Join FLAGSTAFF’S THRIVING BUSINESS SECTORS
Flagstaff's Leading Industries
1,227 patents
have been granted to Flagstaff entrepreneurs between 1976 and 2018
Flagstaff's key industry sectors include:
- Advanced Manufacturing
- Astronomy
- Bioscience
- Craft Brewing
- Digital/e-Commerce
- Entrepreneurship
- Health Care
- Retail
- Tourism
Explore these businesses and learn why Flagstaff is home to:
- ATC Materials
- Axolotl Biologix
- Dark Sky Brewery
- Deckers Brands
- Electric Torque Machines
- Elemental Motorworks
- Fat Olives
- Joy Cone Company
- Lowell Observatory
- Machine Solutions
- Mack Automation
- Nestle-Purina PetCare
- Northern Arizona Healthcare
- Novakinetics
- POBA Medical Group
- Salsa Brava
- Satchmos
- Senes Tech
- T-Gen North
- W.L.Gore & Associates
Transforming innovation into business
Our Peak Performers
Businesses with fewer than 20 employees represent the backbone of Flagstaff’s economy. Now that our The Northern Arizona Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology (NACET) business incubator has the Moonshot accelerator, we’re also seeing more local entrepreneurship.
- Northern Arizona University – 2,571 Employees
- Flagstaff Medical Center – 2,200 Employees
- W.L. Gore & Associates – 1,950 Employees
- Flagstaff Unified School District – 1,375 Employees
- Coconino County – 1,200 Employees
- City of Flagstaff – 657 Employees
- Walmart – 630 Employees
- Nestle Purina PetCare – 240 Employees
- The Guidance Center – 219 Employees
- US Forest Service – 200 Employees
- Coconino Community College – 189 Employees
- Northern Arizona Healthcare – 188 Employees
- Hozhoni Foundation – 170 Employees
- Pepsi-Cola Bottling – 152 Employees
- The Peaks Senior Living Center – 140 Employees
- Joy Cone – 133 Employees
- Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Flagstaff – 120 Employees
- Little America Hotel – 120 Employees
- IML Containers – 100 Employees
Flagstaff’s strong entrepreneurial spirit is fueled by our educated workforce, cutting-edge research, and quality of life. NACET is the place where businesses get started and bring their ideas to life, put people to work in good jobs, and pour money into the regional economy.
Looking for a business incubator that’s out of this world?
If you’re accepted to Moonshot at NACET, you’ll embark on an entrepreneurial journey that will take you from business idea to commercialization.
Centrally located in Flagstaff, NACET consists of two state-of-the-art LEED certified buildings. With a total of 38,000 square feet, these buildings house furnished and unfurnished offices, wet labs, light-manufacturing space, and conference and meeting rooms. Tenants and NACET-hosted events enjoy free parking, access to the Mountain Line Transit, a quick walk to Buffalo Park, and the Flagstaff Urban Trail System (FUTS).
Tourism is our #1 industry.
Let’s visit the numbers.
- Each year, we welcome more than 6,000,000 visitors.
- Our visitors come from all over America – and the world!
- Many of our well-trained hospitality workers have four-year degrees and transferable skills.
- Only 80 miles from the Grand Canyon! Even closer to other attractions.
- In Flagstaff, tourism and hospitality is a $563 million industry with more than 8,000 employees.
- Did you know that Flagstaff has more hotel rooms per capita than Las Vegas?
Biomedical Manufacturing
Being 14x more specialized makes us 100x better
Did you know that Flagstaff is 14 times more specialized in biomedical manufacturing than any other city in the United States? Bioscience is one of our fastest growing industry sectors with a variety of businesses focused on research and innovation in this field.
The secrets to our success can be yours. If you start, expand, or relocate your company in Flagstaff, you’ll enjoy:
- Access to cutting edge research at Northern Arizona University
- Proximity to major markets
- Great operational environments
- Highly trained engineers
Flagstaff and Bioscience: We go back a long way.
Proof that entrepreneurship is brewing in Flagstaff
The quality of retail
fits all needs
Thinking of opening a new retail store in Flagstaff? Or are you looking to expand your retail operations? Here’s how the City of Flagstaff can help.
We subscribe to Buxton Analytics, a consumer research company that uses Experian credit card data to provide various “snapshots” of a community. Buxton allows us to compare Flagstaff demographics to your existing location. This comparison provides you with valuable market information and can help you predict how successful your expansion could be.
Want to learn more? We’d be happy to show the tools that can help your retail business succeed in Flagstaff.