Diversifying the Desert

Joe Snell wants to change Tucson’s landscape. No, not the pristine Sonoran Desert with its beautiful array of flora and fauna that can only be found here. Rather, he wants to change the economic landscape and diversify it so that Tucson attracts more top-notch companies in a variety of industries.

Snell is TREO’s first president and CEO and since 2005 he has shaped the organization and laid the blueprint for its current success.

“The community took a bold move in establishing TREO,” Snell said. “Tucson was growing into poverty and was losing pace with other cities including Phoenix.”

Under Snell’s leadership TREO has succeeded in getting Tucson on the radar of national site selectors who handle more than 90 percent of large company relocations and expansions worldwide.

“TREO is working very well,” he said. “It’s known and trusted.”

In six years TREO has helped boost the development of a sustainable economic engine for the region. TREO has facilitated the relocation and/or expansion of more than 40 companies in the Tucson region. This represents more than 10,550 jobs and a $2 billion economic impact.