TUCSON, ARIZ. – The Southern Arizona Environmental Management Society (SAEMS) recently received a $2,500 grant from the foundation of engineering consulting firm Terracon, which has Arizona offices in Tucson, Tempe and Avondale.

The Terracon Foundation Board selected SAEMS as its grant recipient. Terracon Senior Associate Derek Koller submitted the nomination. The grant will be used to award a single, $1,500 scholarship to an SAEMS applicant. The remaining funds will be used for student scholarships to both luncheons and the group’s annual RCRA seminar.

SAEMS is an environmental organization that provides educational, networking, development and community improvement opportunities to help learn about environmental concerns and issues related to the growing desert community.

“As both a past SAEMS board member and scholarship winner, I am proud to be an employee-owner at a company that allows us to support and advocate for organizations in our community that we are involved with,” Koller said.

Terracon has been a corporate partner of SAEMS for more than 10 years.

“SAEMS is grateful to have received this funding from the Terracon Foundation,” said outgoing SAEMS President Ouatfa Chuffe-Moscoso. “Terracon has been a long-time supporter through volunteerism, participation on our board and committees and in recent years assisting us with grant opportunities. They allow us to make a real and positive impact in the lives of students seeing an education and career in the environmental health and safety industry.”

Terracon is an employee-owned consulting engineering firm with more than 4,000 employees providing environmental, facilities, geotechnical, and materials services from more than 140 offices with services available in all 50 states.

Terracon currently ranks 24th on the Engineering News-Record list of Top 500 Design Firms and is ranked No. 1 in Asbestos and Lead Abatement Design.

To learn more about Terracon visit terracon.com/offices/tucson/

TUCSON, ARIZ. – The Tucson office of engineering consulting firm Terracon recently presented a $3,500 check from its foundation to Tucson Clean and Beautiful, which will use the money for its youth environmental leadership mentoring program.

The Terracon Foundation Board selected TC&B as its grant recipient. Terracon Senior Associate and Tucson Office Manager Derek Koller submitted the nomination. Koller recently was promoted to Senior Associate based on his exemplary leadership at Terracon and his community involvement.

The funds will be used to support the Youth Environmental Leadership, Learning and Action (YELLA) school mentoring program.

YELLA allows high school students to mentor school-based youth groups to develop and implement action projects that result in environmental improvements on campus and changes in environmental attitudes and behaviors of students.

“It was my honor and privilege to present this wonderful organization with a Terracon Foundation grant,” Koller said. “Our Tucson office has been involved with TC&B for more than 10 years. We have sponsored and maintained a 1-mile stretch of road where our employees help pick up litter.

“I became passionate about TC&B because they are a community-based environmental organization with an educational component. I am especially excited about the YELLA program because it will give high school students the opportunity to mentor younger students and encourage creativity and volunteerism,” Koller said.

Student leaders in YELLA will plan, plan, recruit, execute, celebrate and evaluate projects.

“We are thrilled to receive this grant from the Terracon Foundation,” said Katie Gannon, Executive Director of Tucson Clean and Beautiful. “This funding will support two high school student mentors who will develop and lead service-learning projects to address real-world environmental challenges. We are grateful to Terracon for helping build 21st century environmental leaders while moving school campuses toward cleaner greener and more sustainable solutions.”

Terracon is an employee-owned consulting engineering firm with more than 4,000 employees providing environmental, facilities, geotechnical, and materials services from more than 140 offices with services available in all 50 states.

Terracon currently ranks 24th on the Engineering News-Record list of Top 500 Design Firms and is ranked No. 1 in Asbestos and Lead Abatement Design. To learn more about Terracon visit terracon.com/offices/tucson/.

The metro’s tech employment base has grown 90 percent in five years

TUCSON – Tucson was ranked #1 on CBRE’s list of up-and-coming tech talent markets in the firm’s annual Scoring Tech Talent Report, which ranks 50 U.S. and Canadian markets according to their ability to attract and grow tech talent.

The new report found that the 10 fastest-growing markets overall increased their tech labor pools by between 33% and 54% over the past five years. Tucson’s tech workforce grew 90 percent over the last five years to 15,700 tech workers—the highest five-year job growth of all 50 small, large and up-and-coming markets included in the report. Additionally, Tucson surpassed all other markets for five-year annual tech wage growth, which has grown 29 percent to $90,528.

The top 10 up-and-coming markets and their associated tech talent job growth rates over the last five years were:

“Tucson has many ingredients to justify itself as the top up-and-coming tech talent market,” said Matt Siegel, Managing Director of CBRE in Tucson. “There are many initiatives by the University of Arizona and private sector development that has created a tech ecosystem that should continue to thrive. Venture development by the University of Arizona coupled with many growing companies in Tucson has attracted talent to Southern Arizona and there have been numerous innovative different companies that have established a presence and been able to capitalize on the resources that Tucson has to offer businesses and families.”

The top five markets for tech talent in 2019 were the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Toronto, Washington, D.C., and New York, all large markets with a tech labor pool of more than 50,000. The Tech Talent Scorecard is determined based on 13 unique metrics, including tech talent supply, growth, concentration, cost, completed tech degrees, industry outlook for job growth, and market outlook for both office and apartment rent cost growth.

View full Tech Talent 2019 Report here . To view individual market statistics and rankings, including rankings on the Scorecard, access CBRE’s Tech Talent Analyzer.