by 
State Representative T.J. Shope
State Representative Frank Pratt
Phoenix – The Arizona Mining Association (AMA) honored Rep. Frank Pratt with their Legislator of the Year award, and Rep. T.J. Shope with their Freshman Legislator of the Year award. This was the first time the association gave an award to state legislators.
Pratt and Shope were honored for their support of the mining industry and associated bills that came before the Legislature.
Mining has been part of Arizona’s economy for more than a century. Its $4.6 billion impact on
the state’s economy generates 49,800 jobs for Arizonans, according to the AMA.
Pratt first started working as an Arizona rancher. He currently owns and operates a pool construction firm in Casa Grande where is resides. Pratt is a second-generation Arizonan; his grandfather arrived in the state in 1880 from Germany.
Shope has worked for the ASU Disability Resource Center, the Arizona Republican Party and since 2008 has operated a family-owned, community supermarket in Coolidge where he lives. Shope’s grandfather was a miner in the copper industry for 32 years.
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