PHOENIX, ARIZ. (September 29, 2026) — The Arizona Association for Economic Development (AAED) presented 9 Golden Prospector Awards and 16 Awards of Merit to recognize excellence, innovation, and creativity in economic development at its annual Fall Forum held in September in Flagstaff. The Golden Prospector Awards were established more than 20 years ago to recognize excellence in economic development. The Arizona Data Center Alliance graciously sponsored the 2026 Golden Prospector Awards. Awards were presented in the following categories:
Deal of the Year Golden Prospector Awards
City of Peoria was awarded a Golden Prospector for the Amkor Technology + Peoria Innovation Core (PIC). Peoria won 834 acres at auction for $47 million and swapped Amkor into 104 acres at PIC, retaining a deal that otherwise would have relocated to Phoenix. Amkor broke ground in October 2025, more than tripling its capital investment to $12 billion and its hiring plans to over 3,500 employees at an average salary of $90,000.
City of Phoenix received a Golden Prospector for the TSMC Arizona $100 Billion Expansion, which brought TSMC’s total planned U.S. investment to $165 billion — the largest single foreign direct investment in U.S. history. The expansion adds three new fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities, and a major R&D center to TSMC’s North Phoenix campus. Additionally, TSMC projects it will support 40,000 construction jobs, tens of thousands of permanent high-tech jobs, and more than $200 billion in indirect economic output over the following decade.
Economic Development Program/Process Golden Prospector Awards
Arizona State University’s (ASU) Office of Economic Development and the Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC) were recognized for expanding the Arizona International Soft Landing Experience (AISLE) program into the Phoenix Bioscience Core. The expansion provides international life science and medtech companies with direct access to laboratory infrastructure at Connect Labs by Wexford. Since 2018, AISLE has helped 28 companies from 10 countries establish U.S. operations, with 71% remaining in Greater Phoenix today.
City of Phoenix also received a Golden Prospector for the SWMAC Defense Innovation Onramp Hub, an eight-week, zero-equity, zero-fee dual-use commercialization program operated by Fuse Ventures. Since Spring 2025, the program has generated $260.7 million in total economic impact across 30 companies, producing 15 new Arizona headquarters and 4 full headquarters relocations while compressing typical commercialization timelines from 18–36 months down to eight weeks.
City of San Luis was chosen for its El Corazón de San Luis: Cultural & Economic Revitalization Plan, which combines historic preservation, public art, and placemaking into a single strategy to strengthen its historic downtown. The strategy centers around a Public Art Program with roughly $150,000 programmed for FY2027 projects, and a Historic Preservation Program advancing two National Register Historic District nominations and mixed-use zoning overlays for adaptive reuse. Since City Council adoption, the plan has moved from planning into implementation with public art and downtown revitalization projects already underway.
Mohave County received a Golden Prospector for Phase 3 of the Northern Arizona Good Jobs Network Manufacturing & Trades Workforce Initiative, developed with Local First Arizona, Mohave College, Arizona@Work, and regional employers to address workforce shortages across five northern Arizona counties. Using the Interplay Learning platform, the initiative produced 184 participants, 654 completed courses, and 60,855 minutes of course time, with the greatest participation in Mohave and Coconino counties.
Special Event Golden Prospector Award
Town of Gilbert was awarded a Golden Prospector for the Harvest in the Heritage District, a five-week fall event anchored by The Great Gilbert Gourd Hunt, a digital scavenger hunt through pumpkin art installations by Villafane Studios. The event drew 25 participating merchants and 575,000 visits to the Heritage District (70% from out-of-town visitors) along with a 40% increase in September-to-October visitation and a launch-week Influencer Media Event that generated a combined media reach of 58.3 million.
Multimedia Promotion Golden Prospector Award
Pima Leasing & Financing Corporation, the economic development corporation for the Gila River Indian Community, received the Golden Prospector award for its five-video campaign. Produced with Lori Dowd’s StoryTrack, the campaign marketed multiple sites to national and local developers. Since the videos launched, a national gas station and convenience store developer has moved to develop a travel center on one of the community’s sites, projected to deliver $29.1 million in net present value over 20 years and 50 permanent jobs.
Website Golden Prospector Award
City of Tempe received a Golden Prospector for ThinkTempe.com, which consolidates information previously scattered across multiple sites into one business-focused destination, integrating interactive market data and direct access to Tempe360 business assistance services. A Select USA ad campaign reached over 58,000 accounts, and the site generated nearly 1,900 visits and close to 3,900 page views in its first weeks, drawing visitors from as far as Canada, Israel, India, and Mexico.
Golden Prospector Awards of Merit
Deal of the Year
- City of Mesa and Hadrian, Inc for Hadrian’s Factory 3 advanced manufacturing project
- City of Phoenix for Arizona State University’s Health headquarters
Economic Development Program or Process
- City of Buckeye for the Buckeye Business Builder (B3) Startup Academy
- City of Winslow for the Business Retention & Expansion Incentive Program
- City of Mesa for their redevelopment toolkit
Special Event
- City of Phoenix for the 2025 Phoenix Global Forum
- City of Buckeye for the “Buckeye Development Update: Powering Growth & Streamlining Success)
Multimedia Promotion
- City of San Luis for “928 Day: A Campaign Supporting Local Businesses & Community Pride”
- City of Surprise for “Big Purple Box of Possibility”
- City of Tucson and Norris Design for “H2K: From State Trust Land to Market-Reay Industrial Opportunity”
- Team West Valley for “One Region. One Story. One Shared Commitment to Small Business”
- City of Mesa for the “Better Life Mesa” campaign
Website
- Economic Collaborative of Northern Arizona (ECoNA)
Marketing Brochure
- Economic Collaborative of Northern Arizona (ECoNA) for their regional marketing brochure
- City of Phoenix for the “PHX is BIO” brochure
- Town of Fountain Hills for the “Naturally Fountain Hills” economic development marketing brochure
About the Arizona Association for Economic Development
AAED, founded in 1974, has a mission to serve as Arizona’s unified voice for responsible economic development through professional education, public policy, and collaboration. For more information on AAED, visit www.aaed.com or call (602) 240-2233.
