong; the co-founder of Microsoft Corporation, Bill Gates; and others.

Creating roadmap for recovery with U.S. in leadership role  

Chamber officials emphasized the need for U.S. leadership to ensure the nation can compete against global rising giants like China.

Clark outlined the chamber’s top three top priorities to accomplish that — strengthen international trade and investment; advocate for policies to allow data and innovation to flow and flourish; and promote legislation to stimulate innovation in technology to reduce greenhouse emissions for a sustainable planet.  

First priority: managing the pandemic

All participants agreed that the most important task is the rapid development and deployment of COVID-19 vaccines worldwide. While 35 percent of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated, other countries are not faring as well, Clark said.  

“A strong U.S. recovery is needed to help lead the global recovery. We also understand that the pandemic won’t be over anywhere until it is over everywhere—no nation will truly get back to strength until all nations get back to health,” Clark said.

To that end, the Chamber has teamed up with the Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs of America’s leading companies, and leaders of more than 50 top American companies to form the —a public-private  partnership to coordinate relief for COVID-19 surges globally. Currently, the Task Force is working to address the India crisis.  

Global leaders talk top priorities 

Here are takeaways from some of the speakers:

Janet Yellen, U.S. Treasury secretary 

“America needs to have a strong presence in global markets. We will fight for a level playing field for trade and investment, and we will confront adversaries who take advantage by ignoring or abusing rules and norms of behavior.”  

Kent Walker, senior vice president for Global Affairs, Google 

“As hard as the last year has been, it’s shown the value and the potential of technology – millions of small businesses coming online for the first time. A third of businesses are saying that they were able to stay open because of digital connections.” 

Uhuru Kenyatta, President of Kenya 

“I personally am very keen on seeing the arrangement between Kenya and the United States under the free trade arrangement coming into force as two countries who understand each other and have similar and shared values. [Who] understand the private sector is really the driver of growth and job creation.” 

Antoinette Sayeh, deputy managing director, International Monetary Fund

“Right now, vaccine policy is the most important economic policy. Investing in ensuring everyone rapidly has access to vaccines may well be the highest return public project. If you consider that faster progress in ending this crisis would add almost $9 trillion to global GDP by 2025, enabling over $1 trillion in additional tax revenue, coordinated international action on vaccines is key.”

Iván Duque Márquez, President of Colombia 

“We have to do something very significant in terms of protecting the poorest of the poor and the people who will be the most affected by the crisis and that’s why we launched a social safety net program that has allowed us to attend to almost 10 million families around the country.”

Bill Gates, co-chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation 

“You know, the actual cost of being ready for the next pandemic is not gigantic—if you look at the precautionary measures of what we spend on our defense budget, you know this won’t be more than about 1percent of that. Even our overall health research budget, the overall cost of what we, the U.S. teams do, will be about 10 percent of that…Climate on the other hand, the numbers are quite large.”

Lee Hsien Loong, prime minister of Singapore  

“You’ve got global trading needing to be on a stable basis in order for companies to import and export trade and develop their business and prosperity. The two countries (U.S.& China) must work together.”

Tom Bell, CEO and chairman, Rolls-Royce North America 

“…Incentivizing these sustainable alternative fuels production: It’s wonderful that yesterday an Air France jet left Europe and landed in Canada on sustainable aviation fuel. In this particular case it was a kitchen grease that was repurposed. But let’s be honest, we all don’t want to eat enough french fries to feed that stock, that’s not healthy for the world. So, how are we going to really bring to scale sustainable alternative fuels?”

Carol Tomé, CEO, UPS 

“When we think about the impact of the pandemic, we know that women were impacted more than any other group and even before the pandemic women had barriers for global trade… we really gotta think about how we can leverage women at the top and down to grow global trade.” 

Erik Oswald, vice president, strategy and advocacy, ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions 

“We’ll need support from many different parties, both private and public, to succeed. Regulatory and legal support at all levels of government will be crucial for establishing incentives and attracting investment. First, we need Congress to allow for Co2 from non-coal sources to be stored offshore. Second, we need a significant increase in the production tax credits in Section 45 to allow more difficult but abundant sources to be captured. And finally, we need government grants for transportation and storage infrastructure that will ultimately facilitate market growth.”

Charlene Barshefsky, chair, Parkside Global Advisors 

“Xi Jinping believes that China’s model and its focus on innovation, that its programmatic desire to dominate in industries of the future is the direction of the world. As he says, history is on China’s side and the momentum is on China’s side. And for the United States, the key and most important factor in the nature of the relationship with China is a strong United States economically and militarily—nothing compensates for that and nothing substitutes for it.”

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) 

“We can’t be fighting with Mexico and China, and the EU, and South Korea and Japan, we’ve got to come together and say we collectively are going to have to make sure that China understands what the rules of the road are.”

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Recently a video appeared on social media that showed the time lapsed construction of a tunnel underneath an interstate in the Netherlands. Impressively, the tunnel was completely constructed in one weekend, and within days the road sitting atop the tunnel was once again carrying passengers to and from their destinations. This sort of sight is quite foreign to the United States, where “infrastructure week” is considered a year-round affair.

Despite boasting the world’s largest economy and famous for its developments in infrastructure throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the United States has fallen behind the pack. According to a Statista from 2019, the U.S. ranks behind 12 other nations ranging from the Netherlands, to Singapore, to Spain, to the United Kingdom on the general quality of public infrastructure.

In 2020, the United States was a “C-” rating for its public infrastructure. Among the reasons listed for the lackluster rating included some surprising statistics: around 6 billion gallons of water are lost every day in the nation due to water main breaks, 43% of America’s public roads are “in poor and mediocre condition,” and one in five American children lacked access to “high-speed internet connection.”

The issue of infrastructure has been a pivot point in American politics for decades, but in recent years it has taken center stage. Then-candidate Donald Trump in 2016 to spend $500,000,000,000 on infrastructure investments; President Joe Biden   Congress for nearly $2,000,000,000,000.

Investment

According to OECD (the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) , the United States spends a comparable amount of its public funds on government investment in relation to other developed nations. When comparing national government spending as a percentage of GFCF (gross fixed capital formation), the United States is not that far off from other nations with better infrastructure.

Investment by sector with regards to government spending includes research and development, “military weapons systems, transport infrastructure and public buildings such as schools and hospitals.”

Larry Summers, former Vice President of Development Economics and Chief Economist at the World Bank as well as President Obama’s director of the National Economic Council, theorizes that the modern economy is suffering from “secular stagnation.” This phenomena is said to consist of low interest rates, low inflation, slow projected economic growth, and stagnant unemployment. A solution to this problem, , is to “invest more and deploy infrastructure more wisely, procure it more efficiently, and site it more quickly.”

Ed Glaeser, an economist and professor at Harvard University, concurs with Summers that further infrastructure investments should be made. He , however, insofar as Summers views infrastructure investment as a solution to recessionary pressures. Glaeser says that “we should see it as a sensible investment for the future of this country.” Glaesar “keenly believe[s] that there is no area in which it is easier to waste tens of billions of dollars than infrastructure, which makes doing projects for the wrong reasons phenomenally costly.”

Glaeser and Summers agree that infrastructure investment is vital to American prosperity, particularly for lower-income communities that have disproportionately faced the brunt of the Coronavirus-induced recession. But Glaesar urges caution. “A strategy that says we know exactly what to do—write bigger checks—is likely to be the last thing in the world that we need.” For the Harvard economist, there is reason to spend more, but the spending should be targeted and pinpointed so as to get the best returns on taxpayer dollars possible.

Innovation

A large part of the infrastructure investment equation includes the capacity to innovate. America has long been known as a global hub for innovation, in no small part due to the nation’s large immigrant population and booming international university scene. Innovation allows taxpayer dollars, as well as private investors, to get higher returns on investment than they might otherwise generate.

The U.S. Chamber Foundation has that “innovation drives economic growth,” and that “America’s genius for innovation and entrepreneurial drive” puts the nation in a prime position for sustained, long-term economic expansion.

The Chamber goes further: “In the final analysis, state policies and programs that most effectively promote entrepreneurship, innovation, technology development, and job creation are rooted in market reality. This means building on the existing core industries and technological advantages of a state while having the foresight and wherewithal for pursuing opportunities in growing and emerging sectors.”

Arizona in particular has seen the advantage of such an approach. Under Gov. Doug Ducey, the state capitalized on its low tax, low regulatory-burden atmosphere. The Arizona Commerce Authority, established under Gov. Jan Brewer, as well as a litany of other public and private organizations, . The state now one of the most vibrant jobs markets in the nation, as businesses and people migrate to the state from across the nation and the world.

The growth that Arizona has sustained has grown the public treasury, allowing Gov. Doug Ducey and the state Legislature to expand infrastructure investment even as the COVID-19 pandemic lingers. Recently, the governor $230 million in new infrastructure spending.

Burdens on infrastructure development

While Arizona continues to expand its prospects, infrastructure cannot be solved on the state level alone. A bipartisan consensus exists in Washington to expand infrastructure spending, but some are concerned that simply throwing money at the problem will do little to fix the structural problems present.

Glaeser that the expansion of regulatory burdens, including a large federal bureaucracy that often delays projects for years, contributes mightily to the malaise facing American infrastructure. The emergence of local interests opposing new developments also slows projects. “Large-scale undertakings [need to] painstakingly…avoid inconveniencing anybody, dramatically raising costs and delays,” Glaeser says.

Under the Trump Administration, the president several executive orders rolling back some of the red tape that many economists believe hinders infrastructure development. Under President Trump, the executive branch made a to “expedite the federal permitting process for infrastructure projects, including new mines, highways, pipelines and other projects.” , America ranked 15th out of 33 OECD nations for ease of permitting in 2017.

The Trump era of infrastructure development deregulation was primarily spurred by an impetus to accelerate American economic growth.

Public sector unionization could also pose a potential roadblock to American infrastructure development. In a regarding public sector unions and their ability to “manipulate both supply and demand,” California public sector unions lobbied for policies that expanded the state’s prison population, and thus membership opportunities for the unions representing prison guards.

The California Policy Center has that a similar dynamic occurs between public sector unionization and infrastructure development. Using environmental concerns as the basis for increased spending on infrastructure and expanded regulation thereof, the union causes an over-investment in infrastructure in order to “increas[e] pay and benefits…” They describe this process as self-reinforcing. “As the cost-of-living inevitably rises through artificial constraints on the supply of land and energy, the unionized government workers negotiate even higher pay and benefits to compensate, and the corporate monopolies that control existing supplies of land and energy get more revenue and profit,” according to the Center.

Consensus
While many disagree on the means by which America will commit to further infrastructure development, there is that the government should do more to address the issue. It will be up to policymakers, lawmakers, and powerbrokers to decide whether or not the federal government takes an approach more akin to Summers’ or to Glaeser’s.

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As the pandemic highlights racial inequities in the nation, Bank of America (BofA) is focusing much of its philanthropy on people of color, including preparing community college and university students for higher paying jobs in high demand industries.   

In Arizona, BofA is giving a total $1 million to Pima Community College (PCC) in Tucson and Arizona State University (ASU) Downtown in Phoenix as part of a nationwide jobs initiative to help Black and Latino communities, which have been disproportionately impacted by the virus. 

“We remain committed to helping address the barriers to sustainable employment that exist for many communities of color,” said Adriana Kong Romero, the bank’s market president in Tucson, where community college students of color have very low rates of graduation. 

As part of the workforce initiative, BofA is working with major employers and the nonprofit to target specific hiring needs and create a clearly defined career pathway to future employment, bank officials said.

PCC College sets sights on workforce for manufacturing, IT, medical  

PCC will use the funding to accelerate the development of its implementation of “micro pathways” such as non-degree, certificate, and apprenticeship opportunities in manufacturing, IT, construction, logistics, and emergency medical services.

Great need in community colleges 

While some PCC students transfer to a university to continue their education, fewer than 16 percent earn a certificate or degree within six years at the college. 

Nationally, less than 40 percent of the community college students earn a certificate or degree within six years. For students of color, graduation rates are particularly low – 11.1 percent for Black students and 18.6 percent for Hispanic. 

“This funding will allow us to close critical skills gaps and open new opportunities for Pima graduates,” said PCC Chancellor Lee Lambert, who has been focused on becoming a top producer of highly skilled technicians for industries like aerospace, defense, manufacturing, and healthcare.

ASU push to produce more professionals of color 

ASU intends to use the funding to continue to encourage and guide students of color to become professionals in technology, medicine, engineering, education, design and other industries. 

Among the companies partnering with ASU to prepare and recruit students are ON Semiconductor, Intel, Salt River Project, Arizona Public Service, ADP, Enterprise, Vanguard, State Farm, Ball Aerospace, PepsiCo, and Texas Instruments.

President Michael Crow has long stated that Arizona’s future lies in creating a path for the state’s large Hispanic population to achieve academic and career success. 

Under his vision, Latino student enrollment has almost doubled in the past 12 years with approximately 15,700 Hispanics enrolled in fall 2018. Today, more than 40 percent of students are from underrepresented populations, and of all undergraduates, 35 percent are the first in their family to attend college. 

“There is an enormous amount of work to be done to reach all of the learners who have the drive and desire to attend college, and this contribution by BofA helps more of them achieve their dreams,” Crow said.  

Bank commits $1 billion to advance racial economic opportunity 

The workforce initiative is part of BofA’s recent $1 billion, four-year commitment to advance racial equality and economic opportunity. Of that, $25 million is going to upskill and reskill students of color. The initiative includes partnerships with nearly two dozen community colleges that serve predominantly Black and Hispanic-Latino students, public Black colleges and universities and public Hispanic-serving institutions. 

Ultimately, the goal is to place them in higher paying and family sustaining jobs, bank and college officials said. 

To read more about BofA’s efforts to help students of color, go to: .

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A trade delegation of elected officials and business leaders from Arizona are in Tel Aviv this week to celebrate the opening of Arizona’s first trade and investment office in Israel.

The group includes members of the Arizona Legislature and staff members from the Arizona Commerce Authority.

“It’s an honor to celebrate the historic opening of the Arizona Trade Office in Israel with those who worked together with me to make this a reality,” said Arizona State Rep. Tony Rivero, R-Peoria, in a from the Arizona House of Representatives. “By working together with Israel, we will strengthen trade and spur economic development.”

Rivero is the chairman of the House State and International Affairs Committee. He said he was glad to be joined by Israel officials and members of the Arizona Legislature, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and the Arizona Commerce Authority to celebrate the “tremendous achievement.”

Rep. Walt Blackman, a Republican from Snowflake, called the an historic event that will “open the door to countless opportunities of business collaborations between Arizona and Israel.” He said the two governments must take every opportunity to create mutual economic growth that spurs both business and tourism to flourish in their respective regions.

Democratic Rep. Alma Hernandez of Tucson said she was “incredibly proud” to be attending the bipartisan trip to Israel.

“Israel is a country that I feel a strong connection to, and a country I am proud to stand with as one of the Jewish elected,” Hernandez said. “This is a unique opportunity for our delegation of Arizona lawmakers to have a meaningful trip and learn about issues Israel and the Middle East are facing today.”

Rep. Gerae Peten, D-Goodyear, said the trip provides the delegation an opportunity to explore history, find inspiration and learn more about the “incredible resilience” of the Israeli people.

“I thoroughly look forward to witnessing how the multitudes honor their diversity of culture, ethics, and religion on a daily basis with dignity and strength to create better futures,” she said. “We have so much to learn on this trip to Israel, and I feel blessed to be immersed in this phenomenal experience.”

Glenn Hamer, president and CEO of the, said the Chamber “applauds” Rivero for his leadership in establishing the new office, which he said will further strengthen the relationship between Arizona and Israel.

“I anticipate increased commercial activity and collaboration between Arizona — the startup state — and Israel — the startup nation — in aerospace and defense, autonomous technology, cybersecurity, technology, and much more,” Hamer said. “I am confident that under the direction of the Arizona Commerce Authority, the Tel Aviv Trade and Investment Office will set the standard for state trade offices in Israel.”

Hamer said two-way trade activity between Arizona and Israel today amounts to nearly $500 million, and he expects the new office to make that number rise.

Eitan Weiss, deputy chief of mission of the Consulate General of Israel in Los Angeles, also joined the delegation to offer support.

“In the past 10 years we have seen an increase in the mutual economic ties between Israel and Arizona that spill over to many other fields, from academic to research and development, energy, and defense,” Weiss said in the statement. “The opening of the Arizona trade office in Israel will allow many Israeli companies to examine the potential of collaborating with Arizona-based companies and even open an extension in Arizona to serve as their gateway to the U.S. and world markets.

“The consulate invested many efforts to strengthen the ties between Israel and Arizona, and we take pride that our efforts have resulted in such an unequivocal move to bolster the Israel-Arizona ties,” he said.

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Intel Capital, Intel Corporation’s global investment organization, announced $117 million of investments at the in Phoenix, adding 14 “disruptive” tech startups to its ever-growing portfolio of data-centered companies from around the world.

“At Intel, we’re focused on pushing the boundaries of technology to make amazing experiences possible,” an Intel Capital spokesperson said. “Each of these new portfolio companies is pushing disruptive technologies that advance key areas of focus for Intel.”

New investments continue to signal Intel Corporation’s transition into a data company, shaking up the startups’ respective industries and supporting the advancement of technology intended to improve health, convenience and quality of life for consumers.

“We’ve invested behind new applications of technology, with a shift from manufacturing to service-based solutions, such as smart health care, service robots and AI,” the spokesperson said. “Other investments include IoT, (robotics, drones, connected cars), as well as datacenter hardware and software.”

Intel Capital’s mission is two-fold: create a return on investment for Intel shareholders and support Intel Corporation’s strategic objectives and break ground on new tech.

“Intel has driven disruption for the last 50 years, changing the way we live by making compute ubiquitous,” said Wendell Brooks, president of Intel Capital and senior vice president of Intel Corporation, at the summit. “Intel Capital is continuing that legacy of disruption with these investments. These companies are shifting the way we think about artificial intelligence, communications, manufacturing and health care — areas that will become increasingly essential in coming years as the linchpins of a smarter, more connected society.”

Intel Corporation set up shop in Arizona in 1979, beginning operations in Chandler the following year. Today, the company has more than 10,000 , manufacturing microprocessors that power data centers and hundreds of millions of devices worldwide.

The company’s annual economic impact in Arizona is about $5.3 billion, according to a 2013 study by Arizona State University.

Intel Capital launched the Intel Capital Diversity Initiative in 2015 to provide diverse startups access to Intel Capital’s business development programs, global network, technology expertise and brand capital.

More than 10 percent of the portfolio is now led by entrepreneurs from underrepresented communities, which Intel Capital believes is “an essential part of making the tech industry more inclusive for everyone’s benefit,” the spokesperson said.

In 2018, Intel Capital invested $391 million in 89 companies, 22 percent of which were made in diverse companies. Four companies completed Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) and 14 were acquired.

Intel Capital has invested $12.4 billion in 1,544 companies in 57 countries since 1991, and in that time 670 companies in the organization’s portfolio have gone public or participated in a merger.

“In recent years, Intel Capital has typically invested between $300 million to $500 million annually,” the spokesperson said. “At the same time, we’ve been making fewer new investments each year. Making fewer, bigger investments lets us take more meaningful stakes in companies and play a more relevant role in helping them grow and succeed.”

According to Intel Capital, the organization has paid attention to artificial intelligence (AI) for at least five to six years, including machine learning, cognitive computing and more. AI has been one of the most important areas of focus for Intel as the company sets out to “build the future” under its “virtuous cycle of growth” strategy.

This year’s investment recipients comprise a variety of unique new businesses from California, Texas, Canada, the United Kingdom, China and Israel.

“Our continued goal is to leverage the global resources and expertise of the world’s greatest engineering company, and its ecosystem of customers and partners, to help these founders accelerate growth and innovation,” Brooks said.

The 2019 Intel Capital Global Summit invited more than 600 entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and Global 2000 business leaders to spend three days networking and company-building.

Here are Intel Capital’s disruptive startups for 2019:

• (Shanghai, China)
• (Palo Alto, California)
• (Houston, Texas)
• (Palo Alto, California)
• (Cupertino, California)
• (Santa Clara, California)
• (Guildford, United Kingdom)
• (Haifa, Israel)
• (Roseville, California)
• (San Diego, California)
• (Palo Alto, California)
• (Petaluma, California)
• (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
• (Zhuhai, China)

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