Residents of the small town of Eloy, Arizona feel good about a plan to expand a private prison moving forward. But there’s still much more room to grow as the city tries to diversify its economy by luring commercial and industrial businesses.
The town of about 16,700 people 65 miles south of Phoenix never fully recovered from the Great Recession following the foreclosure crisis in 2008, city officials said.
At 11.1 percent, the unemployment rate in Eloy has remained higher than the county and national averages, according to the city’s most recent Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. Several commercial buildings in the city’s downtown area are empty and shuttered. Development projects left abandoned years ago have remained just that – abandoned.
The town has long been an agricultural community that has predominantly farmed cotton, as well as other cash crops.
“There’s been some diversification along the Interstate 10 with truck stops and retail development,” Eloy City Manager Harvey Krauss said. He added that the private prison run by Corrections Corporation of America has also been a big part in transforming the city’s economy.
The private prison giant is Eloy’s largest employer and it’s set to grow with a contract to add up to 1,000 prison beds on behalf of the state by September 2016.
City officials said they are optimistic the expansion of the Red Rock Correctional Center, coupled with prime open land and ideal weather, will make economic growth inevitable.