Building a resilient, high-growth economy requires strong collaboration between industry, academia, and government. As regions compete globally for advanced manufacturing and technology investments, securing expert leadership to guide these efforts becomes essential. Without leaders who understand how to move technologies from the lab to the market, economic development initiatives risk falling short, leaving communities unable to attract high-value jobs or support sustainable, long-term growth.
The Partnership for Economic Innovation (PEI) is taking a major step to strengthen Arizona’s position as a global hub for advanced industries by appointing Mike Madsen to its board of directors. Drawing on his 37 years of experience in the aerospace and defense industry, including his tenure as President and CEO of Honeywell Aerospace, Madsen brings critical insight into how to build a thriving innovation ecosystem. In this interview, we discuss the importance of private-sector engagement, the challenges of workforce readiness, and how PEI works to solve shared regional problems.
Q: You bring over three decades of leadership experience to this new role. What specific qualities of the Partnership for Economic Innovation’s mission convinced you to join their board of directors?
Mike Madsen: I am an Arizona native, and much of my life has played out in this state, so the continued success of Greater Phoenix and the broader Arizona economy is personal to me. After the 1940’s, this region began attracting technology-focused companies that changed the character of the local economy; first through aerospace and defense, then through electronics and semiconductors, and eventually across a much wider set of industries. I have watched that transformation up close, and the community benefits that follow when innovators succeed reach far beyond the companies themselves.
The last twenty years pushed that story into a new chapter. When the Great Recession hit, the Greater Phoenix economy was overly dependent on construction, real estate, and population growth, and the downturn exposed how fragile that mix really was. Regional leaders responded by making a deliberate choice to diversify the economy and build it around innovation, advanced manufacturing, and high-value jobs. The Partnership for Economic Innovation grew out of that shift, and the goal has stayed consistent ever since: turn Arizona into a place where innovators of every size can grow and where the economy can withstand the next shock.
PEI's approach is refreshingly practical. The team identifies the specific barriers standing in the way of innovation success and then rallies the community to solve them, and the work is organized around four pillars that reflect what innovators actually need. Workforce covers talent readiness and the pipeline from K-12 through higher education. Technology Commercialization focuses on moving good ideas from the lab into products and companies. Policy addresses the legislative and regulatory environment that either accelerates or slows investment. Infrastructure covers the power, water, transportation, and communications systems that make growth possible in the first place. That problem-solving mindset, paired with a coalition that spans industry, academia, and government, is what convinced me the board was the right place to spend my time.
Q: Your background includes leading a massive global organization with a strong local presence. How will you use that experience to help PEI foster better collaboration between Arizona’s private sector and research institutions?
Mike Madsen: Many of the technology and innovation companies with a strong presence or headquarters in the Valley also run facilities and operations elsewhere in the United States and around the world. My years at Honeywell Aerospace gave me a front-row seat to what helps those businesses succeed locally and what does not, and I saw firsthand how other communities across the globe create the conditions for their operations to grow.
I bring that comparative perspective to PEI. When we shape actions to strengthen collaboration between Arizona's private sector and research institutions, we can borrow from the best examples we have watched play out in other regions and adapt them to fit our community. That means connecting local companies with university researchers in ways that produce real commercial outcomes, not just conversations, and building the kind of steady partnerships that turn Arizona's academic strength into products, patents, and jobs.
PEI's WearTech Applied Research Center is a good example of what that looks like in practice. Since 2019, WearTech has funded 38 industry-led projects and directed nearly $6.4 million in matching funds toward wearable technology solutions across healthcare, manufacturing, and consumer applications. One recent award of $200,000 went to Tucson-based Senphonix to develop SleeveSense, an adhesive-free wearable sleeve that continuously monitors vital signs and gives nurses more time for direct patient care. Another award, $700,000 split across three Arizona health-tech startups, helped companies that have collectively raised more than $5.6 million move toward clinical trials and commercial launch. Barrow Neurological Institute's Dr. Brandon Fox, whose WearTech project focuses on modernizing noxious stimulation for comatose monitoring, recently published his work in Congress Quarterly. Each of those projects pairs an Arizona company with the research capacity of a university or medical institution, and each one shows how the model turns lab-stage science into technology that reaches patients and customers.
Q: You recently emphasized that PEI focuses on identifying the challenges innovators face and helping them find solutions. What do you see as the most significant hurdle currently preventing emerging technologies from moving from the lab to the market in Arizona?
Mike Madsen: When PEI spoke with innovators across Arizona, both large companies and early-stage startups, the feedback was remarkably consistent regardless of industry. Each industry has its own nuances, but the feedback pointed to similar barriers. The challenges fell into four categories: workforce availability and readiness, infrastructure covering power, water, transportation and communications, policy and legislation, and the presence of local technology development and partnerships with academic institutions.
Workforce ranked as the number one issue in every industry. Concerns covered both the volume of available talent and the readiness of that talent for specific roles; and they applied to every level of employment, not just positions requiring four-year or advanced degrees. Rapid growth demands significant hiring, and the fast pace of new technology means the critical skills companies need keep shifting.
Turning a promising invention into a product on the market adds another layer of difficulty. Production readiness is often the sticking point, and that involves both the design of the product and the capital investment required to manufacture at scale. Supporting innovation means more than backing research and new product design. It also means investing in supply chains, and better ways to manufacture and move goods, because that is where many promising technologies stall before they ever reach a customer.
Q: Creating high-value jobs requires a capable talent pool. Given your experience co-chairing workforce development task forces, how should Arizona adapt its education systems to meet the demands of fast-growing industries like AI and MedTech?
Mike Madsen: The first thing is to acknowledge what already works. Every year, thousands of students graduate from Arizona's public schools well prepared for outstanding post-secondary experiences and successful careers. We need to resist the temptation to start over, because that approach is both unnecessary and not feasible.
A lot of good work is already underway to close the gaps that do exist. Every educator I speak with is actively engaged in efforts to improve student attainment and readiness, and some of the most promising examples involve partnerships between local companies, universities, career and technical education programs, and the K-12 system.
The piece that needs the most emphasis is deeper engagement by companies, across every industry, with the education system. The business community cannot sit back and demand the workforce it needs. They have to help create the workforce of tomorrow. Technology is evolving faster than ever, and companies know better than anyone where it is heading and what that means for the skills employers will require. Leaders need to team up with their education partners in a specific, hands-on way, sharing what skills matter, how many employees they will need in various disciplines, and what strengths and gaps they are seeing in new hires. The companies offering internships, apprenticeships, curriculum input, open houses, and information sessions for parents and students are already seeing the payoff. The education community needs to seek, embrace, and address that feedback.
PEI's role is to facilitate those connections, share the successes, and spread the know-how across the community so more employers and educators can plug in.
Q: PEI is dedicated to fostering "smarter growth" across Greater Phoenix. How can the region balance rapid technological expansion with the need for sustainable infrastructure and long-term economic resilience?
Mike Madsen: Growth, new technology, and infrastructure move together. We cannot ignore developments like AI and its adoption, because it drives growth and business productivity. At the same time, we cannot embrace new technologies without planning for the infrastructure, workforce, and environmental effects that come with them.
PEI is helping build connections among local companies, policymakers, and other stakeholders so everyone shapes the path forward together. When the people building the technology and the people planning for its impact work from the same information, the result is a shared plan where the economy grows, the community benefits, and the systems that support both stay strong.
Arizona has a strong track record of creating infrastructure that supports economic growth. The Salt River Project, the Central Arizona Project, Sky Harbor Airport, light rail, and the regional highway system all reflect the kind of long-term thinking this region is capable of. Plenty of challenges remain, and I am confident this community will keep solving them.
Q: As you integrate into the PEI leadership team, what are your primary goals for the organization over the next year to solidify Arizona's standing as a global manufacturing hub?
Mike Madsen: PEI has a comprehensive five-year strategic plan that addresses each pillar of innovation, including infrastructure, workforce, technology commercialization, and policy. The plan is built on direct input from local companies and other stakeholders, and the year ahead is focused on execution.
That execution work spans industry-specific workforce initiatives, ongoing communication between technology companies and Arizona state lawmakers, and stronger relationships between startups, early-stage companies, and the established industry leaders who can help commercialize new technology. Manufacturing sits at the center of all three, because Arizona's ability to attract and keep advanced manufacturers depends on the talent, the policy environment, and the innovation pipeline all working together.
We will continue to update the plan every year and tackle the challenges as they come up. The goal is steady progress on the fundamentals that make Arizona a place where companies want to build, and where the products of that work stay competitive on a global stage.
This conversation highlights the vital role experienced leadership plays in shaping a region's economic future. Madsen demonstrates that building a resilient economy requires more than just attracting new businesses; it demands strong infrastructure, a capable workforce, and seamless collaboration across all sectors. By leveraging his extensive background in advanced manufacturing, he is helping PEI create an environment where innovation can truly thrive.
Fostering an innovation-driven economy will remain essential as technological demands continue to evolve worldwide. Organizations that prioritize applied research and industry partnerships will lead the way in creating lasting prosperity for their communities. With Mike Madsen on its board, the Partnership for Economic Innovation is perfectly positioned to accelerate Arizona’s growth and secure its place as a premier destination for advanced technology.
To learn more visit https://azpei.org/
