On Thursday, August 8, Gov. Katie Hobbs [D] visited Clarkdale for Local First Arizona’s annual Arizona Rural Policy Forum at the Clark Memorial Clubhouse to talk about the state government’s spending in rural communities.
“Earlier this week, we announced that we were going to reactivate the Greater Arizona Development Authority,” Hobbs said. “This is a program that provides financial assistance for rural infrastructure projects. This will provide opportunity to leverage existing funds that are essential to infrastructure. And the previous iteration of this program from 1997 to 2014, the GADA … set $575 million for public infrastructure investment through 84 projects statewide. So [we’re] looking to build on that record of investments.”
“As the new board president, the revival of the GADA is a top priority,” Robin Romano, board chairwoman of the Arizona Finance Authority, said in a press release. “Its mission to assist Arizona’s rural communities and tribal governments with the development of public infrastructure projects that enhance community and economic development is as important today as it was in 1997 … The board looks forward to financing between $50 million and $100 million within the next year.”
The AFA press release described GADA as a state infrastructure bank for rural and tribal communities that uses its funds as collateral to secure bonding for communities that lack access to traditional capital markets. Yavapai College announced on Facebook on Thursday, Aug. 15, that “Hobbs just released more than $400,000” in grants, which will be used to provide $500 scholarships to students enrolling in workforce programs.
The college also recently received a $650,000 grant to provide workforce training at a $9.7 million USDA-inspected meat processing facility in Camp Verde the facility has since been removed from the state’s fiscal year 2025 budget.
“This change was not in the original budget proposal but was added in a lastminute amendment,” the Camp Verde Town Council agenda for July 17 stated. “It was part of several other funding sweeps and budget cuts made across state government in order to address the $1.3 billion state budget deficit.”
Hobbs also referred to $9.5 million in funding for the Arizona Department of Agriculture’s Livestock Operator Fire and Flood Assistance Program that assists farmers and ranchers with post-natural disaster infrastructure repairs and another $3.2 million in AZDA American Rescue Plan funding.
“We have launched an array of workforce development programs throughout the state, and a lot of these programs rely heavily on our community colleges in rural areas. One example of that is our Future48 Workforce Accelerators,” Hobbs said. “We have launched five of those, and four of those are partnered with our rural community colleges, Mojave Community College, Arizona, Western College in Yuma, Central Arizona College in Casa Grande and Apache Junction.”
Other examples of rural assistance that Hobbs mentioned were:
* A workforce scholarship program to assist at least 10,000 students across 10 Arizona community colleges planning jobs in health care, education and advanced manufacturing.
* $300,000 for the Gila County Summer Workforce program for Forestry
* The creation of a commercial driving program in Holbrook
* The expansion of a nearby welding program to 175 students
* $993 million in federal broadband funding.
“We’re doing a lot to catch up and ensure that people across the state have access to affordable housing,” Hobbs said. “In the budget last year, I was able to secure a historic $150 million investment in the state’s housing trust fund, which is helping to build affordable housing in communities across the state.”
Hobbs also announced the establishment of a new $5 million Arizona microbusiness loan program that offers low-interest loans of up to $50,000 to companies in Arizona with five or fewer employees. The Verde Valley Regional Economic Organization will be receiving $100,000 from the new microloan program to assist area businesses.
A full story on that program was published in the Friday, Aug. 16, edition of the Sedona Red Rock News.
