From hotels to hospitals, Tucson firms angle for business from wealthy Mexican consumers - one part of a growing local strategy to parlay the border nearby into a lift for the local economy. This special three-day series explores how business leaders and others hope to expand Tucson's status as the big store into a whole lot more.

The desire for more American clothes, food and electronics — whose prices in Mexico have jumped as the value of the peso has dropped 11 percent this year — helps explain the number of cars from Sonora and Sinaloa parked at Tucson shopping malls. It has local businesses, from hotels to hospitals, courting Mexican visitors like never before.

Tucson may not be on the border or by the sea, but it could be an inland port, bringing jobs and money this way. Raw materials and finished products would arrive by truck, train and air, and be stored in vast warehouses on their way to and from Mexico. Development authorities say Tucson can emerge as an alternative to coastal and border mega-ports.

Companies that move part of their operations across the border gain a competitive edge through lower wages. But Tucson can benefit, too, if those firms base their top managers, distribution, and research efforts here.

Cross-border business is a key to Tucson's desire to make the most of its relationship with Mexico by buoying local companies and creating jobs that will help Tucson leave its low-wage service economy behind.

ABOUT THE PROJECT: Paola Banchero has covered economic development for the Arizona Daily Star since 2000. She spent three months in Mexico on a journalism fellow-ship last spring to investigate Tucson's trade ties to its southern neighbor. David Sanders has been a Star photographer for 14 years. He is a past Arizona Press Club Photographer of the Year.