Why cross-industry collaboration can be Arizona's competitive advantage

Arizona’s innovation economy was built through long-term industry investment, technical talent, and the presence of companies that helped shape sectors such as semiconductors, aerospace, advanced manufacturing, and materials science. 

PEI board leaders John Graham and Mike Madsen recently contributed to an article to the Phoenix Business Journal that argues that Arizona now faces a new competitive moment: the state must move faster to align research, workforce, infrastructure, and industry action if it wants to keep pace with other innovation hubs.

The article points to several examples already underway, including applied research partnerships that connect companies with university teams, employer-driven workforce pipelines through Arizona State University and Maricopa Community Colleges, and commercialization successes in medical technology. These examples reflect PEI’s Insight -> Alignment -> Action model: identify the industries and technologies that matter, connect the right partners around shared opportunities, and move toward implementation that produces market-ready solutions.

For Arizona, collaboration is not simply a civic good. It is an economic strategy. When businesses co-invest in talent, support critical infrastructure, scale applied research networks, and advocate together for innovation-enabling policies, they help create the conditions for durable, high-wage jobs and long-term competitiveness. 

PEI’s role is to help connect and align those efforts so Arizona’s innovation potential becomes measurable economic growth and greater prosperity for residents.

Read the full article:
Phoenix Business Journal, “Why Cross-Industry Collaboration Can Be Arizona’s Competitive Advantage”
https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2026/02/13/arizona-industry-cross-collaboration-economy.html