The Bisbee Science Exploration & Research Center is reimagining eight acres of vacant school district land to create a first-of-its-kind, scientific learning center for children. A $150,000 federal grant is helping with planning and design.

The boom-and-bust copper community of Superior is using federal funding to strengthen its economy by cleaning up and flipping abandoned properties.

The nonprofit Rebuild Superior Inc. wants to build a revitalized, diversified community—whether or not big mining returns.

A federal grant is helping Gila County protect rural towns like Superior, Globe and Miami from the growing risk of flash floods after a trio of wildfires caused damage to the landscape.

The county will map the likely routes of post-wildfire flooding and mudslides using $250,000 from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Gov. Katie Hobbs and more than 300 rural and tribal leaders came together at the Arizona Rural Policy Forum organized by Local First Arizona.

Hobbs highlighted unprecedented investments being made in infrastructure, clean energy, housing affordability, schools and small businesses to make our state stronger.

A 40-year-old bridge in southern Arizona will soon receive a much-needed, multi-million-dollar overhaul to serve the community of Rio Rico, near the U.S.-Mexico border.

With support from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the new bridge will be the largest project in Santa Cruz County and improve 911 response times for a growing rural community.

Millions of dollars in federal funding are available for rural, tribal and agricultural business owners to install solar, purchase new energy-efficient equipment and save on utility bills. Local First Arizona is now offering free help to apply for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Demand for workers to fill clean energy jobs is growing twice as fast as for other careers. Now a community college serving rural southern Arizona is launching programs to train and develop this new workforce with millions in federal funding.

A $9 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Energy through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will equip the Hopi Tribe with a solar system to allow emergency services to operate 24/7. The tribe currently depends on unreliable, polluting diesel generators to power its government complex.

Affordable housing is a challenge for low- and middle-income families in Patagonia, a beautiful Sonoran desert town near the Mexican border. One nonprofit is trying to change that. A $25,000 federal grant has tripled the number of home renovations Community Homes of Patagonia can do. Residents call the help “life-changing.”

Heartquist Hollow Farms received a $200,000 federal grant with help from Local First Arizona to renovate a slaughterhouse, hire locally from small towns in eastern Arizona and implement humane butchering practices.

“We’ve brought jobs that weren’t there before,” Scott Heartquist said. “The capacity we’ve been pushing is huge.”

A ramshackle historic building in downtown Winslow has been transformed by an artist and his wife into a vibrant and eclectic live-work gallery space — a hidden gem along Route 66.

The 22,000-square-foot building now known as Snowdrift Art Space offers the room he always dreamed of having as a young budding sculpturist.

Globe-Miami was bustling as more than 340 tribal and rural leaders flocked to the Copper Corridor for the Arizona Rural Policy Forum. Topics included affordable housing, farmer's markets, training skilled workers, attracting young people to small towns, finding grant funding and more.

Although it’s good news that more Arizonans are employed than ever before, the demand for workers has been challenging for small businesses to keep up with, particularly in rural areas.

Local First is working with rural employers to understand their staffing needs, opportunities and challenges to find solutions.

Don’t wait for customers to come to you, go to them … and then they’ll come. This marketing strategy paid off for #RuralAZ businesses, and their home communities, that got in on the 2022 Arizona Fall Fest action. You see, by expanding their outreach beyond their own cities and towns, local businesses’ efforts also benefit the broader community.

Just one thing. One special thing worth seeing for yourself. Worth the extra miles. Worth the time. If a rural Arizona community has just one big thing that will attract visitors, it is an economic asset to use to the fullest extent. But if you know rural Arizona, you know a community always has far more than one special something.

Iconic rock band The Eagles gave Winslow an everlasting gift with one lyric that has attracted thousands of visitors to stand on the Route 66 corner made famous by a song. This gift of music continued developing the area’s identity along the lines of the arts, which have helped strengthen the community’s character and appeal far beyond any single attraction.

A higher percentage of Arizonans quit their jobs in March 2022 than almost anywhere in the nation. Whether this is due to employees making big personal decisions about life changes or the fact they have an abundance of available positions in our state to choose from, it’s clear that this is a job seeker’s market.

Earlier this month, nearly 220 rural stakeholders, leaders, and advocates convened for the 14th Annual Rural Policy Forum, hosted by the Arizona Rural Development Council (AZRDC). Representatives from all 15 counties traversed the state for the two-day conference in the Sahuarita and the Green Valley area, eager to seek new solutions for building resilient, more inclusive rural economies across Arizona.

As summer approaches, many communities are preparing for the barrage of Phoenicians that will soon head out to explore vibrant (and cool) rural destinations. We chatted with #RuralAZ Local First Arizona member, Jen Luria, co-creator of Bisbee-based Dog Cat Mouse Media on how to make your community stand out.

Local First Arizona has been a champion for localized economic development in Arizona since 2003, and in that time we’ve never seen a greater challenge to sustaining community resiliency than that posed in 2020. LFA works in partnership with communities, organizations, and businesses to bridge “traditional” economic development with models that strengthen local resilience and address disparities across urban and rural Arizona. We focus the work on unique economic development strategies that aim to keep local dollars circulating in local communities, create jobs one at a time, and build stronger connections to place for those that continue to choose Arizona as their home.