This pamphlet describes CyberPort as multinational in its approach, considering the impacts of cross-border traffic at the local, state, and regional levels. The goal of CyberPort in Arizona is to increase the capacity of Nogales, San Luis and Douglas to serve as safe, secure and efficient gateways between the United States and Mexico. Nogales, as Arizona’s primary commercial port-of-entry, is naturally positioned to serve as the port of choice for western U.S.-Mexico trade.

The Arizona Department of Transportation, the Arizona Game & Fish Department and the Arizona State Parks Board are required to conduct a study every three years on watercraft fuel consumption and recreational watercraft usage. The fuel consumption data is collected to determine the allocation of motor vehicle fuel tax to the State Lake Improvement Fund. The information on recreational watercraft usage patterns on Arizona’s lakes and rivers is necessary, in part, to determine the distribution of SLIF funds to applicants.

The Nogales CyberPort Project began in the Spring of 2002 amid dramatic changes to the safety and security of U.S. borders. Throughout the following year, extraordinary change was experienced in policy and practice regarding the treatment of the border at the local, state and federal levels. While the movement toward a more efficient and effective border crossing environment has been underway in Arizona and the U.S. for a number of years, there is perhaps a no more appropriate time to undertake the effort to define and implement a CyberPort than right now.

The Nogales CyberPort Project began in the Spring of 2002 amid dramatic changes to the safety and security of U.S. borders. Throughout the following year, extraordinary change was experienced in policy and practice regarding the treatment of the border at the local, state and federal levels. While the movement toward a more efficient and effective border crossing environment has been underway in Arizona and the U.S. for a number of years, there is perhaps a no more appropriate time to undertake the effort to define and implement a CyberPort than right now.

This paper complements a detailed assessment of job quality, based on analysis of industrial and occupational mix, recently completed by the Seidman Institute’s Center for Business Research. The overall conclusions in this report are consistent with those of the more extensive CBR research. Arizona’s economy grows very rapidly, but per person or per worker measures of wages, compensation, incomes, and gross state product are below the national average. No evidence exists that the situation is improving appreciably (or deteriorating). Indeed, the state appears to be creating income, wealth and quality jobs at rates that are similar to those displayed by other states. Arizona is a job-generating marvel and is among the nation’s leaders in aggregate growth. If the state is successful at improving the quality of its labor force and creating higher-quality jobs, its per worker and per person comparisons will improve.

Regional economic theory states that a local economy is driven by economic activities that import money into the region (county or state in this report) through the sales of goods and services to customers who do not live in the region. Such export activities differ from population-driven activities, which sell to and support the local population. “Export” in this usage is not limited to goods and services sold to customers from other countries, but includes all sales made to customers outside the local region — at the state level, in other states, and at the county level, in other counties within the state. An export activity sometimes is referred to as a “basic” activity — the terms are synonymous.