Salt River Project (SRP) has been named winner of the Arizona Association for Economic Development’s (AAED) Economic Development Distinguished by Excellence (EDDE) Award for AAED’s Large Organization of the Year.

The prestigious EDDE Awards honor individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to the advancement of the organization and also to the economic growth within the state of Arizona.  Recipients are selected from a pool of nominations made by members of AAED.

SRP was recognized for its efforts to promote and further AAED’s organizational pillars of education, advocacy and collaboration.  AAED cited SRP’s active involvement in the organization through board membership, committee chair positions and an emphasis on continuing education of its staff related to economic development certifications.

SRP is also involved with supporting public policy issues and plays a key role in collaborating with community and statewide partners to help advance economic development efforts.

Overall, eight EDDEs were presented during an evening awards dinner at the AAED Spring Conference in Lake Havasu City.  The other winners are:

• Tom Pitts, economic development consultant in Yavapai County, Member of the Year.
• Mitchel Allen, vice president, business development, Greater Phoenix Economic Council, Economic Developer of the Year, Large Community.
• Tim Kanavel, Pinal County economic development manager, Economic Developer of the Year, Small Community.
• Arizona Regional Economic Development Foundation, Sierra Vista, Small Organization of the Year.
• Deeidra Skipton of Goodwill Industries of Central and Northern Arizona, Workforce Practitioner of the Year.
• Cori Garcia, economic development administrator for the Gilbert Office of Economic Development, New Member of the Year.
• Bruce A. Wright, associate vice president for Tech Parks Arizona at the University of Arizona, AAED Best of Arizona Award.

AAED, founded in 1974, has a mission to serve as Arizona’s unified voice advocating for responsible economic development through an effective program of professional education, public policy and collaboration.

For more information on AAED, visit www.aaed.com or call (602) 240-2233.