MPA to Name Elite 2015 Common Ground Awards at October 30th Ceremony

TUCSON, AZ – On Friday, October 30, 2015, the Metropolitan Pima Alliance (MPA) will hold its 11th annual Common Ground Awards ceremony presented by Cox Communications. The Common Ground Awards ceremony honors community leaders, real estate projects and events that overcame great obstacles through collaboration. Over 200 exemplary projects have been recognized over the past decade representing positive outcomes as the result of atypical and significant collaboration.

The MPA Board of Directors has voted to honor two projects with its signature recognition of Common Ground Award of Distinction.  The Award of Distinction honors exceptional projects of the year that traditionally have extensive regional benefits. Past honorees include the I-10 widening project, Festival of Books and the Mars Lander.

This year, Pima County will be receiving the award for the Aerospace Parkway. The Aerospace Parkway is the collaborative result of multiple levels of government, the Tucson Airport Authority, Sun Corridor Inc. and the private sector to provide buffer space for Raytheon growth, enable runway expansion at the airport and reserve space to facilitate the Air Guard’s next mission while coordinating the development of critical infrastructure to attract new industry and increase local employment. This regional initiative creates the vision for the development of an industrial corridor south and east of the airport and the expansion of the airport areas as a primary employment area focused on manufacturing and logistics use.

The second Award of Distinction will be presented to the DM-50 for hosting A Salute to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (DMAFB). The DM-50 is a non-profit volunteer service organization with no formal ties to DMAFB and since its inception has been instrumental in providing over $1.5 million in funding for dozens of initiatives that improve the quality of life for DM’s airmen.  On November 10, 2014 the DM-50 hosted A Salute to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in which, for the first time ever, the entire community was invited to celebrate Davis-Monthan. Over 500 people attended and more than 100 businesses and organizations sponsored the event. All proceeds were committed to advocacy and lobbying to protect the long-term future of DMAFB.

MPA has identified a list of Top 20 projects and programs that will also be celebrated at this year’s Common Ground Award Ceremony. The Top 20 list of projects representing exceptional collaboration (in alphabetical order) includes:

The elite list of Top 10 projects representing the best of the best from this list will be unveiled the evening of the ceremony at the Star Pass Marriott.  Attended by hundreds, MPA welcomes everyone to attend this event and celebrate the outstanding projects and programs countywide as we work to encourage more community collaboration.

Established in 1997, the mission of Metropolitan Pima Alliance is to bring the public and private sector together to develop reasonable land use policies and procedures for the benefit of the entire community.  Whether it is land development, economic development or community development, it is important and relevant for all parties to seek common ground. For tickets and information, www.mpaaz.org/events/common-ground.