On Sunday, August 28, 2022, the Arizona Technological innovation Council (AZTC) celebrated its 20th anniversary as Arizona’s premier engineering field association. The Council was founded when the Arizona Higher Tech Industry Cluster merged with the Program and World-wide-web Association to produce the Council. The Council now has more than 700 users and workplaces in Phoenix and Tucson and is thriving along with the state’s fast developing technologies market.
“It has been an honor to spend the very last 15 many years serving Arizona’s unbelievable technological know-how local community as the president and CEO of an business that has furnished long lasting benefit for 20 years and reveals no indicators of slowing down,” explained Steven G. Zylstra, president and CEO of the Council and SciTech Institute. “When we initial started off, our goal was basic: convene technological know-how leaders to create a community that supports every other in creating products that make a actual variance in people’s life. Now, we have designed into 1 of the premier technology associations in the country, and it has coincided with the remarkable development of the state’s innovation economic climate. I’d like to give a big thanks and congratulations to our customers, personnel, board associates and associates through Arizona.”
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As Arizona’s premier trade association for science and technological know-how providers, the Council has spent the earlier two a long time furnishing the community with quite a few occasions, educational community forums and company conferences that deliver jointly area leaders to progress technological innovation that can create employment, promote the regional and countrywide economies and positively effect all Arizonans. It has welcomed a large wide range of engineering leaders as customers and board users, together with Bob Smith, Honeywell Aerospace’s initial board member on the Council and current CEO of Blue Origin, and Sandra Watson, president and CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA), a critical corporation for Arizona and a key companion of the Council’s.
In addition, the Council’s SciTech Institute (previously the Arizona Engineering Council Foundation) was founded soon soon after the Council on May 17, 2004, with the purpose of connecting the STEM group and inspiring persons to pursue STEM-related profession paths and get engaged in STEM activities. For yrs, SciTech Institute has been successful in applying its system to persuade Arizonans of all ages to get included with the STEM group and pursue STEM-similar career paths. It does this by web hosting a extensive variety of activities and educational forums, like the once-a-year AZ SciTech Competition, which characteristics hundreds of occasions across 80 Arizona cities together with far more than 900 associates in the science and technological know-how ecosystem.
“I want to congratulate Steve and the Arizona Technological know-how Council on 20 decades of results,” reported Watson. “ACA has been a prolonged-time associate of the Council on plans like SciTech Institute, which raises STEM recognition and outreach. We look forward to looking at the continued effects of the Council’s get the job done and increasing our technology ecosystem though strengthening Arizona’s reputation as a premier technology place.”
Over the years, the Council has shown its determination to Arizona’s engineering community by operating with other group associates to be an advocate for pro-technological innovation laws and lobbying at the point out and federal levels on behalf of its customers. The Council’s general public plan successes have incorporated:
• Assisting restore the Career and Specialized Instruction (CTE) funding
• Aiding generate and keep the Arizona R&D Tax Credit score by way of 2030
• Assisting build and lengthen the Arizona Angel Investor Tax Credit score till 2031
• Helping pave the way for Association Wellbeing Plans in Arizona
• Contributing to the development of the Arizona FinTech Sandbox
• Supporting raises in its K-12 and publish-secondary education investments
• And much additional
By way of its get the job done, the Council has assisted solidify Arizona’s placement as a top rated landing place for startups and big companies alike. In the latest many years, numerous startups have been founded domestically and a variety of cutting-edge technological know-how firms have relocated to Arizona, like TSMC, Waymo, Nikola, Lucid Motors, Benchmark, CampusLogic, Carvana and several far more. There are also various longtime engineering giants that continue to invest and increase in Arizona, like Intel, Avnet, Raytheon and Honeywell Aerospace.
“The Council is a staple of our technological know-how ecosystem and an outstanding resource to organizations the two new and proven,” reported Phil Gallagher, CEO of Avnet. “The organization’s function has been critical to acquiring this group and setting up Arizona as an innovation center. I congratulate Steve and his crew on this milestone and for every thing they have achieved in our point out about the final 20 many years.”
The Council has also labored tirelessly to develop a engineering ecosystem that is laser-targeted on leveling the actively playing field as a result of diversity, fairness and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The Council’s determination to DEI is exemplified via many inside and exterior partnerships and programs, which includes its partnerships with AZNext, ALRISE and InclusionAZ, as properly as its very own systems like the Council’s Tech Inclusion Discussion board and Girls in the Workforce committees. The Council was not too long ago regarded for its attempts by the Technological know-how Councils of North The united states (TECNA) by successful the 2022 Innovation in Range, Equity and Inclusion award.
The Council will proceed to mark its anniversary throughout the year, such as at the 20th anniversary of signature celebration the Governor’s Celebration of Innovation (GCOI) on November 8 at the Phoenix Convention Heart. To understand additional about the Council’s mission and work in the technologies local community, you should visit www.aztechcouncil.org.
