SAHUARITA, AZ (KOLD) - Sahuarita is a town about 30 minutes south of Tucson, but it's not thinking the way you might expect a small town would.
About a decade ago, Sahuarita was one of the fastest growing communities in the country.
The recession changed all that, but it's not stopping the small town's leaders from planning big, working to capture a bright future.
They say they will do it with planning and collaboration.
"The current state of our town is very good, but there is a need to create wealth through bringing outside money into the town," said Sahuarita Mayor Duane Blumberg in his State of the Town Address.
That's it in a nutshell.
The mayor said business diversification is key and that the town has a plan to do it, though it will take years.
"That's not to say that we will not continue to have retail and service businesses and construction, but an economy that's built on those two components alone just cannot be sustained. It requires too much growth," Mayor Blumberg told us.
Sahuarita and neighboring Green Valley are home to almost 50,000 people.
Ask community leaders and they say Sahuarita embraces a spirit of cooperation to get things done.
They say it includes everything from town leadership to schools.
"So that we can create a quality of life for our residents and our families that is of a high quality and we can work to develop a place that's enticing and inviting to businesses to desire to come and to build here," said Sahuarita Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Manny Valenzuela.
Locals have some of what they need at home, as far as shopping and entertainment, but Sahuarita also sits on the highway to Mexico.
It's looking to capture more of the money that Mexican shoppers and tourists take right past the town and into Tucson.
"We love Tucson, we'd love to capture a little more of that. We're in the phase of putting up our freeway sign to really help our tenants and try to capture some of that market," said Rancho Sahuarita Community Liaison Tom Murphy.
People invested in Sahuarita say they are poised to take advantage of an improving economy while working to keep Sahuarita's attractiveness, culture and amenities.
"These are all challenges that cost money and yet they're important to keep attracting the Raytheons and the high tech companies that we especially want to cluster around our university," said business owner Nan Stockholm Walden, Vice President and General Counsel of the Green Valley Pecan Company.
Mayor Blumberg said he sees a future where cities and towns in Arizona collaborate with the state to become regional economic powerhouses to better participate in the global economy.
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