Arizona Commerce Authority—Authority Can More Clearly Report Its Economic Development Impact and Enhance Its Processes for Awarding and Monitoring Grants

The Arizona Commerce Authority (Authority) focuses on growing and diversifying Arizona’s economy and marketing Arizona to attract, expand, and retain businesses, and create jobs. To assist in this purpose, the Authority is authorized to use various financial incentives, such as tax credits or grants. For example, to encourage economic growth in fiscal year 2014, the Authority received $25 million for the Arizona Competes Fund and the Authority provided some of this money through deal-closing grants to companies planning to relocate to or expand in Arizona, innovation grants to start-ups and early stage companies, and rural grants to local governments for infrastructure projects. The Authority reports on its activities and goals, but can enhance its reporting on its progress toward achieving its goals for job creation, higher average wages, and capital investment by posting summary reports of its cumulative progress on its Web site and more clearly stating whether reported outcomes are actual results or commitments announced by companies. In addition, although the Authority’s grant-selection processes for Arizona Competes Fund grants generally align with statutes and best practices, the Authority should continue with its efforts to formalize these processes by developing and implementing comprehensive, written procedures and consistently documenting that it has followed its processes. In addition, the Authority’s grant-monitoring processes can be improved by establishing formal policies and procedures for monitoring all grants and for verifying grant recipients’ self-reported milestone and outcome information.