Phoenix Warehouse District Tour

Coffee Tour - Phoenix Warehouse District

Christine Mackay
Community and Economic Development Director, City of Phoenix

Christine Mackay joined the City of Phoenix as Community and Economic Development Director in August, 2014.  She was recruited to lead the Community & Economic Development Department which includes 100 staff members: The Business Development Team, Business Retention and Expansion, Small Business and Entrepreneurial efforts, Downtown Development, International, Retail and Workforce Development. 

During Christine’s first year, once a struggling office employment core, Midtown Phoenix experienced over 2 million square feet absorption which included Banner Health’s relocation of its headquarters in 320,000 square feet. 

During the past five years, she has helped locate or expand more than 180 companies into the Region, brought more than 26,000 jobs, added nearly 5 million square feet to the industrial/office base and brought more than $7 billion in capital investment in to the community.  Some of the companies Christine has assisted and recruited include American Express, Uber, Bank of America, PayPal, Facility Source, Wells Fargo, Intel, Aligned Energy, General Motors, Galvanize, WebPT, Orbital Sciences, Honeywell, Famer’s Insurance, Avnet, and Banner Health. 

In 2016, Christine was named the Economic Developer of the Year, by the Arizona Association for Economic Development (AAED) and received the Landmark Leaders Government Liaison Award from the Phoenix Business Journal.   

Christine is a member of the Economic Development Director's Team for Greater Phoenix, which focuses on enhancing the region. She participates in committees that include Maricopa Association of Government's "Building a Quality Regional Community", the Biosciences Roadmap committee through the Flinn Foundation, the International Economic Development Council 
(IEDC), Commercial Office Real Estate Executives (CoreNet) the Arizona Association for Economic Development (AAED), and the Arizona Business Incubator Association. Prior to coming to Phoenix, she was with the City of Chandler for 16 years as a member of the Economic Development Team.  

Christine grew up in Arizona and has spent most of her career in economic development and commercial real estate in the Metro Phoenix area.