Ryan Touhill, Phoenix’s newly appointed community and economic development director, is prioritizing the city’s vast available land as a strategic asset for future growth. Arriving from Arlington, Virginia, Touhill succeeds Chris Mackay, who led the semiconductor expansion before moving to head the Greater Phoenix Economic Council. In his first two weeks on the job, Touhill has been assessing local economic conditions and outlining a vision centered on industrial development, innovation, and workforce readiness.
One of the most striking aspects of Phoenix, according to Touhill, is its abundance of undeveloped space—an advantage he did not have in the densely populated Washington, D.C. metro area. He described this availability as a form of economic currency, enabling the city to prepare sites for industrial, commercial, hospitality, and office use.
This land could play a crucial role in expanding Phoenix’s semiconductor sector, particularly around the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) facility in the northern part of the city. Proximity to TSMC presents an opportunity to attract supporting industries and supply chain partners, creating a concentrated hub of high-tech manufacturing.
Beyond semiconductors, Touhill highlighted Phoenix’s growing bioscience sector and a developing aerospace cluster in the Deer Valley region. He aims to replicate his past success in fostering connections between startups and larger institutions, a strategy that previously helped emerging companies gain traction while supporting innovation in established firms.
Workforce development is another key focus. Touhill attended the graduation of the first cohort from TSMC’s apprenticeship program, which he views as a model for aligning education with industry needs. He emphasized the importance of collaboration with universities to ensure a steady pipeline of skilled workers for future industries.
Additionally, Touhill brings experience in adaptive reuse projects, particularly the transformation of outdated office spaces into more productive uses. While such conversions pose architectural challenges, he believes they become viable when supported by efficient government processes, allowing older buildings to be repurposed for higher-value functions.
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Phoenix’s new economic chief sees opportunity in open land
Phoenix ‘s new community and economic development director is still settling into the job, but the thing that ‘s jumped out to him so far is the city ‘s abundance of land. n nThe big picture: Ryan Touhill, who came to Arizona from Arlington, Virginia, replaces Chris Mackay, who oversaw the semiconductor boom before leaving to head up the Greater Phoenix Economic Council. n nState of play: Touhill has been on the job for about two weeks and he ‘s still familiarizing himself with the lay of the economic land. n nHe sat down with Axios last week to discuss his plans and hopes in Phoenix. n n✅ Land: Coming from a densely populated area with little open space, Touhill said “the resource that we have that is most exciting as an economic developer is land.” n n”We have the ability to build out sites for industrial, for commercial, for hospitality, for office. That ‘s a currency,” he said. n n✅ Major industries: The land that grabbed Touhill ‘s attention could be especially important as he seeks to build on Phoenix ‘s burgeoning semiconductor industry. n nThere are many sites near the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) complex in north Phoenix, which is a huge plus as the city seeks to attract related businesses and industries to the area. n nTouhill also noted that Phoenix has a major bioscience sector and a growing “aerospace cluster” in the Deer Valley area. n n✅ Startups: One area where Touhill felt he had a lot of success in Arlington was working with local startups, and he wants to look at doing the same in Phoenix. n nThey were able to connect larger businesses and institutions with startups, “and that helps not just the big companies continue to push the envelope on innovation, but it helps the smaller companies get a foothold and continue to grow,” he said. n n✅Workforce development: Touhill said he wants to ensure that Phoenix is “producing the workforce pipeline for the future.” n nHe recently attended the graduation for the first eight people to go through a TSMC apprenticeship program, which he called “an example of things we need to continue to do here.” n nUniversities are critical to that as well, Touhill said. n n✅ Office conversions: A major part of Touhill’s work in Virginia was redeveloping an old office space for new uses. n nThe fundamentals are the same in Phoenix, he said. Those projects are difficult architecturally, but if the government has the right processes in place, “those projects tend to make sense because then you ‘re putting older buildings into higher and better uses.”