Posted on 04/09/2015 6:21:13 AM PDT by SandRat
SIERRA VISTA — A number of city leaders from both sides of the international border will gather in Sierra Vista this week to discuss a range of issues that affect their communities and how they can work together to best address them.
On Friday, the Border Mayors’ Coalition will host a number of guest speakers with an eye on economic development, including Lea Marquez-Peterson, the president and CEO of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
“I will be discussing the growing importance of the Hispanic community in the State of Arizona and the opportunity for Arizona businesses in Sonora,” Marquez-Peterson said, in an email.
“Our fast growing demographic is an opportunity for every industry in Arizona. We work with businesses to engage with the Hispanic community in their Strategic and Business plans,” she said, noting that the Hispanic population in Arizona has a purchasing power of $50 billion.
She will also touch on the benefits of luring cross-border consumers into southern Arizona.
“It’s my belief that the biggest missed opportunity for businesses in Arizona is doing business with Sonora,” she said.
Over the past few years, the coalition has met to discuss a wide range of issues, said Mayor Rick Mueller.
“Really, for the border mayors, the goal is to improve the life of citizens along the border, on both sides, and that involves commerce, that involves health care, basically anything you can think of,” Mueller said. “Everything from small things like being able to use the right ID to be able to buy a drink at a bar, to some of the thuggery going on in different locations. All of those things have been discussed in the past.”
Discussions then turn to ways the various communities can support one another when dealing with these issues.
“How do we improve our inter-border community, that’s really the goal,” he said.
Other speakers include Simone McFarland, economic development manager for Sierra Vista, Dr. Dean French, CEO of the Sierra Vista Regional Health Center, and Erik Lee, trade portfolio director and executive director of the North American Research Partnership
The Border Mayors’ Coalition is set to meet Friday at the Sierra Vista Police Department auditorium.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.