But Arizona is not resting on its laurels. As the state’s unified voice advocating for responsible economic development, AAED is still hard at work. AAED accomplishes its economic development goals through professional education, public policy, and collaboration. “Our organization is where everybody comes to play nice,” Kelly says. “We all work together, and everyone can share ideas and best practices.”

Emphasis on education

AAED’s The Academy of Arizona educates and certifies the state’s economic development professionals. “We recently just refreshed that program,” says Kelly. “It has seven courses in a variety of different topics.” Courses give an introductory overview of economic development in Arizona as well as in-depth studies in business retention and expansion, taxation, finance and incentives, entrepreneurship and small business development, marketing, and workforce development. Professionals who complete the six core courses and one elective within a three-year period will earn AZED Pro certification. Kelly also emphasizes the program is not just for economic developers. “It is important to AAED that all of our partners have a great grasp of economic development principles and how those play out in Arizona.”

In addition, a new mentoring program is helping to hone the skills of young economic development professionals. “We are pairing up people who are thirty-five and under, or who have been in the profession for less than five years, with an economic development professional,” Kelly says. “They’re spending a year getting to know them, getting to ask whatever questions they want to build up their relationships in the economic development community. We had a pilot program last year and we’re getting ready to launch the full program.”

The pilot garnered enthusiastic, positive feedback. “We had a group of five mentors and five mentees and they really enjoyed the program, so we’re excited to launch it on a larger scale this year. We’re hoping that helps to further develop the talents we have here in Arizona as economic developers.”

Advocating for good policy

In addition to education, AAED actively advocates for the best economic development policies. “Another pillar of our organization is advocacy and we have ramped up our policy efforts,” Kelly says. “I’m a registered lobbyist and we work with Dorn Policy Group as well.”

With the support of this Arizona-based lobbying firm and their partners, AAED works at both the state and federal levels to protect and advance the state’s economic development interests. Sometimes this means thinking outside of the box. For instance, “in the last year, we spent a lot of time on advocating for the film tax credit program as well as the reauthorization of the Arizona Commission on the Arts and arts funding,” Kelly shares. “They received a historic amount of funding—$5 million! That was exciting to build up those two sectors of Arizona’s economy that people don’t necessarily think of when they think economic development. They play such a huge role in the economy of Arizona that it was important for us to advocate for those.”

AAED also successfully lobbied for transportation funding and workforce development funding this past session. “We had a lot of really wonderful success last year in the policy realm.”

Another out of the box focus has been on affordable housing. “There’s been such a shift in the economic development profession,” Kelly says. Traditionally, affordable housing “was not something that was our focus. But as house prices rose, we couldn’t attract the workforce that we needed without affordable housing in communities. So it suddenly became something under our purview in economic development. [It] is that quality of life piece and that workforce development piece.”

In January of this year, AAED hosted the Arizona Rural Housing Symposium and is already planning a follow-up for later this year. The symposium brings together Arizona citizens, elected officials, nonprofits, developers, partners, and other stakeholders to learn about rural housing challenges and to develop solutions. “There’s been great collaboration,” Kelly says. “[There are] a variety of things that, as economic developers, we hope to develop into policy over the next couple of years to keep that focus on workforce housing and creating better communities.”

Drawing a crowd

Tourism is a major industry in Arizona, and therefore another key focus for AAED, which works closely with the state’s tourism agencies and associations to support the sector. “It’s a lively sector that really drives a lot of the economies in our rural communities,” Kelly says. “That’s their bread and butter.”

Indeed, the industry managed to stay strong throughout the COVID shutdown. “What we saw through the pandemic was this pent-up need to travel, to get out and do a day trip. Rural communities around Arizona really got hit in a good way with the tourism bug that people had built up over the pandemic.”

Tourists are drawn to Arizona’s remarkable range of natural wonders, from sky islands, high mountains, and pine forests to stunning rock formations, saguaro-filled landscapes and of course, that behemoth of tourist attractions, the Grand Canyon. “You can go through three different seasons in a day in Arizona depending on where you are,” says Kelly. “There is so much variety. You can be in the mountains with the pines, you can be down with the cactuses. There is a wide range of places you can choose from in Arizona.”

This wide range of attractions is drawing a wide range of people to stay permanently. “It’s really appealing to executives [and] to workers who want to come live here,” Kelly says. “We’ve had an influx of people from the northwest and from California and a lot of different states.” These new employees are needed since an increasing number of employers are choosing to relocate to Arizona. “We’ve had a lot of new businesses come in and so [we need] to have all these workers as well.”

Focusing on the future

Looking ahead, AAED is eager to continue bringing diverse stakeholders together to promote economic development. “We have a widely coordinated, strategic plan for our organization,” Kelly says, a plan that takes into account the rapidly evolving landscape of economic development. “There are so many things that economic developers are focused on that we haven’t been in the past.”

This includes a heightened focus on rural areas in the future. “We’ve had so much success in the state in greater Phoenix and greater Tucson and we don’t want our rural communities to be left out,” Kelly says. “We want them to be able to grow in whatever way they want to grow. So we’re really focusing on those rural communities and putting policies in place that protect them, help them attract investment. It’s going to be a priority for us in the next year.”

One growth strategy will be to build on the state’s success in the tech sector. “We’ve had such great success in the tech and innovation and entrepreneurial field,” Kelly says. The next step is “getting some of that out to the rural communities, driving some of that innovation outward from greater Phoenix and Tucson and really helping build up the rural communities in that way.”

AAED’s focus on the arts will continue to complement the focus on tourism. “Having the success that we’ve had in recognizing the arts is really bringing in the idea of the creative industries and the tourism industry as a driving force in Arizona,” Kelly explains. “Properly funding those agencies and those entities to do that work is important for the future of Arizona as well.”

And of course, education will continue to be a primary focus for AAED. The team wants to keep offering “high-quality events, high-quality educational opportunities to our members, to the general public, creating that awareness of what economic development is and what it will be in the future.” Whatever the future entails, it is sure to be positive for a state with such a wealth of opportunities and talent, bolstered by an economic development association committed to moving the state forward.

The post Building Arizona’s Economy<p class="company">Arizona Association for Economic Development</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

ACO has production facilities in North America, Europe, China, and Australia, and more than 5,000 employees across 40 nations. In its efforts, the company works intelligently to protect natural resources, maintain building infrastructure, and promote industry safety.

The company has provided innovative products and materials for more than 75 years for all surface-water management and building drainage markets, including sports, hospitality, commercial, and transportation.

The one Formula 1 chose
The market leader in elite sports venues, including F1, MLB, NFL, NCAA, and international Olympic sites, ACO has provided solutions for inclement weather conditions that could adversely affect outdoor events. Whether it’s the local high school or high-octane car racing, the show must go on, and safely.

In fact, ACO’s latest success story is the newly built Formula 1 Grand Prix track at Miami International Autodrome, which involved the consideration of a variety of potential natural risks in southern Florida.

“Leading by innovation is how we handled this big F1 Miami track,” says Ben Aulick, East Regional Sales Manager. “ACO was involved from design to installation at every stage of that project. What makes it unique is that, not only was it one of the largest projects we’ve ever sold as a company, and one of the most high-profile, but that we developed new custom products specifically for this one.”

This speaks to the innovation and the agility ACO has being a global organization, but also family-owned, and the ability to meet customer needs quickly, he adds.

“We’ve actually done about 23 or so different Formula 1 tracks across the world,” says Technical Services Manager Jason Jonke. “This one was a unique project being in Miami with the water table so low; it was pretty difficult for any other drainage company to do what we did.”

Full-on and hands-on
ACO was successful due in part to its in-house R&D team. The company manufactures everything in Arizona and Ohio and was able to attack the project more full-on and hands-on than anybody else could have.

Due to the proximity to the water table, everything was kept as shallow as possible to effectively move the water further away. Slot drains set considerably higher than usual carried the water into drainage pipes, allowing use of a gravity feed across greater distances than a regular slot drain. There was also a very efficient drainage system throughout the site, including vast storage tanks beneath the stadium.

“While we were heavily involved in the design and developing new products, we also had people on site for weeks assisting with the installation,” says Aulick.

While most spectators remain unaware of the importance of safe and efficient drainage, excess water on a track can cause untold damage, whether with safety issues during an event or disintegration of the track over time.

“ACO drainage is used on many running tracks, starting with 1972 Olympic Stadium in Munich, Germany, and has been involved with every Olympics since,” says Jonke. “Even down to high school is a big market for ACO—removing water as quickly and safely as possible from the surface to increase their life expectancy.”

Racetracks are designed to remove any standing water. ACO drains assist and take over in crucial areas to rapidly remove water from the surface and transport it to a water detention or infiltration system.

“It’s obviously pretty important for safety,” says Aulick. “Many of these tracks are designed so they won’t stop the race when it starts raining. Evacuating water off the surface is critical, and a major part of the design of the track is how water flows off the track and is removed.”

What about the water?
What does an ACO system do with the water it collects?

“We care for water,” says Chris Califano, Marketing Assistant. “We are more than just a drainage company. We have a wide portfolio of products around caring for water. Every product we make fits into a piece of our system chain: Collect, Clean, Hold, Reuse,” he explains.

“‘We care for water’ means focusing more on the water,” he says, “because it’s Earth’s greatest resource and everything ACO does protects people from water, and water from people. “What we’re working on is more products and innovation within the hydrological cycle,” Califano says, “collecting the water, cleaning the water, holding, and controlled release back into the ecosystem.”

In fact, ACO has created products to help businesses adhere to the tougher environmental pollution controls that the globe is seeing everywhere, including oil, water, and solids separators, as well as spill containment systems using materials such as corrosion-resistant fibreglass and polyethylene.

“We’re working on adding more products to our portfolio especially on the cleaning side, whether it is for FOG, sediment, hydro carbons, or heavy metals,” Califano says.

It’s interesting when looking at how ACO’s missions have changed over the years, adds Aulick.

“We’ve innovated and developed products that match what we’re doing,” he says. “We’re a full-service stormwater-management provider of stormwater products now. When you look at that sector, we sell some of the most innovative products, so we know what essentially needs to be done better.”

Sticking to the standards
The market is driven by stormwater standards and codes, with standards to be attained and companies developing products to better meet the needs of engineers, distributers, and contractors. Where ACO takes a different approach, since it manufactures most of what it sells and doesn’t use many third-party vendors, is that it’s able to develop products that are great for engineers and easy to design with, but also designed with the contractor in mind from an installation standpoint.

“That’s usually what’s missing in these markets, because when manufacturers manufacture, they don’t necessarily design and engineer products,” says Aulick. “We really consider ourselves an engineering and marketing company that adds to the treatment train of water.”

Hygiene made in America
A project ACO has been working on the last few years is a new stainless steel manufacturing plant on its Casa Grande Arizona Campus, developing a building drainage division which focuses more on products inside a building.

“A huge issue there is hygiene,” Gert Laumann, Leader of Building Drainage, says. “Everything needs to be stainless steel. We needed a new plant to support that business and growth as well. It just made everything a little easier that we’re manufacturing everything on site, and we’re sourcing more materials locally as well to be able to truly say that everything is made in America. That’s been a big focus the last couple years in dealing with supply chain issues.”

Coming out of the pandemic as a medium-size company, ACO was able to handle the challenges “very well,” says Aulick. While many companies saw a reduction in workforce through that era, ACO did not.

“We were able to maintain ourselves,” he says. “Supply chain issues placed the kind of demands on organizations that we’ve never seen in our lifetimes, but as a company we adapted very well in how we handled our manufacturing to meet demand.”

ACO has control over most of the products it sells due to manufacturing domestically in the U.S., using domestic suppliers for what it doesn’t.

“We’ve been able to meet the demand for the most part, and during that time have also seen record sales growth,” Aulick says. “It’s been pretty exciting to see what we’ve done, being agile and able to adapt to what the market throws at us.”

The company has also recently bought its own semi-trucks to help ease some of those supply chain issues, another tip of the hat to innovative thinking

The inside story
“We do a lot of things well on the inside as well to become a world-class company,” Aulick says. “We’re unique. We’re a U.S. manufacturer, but part of a bigger global organization. We have a global network of great engineering and the kind of great minds that have helped our products to be market leaders, and over the years, when we launch something, you see a lot of people follow suit with similar designs.”

More importantly, when looking at the product line’s position in the construction industry, it wouldn’t be considered a commodity, Aulick says. It’s a designed and engineered system for each project.

“What we’ve done differently is that we’re a manufacturer that structured our customer service and sales team to operate like a distribution or wholesale company, and because of the engineering side, we put a lot of support behind the design and engineering of our systems for the market,” he says.

Not only does ACO innovate products, but it also provides industry-leading marketing and design tools for its engineers, along with tools that nobody else in the market has at all. The result?

“It’s the reason why we’re the most highly specified product in the country when it comes to surface water management.”

The post Water Ways: Drainage Design for Our Age<p class="company">ACO, Inc.</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

GNM highly values its clients and strives to work closely with customers to ensure project schedules are met, effectively avoiding bottlenecks in downstream production. Its team is committed to building strong relationships with both customers and suppliers, with a reliable network that enables consistent performance and quality craftsmanship, reflecting the importance of collaboration and integrity from start to finish.

The minority-owned company not only offers quality, responsibility and efficiency in the design of residential and commercial projects, it ensures a personal approach via its outstanding customer service, company work culture and women-centered leadership.

GNM’s experience and history throughout Arizona allows the company to bring valuable insights to clients along with quality day-to-day project management. Realizing that delays can increase costs, GNM’s local presence and accessibility allows the team to act quickly when unforeseen challenges arise to meet deadlines and minimize potential losses. The company’s management team personally oversees every project from bid to completion, striving to improve efficiency, safety, speed, accountability, and quality.

GNM’s varied and impressive projects range from multi-family residential to assisted living to luxurious apartments, with care and attention to detail paid to each and every one. For instance, Scottsdale Entrada apartments, located at the intersection of Scottsdale, Phoenix and Tempe, is a luxurious living experience combining classic features with modern finishes in a variety of one, two or three-bedroom apartments. Boasting high levels of comfort in open and airy floor plans, designs feature solid wood floors, stainless steel appliances, premium finishes, and large windows that maximize natural light, to name just a few.

Capitalizing on the area’s natural beauty and dynamic energy, the Scottsdale Entrada offers a collection of boutique-style amenities for work and play, with a unique co-working space complete with work pods, coffee station, conference center and lounge, yoga studio, weight room, and TRX Training Center.

The Entrada is located on expansive grounds that include a concert pavilion, 5,000 square feet of retail space, and a wide selection of high-quality amenities, including a trail that runs through the entire property, affording unbeatable views of the best local attractions, from the Arizona Cross Cut Canal and Desert Botanical Garden to the San Francisco Giants Spring Training Field.

When clients are ready to unwind, this vibrant community invites them to take advantage of the many on-site amenities open 24 hours a day, from the rooftop social lounge to the luxury fitness pool and TRX workout center.

Centrally located in the South Scottsdale neighborhood, Entrada offers residents unprecedented accessibility and connectivity to Phoenix amenities in general, including casual dining at on-site or nearby restaurants, the Papago Nature Reserve for hiking and mountain biking, or a trip to the Phoenix Zoo.

For a completely different type of GNM project, The Mesa Artspace Lofts live/work initiative is a true community collaboration involving Artspace, NEDCO, the Mayor of Mesa, city council and city staff, community leaders, neighbors, and local resident artists.

Located at 155 South Hibbert in downtown Mesa, the dwelling will include up to 50 living and working spaces for artists and their families, with units varying in style, from studio, to one, two, and three-bedroom units. Unit rents serve households below 60 percent of the region’s median income level, and the project includes 1,450 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor for non-profit arts organizations and creative businesses, and 2,900 square feet of community space for events, exhibits, and educational programs. The project is a transit-oriented development (TOD) site located one block from the new light rail transit corridor, major arts and cultural assets, and other downtown amenities.

If you’re looking for fine senior living, the 232,620-square-foot Legacy Village of Salt River is located in the Pima Center at Loop 101 between Via de Ventura and Pima Street, nestled in an area with incredible desert views, surrounded by residential neighborhoods, and accessible to all areas of the Phoenix Metro. Healthcare providers, including Honor Health facilities and Mayo Clinic, are minutes away, with easy access to other destinations in Mesa and Tempe. Senior residents, families and friends can also enjoy the nearby Odyssey at the Desert Aquarium, Butterfly Pavilion, Talking Stick Resort, and Salt River Fields. Salt River’s Legacy Village offers senior living, assisted living, and memory care services in beautifully appointed living spaces and a variety of apartment layouts, all in a peaceful setting.

When it comes to quality hotel visits, whether staying for a few days or an extended visit of weeks or even months, the new 72,000-square-foot, 102-unit Residence Inn in the West Phoenix and Avondale area, conveniently located off I-10 in Avondale, near Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Glendale, Tolleson and Buckeye, provides a good home base for enjoying Spring Training at Goodyear Ballpark (MLB), a football game at State Farm Stadium, or a race at Phoenix Raceway (NASCAR), while Camelback Ranch and Luke Air Force Base are also nearby. Boasting spacious studios, one, and two bedroom suites featuring separate living, dining, and sleeping areas with fully equipped kitchens, the Residence Inn also provides a state-of-the-art fitness center, outdoor pool, and barbecue terrace.

You can’t forget about GNM’s outstanding student housing projects, including the Greek Leadership Village, built in direct response to student demand and feedback in 2018. This 316,000-square-foot village boasting 620 beds is located on ASU campus at the southeast corner of Rural and University, near Terrace Road in Tempe. A student-led project, the Greek Leadership Village provides the ASU student and sorority community with meeting spaces, community offices, retail space and residential facilities to support their leadership, growth and development for years to come.

As America’s newest university and leading public research organization, ASU leads the way through its commitment to excellence, access, and social impact. Along with its efforts to transform higher education, the community continues to nurture values-based, impact-driven individuals and organizations to ensure the health, growth, and prosperity of fraternity and sorority life at ASU.

Finally, The Cays at Downtown Ocotillo are new condominiums in Chandler offering a collection of luxury one and two bedroom condominium homes and penthouses, all with elevator service in Chandler’s vibrant Price Technology Corridor.

Homes at The Cays range from 862 square feet to 1,577 square feet, and each one-story condominium residence featuring spacious rooms with large patios or balconies for seamless indoor / outdoor living and open floor plans to encourage flow and practicality. Chef-inspired kitchens open to the living room, encouraging meals and spending time with family and friends. Surrounded by shops, restaurants, and amenities, the Cays offers easy access to the Santan Freeway, the I-10 loop, and U.S. 60.

Whether looking for quality residential homes, assisted senior living, condominiums, or hotels, GNM’s dedication to collaboration and integrity has produced a wealth of dwellings to choose from. Working with GNM means finding a personal approach that aligns with every client’s business objectives.

The post Collaboration and Integrity: Building Homes, Lives and Relationships<p class="company">GNM Companies</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Its legacy continues today with the likes of Intel, NXP Semiconductors, and other leading-edge technology companies becoming active in the city. Companies like these have chosen Chandler as a base thanks primarily to its stable business operating environment and a political climate that values private sector investment, according to Miranda.

Vice Chair Brad Anderson, of real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield in nearby Phoenix, feels that there are numerous specific advantages for corporate users in selecting Chandler as an office location.

First, Chandler sports the most diverse labor demographic within the metro area. “There is an overwhelming abundance of prospective employee candidates for each job created within this area,” compared to other cities across the United States, he says. This is a primary reason for the explosive growth that Chandler has been seeing over the past few decades.

Chandler offers lower-cost office space in terms of costs per square foot, parking, and operating and easy access in its immediate area, as well as a lower cost of living resulting from a diverse housing marketplace and a great quality of life overall. The cost of doing business in Chandler is generally extremely low compared to other locations, especially in areas like employment insurance and worker’s compensation.

The city’s pro-business environment has contributed to its historically high ranking for best-in-class public and private schools, as well as affordable living options and ease of access via its highways and roads into the city.

Miranda refers to several developments of interest within just the past year or so to support Chandler’s reputation, including a $20 billion investment by Intel that will add 3,000 employees to make a total of 15,000. Companies like NXP have also expanded, while Edwards Vacuum and other publicly traded companies have relocated headquarters to Chandler.

Miranda notes that, currently, there is momentum in high-quality projects supplying great jobs, all from businesses that are tremendous community partners. The label of community partner, as he and others use it, has to do with how many companies in the area are preparing the future workforce today, as many are collaborating with school districts and in volunteer opportunities to help young people better understand science, technology, engineering, mathematics.

These efforts include charitable contributions as well as organizing and attending events in tandem with city employees, like the annual science and technology fair, all to engage youth and explain why science and technology is a desirable career. “Companies in Chandler are in touch with the community as it relates to long-term education,” shares Miranda.

The city’s evolution into a desirable business hub did not happen overnight. Miranda explains that, over the past seven years, Chandler has made a diligent effort in diversifying its economy. “We’re not over-reliant on one industry or sector; we focus on base industries that present a good service here and that market nationally and internationally,” Miranda explains.

When the city contended with the coronavirus in 2020, there were many unknowns in play, and Chandler was heavily affected, the retail and restaurant industries in particular, and many large corporate users opting for remote working opportunities for employees, leaving offices sparser than before the pandemic.

To meet these challenges, Miranda’s economic development team set up an initiative called ‘Choose Chandler,’ to encourage residents to support local businesses, while implementing a business support program. These measures allowed the city to work closely with its restaurateurs and retailers to increase trade at local businesses and keep money local while educating citizens on the fiscal impact of these decisions.

The city also instigated financial support tools to help ensure job stability among these businesses. Although unemployment did increase during the beginning of the pandemic, the rate is now functionally zero percent. “If somebody wants a job in Chandler, they can get it,” Miranda says.

Overall, businesses have come through COVID quite well. With unemployment at a remarkable low, businesses across Chandler are hiring; the challenge comes with the availability of labor and access to new talent as businesses grow. “Economic development is built on filling up office space and ensuring that businesses looking for office space look to Chandler… this will be a long-term challenge,” says Miranda.

Corporate users are responding to this challenge by emphasizing the creation of spaces that will attract employees back to the office, such as creating enhanced environments with many amenities and being more flexible toward employees’ needs. This is the way the city will look to bring back workers who may have chosen remote opportunities over the last couple of years.

Miranda believes that corporate users in need of 50,000-square-foot or greater spaces will likely be the last to return to normal capacity. Currently, most users in the market are looking at smaller spaces. His team is responsible for generating leads and explaining to office users of all sizes why Chandler is the best choice.

Businesses are eagerly anticipating the return of the office worker, but the timing of that remains uncertain. Anderson sees the current office market as a challenging one for landlords, a trend that will likely continue throughout the rest of the year. Chandler is the second-largest office submarket within the Phoenix Metropolitan Area, or The Valley as it is known, only overtaken by midtown central Phoenix, and continues to benefit from larger users choosing it as their home base.

Miranda affirms that Chandler is home to an extremely well-educated and growing workforce, and lease rates are making moving here a wonderful opportunity. He reveals that there are a handful of overarching strategic goals that the city is looking to realize in the future. The foremost of these is redeveloping big-box sites for medical offices and family housing to reduce the amount of retail space in certain areas and to build more housing to encourage new families to stay in the area.

As well, the city will be looking to increase access to higher education opportunities through partnerships with educational institutions, preserve existing employment corridors, and avoid encroachment into residential areas. Miranda also mentions that Chandler tourism is tied to business travel, which puts tremendous emphasis on the city as a location for small business meetings and events. “For a small business traveler, our tourism team is ready to help make the coordination and execution of any event successful,” he says.

Further out from 2022, Anderson foresees Chandler becoming the largest office submarket in the Valley by surpassing the Midtown submarket in size. Beyond that, its office market will continue to outperform in both growth and demand, potentially to beyond pre-COVID figures.

The post Compelling Advantages for Incoming Businesses<p class="company">City of Chandler, AZ</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Located in the southeast part of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area, Gilbert was named the most prosperous city in America by public policy organization Economic Innovation Group in 2017 and the top city where millennials are purchasing homes by financial technology company SmartAsset in 2020. It has also been cited as the seventh-best place to raise a family in the U.S. and the tenth-safest city in America by personal finance website WalletHub.

The Town of Gilbert says that the community’s “advantageous business climate,” has helped drive economic growth. This climate is fostered by factors including low taxes; municipal and state incentives in the form of tax credits, infrastructure funding, job training, and more; expedited permitting; infrastructure investment, and a responsive local government. Warm weather, a highly-educated workforce, and a convenient location are additional attractions.

“We recently passed a $500+ million bond for infrastructure. Our infrastructure, as well as our proximity to California and Mexico, Central and South America, makes the Phoenix region an ideal location for supply-chain-focused companies,” says Dan Henderson, Director of the town’s office of economic development. “This region has an extremely competitive workforce while maintaining one of the lowest costs of labor in the nation,” he adds.

Gilbert benefits in other ways from its inclusion in the rapidly-growing Phoenix Metropolitan Area. The region has become “a destination for emerging technologies. That includes autonomous and electric vehicles, cybersecurity, medical technology, blockchain, sustainable products, and the internet of things, along with wearable technologies,” states Henderson.

The state of Arizona, meanwhile, offers “a minimalist regulatory approach, with no corporate franchise tax,” which has helped fuel “huge employment gains in the finance, technology, and manufacturing industries,” he says.

Within Gilbert, healthcare and life sciences companies have also proven popular. The town’s top employers include Banner Health (also called the Banner Gateway Medical Center, with 1,152 employees), Dignity Health (with 850 employees), Deloitte (with 675 employees) and Isagenix International (a marketing business selling personal care items and dietary supplements, which has 595 workers).

The town contains an economic opportunity zone, primed for development through federal government tax incentives and other business supports, which overlaps a booming heritage district. Since 2012, the heritage district has garnered more than $60 million in public investment and over $80 million in private investment. The area now boasts 140-plus businesses, including restaurants, retail outlets, and entertainment spots.

“Over the past ten years, our heritage district has gone through quite a renaissance. It’s been transformed into a premier entertainment and employment district,” notes Henderson.

The town government has also invested funds in other parts of town. “Gilbert is making a lot of strategic infrastructure improvements which encourage private sector investment and new development. Generally speaking, for every dollar we put into public investment like infrastructure, we expect seven dollars of commercial return to follow—a one-to-seven ratio,” he explains.

Online connectivity is another boon for businesses and residents alike. The Phoenix Metropolitan Area sports a cutting-edge fiber-optic network designed to “help bridge the digital divide,” and encourage innovation, says Henderson.

In terms of commercial inventory, Gilbert currently has 5.7 million square feet of office space, with a vacancy rate of 12.9 percent, versus 14.4 percent in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. Industrial flex facilities that can accommodate more than one company account for roughly ten million square feet, with a 4.9 percent vacancy rate. Retail makes up 13.5 million square feet.

The town also has four ‘employment corridors,’ zones in which commercial development is strongly encouraged and facilitated by municipal officials. One corridor, in the northwest part of town, contains a cluster of science, technology, aerospace, and manufacturing industries. Notable employers include Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.

A second corridor in the northeast touches on U.S. Route 60, a major east-west highway that provides outstanding accessibility. Healthcare companies dominate this corridor, which has recently seen $300 million in private investment. Top employers include the Banner Gateway Medical Center and the Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center.

The concentration of specialty healthcare services has stimulated growth in medical-oriented tourism, according to Henderson, as people from outside of town or state use the Town of Gilbert’s medical facilities. The influx of patients has resulted in “considerable investment in hospitality amenities, to be able to host and house families and individuals seeking services,” he adds.

A third employment corridor, based in the west-central part of the town, contains Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, one of three U.S. Delivery Centers for Deloitte, and the Footprint headquarters.

The final employment corridor is situated on Gilbert’s eastern flank, near the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. Henderson calls the airport “an economic juggernaut” that acts as a magnet for aerospace and aviation companies. These firms offer pilot training and aircraft testing, modification, and maintenance, among other services. Huge aerospace companies such as Lockheed Martin and Embraer Air have facilities at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. The area also features various retailers and hospitality businesses.

The Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, located a few miles outside Gilbert, is a massive transportation hub that serves several key airlines and dozens of U.S. and international cities daily. The town is close to Interstate 10, which crosses from California to Florida, and local industries also enjoy access to the Union Pacific rail line.

Economic growth has been matched by a surge in population. “We’re an amazing place to raise a family,” states Henderson, who mentions generally sunny and balmy weather, top-rated public schools, affordable healthcare options, and a low crime rate.

“Family-friendly neighborhoods, in a community that caters to people who enjoy an outdoor and active lifestyle, are among the many reasons why people are looking at Gilbert,” he says.

In addition to its first-rate K-12 system, higher education has a growing presence here. A university building constructed in the heritage district is currently home to Park University and the University of Arizona. Park University is a private liberal arts university offering both undergraduate and graduate degree programs, while the University of Arizona operates its Bachelor of Science in Nursing and its Master of Science for Entry to the Profession of Nursing (MEPN) from the university building. The Arizona State University Polytechnic Campus, meanwhile, is sited near the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.

Gilbert also offers an excellent community college system, “one of the best in the nation,” Henderson says.

Chandler-Gilbert Community College currently educates over 17,000 students annually, with programs in pharmacy technology, nursing, biomedical research technology, and solar installation, to name a few.

Well-educated residents abound. An estimated 44.1 percent of people (25+) in Gilbert have at least a bachelor’s degree (versus 33.1 percent across the United States). The median age is only thirty-three, and nearly a third of the residents are between the ages of twenty-five and forty-four—an ideal talent pool for growing companies.

These developments would have amazed the original inhabitants. The community came into existence in 1902, when the Arizona Eastern Railway company received permission to establish a rail siding on property owned by one William ‘Bobby’ Gilbert, giving the town its name. The town remained a farming community for decades and was known as the ‘Hay Shipping Capital of the World’ through to the late 1920s.

For decades, the population stayed small; as recently as 1970, fewer than 2,000 people were here. Then, in the 1970s, the town council annexed some county land and began to focus on growing and attracting new business. This goal was achieved; every five years between 1980 and 2000, the population doubled.

Henderson estimates that, at its present trajectory, Gilbert could reach “north of 300,000 residents,” in the near future.

Gilbert is focused on becoming the “city of the future,” and continued economic growth, particularly in healthcare, STEM-related (science, technology, engineering, and math) occupations, and local tourism, is forecasted.

“I see this community as part of a mega-region, stretching to Mexico and west to California. We can compete globally with our assets. We need to stay laser-focused to make sure Gilbert remains committed to the Greater Phoenix region. We can become greater together,” says Henderson.

The post Sunny Skies Ahead<p class="company">Town of Gilbert, AZ</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

But at the time of its incorporation in 1994, the town’s population was modest, with much of its growth taking place from 2000 to the present. Two decades ago, Sahuarita had a population of 3,242; today it sits at around 35,000 and growing.

Before residential master-planned developments such as Rancho Sahuarita, Madera Highlands and upscale 55-plus Quail Creek, the area was home to the Green Valley Pecan Company, one of the largest growers in North America with over 7,000 acres. Green Valley remains known for its outstanding pecans.

Along with agriculture, the region is home to international mining companies including copper and molybdenum producer Freeport McMoRan and Asarco, which primarily mines and processes copper. To serve the mining industry and be closer to customers, world-famous heavy equipment manufacturers Caterpillar Inc. and Komatsu Limited also have proving grounds in the region.

For residents and businesses, one of the best features of the Town of Sahuarita is its location.

Directly off I-19, it is a brief drive to the Tucson International Airport, and major companies such as aerospace and defense giant Raytheon Technologies. Just half an hour by car from the U.S./Mexico border, the town’s residents include those employed in Homeland Security, including border patrol and U.S. Customs.

And with many new residential communities being built with amenities like parks, clubhouses, community pools, more and more people are calling the Town of Sahuarita home, including businesses wanting to be close to the university and Optics Valley.

A key example is SAMTEC, the Sahuarita Advanced Manufacturing and Technology Center (https://sahuaritaaz.gov/685/SAMTEC), a 32,000 square foot, multi-tenant flex research and development / light manufacturing facility.

On the southwest corner of West Sahuarita Road and South La Cañada Drive, SAMTEC is less than a quarter mile west of the I-19 / Sahuarita Road interchange (Exit #75), less than half an hour from bustling downtown Tucson, and just 20 minutes from Tucson International Airport and Raytheon Technologies, making it ideal for businesses.

The genesis of SAMTEC goes back about six years, when the town submitted an Economic Development Administration grant to the federal government for the multi-tenant center, intending to attract technology-based companies. The plan worked, and SAMTEC’s tenants include PowerPhotonic Inc. and Steel Jupiter Inc., the first tenants.

The U.S. subsidiary of United Kingdom-based PowerPhotonic Ltd., PowerPhotonic Inc.’s American initiative is spearheaded by Chief Executive Officer Mark McElhinney, who was a customer for many years before joining the company in January.

A worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of high-tech free-form optics, the company makes optics using lasers instead of the traditional mechanical process where they are ground and polished.

“We laser ablate the shape in glass, and that means we can do some very complicated things with light,” says McElhinney. “The shapes that can be made using conventional processes are symmetrical—round, traditional lens shapes. We don’t have that constraint. We can basically make random shapes in glass, which means we can control light in interesting ways.”

With defense as one of its biggest markets, it made sense for PowerPhotonic Inc. to come to Arizona, be near the university, national labs, and defense companies, and lease 14,000 square feet in the town’s SAMTEC facility.

“To better serve those customers, we need to have a facility in the U.S. to interact with them, and deliver to them from a U.S. side,” says McElhinney, adding that many American clients, such as Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Boeing, and national labs like Lawrence Livermore are in Arizona or surrounding states.

“It’s a central location in terms of our customer base. And the specific reason why we’re in Southern Arizona is because of the University of Arizona and the Optics Valley initiative that’s here. The University of Arizona is one of the two leading universities in optics in the U.S. There’s a cluster of companies we can leverage around here, and a skill base we can leverage for recruitment.”

Starting internal build-out this summer, the company plans to be up and running by October and manufacturing this year. Representing an investment of between $2 million and $3 million, the completed facility will be entirely standalone, performing design work and supporting client design requirements, and transferring those designs into their manufacturing operation.

There will also be a large clean room for manufacturing. “We will be a completely self-sufficient entity, doing everything from design prototypes to manufacturing right here in Sahuarita.”

Initially, while exploring locations across the U.S., including many in Arizona and the Tucson area, PowerPhotonic had narrowed its search to the southwest because of its customer base.

Ruling out Tucson, because of the lack of available real estate for a company of its size, PowerPhotonic learned about SAMTEC, and had a meeting in January where Sahuarita Director of Economic Development Victor Gonzalez was present.

Impressed with how engaged the town was with PowerPhotonic’s success, and the facility, McElhinney knew it would be a great fit.

Along with PowerPhotonic, another innovative business will soon call SAMTEC its home.

Committed to developing and bringing life-saving technologies to the market, Steel Jupiter Inc. has developed an innovative, proprietary coating which traps 99.99 percent of airborne viruses, including COVID-19. Efficient and cost-effective, the unique coating can enhance the performance of masks, air filtration, and respirators to safeguard public health.

“Our technology will shine a spotlight on the Town of Sahuarita and its business-friendly attributes, since what we’re producing helps keep humanity safe,” says Steel Jupiter’s Chief Operating Officer, Michael Weinberg.

Much like PowerPhotonic, Steel Jupiter was attracted to the area because of its relationship with the University of Arizona, which is performing a variety of independent tests on the company’s product and materials. “They have tremendous capabilities at the university and are a strong partner,” Weinberg says.

Other reasons include the professionalism and business-friendly approach of the town council including Gonzalez and Mayor Tom Murphy; great highway access; proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border; and the SAMTEC facility itself. “For businesses, this is a powerful combination and will bring higher paying jobs into the community.”

It will be about a year before Steel Jupiter’s product goes to market. Planning to start the hiring process later this year or early next, the company expects to have about 15 staff in 2023 in its 13,000 square-foot facility and ramp up its numbers in time.

Along with PowerPhotonic and Steel Jupiter, the Town of Sahuarita is attracting the interest of other companies for good reason, one being the University of Arizona Center for Innovation (UACI), which launched a program that provides tech start-ups with incubation services and opportunities to deploy and prove their technology in the Town of Sahuarita.

One currently sponsored tech start-up is Revolute Robotics, which has developed safe robots for inaccessible places. The robot switches between rolling on the ground and flying, which extends operating time and accessibility. “It’s a pretty fascinating technology, and we are in discussions about how this hybrid drone can have a first responder application,” says Gonzalez.

“By vesting early on in their technology we are creating a relationship that could result in the companies establishing a production facility in our community long-term.”

As the Economic Development and Public Affairs Director for Sahuarita for the past nine years and having worked in economic development for various organizations and municipalities throughout the State of Arizona for over two decades, Gonzalez is proud of the town and its many accomplishments.

Several years ago, the Town of Sahuarita went through an Economic Development Master Planning exercise, which has led to the current successes.

With businesses and residents streaming to the town, it appears that the Town’s tagline of, “You’re gonna love it here!” is right on.

“PowerPhotonic and Steel Jupiter are testaments to how we value new business locates in the town, as well as how, as an organization, we look to be creative to attract these companies,” he says. “Looking toward the future, we are open to opportunities.”

The post Optics, Aerospace, Defense, and More<p class="company">Town of Sahuarita, AZ</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Agricultural output includes Pima cotton, hay, sorghum, millet, corn, sheep, dairy and feeder cattle, and a variety of fruits and vegetables.

The county is also ideally situated along primary traffic arteries of U.S. Route 60, Interstate 8 (Pinal County to San Diego), and Interstate 10 (California to Florida), allowing easy access for a wide range of manufacturing and distribution companies.

With hugely successful traditional industries like mining and agriculture long established in Pinal County, the county is also experiencing rapid growth in new manufacturing and technology sectors like aerospace and aviation, electric vehicles and batteries, renewable / green technologies (solar), building materials, and the supply chains related to semiconductor production.

Giving business its place

The county’s abundant options for recreation, culture, and tourism support the ongoing development of a diverse economy, high-wage job opportunities, and a very high standard of living.

These impressive elements combined with the “pro-business” environment fostered by Pinal County and local governments, the availability and affordability of land, water resources, a first-rate transportation and power infrastructure, and a skilled, trained, and available labor force, all contribute to the creation of a wide range of opportunities.

The county’s warmth toward business and programs like job training partnerships and reimbursements have kept Pinal County on the rise with high-end industries. These include electric vehicle manufacturing, the tech support industry, and building supplies, with names such as Lucid, Nikola, Hexcel, Monsanto, Abbott, Frito-Lay, Walmart, Tractor Supply, and Owens Corning already established.

In short, there’s an enormous amount of exciting development going on in Pinal County right now, and the future looks even brighter.

Vehicles of the future—now here

“Lucid Motors is a high-end electric vehicle manufacturer and a Tesla competitor,” says James Smith, Economic and Workforce Development Director. “Their vehicles are starting to hit the road now, and the current price points definitely make it an exclusive vehicle. They were the Motor Trend Car of the Year for 2022, and they’re being manufactured here in Pinal County. They’re really nice vehicles.”

Nikola, a company manufacturing 18-wheel diesel trucks and panel delivery vans, is working on all-electric truck vehicles with product already being delivered particularly to the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach in California.

“There’s a tremendous interest from California in these green and sustainable vehicles,” says Smith. “It’s another exciting development.”

LG Energy—which has connections to Nikola and is expected to supply batteries for their trucks—has announced plans to build a $2.8 billion battery manufacturing plant in the county, a definite win-win partnership.

“We have a lot going on in our area, with approximately $7 billion in projects and 12,000 jobs that are already operating or have been announced within the last five years,” says Smith. “And electric vehicles certainly are one of the key industries for us. We are becoming an epicenter for these projects, which are green and sustainable.”

The semiconductor industry is another big local player, particularly in nearby Chandler, and has been a pillar of Phoenix industry for more than 40 years.

“The semiconductor company TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) is under construction with a $12 billion project in North Phoenix,” says Smith, “while Intel is doing a $20 billion expansion in Chandler as well, so there’s a need for more of the supply chain to support those two projects.”

That need is being met with six projects planned for the industry, primarily in Casa Grande, and including several international corporations such as Chang Chun, Kanto, Air Products, Jing He Science and LCY.

Bolstering the steady economic growth is the county’s highly desirable location, which Smith says is vital to the county’s ongoing success.

Location, location, location
“We’re strategically located. If a company wants to serve both Phoenix and Tucson, we’re right in the middle,” he says. “If they want to serve California and Texas because of our access to I-10 and I-8, they can, and can also serve Mexico too. Whether they need supplies from Mexico or are serving that market, we’re strategically located among some of the biggest economies in the world.”

The county is also conveniently close to a sizable commercial airport and can be reached by car in good time. In fact, most of Pinal County is within an hour from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, while Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport is situated not far from the northeastern corner of Pinal County.

There’s also the Tucson International Airport, accessible in about an hour, and the County has a number of general aviation airports, including Pinal Airpark in the south, which is the location of Evergreen Air Center, one of the largest airplane storage and heavy repair facilities for commercial jets in the world.

Rail is another key driver for much of the economic growth, adds Smith.

The third sector that’s seeing a lot of activity is building materials. Kohler, a global leader in bath and kitchen products, is busy building a million-square-foot manufacturing plant in the area, along with insulation manufacturer Owens Corning, which has just reopened a plant they had shuttered for many years.

Gold Bond, a division of National Gypsum, which manufactures drywall wall board for building construction projects, will generate another 100 jobs in its $250 million manufacturing facility.

Space to really live

Of course, this thriving business activity is generating an urgent need for more, accessible housing at all levels, Smith adds.

“One of the things we see is that this new workforce needs diverse, attainable housing,” he says. “Pinal County was predominantly rural in the past, so you had a lot of larger lot homes, but we are transitioning in our cities and towns and are more open to a diverse housing mix, including multi-family housing or just housing that accommodates a wide variety of people regardless of where they are in life.”

This means housing for young families and for singles starting out; places to make a life for a younger workforce in general.

“We’re planning diverse housing and our communities are very open to providing the housing that these companies need.”

Those families and younger people will certainly have lots to see and do in their holidays and downtime. The Superstition Mountains and Lost Dutchman State Park in Apache Junction, Casa Grande Ruins National Park in Coolidge, Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park in Superior, the Town of Florence Historical District and McFarland State Historic Park, both in Florence, Picacho Peak State Park close to Red Rock, and Oracle State Park, close to Oracle, are a few of the stunning parks and recreation areas within the County.

San Carlos Lake, on the San Carlos Indian Reservation in the northeastern part of the County above the Gila River, offers fishing and water activities, and there are a host of other parks and recreational activities.

The steady influx of both employment opportunities and residents will clearly be enhanced by the enviable opportunity to live, work, and play right at home.

“There are a lot of job opportunities here,” says Smith. “We think that when people see the quality of life they can have, and the opportunities for the future, they’ll want to take a look at Pinal County.”

Working on skills

It’s not just about helping companies recruit the workforce they need, however. It’s also about working with companies to ensure they get the skilled workforce they need. That, Smith emphasizes, has led to the county’s strong commitment to entailing a partnership on job training.

“A key example of that was when Lucid was going to build their factory. There’s a partnership that exists between the Arizona Commerce Authority, the City of Casa Grande, Pinal County, as well as our local community college—Central Arizona College,” he says.

“They’ve actually built a training center called Drive 48 on the Central Arizona College campus which includes all the equipment that people work with on the shop floor at Lucid.”

Over 1,700 people have now completed this program, getting valuable work experience on the same equipment they’ll use in the factory. They’re trained and ready to go from day one.

“Each of the partners contributed to that. It’s a great partnership that’s helping to make sure we have a skilled workforce.”

Smith says that the county is also helping provide some job training via reimbursement agreements with companies to help them work right here, in an effort to ensure that companies have the people required for success in Pinal County. In fact, it’s the aim of county leadership to help create and make available lucrative jobs for their residents, with the aim of reducing long commutes.

“It’s been a strategic goal of the county,” Smith says. “For years our residents have had to leave the county to find good paying jobs, and targeting these manufacturing jobs goes hand-in-hand with the fact that we want people to be able to live, work, and play here. I know everyone says it, but we will keep on targeting good employment here, so we can live here, work here, play here, and shop here.”

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In 1999, Tempe created a lake from a river that ran through the city. “The voters approved the expenditure, and they built this lake,” says Deputy Economic Development Director Maria Laughner.

It was a bold move for a landlocked desert city. “Everyone else in the valley thought we were crazy.” The naysayers were quickly proven wrong, however. Tempe Town Lake “has made all of the difference,” she says. “When you have water available in a relatively large town lake, it just creates a different sense of being. It has created this huge amenity for us, and people are attracted to it… Water is life.”

The community has taken full advantage of the lake by creating paths alongside its waters for walking and cycling. People can also enjoy a range of sports like paddle boarding, kayaking, crew, and even waterfront yoga lessons. The lake “has been the most significant amenity that Tempe has put into our community that created a more livable environment overall, because of all the recreation that stems from it,” Laughner says. “We really put a lot of emphasis on investments like that.”

These investments go far beyond the lake. Tempe boasts a range of public transit options, including light rail and a brand new streetcar network as well as walkability, which “just makes it more livable,” she says. “People would rather be on their bikes than driving. They’d rather be able to walk around and feel safe, and we’ve made investments in infrastructure to do that.” In fact, owning a car is optional, so much so that Tempe is building the nation’s first carless community.

The city is focused on increasing shade along pathways so that all those pedestrians enjoying the city’s walkability will be comfortable in Arizona’s sweltering desert climate. “With the heat, shade is very important, and we’re looking to increase shade everywhere so neighborhoods are walkable and the downtown is walkable and people can go wherever they want, even when it is 110 degrees out,” Laughner says.

Several development projects will also help to raise Tempe’s livability even further. “Tempe is an older city, especially for Arizona,” she says. “We just celebrated our 150^th birthday. We’re urban, and we’re landlocked, so there’s not a lot of greenfield, so we do spend a lot of time looking at older properties and how they can be adapted or redeveloped to better serve the community.”

Currently, the team is looking into redeveloping the city’s old and deteriorating performing arts center which was replaced years ago by a newer, waterfront facility. “We’ve decided that we would like to tear it down and build affordable multifamily in its place,” says Laughner. “One of the issues that we have in our downtown core that a lot of downtowns have is a lack of affordable living accommodation. There’s a lot of luxury, certainly market rate, but not a lot of places for people that are workforce level.” She explains that the city wants to provide an opportunity for people in professions such as teaching and firefighting to be able to enjoy downtown living.

There are already 1,200 new housing units going up downtown to help meet growing demand. “We are a net importer of employees, which means our working population doubles during the day,” she says. At least 50,000 new jobs have come to Tempe since 2012.

“That means a lot of people are driving to Tempe from wherever they call home every day. What we all learned during the pandemic, more than ever, was how much time we gained by not being in our cars. So there is a real desire to live closer to where you work, and Tempe has seen that. We’ve heard from a lot of people that they don’t want to drive. They’d rather live in Tempe close to their office space, so we’re trying to help with that by building more housing. That’s been a real big redevelopment effort of ours.”

The city is also keen on historical preservation projects. For example, the historic Hayden Flour Mill and Silos is getting a major renovation to turn the facility into an asset for the public. “We’re working with a developer right now to create an adaptive reuse project that will restore the mill and silos and then make them accessible to the community… so that people can enjoy that history,” Laughner says. “The community is enthusiastic about the preservation. They know the history, and they want to be involved in it.”

Beside the mill, in Tempe’s downtown, lies the historic home where the mill’s namesake lived. Hayden House is already fully preserved and has been open for a year. Across the street is a well-known bridge that has been in disrepair since the 1930s. After nearly a century of neglect, the city is transforming Ash Avenue Bridge into a destination for the public to enjoy. Built in 1924, the old Tempe Depot is also slated for restoration.

“All of these sites have been closed to the public for so very long,” she says. They “have been boarded up or have chain link fences around them. To have these developers looking to work with us to restore the community assets and the heritage of our community and open it up to the public at large is so exciting.” City staff plans to work with the Tempe tourism team to create a cohesive, free experience for visitors that will likely involve a new heritage walk linking all of the newly preserved historic sites.

Tempe is proud of its past, but the community is focused on the future. The same innovative mindset that brought water to the desert is seen throughout the city’s forward-thinking industries, which include software-as-a-service (SaaS), aerospace, advanced manufacturing, and bioscience.

“There’s a spirit of innovation that runs all the way through our community,” says City of Tempe Public Information Officer Kris Baxter.

Arizona State University’s presence bolsters this spirit. “We have an amazing amount of research happening,” Baxter says. “ASU has been named the most innovative university in the country for eight years in a row… Innovation is part of our DNA. We just don’t do things the way everyone else does. We look for the best and the kindest way to do things. Innovation for the sake of innovation isn’t enough. It has to be the solution that is best for the most people.”

Arizona State University’s School of Earth and Space Exploration is leading the way with projects that include the launch of a new satellite “led by only the second woman ever to work on a NASA project of this type,” Baxter says. “We have a lot of really high-profile projects that bring a lot of research dollars to our community.”

Recently, research associated with Arizona State University helped combat COVID. “When COVID-19 struck, our scientists created the first saliva test for COVID,” she reports. “It was used nationally, if not around the world. They were on the cutting edge of that.”

Tempe’s bioscience and aerospace industries continue to grow at The Arizona State University Research Park. “Viasat just announced a huge expansion in Tempe of their global communication satellite division,” Laughner notes. “That’s the research, engineering, and manufacturing of those satellites at our ASU Research Park.”

The presence and expansion of these innovative industries spill over into additional projects and opportunities for the entire city. “All of those things end up spinning companies and creating investment and research and development in our community,” she says.

City leaders are committed to keeping Tempe a highly livable city that continues to attract leading-edge industries as well as new residents. This will include “greater and greater interconnection in terms of walkability and transit infrastructure, but also greater sustainability,” Laughner says. One of these is efforts the affordable housing project. “We consider that a sustainability effort because it’s helping people stay in the communities where they work.”

Perhaps most notably, city leaders want residents of all income levels to have the opportunity to enjoy Tempe in the future. “We’re not focused on just being the place for rich people to come live,” she says. “We want to be a place that is affordable for everybody.” With this attitude at the forefront, Tempe truly is an oasis.

The post An Arizona Oasis<p class="company">City of Tempe, AZ</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

“Cochise County is a great place to live, raise a family, and retire,” says Director of Development Services Daniel Coxworth. “Gentle seasons compared to the harsh heat in other parts of the state make it an ideal place to enjoy the vast outdoor recreational opportunities. To me, Cochise County is a very easy place to live.”

People from around the country have taken note of these attributes and relocated to Cochise County for its lifestyle and amenities. “A great percentage of the people who are here now are not natives of the area,” says Cochise County Chair of the Board of Supervisors Ann English. “They have come here either for jobs or for the recreational opportunities, the hiking trails, the parks, the vistas that we have, and to get away from the heat in the Tucson area because we’re a little cooler than there.” English can certainly vouch for the area; she moved there 58 years ago and never left.

The community’s relaxed atmosphere is a key attractor. “A lot of people are coming out here to what I would say are very rural properties, wanting to have a different lifestyle, wanting to get away from the hustle and bustle,” English says. Younger people often seek out “that hustle and bustle, but when you have a family, sometimes you want a calmer atmosphere, and we certainly have that. We have a different lifestyle here. You’re able to see neighbors at the grocery store. You also have the opportunity to be by yourself when you go to the mountains and go for a walk or go to one of the vistas so that you can just look out and just commune with nature. So [we have] things that people, once they have survived the rat race, are looking for, and we want to be welcoming to those people.”

Tourists flock to the county in addition to new residents. “We have many things that attract people,” says English. “Hummingbirds, mountains, trails, history, the mining museum in Bisbee, and the western museum in Willcox, all kinds of things that people could do.”

The community also offers a range of opportunities for business and beyond. “Cochise County is very large, and different regions of the county provide different opportunities,” Coxworth says. “Western Cochise County provides growth opportunities. As the state’s population continues to grow, residential growth opportunities exist for retirees looking for a high quality of life and standard of living. The U.S. Army Installation Fort Huachuca is a $2 billion economic engine in southeast Arizona, providing high-quality, high-tech jobs. Cochise Community College is responsive to training a workforce that supports the local economy, most notably the college’s cyber security program.”

“Central and eastern Cochise County is more rural and provides opportunities in agriculture, such as the county’s wine industry which produces over seventy percent of the grapes used in Arizona wines,” says Coxworth. “The moderate climate and quality water support the recreational and medical marijuana industry and traditional farming. In addition, wide-open spaces and availability of land provide opportunities for alternative power generation from solar and wind.”

“Most importantly, Cochise County shares its southern border with Mexico, which provides access to Mexico’s emerging markets and economy,” Coxworth says. This access is improving with a major, game-changing project that will revitalize and expand the current port of entry between Cochise County and Mexico.

“The biggest thing that the Board of Supervisors has been working toward for many years is to establish a commercial port of entry,” says English. The current port of entry, she adds, “is inadequate. It’s historical. It’s limited in size. It’s limited in space.”

The new plan brings a two-port solution. The original port located in Douglas, Arizona, will be re-vamped into a state-of-the-art facility exclusively for pedestrian, vehicular, and bus traffic. A new port about five miles away will divert the steady flow of oversized and overweight trucks that support major mining and smelter developments in nearby communities. These trucks often disrupt cross-border traffic and can be an environmental threat due to the hazardous material they carry, so their removal will be a huge boon for locals.

The change will “certainly revitalize the place where people come across to shop, visit family, et cetera,” English says. In addition, the new, dedicated commercial port is predicted to be an economic catalyst for the area, bringing in industries such as warehousing that are related to port activities.

The two-port solution has drawn support from the entire region. “From the very beginning we gained support from all of the counties in southeast Arizona through our Southeast Arizona Government Organization,” English says. “So this wasn’t a Cochise County or Douglas effort. We all realized that having better ports with better security is good for Cochise County. It’s good for Southeast Arizona. It’s good for the state of Arizona, and it’s good for the U.S. We need to enhance the trade that we have already started with our best trading partner, which is Mexico, but make sure that we do it in a safe and secure manner.”

The efforts have also strengthened relationships with partnering communities in Mexico, “because we are both working for a common goal,” English says. “It will be a win-win for the Country of Mexico and the State of Sonora, as well as Agua Prieta,” the Mexican city located on the other side of the port.

The Bisbee-Douglas International Airfield provides another means of access to the community. Owned and operated by Cochise County, the airport is strategically located ten miles north of the U.S./Mexico border and supports businesses in the Douglas area as well as manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution businesses in Mexico. “The airport further provides an opportunity to support new businesses and expand industries when the new commercial port opens,” Coxworth points out.

The county and the Federal Aviation Administration are working together to modernize the terminal building to include tenant space for lease and other airfield revitalization projects. “The airport presents an opportunity for economic development with up to 600 acres of developable land for lease and favorable lease terms for businesses that invest in the airport and provide jobs in the region,” he reports.

Cochise County works hard to cultivate any opportunities for future development while simultaneously protecting the environment and laid back local lifestyle. “We are looking at what our assets are and how we can best leverage those assets to encourage more investments and investors coming to Cochise County to support and help our local economy from an economic development perspective,” says Coxworth. “We’re always looking for opportunities to reduce barriers to investment in the county while still protecting what makes Cochise County such a wonderful place to live, [to] still be a beautiful place with great water and great air. So we have a balance, but we’re very aggressive in encouraging investment in Cochise County.”

This commitment to the environment is seen in a major brownfield cleanup effort. In 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded Cochise County a $600,000 brownfield assessment grant to transform underused commercial properties from liabilities to assets and breathe new life into residential communities. The initial effort proved so successful that the EPA granted Cochise County an additional $500,000 to continue the work.

The future looks bright for Cochise County. “The new commercial port of entry is a game-changer for the county,” Coxworth says. “Although still a few years away, the county is actively amending the county’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan to support the private investment that will follow. The county is also taking a leadership role, coordinating efforts to ensure the necessary infrastructure to support the new port.” The community’s balanced approach is sure to bring a positive outcome for all. “The county foresees a prosperous future by supporting responsible growth that cares for our natural resources and provides a business-friendly environment to take advantage of the numerous available opportunities,” Coxworth summarizes.

The post Laidback Lifestyle Meets Opportunity<p class="company">Cochise County Economic Development</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Fountain Hills is part of the Greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area. An unmistakable small-town vibe is in the air, yet close by are the services and amenities of a big city.

Located where the McDowell Mountains meet the Sonoran Desert, the town is blessed with an abundance of picturesque vistas and a lifestyle in harmony with these natural endowments.

Economic Development Director Amanda Jacobs explains that people of all ages are attracted to Fountain Hills for its “six highly rated golf courses, exceptional road and mountain biking, beautiful weather, trails for hiking, nearby lakes, and a river wilderness area. It’s a lifestyle located ten minutes from a large metropolitan area.”

A focal point in the community is its namesake fountain around which Disneyland designer Charles Wood Jr. laid out the town. The fountain can gush to a remarkable 560 feet, making it the fourth highest in the world (though at the time of its construction in the 1970s it was #1).

Strategic growth

Since Fountain Hills is geographically landlocked, growth and development has been intentional and purposive from the beginning, as it had to be. The town has been sensitively developed with a strong focus on sustainability, optimal land use, and a commitment to putting in place the services and amenities for a special quality of life.

However, despite the town being landlocked, Jacobs explains that there is still ample room to grow in Fountain Hills.

“There are several vacant land opportunities, as well as opportunities for expansion within existing buildings. The town is open to working with developers and property owners to drive growth through development agreements and flexible zoning.”

And growth is breeding more growth. For instance, the addition of new apartment and condominium complexes is making it easier to support existing businesses with expansion plans and for companies to attract talent.

Small, but mighty

While being small can be a disadvantage, this is certainly not evident in Fountain Hills. Being small has afforded it a unique pathway to growth—the very reason David Racich, President of Brokers Alliance, believes the town is optimal for his operation.

“Brokers Alliance is a very tightly-knit organization, which really mirrors the type of community Fountain Hills is,” says Racich. “Being such a small community can really help businesses thrive because we love to support local businesses. There is easy access to collaborative team environments all around our town.”

For these reasons, and more, Jacobs notes that Fountain Hills is especially appealing to “young entrepreneurs and start-up companies who want to live, work, and play in a small, affluent town.”

More than half of the town’s population holds a bachelor’s degree or higher and the median household income is $87,080. And as the economy grows, so too do the opportunities for growth and prosperity.

Strengthening the community

To maintain the quality of life that residents of Fountain Hills have come to enjoy, there has been a focus on service provision, and in particular, the delivery of exceptional healthcare for the community.

Fountain Hills Medical Center (FHMC) and Emergency Room is the only physician-operated 24-hour freestanding emergency department in the town. Prior to its arrival, the community was without a full-service emergency room.

Dr. Meka Ezeume, President of FHMC, notes, “Before FHMC was built, it was taking some residents more than 30 minutes to get to an emergency room. When an emergency strikes, the less time it takes to get care, the better the outcome will be.”

The facility offers up to 24-hour medical observation beds/rooms, 24-hour imaging services, lab and medication services, as well as primary and urgent care for adults and children in the area. Just a year after its opening, expansion plans are underway with phase two of the facility expected to be operational early next year.

The expansion will include 15 inpatient beds, catheter and special procedure lab, two operating rooms, subspecialty clinic space, expanded laboratory services, MRI capabilities, nuclear medicine, and stress testing. The facility will also begin accepting ambulances upon completion.

“We are so thankful to be a part of this wonderful community and to offer superior medical care close to home. The facility has had between 9,000 and 10,000 patient encounters since opening,” Dr. Ezeume says.

Growing economy

Healthcare isn’t the only sector experiencing growth in Fountain Hills. One of the strongest economic drivers is the vibrant entrepreneurial spirit and the continued success of local start-ups.

A shining example of this in action is PREVCO Subsea Housings which began as an idea conceived in a garage office. This subsea engineering consultancy, which specializes in submersible pressure vessels, instrumentation housings, junction boxes, underwater camera housings, underwater housings, subsea housings, pressure relief valves, and other subsea enclosures and accessories, is now based in the town’s industrial area and continues to grow.

Growth like this is spurring local leaders like Jacobs to consider expansions that could support existing operations like PREVCO, including suppliers and other supply chain solutions, and zoning changes to make way for that growth.

There’s also a commitment to rezoning where necessary to accommodate new growth. The effort to ensure that there’s constantly available land for industrial, commercial and residential developments is always a priority, as is maintaining the balance between growth and sustainability.

Natural oasis

Economically, Fountain Hills is a beacon of opportunity, but it has also found a way to balance development with nature, and one of the ways it has achieved this is by becoming the 17th International Dark Sky Community in the world.

Joe Bill, president of the International Dark Sky Discovery Center (IDSDC) shared, “If you like dark skies, Fountain Hills is sometimes referred to as a dark sky oasis in the Valley of the Sun.” This is what has made Fountain Hills an optimal location for the 22,000 square foot IDSDC which is in the detailed design phase and scheduled to open in 2024.

The IDSDC will feature the region’s largest telescope at its Dark Sky Observatory, and will include the Hyperspace Planetarium, Inspiration Theater, and Immersion Zone complete with educational displays and interactive learning experiences to “inspire future scientists,” “opening the window to the observable universe” for all.

The future is bright

With nothing but optimism for the future, the Town of Fountain Hills continues to plan and strategize to ensure it’s grasping the opportunities that present themselves, and that growth and development take place in harmony with nature and the commitment to sustainability.

“The town’s short-term goals include developing a Community and Economic Development Strategy this fall and completing a community branding project by December 2022,” says Jacobs, which will make for a busy year ahead.

Looking ahead, the goal will be to implement its strategic plan, which, Jacobs noted, “focuses on targeted collaborative economic development, promoting the long-term financial sustainability of the town infrastructure, environmental and social resources, continuing to improve public health, and the wellbeing and safety of our town.”

Jacobs, community leaders, and stakeholders believe the important question to ask is, “What do we want to be when we grow up? What should we be targeting, and is the community ready?” It’s their path to ensuring that growth remains strategic and preserves the quality of life that Fountain Hills is so rich in.

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