The Arizona Association for Economic Development (AAED) presented its annual Economic Development Distinguished by Excellence (EDDE) Awards during its annual Spring Conference held in Tucson last week.
The EDDE Awards honor the best economic development practices for individuals, organizations and companies that have significantly contributed to the advancement of economic growth in the state. Recipients are selected from a pool of nominations made by members of AAED.
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Overall, 11 EDDE awards were presented to:
• Best of Arizona Award – Arizona Commerce Authority’s Small Business Bootcamp.
• Economic Developer of the Year, Large Community – Barbra Coffee, CEcD, director of economic initiatives, city of Tucson.
• Economic Developer of the Year, Medium Community – Ken Chapa, economic development director, city of Avondale.
• Large Organization of the Year – Salt River Project.
• Medium Organization of the Year – city of Casa Grande.
• Small Organization of the Year – city of Prescott.
• Member of the Year – Amanda Bruno, AZED Pro, project manager, city of Tucson.
• New Member of the Year – Jack Fitchett, AZED Pro, business attraction manager, city of Flagstaff.
• Workforce Practitioner of the Year — Cheryl Covert, assistant director, city of Avondale.
• Provider of the Year – Speedie & Associates, Inc.
The William Lampkin Award for Long Term Excellence in Economic Development was awarded to David Roderique, CEcD, deputy city manager, city of Buckeye.
This award recognizes outstanding achievements by an individual that has made significant contributions to economic development efforts in Arizona and demonstrated a sustained commitment to AAED. Nominations are evaluated based on the overall economic impact of the individual’s efforts to Arizona, contributions of the nominee to AAED, the development of strong relationships and community support, and contributions to the economic development profession.
Over his 40-year career, Roderique has been committed to the economic development profession, always willing to lead, present, and get involved. He has been an AAED member since the 1980s and is the longest-serving faculty member of the Arizona Basic Economic Development Course.
He spent 23 years with the city of Scottsdale, and was instrumental in:
• The development of Scottsdale’s Airpark
• Retail and event centers like Scottsdale Fashion Square and the Waterfront
• New hotel development and tourism initiatives, including the W Hotel, the Four Seasons, and the development of Westworld into a major event center
• The creation of innovation centers like ASU Skysong
• The expansion of healthcare services at all three HonorHeath hospital campuses and Mayo Clinic’s Shea campus, the latter of which grew from its original building into the Mayo Research building and the TGen/ASU Cancer Research building.
Later as president of the Downtown Phoenix Partnership, Rodrique paved the way for Downtown Phoenix to evolve into a vibrant, safe, healthy, and highly diversified downtown. He was instrumental in:
• The expansion of ASU’s downtown campus.
• Driving new hotel, high-rise office, and condominium buildings.
• Mixed-use projects such as Cityscape.
• The expansion of ASU’s biomedical school and the location of U Arizona’s medical school to downtown Phoenix.
• Supporting a 400% increase in the number of events held in Downtown Phoenix, including Super Bowl Central in 2015, the most attended event ever held in downtown, attracting more than one million visitors.
In his most recent role in the city of Buckeye, Rodrique’s leadership has spearheaded:
• Over 20 employment projects resulting in more than 7,000 jobs, 6.4 million square feet of construction, and over $2 billion in capital investment.
• Five new retail power centers bringing new grocery stores, restaurants, and healthcare projects to the community.
• Three new hotels.
• The Catalyst redevelopment program, which has supported over 30 projects, resulting in more than $525,000 in grant funding to support local businesses.
• Relaunching the city’s Economic Development Strategic Plan and the “Grow Buckeye” website and other marketing.
Carrie Kelly, AAED’s executive director, said the EDDE Awards truly recognize those who are bringing businesses to Arizona and creating jobs.
“These professionals and organizations can take great pride in knowing how impactful they are in helping to create and maintain Arizona’s growing and vibrant economy,” Kelly said. “AAED is proud to have each one of them as members in our statewide organization which supports them and their efforts.”
