The economic backlash of SB1070 still hurting Arizona



Arizona not seeing economic recovery other states are


Excerpted from the Arizona Daily Star
By Brady McCombs

What we found is that Arizona's image continues to suffer because of the controversy that made Arizona national and international news for much of 2010.

Many national associations, for instance, are still reticent to plan major meetings here because they want to avoid controversy to ensure maximum attendance from their diverse memberships. It's not that every single association is fundamentally opposed to SB 1070, but simply that the planners and boards are risk averse.

The lost meetings could continue into the mid-decade because most national associations plan meetings three to five years out. With Arizona still deemed "too controversial" by some, Arizona is being ruled out this year for meetings in 2014 and 2015 by some organizations.

The tourism industry suffered across the country in 2008 and 2009 but what we found was that, while other states spent 2010 recovering, Arizona lagged behind.