Following a statewide and national trend in collaboration among technology and economic development organizations, the Arizona Technology Council and the Arizona BioIndustry Association recently banded together in a formal partnership that allows them to pool resources, co-sponsor events, and strengthen the state's competitiveness in the high-tech market.

According to the Business Journal, the agreement between two of the largest statewide tech industry groups stipulates that one board member from each organization will sit as a nonvoting member on the other's board.

Though the groups had an informal alliance in the past, Todd Bankofier, president of the Arizona Technology Council, said that membership on both sides saw a formal arrangement as an important step in increasing competitiveness in the market.

"This collaboration can be a secret weapon for this industry competing across the country," Bankofier told the Business Journal. "All this collaboration is a necessity to compete." ABA chairman Jon McGarity agreed that the collaboration follows a growing trend for tech associations to work together.

According to the Business Journal, the ATC has 427 members and the ABA, an affiliate of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) in Washington D.C., has 200 members. Both groups have experienced rapid membership expansion in recent years.

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For more information:

"Tech, bioindustry groups pool resources for growth,"Business Journal, 10/15/2004

Arizona Technology Council

Arizona BioIndustry Association