Global Advantage Soft-Landings Program

Abstract

The University of Arizona Center for Innovation (UACI) is the go-to organization to host international businesses interested in expansion. Located in Tucson, Arizona, UACI serves as the ideal entry point into the U.S. because of its vantage point with access to major markets – California; the Sun Corridor including Phoenix; and Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and Denver to the north; Texas to the east; and Mexico to the south. The Arizona-Sonora region is located in a major trade corridor that reaches sixty-eight million customers in the United States and Mexico within a 1,000-mile radius.

UACI’s Global Advantage program provides a “soft landing” experience to businesses across the globe. UACI has received the “Soft Landing” designation from the International Business Innovation Association (InBIA) and offers a value proposition to companies that are established in their home country to explore real market entrance into the US. This Soft Landing designation was awarded to UACI because of its long-established reputation as a proven entrepreneurship center that has clearly demonstrated the capabilities necessary to provide resources and programming to international companies seeking new market entry in the United States. UACI’s Soft Landings Program has served 19 international startups. We currently have 6 startups in the program who participate from other countries (7 as of next month). In total 9 companies have physically moved here or setup a US subsidiary since 2019. Connections span across the globe with businesses coming from the United Kingdom, Canada, China, Mexico, Saudi, Costa Rica, Columbia, Belarus, and Ukraine.