County voters may be asked to pay for a sound-attenuation program around D-M—and incentives to keep Raytheon happy

by Dave Devine, Tucson Weekly, June 30, 2011

Critics say that the presence of a few F-35 Lightning II aircraft at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base might negatively impact the community. On the other hand, military supporters hope to attract more defense-related jobs to Tucson.

On Friday, June 17, the Pima County Bond Advisory Committee heard a brief presentation on a proposed aerospace and defense corridor cluster. Part of this Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities (TREO) proposal would provide Tucson’s largest private employer, missile-maker Raytheon, with land and transportation incentives.

In a memorandum, County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry estimated how much the incentives would cost: The bill for short-term transportation projects could be $13 million, with another $17 million spent on longer-term work. About $5 million would also be needed for land purchases to prevent encroachment on Raytheon’s southside facility.

Larry Hecker, chair of the bond committee, says a subcommittee will look into this proposal.

Hecker says the subcommittee may also consider a residential sound-attenuation program around Davis-Monthan. A similar, much-praised program has been in place for years around Tucson International Airport (TIA). Funded by TIA, it provides expensive soundproofing for nearby homes.

Davis-Monthan has never had such a program, but Pima County voters may be asked to fund one during the next bond election. Hecker says he hopes that vote can happen in 2013, but admits that because of the poor economy, it might not be until 2014.

For all county residents know, that may be around the time when the Air Force finally gets around to conducting an environmental assessment on the impacts of Operation Snowbird at Davis-Monthan. (See “More Planes!” Feb. 17.)
For training missions of a few weeks in length, this operation brings into Davis-Monthan various types of aircraft which fly hundreds of sorties in the Tucson area on a year-round basis.

The assessment was scheduled to begin in January 2011; today, the start date is up in the air.

Scott Hines, community liaison at Davis-Monthan, recently wrote members of a subcommittee of the Military-Community Relations Committee (MCRC), a group that meets regularly to discuss Davis-Monthan issues. He stated the assessment “is on hold pending the coordination and approval of the plan governing the (Operation Snowbird) mission.”

Repeated attempts by the Tucson Weekly to find out from the Pentagon when the Air Force would be approving the assessment went unanswered.

It is known that the Air Force plans to utilize a 2002 study as its baseline of information for determining “environmental comparison, analysis and assessment.” The 2002 report shows just more than 39,000 annual arrivals and departures of all aircraft using D-M. Of those, A-10 aircraft made up about three-quarters of the activity.

From a noise perspective, the A-10 is relatively quiet. At 2,000 feet, it is shown in the 2002 report as producing 94 decibels of sound on the ground. An Air Force chart indicates that is similar to the noise produced by a heavy truck at 50 feet.

According to Lockheed Martin, the primary contractor for the brand-new F-35 Lightning II, the aircraft may replace several planes, including the A-10—and the next-generation fighter aircraft is anticipated to be much louder than the A-10.

For that reason, the Tucson Forward lobbying group opposes the F-35 coming to Tucson. It believes the plane could be using Davis-Monthan as part of Operation Snowbird.

Tucson Forward also opposed the F-35 being based for training purposes at the Air National Guard’s operation at TIA. Last year, the Air Force was considering five different training sites for the F-35 and looking at the environmental impacts on each. Even though that study is still underway, the Air Force months ago announced its “preferred alternative” was to base the F-35 for training purposes at Luke Air Force Base, west of Phoenix.

Before that decision was made, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords expressed support for the F-35 being based for operational purposes at Davis-Monthan. But Giffords’ spokesman, C.J. Karamargin, wrote in a March 2010 e-mail: “She recognizes that the A-10 mission will remain intact at D-M until at least 2025.”

In order to retain the thousands of jobs currently at the base, is an eventual transition to the F-35 at Davis-Monthan in the community’s best interest? Or should an emphasis be placed on transforming Davis-Monthan into a base focused on research and development?

Several members of the MCRC were contacted for their viewpoints.

“Research,” answers Bill DuPont, of the Colonia Solana Neighborhood Association, located northwest of D-M. “It will probably bring more permanent jobs than the F-35.”

DuPont adds that while the exact noise levels of the new plane are uncertain, the impacts on the environment could be substantial.

Robert Medler, from the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, notes that the F-35 isn’t slated to go to Davis-Monthan. “We should go after anything looking for a new home—like aircraft maintenance—that will provide more jobs.”

Les Pierce, from the Arroyo Chico neighborhood, states: “We should plan for both, but build toward research and development.” Pierce doesn’t think the F-35 will come to Tucson, either, but adds: “Perhaps as a fallback, we should keep our eye on it.”

Priscilla Storm, of Diamond Ventures, Inc., believes the community began transitioning to noisier planes years ago when City Hall adopted aircraft-noise contours around Davis-Monthan based on the sound of loud F-16 jet fighters, and not the quieter A-10. Because of that, she thinks Tucson should now begin “the very difficult and controversial community dialogue” on the future mission of Davis-Monthan.

As to whether research or more flight training should be pursued for the base, Storm responds: “There’re both important for the viability of D-M.”

Comments (7)

The F35s create a 9 mile sound wave, per AF. The F35s are louder at 2,000′ elevation than a F16 landing, per AF. The whole community would need sound attenuation. F35s mask the sound of Fire Trucks, Ambulances & Police Cars Sirens, per Federal db reading info. The F35s create Acoustical Vibrations that crack masonry buildings, per AF. I live 8 miles from base. I do not live in a Flight Path. Yet loud jets fly over throughout the sleeping hours, and if they do not wake us up, the car alarms (from the vibrations) wake us. We want this?
Posted by hope2hear on July 2, 2011 at 12:18 AM

Priscilla Storm forgot to mention that her boss, Don Diamond, owns the land to buffer Raytheon. Guess Raytheon couldn’t afford to buy the land, so the taxpayers have to do it.

The Pima County bond issue has to go to the voters for approval. We won’t be voting for it.
Posted by Sally on July 1, 2011 at 3:42 PM

I would be more concerned if D-M and the military get their wish to make Tucson a noisy, polluted, unhealthy, impoverished, uneducated, one enterprise town. They’ve been trying to do that since WWII.

Tucsonans should wise up. We need to be a more diverse community and advocate for clean air and a more natural environment.

My home was built in the 1930s, before D-M started running thousands of overflights a year. If people would take the time, they would see the exponential increase of overflights and foreign pilots in their F-16s, F-18s, etc.

Now, I’d be happy if the noise levels and number of flights were scaled back to that of the 1950s. On the other hand, D-M would be a better neighbor if it concentrated on communications with Ft. Huachuca and research. Tucson is not a military town anymore.

I HAVE (not “of”) done my homework. Noise increases health problems as does pollution. A city that has only one major employer is a city declining toward extinction.

It is stupid to be too simplistic.
Posted by Colette on July 1, 2011 at 3:19 PM

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.

-Dwight D Eisenhower, 1953
Posted by Magistrate on July 1, 2011 at 3:09 PM

The US military is collapsing of its own weight. More than half the annual appropriations (expenditures) of the US government is devoted to the support of this killing apparatus. Our FICA taxes are used to support this killing machine while government threatens to reduce Social Security and Medicare. For me, noise is NOT the issue. It’s the insanity of believing we can rule the world out of the pockets of the middle class!
Posted by Enoughisenough on July 1, 2011 at 2:11 PM

Gee, people move in close to an Air Force base that has been here for 50 years plus and then complain about the noise from military aircraft. How stupid..
Posted by Gail H. on June 30, 2011 at 4:52 PM

Tucson citizens, I will be concern if DM close, because the noise of flying planes, those people live near this facility should of done their home work before they move in to the neighborhood.
If DM close good bye Tucson
Posted by Pepe on June 29, 2011 at 4:51 PM

Be sure to read the “Comments” in Chapter I and the “Noise” section in Chapter II

June 14,2011, A-A Air-Attack.com: Military Aviation News & Media
By Gunnery Sgt. Bill Lisbon, Marine Corps Air Station Yuma

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION YUMA, Ariz. — If the preferred plan for basing the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter at the air station is approved, major changes are in store for Yuma over the next six years.

According to the plan and its anticipated effects, Yuma should expect a 39 percent increase in personnel, a 15 percent increase in airfield operations and a 17 percent increase in airspace and range use.

Additionally, the new infrastructure required for the Marine Corps’ future combat jets to come to Yuma would cost nearly $1 billion.

Released for public review and comment May 21, the comprehensive survey on the jet’s environmental impacts outlines five possible plans for the West Coast basing of the aircraft replacing the Corps’ current fleet of combat jets, including all of Yuma’s AV-8B Harriers.

The preferred plan would place five operational F-35B squadrons and one operational, test and evaluation squadron here, with another six operational squadrons at the Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar, Calif.

The other alternatives split the 12 West Coast squadrons differently, with as few as two and as many as 10 squadrons based in Yuma. Regardless the plan picked, all Harriers here would be removed by 2016, according to the statement.

The draft environmental impact statement can be downloaded at http://www.usmcjsfwest.com.

On June 17, the public is invited to an open house at Gila Vista Junior High School in Yuma from 4-7 p.m., where they can discuss the basing options and impacts to the local community.

Public comments will be accepted until July 6, after which the final environmental impact statement will be prepared for the Secretary of the Navy’s ultimate decision, which is expected in December.

Under the preferred option, 88 F-35Bs would replace the 56 Harriers stationed here. The transition of five of the six new squadrons would occur between 2012 and 2016.

With the new planes, an additional 425 military personnel and 38 civilians would be needed. More than 1,200 accompanying family members would be added to the local population. Plus, 66 service members from the United Kingdom, which is also buying JSFs, would be assigned to operate and maintain two of the operational training and evaluation squadron’s planes.

The construction projects required for the JSF would primarily occur south of the current Harrier hangars. More than 260 acres would be affected with the preferred plan, with on-base construction totaling $706 million.

A short-term economic boost is expected during the peak construction phase in 2012 equating to nearly 3,000 jobs and $119.2 million in labor income.

As many as five hangars would be built, as well as necessary support infrastructure, such as wash racks, aprons and a simulator facility, and other upgrades to runways, roads, utilities and communications.

Most of the alternatives plan for an additional enlisted barracks to be built on the site of the current mess hall, while a new mess hall would be built nearby.

The air station also plans to build a new south gate, which would alleviate some traffic at the existing gates on Avenue 3E. Meanwhile, the City of Yuma has already begun work to expand Avenue 3E to four lanes north of 32nd Street, said Dave Nash, city spokesman.

On the Barry M. Goldwater Range east of the air station, a new auxiliary airfield would be built about 3 miles southeast of Auxiliary Airfield 2, which can’t support the JSF on its landing surface during carrier landing training. The new $157 million airfield would contain simulated ship landing decks, a control tower and a 3,000-foot area where pilots would train to land on roads.

Use of Auxiliary Airfield 2 would decrease by 93 percent and be used mostly by helicopters.

Noise from the JSF would increase or be heard further away, according to the statement, but “remain consistent with city and county land use guidelines.”

Two studies were used to judge the noise effects. At most, approximately 5,600 off-station homes with more than 16,000 residents live within areas affected by jet noise of 65 decibels or higher. However, the study states none of those areas will experience noise above 80 decibels, where the risk of potential hearing loss is possible under long-term exposure.

Input from the Yuma community was collected during a scoping meeting Feb. 4, 2009. That information helped Department of the Navy planners determine what needed to be addressed in the environmental impact statement.

Despite delays and budget overages within the JSF program, the Marine Corps is marching forward to prepare to reach an initial operating capability of 29 planes by December 2012, according to a statement released by Headquarters Marine Corps on March 18.

Ten of those planes would make up the first operational squadron, Marine Fighter/Attack Squadron 332, which could be based at the air station once the Secretary of the Navy decides on the final basing plans.

Derived from a common design, developed together and using the same sustainment infrastructure worldwide, three F-35 variants will replace at least 13 types of aircraft for 11 nations initially, according to Lockheed Martin.

The Air Force will receive the F-35A variant, which will provide conventional takeoff and landing capabilities. The Navy will receive the F-35C, designed for carrier launches and duty at sea.

However, the production and basing of Navy and Air Force planes is separate and doesn’t affect the Marine Corps, said Lt. Col. Geoff Olander, officer in charge of the Joint Strike Fighter site activation here.

Compared to the Marine Corps’ current tactical fixed-wing squadrons, the JSF can carry more ordnance with greater range than the F/A-18 Hornet, operate from austere environments like the AV-8B Harrier, and possess electronic warfare technology and capability like the EA-6B Prowler, according to Headquarters Marine Corps.

LEMOORE, Calif. – A fighter jet crash near a Central California air base has killed two people, Fresno County officials said Wednesday.

Fresno County deputy coroner Sarah Davis confirmed the deaths, but released no other details.

Officials from the Naval Air Station in Lemoore say the F/A-18 aircraft went down shortly after noon Wednesday in a grassy field about half a mile from the base.

F/18 Hornets are jets that are used by the military for combat operations and also in the Navy’s Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Squadron, which performs aerial shows.

Lemoore is about 30 miles south of Fresno in Central California. The Naval Air Station is home to the Strike-Fighter Wing, the U.S. Pacific Fleet and its mission to trains and man west coast Strike-Fighter squadrons.

“Science City” – that’s how Tucson should be known and branded, says UA Dean of Science Joaquin Ruiz.

To begin with, research science is a big deal at the University of Arizona, where it brings in more money than either tuition or state support, with last year being the best ever despite – or perhaps because of – the economic downturn.

Stimulus money captured an additional $83 million last year. The university took in $602 million in grants, contracts and gifts for the fiscal year that ended June 30. It spent $490 million on research.

The impact of that is felt in the larger economic community, said Ruiz, in the form of research contracts with area businesses, companies spun off from university research projects, and jobs.

“A great majority of the money in grants and contracts is used to pay salaries of people. It’s not just buying a lot of equipment. I’m not an economist, but the multiplier effect of that has to be substantial,” he said.

Beyond that, many technology-heavy industries are important to Tucson’s economy, from aerospace and defense to solar.

“Science City” is the label Ruiz used for his college’s November special report on research, published in the Arizona Daily Star, and he and local business leaders have discussed his broader branding idea (see related story).

Astronomy and optics, where Tucson has always excelled, are only part of the story, Ruiz said.

The optical science businesses spun off from the university are now being joined by “more and more biotech,” he noted.

Medical and biotech research will be the big push for the university in coming years, said Rick Myers, a member of the Arizona Board of Regents and CEO of the nonprofit medical research group Critical Path Institute.

The regents are challenging UA to double its grants in those two areas, he said.

He also sees opportunities in research in alternative energy, with the growth of the solar zone at the UA’s Tech Park. Border security is another growing research area, he said.

“The UA has strengths in all those areas,” he said.

Federal money provides 60 to 65 percent of the UA’s research budget in any given year, Myers said, but industry partnerships provide a good chunk as well.

Engineering Dean Jeff Goldberg said his college is adding industry partners, both small and large. The UA has research infrastructure that can help small businesses grow and provide essential services to larger ones.

“With places like Raytheon and Honeywell, it’s not coming to them for philanthropy, it’s ‘How does the College of Engineering help them build their businesses relative to the mission we have?’ ” Goldberg said.

For UA’s Ruiz, it all comes down to this:

“We need to be proud of our community, and being connected to science is something that makes me proud. It’s a moniker that would give us all pride.”

FINDING A moniker

A Science City moniker for Tucson has been discussed by business leaders, says Laura Shaw, senior vice president of Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities Inc., or TREO.

“From TREO’s perspective, we do like selling the sciences across many industries. From a business development perspective, we really like it. We think it’s a good starting point,” Shaw said.

Shaw said three of the four areas of emphasis for TREO – aerospace/defense, biosciences and solar – have definite science relationships.

Whether “Science City” is the best brand to represent all of that for TREO is still an open question, she said. TREO is currently doing some marketing studies to see what the companies it wants to recruit need to hear about greater Tucson.

“We don’t want to come up with something that is great but doesn’t mean anything to the companies we’re talking to,” she said.

Tom Beal

SCIENCE TOURISM

Some Tucsonans may be grabbing their cameras – and others their earplugs – to prepare for a rite of impending springtime.

The annual Heritage Flight Conference – a refresher course of sorts for pilots on this year’s air show circuit – takes place this weekend at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.

Changes in jet noise levels and flight activity will be evident now until next Tuesday, base officials said.

The event brings an array of military aircraft from different eras to the city, allowing pilots of vintage and modern warplanes to practice close-formation flying. It’s part of the certification process required each year before they can perform.

The sessions are not open to the public as far as getting on base, but the planes are visible from vantage points nearby.

One popular viewing area is near the Pima Air and Space Museum, on East Valencia Road between Interstate 10 and South Wilmot Road.

This year’s crop of participants includes aircraft commonly seen in Tucson, such as D-M’s A-10 attack jets and rarities including the World War II-era P-51 Mustang and the thundering F-22 Raptor, the futuristic fighter whose production was canceled by Congress.

While aviation buffs welcome such displays, some citizens concerned with military jet noise question the need to hold them in the city.

“Does Davis-Monthan really want to be a good neighbor to the Tucson community?” asks the website of Tucson Forward, a grass-roots group. The question was asked in an online entry critical of such air-show practice runs.

Seventeen military and civilian pilots will take part in this year’s event, said a news release from Air Combat Command.

In addition to the heritage flights held each March, D-M hosts a full-scale military air show every other year. The next one is in 2012.

by Dave Devine Tucson Weekly February 17, 2011

Operation Snowbird at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base will be the focus of public meetings—part of an environmental assessment—tentatively scheduled for March.

While base supporters intend to focus on noise and safety issues, critics want the Air Force to consider relocating these military-training flights.

“I’m getting the feeling the environmental assessment study is going to try to justify the existing program,” says Robin Gomez, a midtown neighborhood activist who thinks alternative locations for Operation Snowbird should be considered.

Begun at Davis-Monthan (D-M) in 1972 and officially established three years later, Operation Snowbird initially consisted of two-week training sessions during winter months for Air National Guard units from cold climates.

Because of Southern Arizona’s desert terrain, another more-recent advantage of the operation, according to the Air National Guard, is that it “supports the war effort by allowing units to ‘train to the fight’ in an environment similar to the Area of Responsibility (i.e., Iraq and Afghanistan).”

In 1978, an assessment was done on Operation Snowbird’s environmental impacts. That same year, a plane from D-M crashed just south of the UA, killing two people.

Following the crash, the Air Force looked at all D-M flights. One change it considered exploring was “reduc(ing) the Air National Guard activity at Davis-Monthan.”

That wasn’t done.

According to a report prepared last year by consulting firm Wyle, between 13 and 15 Air National Guard units participated in Operation Snowbird annually during its first two decades. By 1995, most of the flights were F-16s, and planning was underway for expanded facilities at D-M to accommodate Operation Snowbird. But those plans, the Wyle report states, did not include “additional aircraft or flying hours.”

Things then began to change substantially. By 2000, Operation Snowbird had experienced “dramatic growth”—to about double the previous number of flights. Foreign pilots were also participating in the program.

At the same time, the operation had become a year-round activity, and the planes being flown included F-18s and Harriers. That shift was critical because of its noise impacts on residential areas around D-M.

Compared to the A-10—the primary plane flown from D-M—F-18s are much louder on the final approach to landing, one analysis concluded, while Harriers and F-16s are somewhat louder. Some D-M neighbors claim the Harrier can be four times as loud as an A-10.

Today, Operation Snowbird’s approximately 1,200 annual sorties account for between 4 and 7 percent of D-M’s total flight activity, and efforts are underway to increase program participation.

The Air Force has published an advertising brochure stating one reason for this expansion effort. “The units that we host here at Operation Snowbird,” it reads, “are categorized as regular users, which helps us get higher priority in being awarded the (Goldwater) range (near Ajo) and airspace times requested.”

While the Air Force is pushing to promote Operation Snowbird, it has never assessed the specific environmental impacts of the expanded program. Thus, a new EA is now being prepared.

That process includes the aforementioned public meetings. One of the intents, according to an Air Force spokesman, is to solicit comments about what issues the EA might address.

From Glen Kerslake’s perspective, the process should focus on noise and safety concerns. Kerslake is a member of the DM50 support group, as well as the Military Community Relations Committee (MCRC), which meets regularly to discuss base flights and other related subjects.

“Operation Snowbird is a very important mission for the United States and Davis-Monthan,” Kerslake says. He adds that pilots train here because of year-round access to the Goldwater Range.

Another DM50 and MCRC member, Mike Grassinger, also lists noise and safety as potential EA topics.

While agreeing that those issues must be examined, Gomez hopes the EA goes further. An alternate member to the MCRC, Gomez would like the Air Force to consider moving Operation Snowbird to runways at Pinal Air Park or in Gila Bend.

Another option he suggests is for the program to fly out of Tucson International Airport (TIA), which is presently used by an Air National Guard mission. Gomez points out that the TIA has a sound-attenuation program for nearby homes—but D-M does not.

Consideration of a move of Operation Snowbird from Davis-Monthan looked possible when a $159,000 contract was awarded last September for the environmental assessment to Gulf South Research Corporation of Baton Rouge, La. One of the initial components of the study was to consider five different “beddown locations.”

However, the Air Force has changed its mind. “That’s no longer under consideration,” a military spokesman says about alternate locations.

As for Operation Snowbird’s safety issues, Gomez says: “I don’t mean there’s going to be a crash tomorrow, but you increase the safety problem by bringing the planes in over populated areas at low altitudes.”

Concerning sound levels, the Wyle report concludes: “From a noise perspective, the approximate doubling of operations would probably be indistinguishable to the average individual in the context of overall DMAFB operations.”

While Grassinger hopes that statement is correct, it is a conclusion Gomez strongly disputes. “It’s a shock effect,” he declares of the sudden loud noise of a plane flying over.

Gomez indicates the Air Force does computer modeling that averages noise over a 24-hour period. That, he says, isn’t appropriate for Operation Snowbird.

Calling the expansion of the program “unsupervised,” Gomez thinks Operation Snowbird is perhaps being conducted outside of federal environmental laws.

“We’ve raised that issue (with the Air Force),” he says.
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Noise and safety issues affecting Tucson and its quality of life for residents is a major concern for all of us. It is no longer appropriate to pretend that constant flyovers are “the sound of freedom.” It’s not. It’s the sound of a noisy neighbor pushing the limits and disrupting civilian life, verging on bullying tactics.

Having planes flying over at low approach altitudes throughout the day is detrimental to one’s health long term. The safety issue, especially with pilots from all over the world, must be seriously considered as well.

It would be better if D-M could see a transition from its current function to that of communications or drone basing—anything except more planes.
.Posted by colette on February 17, 2011 at 12:16 PM | Report this comment .
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“What? Sorry, could you please wait a few minutes until the jet has gone past? I couldn’t hear – could you please repeat that?” = the sound of freedom.
.Posted by T. Stephen Cody on February 17, 2011 at 4:40 PM | Report this comment .
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Well written, T. Stephen Cody. Ha!

I went to Tucson Forward’s site and read the response about noise in a letter sent to Representative Giffords. The military’s response was that the noise of jets over neighborhoods was no more intrusive than a vacuum cleaner.

Wha?!

I would like to know who would not be bothered trying to work, write, study, converse, recover, sleep, or think while having a “vacuum cleaner” running intermittently many times each day?
.Posted by colette on February 17, 2011 at 8:28 PM | Report this comment .
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Arizona’s biosciences industry added jobs during the recessionary years of 2008-2009, growing by 7 percent while Arizona’s private sector overall lost 11 percent of its jobs, says a report released Wednesday by the Phoenix-based Flinn Foundation.

The annual study by the Battelle Technology Partnership Practice found that Arizona continues to outpace the nation in generating bioscience jobs and firms. And in 2010, the state reached a record high $222.9 million in grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health, called the “gold standard” of biomedical research funding.

However, some of those grants were one-time grants funded with federal stimulus money, and Arizona continues to lag in “risk capital” investment – such as investments by venture-capital firms – considered the lifeblood of bioscience startup firms, the report says.

“We already knew that Arizona is one of the nation’s fastest-growing states in the biosciences,” said Walter Plosila, senior adviser to the Battelle Technology Partnership Practice. “We now know that this growth is not limited to good economic times.”

Despite the growth, Arizona’s biosciences sector has a below-average concentration of biotech jobs relative to the nation, the report notes.

Battelle says bioscience jobs in Arizona have increased 32 percent, to a total of 90,219, since the 2002 launch of Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap, the state’s long-term strategy to build a nationally competitive bioscience sector. That was nearly three times the U.S. growth rate of 11 percent during this time period.

The jobs pay an average of $57,360, 36 percent higher than Arizona’s private-sector average.

Employment in Arizona’s biosciences industry is dominated by hospitals, though non-hospital bio employment has risen faster than hospital payrolls since 2002.

Battelle’s Plosila presented the report Wednesday in Phoenix at an event hosted by the nonprofit Flinn Foundation. He is scheduled to present the findings in Tucson on Friday.