San Luis, Arizona — The Arizona Association for Economic Development (AAED) honored the City of San Luis with the prestigious Golden Prospector Award in the Economic Development Program/Process category. The Golden Prospector Awards were established more than 20 years ago to recognize excellence in economic development and were presented at AAED’s annual Fall Forum, held last month in Prescott, Arizona. 

The Economic Development Program Golden Prospector Award recognizes initiatives, programs, or processes that promote the attraction, retention, or workforce development in a community, or that help streamline the delivery of services. 

In partnership with Local First Arizona and with funding from the USDA Rural Business Development Grant, the City of San Luis brough together a group of entrepreneurs at the San Luis Business Incubator led by the launch of the Fuerza Local business accelerator program. Through this program, the City has empowered a new generation of small business owners, primarily Spanish speakers, to formalize their operations, improve financial literacy, and build resilient enterprises. 

“It’s an incredible honor to be recognized with this award,” said Armando Esparza, Director of Economic Development. “We grateful to San Luis City Council for supporting our small business development initiatives, the businesses that applied and graduated from the program, and the Economic Development Team for their work.” 

This is the City of San Luis’ first Golden Prospector award.