BizTucson Winter 2017 issue

WINTER FALL 2012 2017

THE REGION’S BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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SPECIAL REPORTS: Tucson Metro Chamber MHC Healthcare at 60 WINTER 2017 • $3.99 • DISPLAY UNTIL 03/30/17

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BizLETTER SPACE: The Tucson Frontier

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Volume 8 No. 4

Publisher & Owner

Steven E. Rosenberg Brent G. Mathis

Creative Director Photo: Steven Meckler

Science writer Eric Swedlund captures the essence of our connection to the cosmic frontier: “Space, which has captured the human imagination since the first stargazers turned their eyes to the night sky, is a massive economic engine in Southern Arizona with a rich history of scientific discovery that not only continues as strong as ever in the 21st century, but has branched into a robust and growing slate of private businesses.”

A century ago, pioneering astronomer and University of Arizona professor Andrew Ellicott Douglass secured a $60,000 donation from Oracle philanthropist Lavinia Steward to build a world-class observatory. That was just the beginning. This issue chronicles a treasure trove of UA innovations in astronomy, optics, engineering, space travel, exploration and discovery over the past century. In addition, the timeline contains milestones of private enterprise. Over the years the UA has been one of the nation’s most consistent academic partners for NASA missions, playing a role in nearly every planetary exploration mission the U.S. space agency has undertaken since its formation in 1958. Private space enterprises include Raytheon Missile Systems, Paragon Space Development, World View Enterprises and Vector Space Systems.

The most significant aerospace milestone in our region’s business history came 65 years ago when Hughes Aircraft Co. built a missile plant here. Then two decades ago, Raytheon acquired Hughes. Our city became a player on the global stage. And this region’s technology workforce is exceptional. The UA College of Engineering continues to produce more engineers for Raytheon than any university in the world.

As 2016 came to a close, Raytheon marked another major milestone. The global powerhouse announced the expansion of its Tucson operation with 2,000 new jobs, creating billions of dollars in economic impact. Journalist David Pittman interviews Raytheon’s President Taylor W. Lawrence with the exciting details of how the expansion came to be through the collaborative energy of the State of Arizona, Pima County, City of Tucson and Sun Corridor Inc.

The business community is definitely feeling a rush of economic adrenaline in the past year. That’s the lead story by Pittman in our Tucson Metro Chamber Special Report. This past year has produced an impressive list of high-impact accomplishments for the business community and for developing a strong workforce. The report details initiatives to mentor future leaders, a taskforce that fights organized retail theft and Project Prosperity to work with the City of Tucson to create a more business-friendly environment. Q&As with Chamber President and CEO Michael Varney and Chairman of the Board Robert Ramirez provide additional insight.

MHC Healthcare is the focus of a special report, which charts this organization’s growth over the past six decades. MHC has expanded throughout the region and now serves the community’s health care needs in 15 locations in the metro area. It’s quite a success story with plans for continued growth, as our population continues to expand.

This issue also features the inspirational Man of the Year and Woman of the Year Award − Robert Ramirez and Cristie Street − as well as Founders Award Honoree Si Schorr, honoring them for their unwavering dedication to the community.

Steven E. Rosenberg Publisher & Owner BizTucson

Biz

Contributing Editors

Jay Gonzales Donna Kreutz Diane Luber Dave Petruska

Contributing Technology Director

Mike Serres

Contributing Project & & Event Coordinator

Maricela Robles

Contributing Writers

Lee Allen Rhonda Bodfield April Bourie Larry Copenhaver Mary Minor Davis Chuck Graham Renée Schafer Horton June C. Hussey Tara Kirkpatrick Christy Krueger David Pittman Steve Rivera Monica Surfaro Spigelman Eric Swedlund Romi Carrell Wittman

Contributing Photographers

Jason Findley Scott Griessel/CREATISTA Amy Haskell Dean Kelly Brent G. Mathis Chris Mooney Tom Spitz

Member:

Arizona Builders’ Alliance Greater Oro Valley Chamber of Commerce Marana Chamber of Commerce Sun Corridor Inc. Tucson Advertising Federation Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Tucson Metro Chamber Visit Tucson

BizTucson Phone: 520.299.1005 Subscription Information:

www.BizTucson.com subscriptions@BizTucson.com Advertising information:

Steve Rosenberg 520.299.1005 or 520.907-1012 steve@BizTucson.com BizTucson is published quarterly by Rosenberg Media, LLC. ,Tucson, AZ © 2017 All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Opinions expressed in columns or articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher.

POSTMASTER:

BizTucson recently launched BizNEWS, an online resource for business news updates.

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Please send address changes to: BizTucson, 4729 East Sunrise Drive, #505 Tucson, AZ 85718.

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BizCONTENTS

FEATURES

WINTER 2017 VOLUME 8 NO. 4

COVER STORY:

46 SPACE: THE TUCSON FRONTIER

DEPARTMENTS

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BizLETTER From the Publisher BizART Creative Machines Manufactures Magic BizMILESTONE Arizona Theatre Company at 50 BizMUSIC HSL Properties Tucson Jazz Festival BizSPORTS Tucson Conquistadores Classic BizHEALTHCARE Watermark Makes a Splash BizTRAVEL Tucson International Airport Update BizRAYTHEON Largest Private Employer to Add 2,000 High-Wage High-Tech Jobs BizSPACE The New Frontier: Space Industry Takes Off Vector Rockets into Tucson BizAUTOMOTIVE Remodeling Just Clicked BizAWARDS Copper Cactus Awards

SPECIAL REPORTS 65 Tucson Metro Chamber:

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Lead, Advocate, Succeed 72

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Economic Adrenaline Feels Good Project Prosperity CART to Tackle Organized Retail Crime High School Interns Cash In College Students ‘Earn to Learn’ Q & A with Michael Varney Q & A with Robert D. Ramirez Emerging Leaders Council Greater Tucson Leadership

147 MHC Healthcare At 60 152 Network Expands to

15 Health Centers 158 Coached to Fulfill a Dream 160 Pharmacists are Touch Point

for Care 162 Good Oral Health,

Better Overall Health 164 Women Caring for Women 166 Patients + Providers = Family

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BizHR The Empathy Factor BizSECURITY Cyber Attacks Widespread BizHEALTHCARE Bringing Health to Downtown

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BizREALESTATE Teamwork Takes Reuter to the Top BizDOWNTOWN Downtown Rolls On AC Marriott Tops Out BizREALESTATE CCIM Forecast Competition Preview BizCOMMUNITY

Passion For Compassion BizMILESTONE Children’s Museum Tucson Hits 30 BizHONORS Man of the Year Robert D. Ramirez Woman of the Year Cristie Street Founders Award Honoree Si Schorr BizSALES Sales Guru Jeffrey Gitomer BizBENEFIT 12th Annual Gootter Grand Slam BizYOUTH Junior Achievement Empowers Youth BizAWARDS ASID Design Excellence Awards Social Venture Partners Fast Pitch BizENTREPRENEURS Get Started Tucson BizAWARDS MPA Common Ground Awards BizTRIBUTE Celia Hightower

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ABOUT THE COVER SPACE: THE TUCSON FRONTIER Creative Design by Brent G. Mathis

Background image – M33 is a spiral galaxy – National Optical Astronomy Observatory/Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy/National Science Foundation

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Trust The Clements Team To Protect You & Your Business The Clements Agency, LLC is a member of Trusted Choice®, offering the smart way to buy insurance.

Trusted Choice® agents and brokers represent multiple insurance companies, offering you a variety of coverage choices and customized plans to meet your specialized needs. Most importantly, as Trusted Choice® agents we are not employees of an insurance company, so you have someone who works for you, not the company.

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Left to right: Sean, Jack & Jim Clements

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Joe Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connell

PHOTO: BRENT G. MATHIS

Founder Creative Machines

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BizART

Creative Machines Manufactures Magic Ideas Take Flight in Gargantuan Space Creative Machines transforms public spaces with monumental sculptures and creates dynamic interactive experiences around the world with a team of “38 people guided by a shared vision of awesomeness.”

That’s according to Joe O’Connell, founder of this under-the-radar Tucson company that creates magic in a vast warehouse on Tucson’s southside.

There his multi-dimensional team of engineers, artists, estimators, fabricators and assemblers, used computers, forklifts, lathes, welding tables and gantry cranes to create one of the largest and most kinetic sculptures in the world – “Wings Over Water.”

The colossal sculpture was recently transported from Tucson to Houston in time to dazzle Superbowl LI crowds.

O’Connell and Creative Machines were selected for the $1.4 million commission Ballroom Luminoso

by the Houston First Corporation and the Houston Arts Alliance in November 2015.

At 70 feet wide and 30 feet tall, the installation features two translucent wings that will beat continuously over the Fountain of the Americas in front of Houston’s George Brown Convention Center. The sculpture was inspired by the theme of migration, a governing metaphor behind the architectural redesign of the convention center. The piece pays homage to both to the migratory birds that stopover in Houston after traversing the Gulf of Mexico for several days and to the human immigrants from South and Central American who often find their first foothold in a modern economy in Houston. At night, the installation’s LED lights, fog emitters and translucent flapping wings will cast a dance between light, shadow and mist Texas Rising

over the watery terrain below.

“Wings Over Water” emerged from a 66,000-square-foot warehouse space with five gantry cranes and clear spans up to 50 feet high. Creative Machines moved to the eight-acre site at 4141 E. Irvington Road in the spring of 2016.

Though O’Connell directs much of the creative output himself – especially for the larger-than-life sculptures – he is quite proud of the increasingly collaborative nature of his team and Creative Machines’ impressive variety of interactive museum exhibits, mesmerizing sculptures and intriguing rolling ball machines. The air is thick with creative energy. This is a giant playground for grown-ups With no shortage of talent and easy access to world-class fabricators and suppliers, O’Connell finds Tucson a good home for his highly competitive continued on page 20 >>> Lenses

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PHOTOS: COURTESY CREATIVE MACHINES

By June C. Hussey

BizART

Creative Machines at a Glance Projects Under Design and Fabrication • 44 exhibits for MOXI – The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation, opening soon in Santa Barbara. This $5.6 million commission is the company’s largest undertaking to date.

Wings Over Water Concept Illustration (above); Installation in Houston (below)

• Three rolling ball sculptures, extending the legacy of kinetic artist George Rhoads, himself a personal friend of O’Connell, now linked to Creative Machines through an exclusive contract.

In Prototype and Slated for Fabrication • A half-dozen sculptures in a variety of media are scheduled for future installation in Abu Dhabi, Aurora in Colorado, Dallas and San Diego.

• Other projects will go to museums, science centers, libraries, transit stops, trade shows, parks, festivals, university campuses, hospitals and waiting rooms in other cities worldwide.

continued from page 19 business. With its historical roots in mining, astronomy and the arts, he thinks of Tucson as “an epicenter of creativity” that he credits for his company’s success.

“While I lead most projects and take full responsibility for them, I’ve been fortunate in attracting employees who are better than I am in almost every area.

I just establish the framework and lead the company in productive directions,” he said.

Tucson’s Own Thomas Edison

Drawing early inspiration from America’s great inventor, Thomas Edison, O’Connell spent his childhood near Edison’s West Caldwell laboratory in New Jersey, and his own grandfather had been friends with the Edison family, passing on stories, books and some gadgets to O’Connell from Edison himself.

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As a child, he built toys out of the tools and materials his parents supplied to him. Later on, after a liberal arts education that spanned four universities (Rutgers, University of Chicago, Princeton and UCSD) and included assorted degrees and honors in physics, philosophy, history and sociology, O’Connell began working for science museums where he designed and built exhibits. He founded Creative Machines in 1995, renting his first workspace from Thomas Edison’s former shop foreman, then in his 90s.

Since 2000, Creative Machines has called Tucson home.

“My wife already loved this city – she got her master’s in geology at the University of Arizona. It took me a few visits to appreciate Tucson myself. As she was finishing up her doctorate in Florida and we were researching where to continued on page 22 >>>

On Display in Southern Arizona • “Bike Church,” a collaboration with Blessing Hancock,on North Granada Avenue at West Davis Street.

• “Cocoon,” a collaboration with Nina Borgia-Aberle and Blessing Hancock on Houghton Road between Irvington and Valencia roads.

• “Desert O” on Alameda Avenue in front of the Tucson Museum of Art. • “Toby” on Scott Avenue one block south of Broadway.

• “Wandering Stars,” a collaboration with Blessing Hancock where Cushing Street meets South Granada Avenue.

• “Wonderous,” a cloud of words at the Wheeler Taft Abbett Sr. Public Library in Marana. www.BizTucson.com

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BizART continued from page 20 live and work,” O’Connell said, “we followed advice I’d read in Sculpture magazine and looked at midsize cities with a university, deep intellectual capital, a healthy arts community and critical mass along with affordable commercial real estate prices. Tucson met all those requirements and more.”

A steady stream of successful contracts and commission work, particularly over the past few years, created the opportunity for O’Connell to relocate from a cramped industrial location on South Country Club Road to their new location. O’Connell and company have wasted no time taking on larger and more interesting projects like “Wings Over Water” and 44 exhibits for a new science museum in Santa Barbara, the company’s largest commission to date.

“We pioneer new ways to inspire wonder and imagination.” Their creations are found in museums, science centers, libraries, hospitals, university campuses, transit stops, art museums, trade shows and public spaces across the globe – including Canada, Norway, Germany, Egypt, Singapore, Taiwan and Japan.

Their inventions have delightful, provocative names like “Le Reve de Newton” (Belgium Pass Museum), “Chinook Arc” (City of Calgary), “Small Talk about the Weather” (Oklahoma City Arts District) and “Archimedean Excogitation” (Museum of Science in Boston).

“My most ambitious creation has always been a great company – a community really – in which employees work hard on projects they enjoy, supported by each other and the wider community of Tucson,” said O’Connell, a 40-something artist who hopes and dreams this dynamic company outlasts him.

Like Chicago’s “Cloud Gate” (also known as “The Bean”) by British sculptor Anish Kapoor and Buenos Aires’ “Floralis Generica” (also known as “The Flower”) by Eduardo Catalano, “Wings Over Water” is designed to give its host city an iconic sense of public place and purpose, one that will be imprinted in hearts, minds and digital memories of visitors and citizens alike. It remains to be seen whether “Wings Over Water” will be adopted by Houstonians as “The WOW.”

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BizMILESTONE

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th

Season Brings Racially Diverse Productions

By Chuck Graham After the final curtain nearly fell from hitting a $2 million speed bump last summer, the Arizona Theater Company now appears to be chugging merrily through its 50th anniversary season as if the end was never close.

With a big gulp the community realizes what a long, strange journey those 50 years have been.

There is the proud history of more than 250 productions showcasing classics by the likes of Shakespeare, Shaw, Moliere and Beckett alongside the works of such contemporary playwrights as Williams, Shepard, Wilson and Fugard.

New plays and edgier productions were also in the mix, pushing on the envelope of possibility rather than always depending on theater’s commercial favorites.

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1. “Around the World in 80 Days” adapted by Mark Brown from the novel by Jules Verne with Mark Anders on left and Jon Gentry (2014). 2. “A Weekend with Pablo Picasso” written and performed by Herbert Siguenza (2015) 3. Joey Calveri and the company of Arizona Theatre Company’s production of “Hair” (2008)

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”

I. Michael Kasser Board Member Arizona Theatre Company –

P H O TO :

. M ATH IS BRENT G

Then there was the real drama when the company announced last June it would be forced to close immediately if $2 million wasn’t raised within two weeks.

Board member and theater angel I. Michael Kasser greeted ATC’s desperate announcement by agreeing to set up a $1 million matching fund if others would add the rest.

He did and they did.

The mayors of both Tucson and Phoenix got involved and by August the $2 million had been raised. The bullet was dodged and everyone’s pulse went more or less back to normal on the company’s stages in the two cities.

Artistic Director David Ira Goldstein agreed to ride out the aftermath of the crisis by staying on for his 25th year as the company’s artistic director.

“David is so great at creating diverse seasons,” said Kasser. “We are locked together. I said if he retired I would quit. He said if I quit, he’d retire.”

Thanks to their mutual admiration and the 11th-hour recovery, ATC now has a future, as well as a past.

“I feel like we have turned the corner, at least for the moment,” Kasser said in October. “What we need to have now is a ‘what’s next’ strategy. But I do believe in the transformative power of the arts.

I felt this was my place to take a

stand, to do something for Arizona.

“ATC has always been one of my favorites. The artistic side has always been very good. So for 10 years I gave $100,000 a year. But this year $100,000 wasn’t going to do much. I knew I had to step back or step up.”

After ATC opened its golden anniversary season in September with Mike Bartlett’s futuristic “King Charles III,” combining elaborate language in the style of Shakespeare together with Yankee fascination for England’s royal family in the year 2016, it wasn’t that much of a stretch to go for “An Act of God” by David Javerbaum as the next production. That one imagined God returning to Earth in human form to upgrade the Ten Commandments.

“One thing we learned from last summer’s financial crisis is how much our subscribers and theater goers love us,” ATC board president Lynne Dusenberry said. “‘King Charles III’ was a tremendous hit in both cities and we have a huge production of ‘Fiddler on the Roof ’ planned for December.”

“We have over 2,500 donors, of all sizes up to the $700,000 level,” Goldstein said. “Every year fundraising is our biggest challenge, as it is for all nonprofits.

“Of course Phoenix has more money, but there is also more comcontinued on page 26 >>>

4. “Five Presidents” written by Rick Cleveland (2015) 5. “Irving Berlin” written and performed Hershey Felder (2015) 6. “The Kite Runner” written by Khaled Hosseini (2010)

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PHOTOS: COURTESY ARIZONA THEATRE COMPANY

PHOTO: TIM FULLER

“

I do believe in the transformative power of the arts. I felt this was my place to take a stand, to do something for Arizona.

BizMILESTONE continued from page 25 petition for that money. Generally speaking, there are more individual donors in Tucson, more corporate donors in Phoenix.”

When it comes to buying tickets, Goldstein sees less difference between the two cities.

“I’ve been the artistic director for 25 years and for the first 20 years, if you were to line up all the hits, they would be almost the same for both cities,” Goldstein said. “Despite what people say.”

Interestingly, the artistic director thinks that more change has occurred over the last five years in both cities.

“I feel like there has been an increased preference for newer and meatier plays,” Goldstein said. “‘Disgraced’ was very popular in both cities. There seems to be less fear of the new.”

He noted that “in the company’s first 25 years, they had done only one new play.”

Goldstein is also proud that his theater seasons have become more racially diverse. ATC has presented “four or five” of August Wilson’s epic plays, and was one of the first regional companies to produce South African playwright Athol Fugard’s works dealing with apartheid.

“We have given the National Latino Playwriting Award for 20 years straight,” he added. “Next season we are doing a full production of ‘The River Bride,’ which won that award three years ago.

“This coming February we are bringing Mexican-American writer/performer Rubén C. González from the famed El Teatro Campesino to present ‘La Esquinita, USA.’ “I like to think we are developing a Latin audience. Last season we did two performances of ‘Pablo Picasso’ in Spanish that drew about 1,000 people.”

As for the future that almost slipped away, Goldstein is still planning to retire at the end of this season.

“By the beginning of next season, someone new will be named,” he said. “My main focus has been in developing the artistic and production staff capable of creating any kind of new work for someone with a new vision.”

“David has been wonderful,” Dusenberry said. “We have a search committee that’s helping us, the Albert Hall Company. We are being patient, want to do the search efficiently.

It feels like everything is on schedule.”

Dusenberry also notes that ATC’s immediate fundraising goals include an additional $3 million to ensure future solvency.

“I don’t expect we’ll have that same kind of financial situation next summer. We do want to be exercising our fiduciary responsibility,” Dusenberry said, sounding like the attorney that she is.

Completing the ATC season in Tucson are: “Fiddler on the Roof,” Dec. 3-Dec. 31; “La Esquinita, USA,” Jan. 14Feb. 4; “Ring of Fire: the Music of Johnny Cash,” March 4-March 25; “Holmes and Watson,” April 15-May 6.

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Clockwise from top – Downtown Jazz Fiesta 2016; Alex Weitz; ArcoIris Sandoval; George Benson; Nayo Jones

HSL Properties Tucson Jazz Festival

Growing Popularity Makes Event a Downtown Staple

By Chuck Graham There is momentum in the music of the HSL Properties Tucson Jazz Festival, barreling toward the opening of its third year, presenting a broad palette of improvised sounds in a variety of downtown locations.

Iconoclastic wave-maker and saxophonist Kamasi Washington opens the 11-day event beginning Jan. 12 with a full band sure to rattle the Rialto Theatre’s concrete innards. The co-presenter is UA Presents.

More accessible jazz popularity comes to the festival’s lineup in guitarist and singer George Benson, appearing at the Fox Theatre on Jan. 19. Spread out between these two vastly different visions are other national acts bringing Tucson more shades of jazz.

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tive director Yvonne Ervin said she had “a couple thousand dollars left over.” Well, this year following the second annual Tucson fest, Ervin announced, “We are $6,000 to the good as of June 31.”

With every intention of “bringing in $60,000 more in sponsorships” for the 2017 festival, Ervin is poised to dispel any concerns about the survival of this annual event dedicated to kicking off each year with jazz in January.

Attracting some 18,000 people over 11 days in 2016 was nearly double the first year’s numbers of 10,000 attendees over 13 days. Out-of-towners (statistically, anybody more than 50 miles away) increased from 28 percent in 2015 to 35 percent last year.

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PHOTOS COURTESY HSL PROPERTIES TUCSON JAZZ FESTIVAL

visitors to the city will spend more money downtown than Tucson’s own. She adds that by attracting crowds this size, Tucson’s skeptical merchants are starting to believe in the cash benefits from this new downtown venture.

“Sponsors and potential sponsors, jazz artists and booking agents are calling me all the time now,” Ervin said.

“Usually more than once. Lots more.”

All this past success is particularly helpful in booking future artists, Ervin said. It means the musicians aren’t reluctant to sign a contract a year in advance because they know the Tucson Jazz Festival will still be here.

“My goal is to have the 2018 festival all booked by January 2017 when this festival opens. So I can start promoting our next festival to the people at this festival.”

TJF board member and treasurer Dan Coleman is a music publisher and composer who believes in the power of all music. He was one of the first to offer serious help back when TJF was just a concept suggested to Ervin by Mayor Jonathan Rothschild.

“I’ve witnessed how music festivals can be economic drivers for cities, and I wanted to help Tucson this way,” Coleman said. “The whole point is to generate business for Tucson in January.”

Another early believer was Humberto Lopez, co-founder of HSL Properties. He jumped in with both feet to be the festival’s signature sponsor for five years, with an option for the next five years. He remembered from past experience that good music can mean good business.

“I did not anticipate an immediate improvement to (the business at) our six hotels, but I saw a long-term opportunity to get Tucson on the map in January, the same as the Mariachi Conference in April,” said Lopez. “I was involved with the initial planning of the Mariachi Conference when a number of my friends got together in my office over 30 years ago for its planning.”

The Tucson Festival of Books is another annual affair people like to cite as proof this jazz festival can grow into national prominence.

Ervin is with them all the way. Whether she is locking up more sponsors, selling more ads to go on posters and hotel room information cards, coming up with more crossmarketing strategies, increasing advertising in Eastern cities or finding more fast lanes in those ever-expanding social networks, she is on it.

“We are always looking for new ways our sponsors can get more benefits from their participation,” Ervin said.

“And one other thing I have learned,” she added wryly. “I couldn’t do it all by myself. I finally get to hire some help.”

That person is Nick Seivert with the title Operations Manager.

“The Mayor is helping out, too,” she said. “He’s making phone calls on our behalf.”

Another reason for putting on this jazz fest in January is to celebrate Martin Luther King’s birthday, which is Jan. 20, but observed nationally every third Monday in January.

This year MLK Day is Jan. 16, when the admission-free Downtown Jazz Fiesta sponsored by Rio Nuevo fills the air with continuous music played on two outdoor stages and several indoor spots “late into the evening” between the Fox and Rialto theaters on East Congress Street.

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BizSPORTS

March Gladness

Daly Adds Glitz to PGA Champions Tour Event

By Steve Rivera If it’s true the third time is the charm, then the Tucson Conquistadores Classic should be a very good one this March.

Tournament Chairman Shawn Carter and Tucson Conquistadores executive director Judy McDermott are preparing for Year Three of the event March 15-19. There is also a tournament Fun Run on Dec. 12. And not that the first two have been disappointments – they’ve been huge successes – but the next one at Omni Tucson National Resort’s Catalina Course should be buzzing again.

It’s like a five-day party with longtime golf buddies.

There’s been some restructuring of holes to accommodate the crowd as the golfers near the finish. And bigger crowds are expected this year.

One golfer who will bring excitement is the colorful and sometimes controversial John Daly, who attracts crowds wherever he goes.

“How cool is that?” said McDermott, referring to Daly’s commitment to the event.

It’s very likely Daly will draw a crowd.

But others – Fred Couples, Colin Montgomerie, Steve Stricker and past champion Woody Austin – will too, in addition to drawing a large audience on the

Golf Channel.

They come for the golf, but they also come for the weather, the money and, well, to help the Conquistadores raise more than $500,000 for local charities.

Much of the money goes to Southern Arizona kids and organizations that help them enjoy sports and activities.

“We give to charity because that’s what we’re about,” said McDermott, who has been with the Conquistadores 24 years. “The thread of everything we do is giving back to the community and the kids.”

McDermott wants to make it clear: “It’s not our money. It’s the commu-

1) Tucson Conquistador members Matt Kaiser, left, and James Francis present a charity check to Special Olympics at the Special Olympics Bowling Competition. 2) PGA TOUR Champions player Jeff Sluman tees off on the par 3 16th hole with the Patriots’ Outpost fans enjoying the hospitality. 3) PGA TOUR Champions fan favorite Fred Couples navigates an errant shot at the Tucson Conquistadores Classic.

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dores funding “ensures no child is turned away” and that programs are affordable.

“The Y is grateful for the many partners who make our work in this community possible,” said Dane Woll, president & CEO. “The Tucson Conquistadores are an extraordinary example of our community coming together to strengthen youth across Southern Arizona.”

The same goes for the Conquistadores’ longtime support of Special Olympics Arizona. The Conquistadores host an annual golf competition for Special Olympic athletes in conjunction with the golf tournament.

“Special Olympics Arizona is eternally grateful for the Tucson Conquistadores’ endless contributions, which have helped individuals with intellectual disabilities share their talents with the world,” said Miguel Quezada, the state development director for Special Olympics Arizona.

“Just seeing the excitement level of the kids being outdoors and them being able to touch a golf club and hit a putt

is exciting,” Carter said. “Getting to see our dollars at work (is rewarding).”

The community has taken to it, even after the PGA Tour’s match play event left town. The last two years, more than 50,000 fans have come to see the older, more-familiar-named players. Whether it’s been the popular two-day pro-am or the three-day, no-cut format, Tucson has continued to embrace professional golf.

“The support has been awesome,” Carter said.

And the PGA Tour loves Tucson in as much as it’s been around for more than 70 years.

“They don’t want to see us fail,” McDermott said.

After all, it’s working because of the locals, the PGA Tour and the Conquistadores. The Conquistadores encourage fans to buy packages for the event “but it’s not about buying tickets to a golf tournament, it’s about helping the community and keeping golf here,” Carter said.

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4) PGA TOUR Champions player Jesper Parnevik tees off. 5) Tucson Conquistadores Classic 2016 Champion Woody Austin kisses the iconic helmet trophy.

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PHOTOS: COUTESY TUCSON CONQUISTADORS – GETTY IMAGES

nity’s money because they’ve supported it.”

Where would some be without it?

The money the Conquistadores have raised through the years has sustained and supplemented many nonprofits.

The Conquistadores help fund more than 60 in Southern Arizona.

“Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona is extremely proud to partner with the Conquistadores as we work to provide youth in Southern Arizona with opportunities to live healthy, get outdoors and exercise,” said Debbie Rich, CEO of Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona. “Our new program building, The Angel’s Place for Girls, will house a bouldering wall, which is sponsored by the Conquistadores.”

In addition to providing money, the Conquistadores provide time, volunteers and business knowledge to the nonprofits. If it is sports-related, the Conquistadores are there to help.

The YMCA has benefited for 50plus years and now helps nearly 10,000 children in youth sports and aquatics.

YMCA officials said the Conquista-

Watermark Makes a Splash Visionary Senior Living

By Lee Allen They’ve been doing that duet dance since their first innovative senior living community – The Fountains at La Cholla – appeared in 1987.

The two Davids were able to find a quiet spot amidst the plasterers, painters, tile setters and a myriad of other construction workers at the job site, 2720 E. River Road, where they talked about the sleeping giant that Watermark Retirement Communities has been to this point and their latest innovations.

‘A very quiet company’ The company, headquartered in Tucson since its inception, owns or manages well over $1 billion in assets amongst their various property holdings and is the instrument that employs and manages more than 5,000 employees.

IMAGES: COURTESY HACIENDA AT THE RIVER

“Grab a hard hat and come check this out.”

The invitation comes from David Freshwater and his enthusiasm is contagious. Although he functions as chairman of Watermark Retirement Communities, a company that operates well over a billion dollars in assets, he’s also its hands-on developer. And even after retrofitting or coordinating new build operations at 39 properties in 20 states, developing a new project is still fun for him.

This property – The Hacienda at the River – is just the latest, with another already planned in Tucson near Sabino Canyon along with a joint-partnership in Marana.

“I’m kind of responsible for the creation side,” Freshwater said. “Then I hand things over to David Barnes, our President/CEO, and let him run things.”

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BizHEALTHCARE “We’ve been a very quiet company for the 30 years we’ve been in operation because we’ve conducted most of our business out of town,” Freshwater said. “Before announcing this property, hardly anyone knew much about Watermark. Now, because we’re expanding in the Tucson area, we decided it’s time to properly introduce ourselves.”

They anticipate a warm welcome based, at minimum, on their impact to the local economy – $137 million in new construction and more than 400 new permanent jobs over the next two years.

At the onset, Freshwater never intended to build an empire.

“We were doing transactional development with lots of partners, buying existing communities and enhancing them. Now, it’s more development of new sites in the senior housing market. There was an initial intent to build a great company, but probably not to the extent we’re at today.”

And that extent continues to expand with the two other local sites ready to begin construction along with another property in California and other domestic locations as well as discussions of international development. “We’ve got three partners in China now,” said Barnes. “We’re lending the expertise of what we’ve learned here over the last three decades to see how it applies there. Ultimately, it’s likely that in three to five years, Watermark China will be larger than Watermark U.S.” ‘Creating communities where people thrive’ Corporate-wide their mission is to “create extraordinary communities where people thrive” – and they’re positive they’ve hit the mark with the Hacienda property. “All our communities are different,” Freshwater said. “We jokingly say that

‘when you’ve seen one Watermark community, you’ve seen ONE Watermark community.’ Each project presents its own unique challenges and opportunities.”

The Watermark team is excited about The Hacienda at the River, on the southern edge of the Catalina foothills, for a variety of reasons.

• First, the nearly eight-acre site itself, which was a vacant horse property and riparian retreat near the Rillito River and now embraces all the tradition and evolution the location has seen, along with majestic views of the Santa Catalina mountains. The land was purchased in late 2012 with groundbreaking a year later.

• Then, what is being put on that site on River Road at Hacienda del Sol Road, where thick adobe-style walls, sturdy vigas and tin-roof-covered porches look and feel like a Spanish colonial hacienda. This compound will encompass a 20,000-square-foot medical building, a two-story care facility, nursing and rehab facilities for short- and long-term stays, as well as four single-story buildings dedicated to assisted living and memory care. The contractors are taking pride in every nuanced detail.

Among the niceties, buildings will be interconnected by tree-lined pathways and interspersed with patios and shaded courtyards with orchards and gardens. “You go to some senior housing communities and there are a few raised planter beds with most of the crop dead,” said Freshwater. continued on page 34 >>>

David Freshwater & David Barnes

Watermark by the Numbers • $1.4 billion in managed assets • 30 properties in 20 states • $137 million local economic impact • 5,000 employees • 30-year history

Winter 2017 > > > BizTucson 33

BizHEALTHCARE

continued from page 33 Gardens, horses to enhance healing environment “Our goal is to have an experiential garden that when you enter the enclosed, screened, shaded area, you walk among the corn and peppers and flowers. It looks good. It smells good. And it makes you feel good. We’ll be producing some of our own vegetables and herbs – not to keep our kitchen going, but to augment it with local produce grown by staff and residents. It’ll be pretty special. For our residents with dementia, the smell of mint and rosemary might help trigger fond memories.”

Not only will there be radishes and rutabagas, there will be large animals with soft brown eyes – equines that are known to be therapeutic. Under the direction of therapy pioneer Barbara Rector, residents’ physical and emotional well-being will be enhanced by on-site equines available for interaction through touching and grooming.

“Not only is this place different in architecture, it’s also unique in its approach and philosophy, different from every other nursing home and rehab center in the country,” said Freshwater. “Other facilities continue to look like they’ve looked for decades – and there’s no good reason for that except for the convenience of those operating them. We’re convinced we can do things differently and, while still making a profit, put guests/patients/residents’ needs first.”

Their efforts have been recognized, both nationally and locally. The American Seniors Housing Association this year ranked Watermark among the nation’s 16 leading senior housing and care providers while the Tucson Metro Chamber honored them with a Copper Cactus Nextrio Innovation Award.

According to the company principals, once residents in senior facilities get beyond that hour or two of therapy or rehab services each day, there’s another 22 hours that isn’t programmed and amounts to warehousing.

‘Working with the best minds’ “There’s more to do on our campus than lie in bed watching TV. There’s something planned to happen every week, new things, new ideas with our partners. Our design here is akin to a boutique hotel with a variety of activity options,” Freshwater said. Barnes added, “It’s a much more comfortable, healing environment that eliminates the arcane design of a nursing station at the center of hallways. We have better technology today that gives us better patient connectivity, so we’ve designed our facility to include new modalities with the 21st century in mind.”

Barnes and Freshwater have been described as “passionate visionaries” whose minds don’t stop thinking about what can be done and how to do it. “A lot of our ideas are good in theory, but may be difficult to implement. It’s our challenge to figure out how,” one said. “Sometimes we have no idea how we’re going to pull things off and then, wham, the resources just show up,” the other added.

One example – they wanted to offer cooking classes, the cost of which would not be covered by Medicare. “One of our partners is the University of Arizona, so some of their

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grad students may come in to teach those classes,” Barnes said. The potential for collaboration with UA experts is great. It’s home to the Arizona Center on Aging, the College of Integrative Nursing, the Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute and the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine’s Institute on Place and Wellbeing. It’s a natural fit. “It’s all about creative solutions,” Freshwater said. “We are working with the best minds.”

Freshwater learned at an early age to take what he had and smartly parlay it into something bigger. In junior high school, he became a part of a band – not because he was a good musician, but because he owned a PA system that the band needed. “I wasn’t allowed near a microphone because I couldn’t sing, but they let me play guitar because I had the sound system.”

Years later, he’s still bargaining from a position of strength, building on decades of real-world field experience and a daring-do to be different, to try new things, trying to figure out how to do things more efficiently to make Watermark properties a pinnacle of retirement living.

“It’s not a brand that we focus on,” Barnes said. “We’re not like a hotel chain where you know what you’ll get at every one of their locations throughout the country. In the senior housing world, what’s far more important is local reputation based on the quality of service provided. That’s why we focus one-of-a-kind care in a one-of-a-kind place. Watermark communities have visionary programs where the freedom exists to put on a specific personality at each location.”

Already a Top 20 management company in their industry, Freshwater said, “Watermark is doing things that won’t just help us. What we experiment with and prove that will work can also help other facilities in other locations. If we have a good efficacy in what we’re doing here, we’re not going to keep it a secret.

While our innovation makes Watermark communities stronger, it’s our intent to share that information to make our overall industry stronger, too.”

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Winter 2017 > > > BizTucson 35

PHOTOS: CHRIS MOONEY

Pictured clockwise from top â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The new Tucson International Airport Tower; Aeromar plane set to resume service to Hermosillo and other destinations.

Dignitaries cutting the ribbon for the new tower; Mayor Jonathan Rothschild at August dedication.

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BizTRAVEL

New Flights, New Tower, New Food

Tucson International Airport Making Big Changes

IMAGESS: COURTESY TUCSON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

By David Pittman

www.BizTucson.com

Tucson International Airport is making big changes in the air with new service to New York and Mexico. At the same time there also are big changes on the ground, some already in place and more to come in 2017.

The “international” is back at Tucson International Airport with round-trip commercial airline flights connecting Tucson to Hermosillo and other Mexican destinations once again.

Aeromar Airlines, Mexico’s longest-running airline in continuous service, began flying to and from Tucson Oct. 3, ending an eight-year drought of airline service between Tucson and Mexico. It was about the same time a nonstop American Airlines flight from Tucson to New York began service.

After flying nonstop for about an hour from Tucson to Hermosillo, the new air service to Mexico continues to Los Mochis, the gateway to Copper Canyon, then on to the beaches of Mazatlán, and finally to Guadalajara. The addition of the new flights means passengers traveling between Tucson and many Mexican cities will no longer be required to connect at out-ofthe-way airports.

At a news conference in August at TIA, Tucson Mayor Jonathan

Rothschild and other dignitaries praised the expansion of air service to and from Mexico and the economic benefits it brings.

“Nonstop flights to Hermosillo – a hub in Mexico’s airline system and the capital of the state of Sonora – are an important development in Tucson’s trade, tourism and cultural exchanges with our neighbors to the south,” Rothschild said.

Bonnie Allin, president and CEO of the Tucson Airport Authority, said re-establishing air service into Mexico has been one of TAA’s highest priorities since those routes were terminated around the onset of the Great Recession. “Eight years later we have success,” she said. “Now it will be vitally important for travelers to use these flights.”

Andres Fabre, Aeromar’s CEO, said he is confident air service between Tucson and Mexico will be financially successful or he wouldn’t have brought it here.

“We reviewed many opportunities before deciding that Tucson was the best destination for us,” Fabre said. “We will keep close watch on passenger acceptance of the new flights and if demand warrants it, we are prepared to increase the flight frequencies.”

The current flight schedule continued on page 38 >>> Winter 2017

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BizTRAVEL

continued from page 37 operates Sunday, Monday, Thursday and Friday aboard 46-passenger, ATR42 turboprop jet aircraft that have passenger cabins with two-by-two seating.

Aeromar began international service into the U.S. in 2013 when it began flying to and from McAllen, Texas. The airline announced earlier this year that it was looking at adding strategically targeted destinations in the U.S. With the addition of Tucson, Aeromar will operate more than 100 daily flights to 41 destinations. Aeromar is a privately owned airline founded in 1987. Its headquarters and operations and maintenance base are at the Mexico City International Airport. Aeromar boasts an on-time performance level of better than 93 percent.

On the ground, the Federal Aviation Administration dedicated the new 252-foot-tall air traffic control tower in September complete with new technology and a new facility for administrative offices. The new tower replaces the iconic tower with the neon “Tucson” vertically aligned on the building. The old tower will be repurposed.

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FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said the new tower was part of a nationwide strategy to invest in transportation infrastructure to support the economy.

“We need to continually reinvest in our nation’s air transportation infrastructure to maintain the world’s best – and safest – air transportation system,” Huerta said. “We also believe investment and environmental responsibility are intertwined, and this tower is a prime example of our efforts to be responsible environmental stewards.”

The new tower is about twice the height of the old tower, provides air traffic controllers with better airfield views and makes it easier for them to determine the positions of aircraft on the ground and in the skies around the airport.

“With this new tower, Tucson International Airport takes a major step forward in providing the infrastructure needed to secure and grow economic development opportunities associated with the airfield,” Allin said. “The tower is also an integral part of the commitment by both the FAA and the TAA to maintain the latest safety enhancements

at the airport.”

About the same time the tower was dedicated, the TAA Board unanimously approved a number of new contracts for concessions – both retail and food – in a total revamp and expansion of offerings that will mix local businesses with nationally known retailers.

Under the new agreements travelers using the airport will see food and beverage options with local brand names including Beyond Bread, El Charro Café, The Maverick, Noble Hops, Sir Veza’s Taco Garage, Thunder Canyon Brewery and Arbuckle’s Coffee.

For the retail concessions, the Hudson Group, North America’s largest airport retail operator, will be opening shops in the pre- and post-security areas, including Agustín Kitchen Express in the Centre Pointe area of the ticketing level.

Post-security retail will include marketstyle shops, some with Tucson and Arizona themes.

Construction on the new concessions will start in March and is scheduled to be completed in phases though the end of 2017.

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Oro Valley Receives National Award for BizTucson Special Report

The Town of Oro Valley has received a national communication and marketing award for the 36-page BizTucson Special Report published in the magazine’s fall 2015 issue.

The award was one of two 2016 Silver Circle Awards the town received from the City-County Communications and Marketing Association for excellence in communication and marketing. The annual competition recognizes “outstanding local government achievements in communications, public-sector marketing and citizen-government relationships,” according to the organization’s website.

The BizTucson Special Report, “Oro Valley: It’s in Our Nature,” was the Silver Circle winner in the category “Communication and Marketing Tools, Printed Publications.”

The judge’s comments on the entry included the following: “Innovative idea; beautiful publication. Wonderful

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publication. The artwork, the stories − so appealing. Great incorporation, layout and budget. Exciting photos, tags and sections.”

The special report highlighted Oro Valley’s community assets, including parks and recreation, arts and culture, growth and development, emerging bioscience and quality education.

The section was written by Jay Gonzales, Dan Sorenson, Steve Rivera and Kimberly Schmitz. The editors were Donna Kreutz and Gabrielle Fimbres.

Brent G. Mathis and David Smith shot the original photos. Mathis, creative director for the magazine, did the design and layout.

Oro Valley’s other award was in the category of “Communication and Marketing, Graphic Design and Photography” for the project titled: Oro Valley Aquatic Center Summer Marketing Campaign 2015.

The project entailed a series of print

and digital ads that were created inhouse to drive usage and membership sales, while branding the Oro Valley Aquatic Center as an affordable way for the entire family to stay cool all summer.

“While the graphic design award is certainly a reflection of Oro Valley’s in-house talent,” said Communications Administrator Misti Nowak, “what is even more impressive is the level of community collaboration that went into developing the Oro Valley Special Report in BizTucson Magazine. Publisher Steve Rosenberg and his team continue to produce a beautiful and reputable publication. Most importantly, the Town is grateful to the businesses and community partners who purchased ad space, bringing this project to fruition.”

The winning entries were announced at the 3CMA National Conference on Sept. 8 in San Antonio.

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Raytheon Missile Systems at a Glance • This Tucson-based facility is the

largest missile maker in the world

• 1.5 million missiles delivered

since 1951

• $2.1 billion statewide economic

impact

• 2,000 new jobs projected with

expansion

• Southern Arizona’s largest private

employer with 10,000 high-wage jobs

• Customers include all U.S. military services and allied forces of more than 50 countries

• Founded as Hughes Aircraft in

1951, acquired by Raytheon in 1997

• The Raytheon airport site is about

1,600 acres and has 158 buildings comprising 2.9 million square feet under roof

• Raytheon also has facilities on Palo

Verde Road and at the University of Arizona Tech Park on Rita Road

Taylor W. Lawrence President Raytheon Missile Systems

Raytheon Missile Systems’ headquarters facility

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Major Expansion for Raytheon 2,000 New High-Wage Jobs, Economic Impact in Billions

PHOTOS: COURTESY RAYTHEON MISSILE SYSTEMS

By David Pittman Raytheon Missile Systems is bigger than big and enormously significant in so many ways, making its impact felt not just in Tucson, or Arizona, or the U.S. or around the globe – but beyond the bounds of earth and into outer space.

It currently employs nearly 10,000 people in Tucson. In the next couple of years it likely will pass the University of Arizona to become the region’s largest employer overall after it was announced in November it would be adding as many as 2,000 jobs in Tucson over the next five years.

A new study from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University places Raytheon’s annual economic impact in Arizona at $2.1 billion.

Raytheon operates the largest, most sophisticated and advanced missile production system in the world. Its broad portfolio of weapon systems supports air-to-air and land combat, naval weapons, strike weapons, missile defense, guided projectiles, directed energy systems and combat and sensing systems.

International sales to U.S. allies make up 27 percent of the company’s business. Yet the reach of Raytheon Missile Systems is not contained to earth’s atmosphere. It tests and manufactures Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicles that can be deployed into space to intercept ballistic missiles.

And Raytheon Missile Systems is growing larger still because of increased worldwide demand for its large array of www.BizTucson.com

franchise missile products. Among the places it will be growing fastest is at its headquarters near Tucson International Airport.

“These rewarding, high-technology jobs will support Raytheon’s growth and bring even more top talent to this region,” said Taylor W. Lawrence, president of Raytheon Missile Systems. “The strong support we receive from state and local organizations is essential to our expansion plans, and will help provide Raytheon with the workforce and infrastructure to meet the growing demand we are seeing from our customers.”

The Tucson expansion was announced in November after the company reached tentative agreements with officials from the city, county and state on tax breaks and incentives that could eventually be worth tens of millions of dollars. Raytheon also will benefit from a new lease agreement with the Tucson Airport Authority that consolidates the authority’s nine leases with Raytheon into one, includes an additional 21 acres of land adjacent to the 183 acres Raytheon already had under existing leases, and extends the new lease for 30 years with options for up to an additional 30 years.

“The Tucson Airport Authority couldn’t be more excited that our 65year partnership will continue with this commitment from Raytheon to expand and grow in our region,” said TAA President and CEO Bonnie Allin.

In an interview with BizTucson,

Lawrence said Raytheon’s expansion in Tucson already is underway and the company already has begun hiring new engineers and other high-tech workers.

“Construction has not begun yet, but it is being planned,” Lawrence said. “We are going to add lab space, production facilities and we will be modernizing everything. The biggest near-term thing is adding office space for our engineers.”

Lawrence, who earned a doctorate in applied physics from Stanford University in 1992, said Raytheon has pumped millions of dollars into factory modernization in recent years and that process will continue. “We are doing a lot with robotics and we’ve really automated the way we do tests. All of this is about improving our quality and decreasing the opportunities to make mistakes. That is something we put a lot of money in. We also put a lot of money into our worldclass space factory, which is where we build all our space vehicles for missile defense.”

Raytheon’s expansion is being driven by business growth.

“We are expanding to meet the demands of our customers,” Lawrence said. “Our company is all about making the world a safer place and when you look at what is going on around the world you can see why there is increased demand for our products and systems.

It’s not an isolated demand for just one or two programs. It is a widespread and growing demand for all of our franchises.” continued on page 42 >>> Winter 2017

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in March 2012 with Pima County’s $5.9 million purchase of 382 acres of private land south of the airport. The purchase prevented urban encroachment around Raytheon Missile Systems’ headquarters facility, and provided the land needed to relocate Hughes Access Road, now known as Aerospace Parkway.

Construction of Aerospace Parkway was completed in December 2015. Realignment of the road made way for the buffer area Raytheon needed for expansion and provided the ability to begin planning and installing the needed infrastructure for development of the Pima County Aerospace, Defense and Technology Research and Business Park, which already counts World View Enterprises and Vector Space Systems as future tenants.

Huckelberry has also indicated the proposed Sonoran Corridor, a road project that was defeated by county voters in a bond election in November 2015, could be resurrected because of its new listing as a federal government priority, which increases the possibility that substantial federal funds could be dedicated to the project. If built, the corridor would connect Interstate 10 at Rita Road with Interstate 19 north of Pima Mine Road.

Lawrence said Huckleberry’s efforts were critical to Raytheon’s decision to expand in Tucson. “The county, and specifically Chuck Huckelberry and his initiatives regarding the Aerospace Parkway and the Sonoran Corridor, have been great and are already attracting other high-tech companies,” he said.

“Bringing other high-tech companies into the region was certainly a positive factor in our decision to grow here.”

Huckelberry wasn’t the only person credited

by Lawrence, who also praised Gov. Doug Ducey, U.S. Sen. John McCain, Congresswoman Martha McSally, Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild and officials from Sun Corridor and Tucson Airport Authority for assisting Raytheon’s planned expansion.

“It is the integration of the various levels of government working together that is responsible for achieving a more pro-business result than in the past,” Lawrence said. “All levels of government came together and really examined what we needed as far as overall incentives.”

Snell said Tucson and Pima County are “in a good place right now” in their economic development efforts.

“The business community and all the government entities have worked very hard to get here, and things are now where they should be,” he said. “Five years ago we couldn’t have accomplished this because we were too fractured. The local governments just couldn’t get together back then. ” Snell said success breeds success and he believes a sustained run of business expansion and relocation in Tucson is very possible. “There are some other big, big things in the pipeline right now,” he said.

The state’s incentive offer includes up to $5 million to Raytheon through a deal-closing fund operated by the Arizona Commerce Authority that is paid continued on page 44 >>>

PHOTOS: COURTESY RAYTHEON MISSILE SYSTEMS

continued from page 41 Raytheon’s decision to expand its Tucson operations comes on the heels of a number of recent and high-profile company relocations and expansions in Tucson. The success seen during the past year in attracting these companies is being viewed by many in the community as positive evidence that state, county and city governments, along with local business interests and quasi-governmental operations, are united and working collaboratively to bolster job creation and economic growth.

Such views are a turnabout in Tucson, which has been a place where complaints of local government indifference to the plight of private business have been commonplace for decades.

One of the lowest points in the history of economic development in the Old Pueblo came in 2010 when Raytheon Missile Systems selected Huntsville, Alabama, over Tucson as the site of a new manufacturing facility to integrate the company’s largest missiles, the Standard Missile-3 and the Standard Missile-6. Tucson was beaten by Huntsville for two reasons. First, it was unable to match the incentive package offered by the Alabama city. And secondly, though Raytheon’s Tucson headquarters had enough buffer space around its facility to test smaller missiles, it did not have the buffer area needed to test the larger ones.

The failure to land the Raytheon integration facility was a huge wake-up call that led many Southern Arizona government, political and business leaders to re-examine the community’s economic development programs to determine what had gone wrong and how things could be set right.

That process got underway when Joe Snell, president and CEO of Sun Corridor Inc., led a group of 12 business and government leaders to Huntsville to find out firsthand what that community was doing to attract high-tech defense companies and manufacturers that Tucson was not. What the contingent witnessed in Huntsville was a unified local populace that supported pro-business policies aimed at attracting high-wage jobs, an active and vocal Congressional delegation that worked to bring private- and public-sector job opportunities to Alabama, and a city government that had enacted a sales tax to pay for high-tech infrastructure and a world-class business park designed to attract hightech defense and manufacturing companies.

The Huntsville trip proved to be a turning point for Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry.

“After the site visit, it was clear that Pima County and our region needed to take an entirely different approach to economic development other than hoping our favorable climate would give us a competitive edge,” Huckelberry said. “This meant significantly increased regional collaboration among governmental entities, increased infrastructure investments, and proactive advanced planning to ensure the region never again lost an opportunity to help the largest private sector employer in the region to expand.”

Implementation of that vision began in earnest

Fusion Factory

Tomahawk Launch

RMS Manufacturing

RMS 12 Javelin

RMS Manufacturing www.BizTucson.com

Winter 2017

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BizTucson 43

BizAEROSPACE continued from page 42 incrementally as the company meets hiring and wage goals.

Raytheon also may qualify for a refundable state income tax credit available to companies making capital investments to build or renovate facilities.

“Raytheon’s decision to expand its operations in Tucson is excellent news not only for the region, but for our entire state’s economy,” said Sandra Watson, president & CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority. “Following a competitive search process, Arizona’s pro-business policies, exceptional talent and strategic location won out.”

The City of Tucson would allow Raytheon to build more than $400 million in new construction on city-owned land near the company’s airport campus through an amended annexation agreement creating a city annexation fund with property taxes paid by Raytheon to the city.

“Raytheon’s decision to annex into the city gave them the tools and opportunity to stay and grow in Tucson,” said Rothschild. “We’re very pleased that Raytheon has chosen to expand its operations in Tucson.”

Pima County’s agreement with Raytheon, which has already been approved by the Board of Supervisors, calls for:

• Supporting Raytheon’s application to receive a designation as a foreign trade zone (FTZ), which would reduce its property tax bill by about $16 million over 10 years.

• Placing

restrictions on the county-owned Aerospace, Defense and Technology Research and Business Park adjacent to Raytheon that would put limits on building heights and prohibit foreign ownership by companies based in nonNATO countries.

• Selling county property south of Raytheon to the U.S. Air

Force at market value for construction of a new state-of-theart secure entrance.

• And widening roads near the company’s airport campus to

accommodate more traffic. The Pima Association of Governments awarded the county $10 million in late October to widen Aerospace Parkway and fund other road projects near Raytheon.

“It is anticipated that with an approved FTZ application, which can only be approved by the U.S. Department of Commerce and consented to by the taxing jurisdictions of Pima County, the economic benefit will be approximately $16 million in foregone property taxes over 10 years,” wrote Huckelberry in a memo to the Board of Supervisors. “Raytheon has also agreed to pay the full property assessment (18 percent) for educational institutions, which are Sunnyside Unified School District, Pima Community College District and the Joint Technological Education District. These taxing entities will receive the full value of property taxes as paid at the higher assessment ratio.

“Given the direct and indirect economic benefits of an additional 2,000 highly-compensated employees within the region, the property taxes paid by this economic activity will be dramatically more than the FTZ property tax relief incentive. Even with the FTZ designation, the tax base of Raytheon will more than double.”

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World View Enterprises

Raytheon Missile Systems Small Satellite in Orbit

Vector Space Systems

OSIRIS-REx

Paragon Space Development

Kitt Peak National Observatory

M33 is a spiral galaxy that is about ten times smaller than our own.

Three â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;pointingsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; of the camera along the galaxy in five filters were used to make the image.

Image Courtesy National Optical Astronomy Observatory/Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy/National Science Foundation

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The New Frontier Space Industry Takes Off

By Eric Swedlund What began on a far-flung edge of the University of Arizona campus a century ago has grown into one of Tucson’s signature industries with a burst of fresh momentum over the past year set to propel the region even further.

Space, which has captured the human imagination since the first stargazers turned their eyes to the night sky, is a massive economic engine in Southern Arizona with a rich history of scientific discovery that not only continues as strong as ever in the 21st century, but has branched into a robust and growing slate of private businesses.

The dry, clear air that first attracted pioneering astronomer Andrew Ellicott Douglass gave Arizona a natural advantage at the turn of the 20th century with the establishment of Lowell Observatory near Flagstaff. Then in 1916, Douglass, by then a UA professor, secured one of the most forward-thinking investments in Tucson’s history, a $60,000 donation from Oracle philanthropist Lavinia Steward, to build a world-class observatory.

“We have the best location of any educational institution in America. The

University ought to make itself famous with a telescope,” wrote Douglass as part of his determined effort to establish a campus observatory.

Fast-forward 100 years and the development of space and planetary science as a key economic engine has positioned Tucson and Pima County to leverage the region’s strengths – innovation, education, entrepreneurialism and a critical mass of existing companies – to expand its reputation as a global leader and accelerate growth in the private sector.

Today, that once far-flung corner of campus has blossomed into one of the nation’s most consistent academic partners for NASA missions, playing a role in nearly every planetary exploration mission the space agency has undertaken since its formation in 1958. And as the private space industry has grown, officials with the city, state and county have collaborated with industry leaders to establish the Pima County Aerospace, Defense and Technology Business and Research Park south of the city to enable expansion of current companies and attract next-generation businesses. continued on page 48 >>>

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Frank Borman

Mark Kelly

Ron Garan

Charles Walker

James McDivitt

Tucson’s Astronauts

Frank Borman – Born in Gary, Ind. and raised in Tucson. Graduated from Tucson High School and the U.S. Military Academy, West Point.

Was the commander of the first space flight to orbit the moon on Apollo 8 in 1968. Lives in Las Cruces, N.M. (PHOTO COURTESY OF NASA) Mark Kelly – One of only two astronauts to go to the International Space Station four times. Commanded the last flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Lives in Tucson and is married to former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Is director of flight crew operations for World View Enterprises. (PHOTO COURTESY OF NASA) Ron Garan – Completed 2,842 Earth orbits and more than 178 days in space. Flew on the Space Shuttle and the Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

Currently lives in Tucson and is the chief pilot for World View Enterprises.

(PHOTO COURTESY OF NASA) Charles Walker – Flew three Space Shuttle missions as a payload specialist in 1984 and 1985. Also was responsible for training astronaut crews in earlier shuttle flights. Is retired and living in Tucson.

(PHOTO COURTESY OF NASA) James McDivitt – Was commander of the Apollo 9 mission which was the first to take the lunar module to the moon’s orbit. Also was on Gemini 4, which orbited the earth 66 times in June 1965. Now spends his retirement in Tucson and Michigan. (PHOTO COURTESY OF NASA) Background Image M31 is a spiral galaxy very similar in size and mass to our own.

Image Courtesy National Optical Astronomy Observatory/Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy/National Science Foundation

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continued from page 47 Expanding in 2016 Though closely tied to its predecessors – aviation, defense and aerospace – commercial space technology is a relatively new industry, and several of Tucson’s strategic advantages are aligned to accelerate its expansion as the sector grows.

Collectively, aerospace, defense and optics already are serious business in Southern Arizona. That foundation becomes more significant as regional leaders work to both lure companies and nurture homegrown startups in the emerging space technology sector, said Alex Rodriguez, Southern Arizona VP of the Arizona Technology Council.

“Because of the actions of Pima County and the collaboration and interest from the City of Tucson, Sun Corridor and others, Arizona has a presence and functional economic base in the commercial space-tech market,” Rodriguez said. “That has assured that Arizona is now being looked at as a strong contender for new entrants or to attract other players that are in the marketplace already.”

Progress in 2016 began with the Pima County Board of Supervisors voting in January to establish the $14.5 million, 120,000-square-foot Spaceport Tucson, leased to World View Enterprises, to anchor the Pima County Aerospace, Defense and Technology Business and Research Park. Then, in October, Vector Space Systems made an attention-grabbing announcement that its headquarters and manufacturing will be located in Tucson.

“We experienced a historic first here in Tucson, with Vector Space Systems taking their Vector-H rocket right down the middle of Congress Street downtown,” Rodriguez said. “That sight has since become a symbolic point of departure for what’s next in the regional economy. Aerospace has been a significant contributor and factor to our Southern Arizona economy since the old hangars were built at the Tucson airport.

“Bring that forward to today and we’ve come a long way. There’s no question there’s a strong positive upside in helping land both World View and now Vector Space Systems here.

In effect, by taking those steps, it assured that Arizona joined the commercial space tech market.” www.BizTucson.com

BizSPACE Creating Space for Space Planning for the county’s aerospace research park began after Raytheon selected Huntsville, Ala., over Tucson for an expansion plant in 2010. Giving Raytheon and other large-scale high-tech manufacturers enough room to operate became a crucial goal, said John Moffatt, director of the Pima County Economic Development Office.

With his own aerospace background starting as a programmer working on the Apollo missions in the1960s, Moffatt had seen how large-scale technology programs do wonders for regional economic development.

“They’re long-term investments,” he said. “The thing that I learned is this is an industry that is inclusive. There are so many moving parts, there are lots of subcontractors and it’s a collection of specialties.”

To give Raytheon room to grow and establish the Aerospace, Defense and Technology Business and Research Park, the county developed a master plan – with the input of the City of Tucson, Tucson Airport Authority, Arizona Air National Guard and others. The Pima Association of Governments funded the relocation of Hughes Access Road to create a buffer zone for Raytheon and begin planning to widen and extend the Aerospace Parkway. Securing the headquarters of World View and Vector is a direct result of those moves.

“Part of this is looking forward, having a plan and executing. Everything is a theory until reality shows up,” Moffatt said. “The concept of this being aerospacebased was ours. We kept focusing on finding companies that fit that. The key to this is you have to break the ice.

We’re very fortunate the first two were home runs.”

Over 10 years, Moffatt anticipates World View and Vector will have a combined $5 billion economic impact on Tucson.

“I’ve lived in Tucson my whole life and I’ve never seen more momentum and more of the community working together,” he said. “The cooperation that’s going on regionally is unprecedented.”

Becoming a hotbed for the commercial space sector means extending Arizona’s reputation as a “national treasure” when it comes to astronomy and optics, Rodriguez said. Just as dark-sky policies served to enable development in the state’s observatories, creating the research park can help push the envelope on what’s to come.

“By design, it’s a research park whose vision is built around serving the needs of the companies that co-locate here. In essence, Arizona as a state is providing a disruptive and transformative model for the companies that are doing that themselves,” Rodriguez said. “Any of these companies could become the next Lockheed Martin or the next Intel in a different industry sector. That’s what’s important. We are helping enhance what is an open-ended frontier. That is really a visionary paradigm shift in Arizona’s approach to economic development.”

Vector’s arrival shows outside businesses, venture capitalists and potential startups that Tucson is actively promoting the industry, supportive and ready to expand, said Ken Sunshine, co-founder and CFO of Vector.

“What Tucson can expect to see with Vector is just the continued on page 51 >>> www.BizTucson.com

1906

University of Arizona professor Andrew Ellicott Douglass begins astronomical research using an 8-inch telescope borrowed from Harvard University.

Andrew Ellicott Douglass

1916

Douglass persaudes philanthropist Lavinia Steward of Oracle to donate $60,000 to fund a UA observatory.

1923

Steward Observatory is officially dedicated on April 23, with a 36-inch telescope that was moved to Kitt Peak in 1963 and is still in use today.

1942

Consolidated Vultee Aircraft builds three hangars at the then-new Tucson airport to modify B-24 bombers for World War II.

1951

Hughes Aircraft Co. builds a missile plant in Tucson, which in 1997 was acquired by Raytheon Missile Systems.

1955

Aden B. Meinel

Aden B. Meinel of the Yerkes Observatory at the University of Chicago selects Kitt Peak, about 50 miles southwest of Tucson, for a national observatory. Meinel is later named the founding director of Kitt Peak National Observatory.

1960

The UA recruits famed astronomer Gerard P. Kuiper to establish the Lunar and Planetary Gerard P. Kuiper KuiLaboratory. per’s groundbreaking photographic Lunar Atlas published later that year became a crucial guide in NASA’s preparations to send a manned mission to the moon.

1964

With Kuiper as the mission’s lead scientist, NASA’s Ranger 7 spacecraft becomes the first U.S. spacecraft to reach the moon, returning unprecedented high-resolution images of the lunar surface used to prepare the Apollo missions. (Photo: Ranger 7 Spacecraft Model -- Photograph number P-2988b. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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PHOTO: BRENT G. MATHIS

From Left

Taber MacCallum & Jane Poynter

CTO & CEO of World View Enterprises

Ron Garan

Chief Pilot, World View Enterprises

World View Enterprises Capsule on runway

A World View Enterprises stratollite on the launch runway 50 BizTucson

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World View Enterprises Stratollite & Capsule in Flight

Aerial of SpacePort Tucson & World View Enterprises World View Enterprises Capsule in Flight

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SpacePort Tucson For Jane Poynter and Taber MacCallum, CEO and CTO of World View Enterprises, Tucson was a natural place to launch their new business, yet ultimately factors beyond their already-established connections here were the most significant.

Both original crewmembers of Biosphere 2, Poynter and MacCallum knew they could leverage the region’s advantages for their new firm, which is designed around launching scientific instruments into the stratosphere using balloons, with plans for a space tourism component as well.

World View conducted a nationwide search before selecting Tucson, so it’s not by accident or out of a sense of familiarity that the company’s headquarters are here. For an analogy of Tucson’s current potential in space technology, MacCallum points to Austin, Texas, at the dawn of the personal computer craze.

“It takes a whole bunch of stars to align for a community to become attractive to these kinds of things,” MacCallum said. “Austin was really well-positioned to take advantage of that because of a strong university, state and local governments that were very business friendly, a smart workforce in the area, and a very attractive area to live in.

“Tucson is that exact same formula now. It’s an amazing university for space, we have some of the best optics folks in the world here, and there’s a great workforce that has its base with Raytheon and other aerospace firms in the area.”

Advancing technology and a decreasing emphasis for the federal space program have combined to open the door for private companies to launch rockets, putting satellites, and potentially people, into space.

“We’re seeing now a huge growth in this market. Thirty years ago, it was government doing major projects in space,” Poynter said. “Not only has technology improved to the point it doesn’t take huge programs to do these things, there’s an incredible market surge with people addressing markets in completely different ways.”

Poynter describes World View as a “flight services company,” offering its high-altitude balloons – or “Stratolites” – to carry a payload into the stratosphere. That payload, which can be sensors, telescopes, communications arrays or other scientific instruments, can be positioned for months on end over a targeted area. Weather monitoring, storm detection, remote communications and emergency assessment are but a few of the applications World View anticipates. Just as the internet has permeated daily life, Pointer sees the Stratolites as having such a myriad of applications as to be ubiquitous.

“Every day we seem to see new uses for this that we hadn’t thought of, which is very exciting,” Poynter said.

Operating out of SpacePort Tucson, World View is an early entrant into an emerging industry that may come to continued on page 53 >>> Winter 2017

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PHOTOS: COURTESY WORLD VIEW ENTERPRISES

continued from page 49 tip of the iceberg. It’s going to be more and more attractive for companies to come here,” he said. “Now is the time for us all to prove we can do what we said we can do. It’s a great time to be in the space business.”

UA Biosphere 2

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1964

Meinel becomes founding director of the UA Optical Sciences Center, later to become the College of Optical Sciences.

1972

IMAGES: COURTESY PARAGON

The Planetary Science Institute is founded.

The private, nonprofit research institute is dedicated to solar system exploration, and PSI scientists have been involved with numerous NASA and international missions.

1976

Learjet opens a manufacturing plant at Tucson International Airport. When Bombardier Aerospace purchases Learjet in 1990, the Montreal-based company begins expanding the local facility.

1979

Meinelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s breakthrough Multiple Mirror Telescope begins making observations from Mount Hopkins south of Tucson.

Paragon Space Development IWP

1985

The Steward Observatory Mirror Laboratory begins work under the east wing of AriRoger Angel zona Stadium on the UA campus.

The lab continues the pioneering work of Roger Angel, whose backyard kiln experiments with borosilicate glass established a new method of building large, lightweight mirrors.

1991

Biosphere 2 launches its first mission. Intended as a prototype for off-Earth colonies, the 3.15-acre terrarium near Oracle captures the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attention when a crew of eight is sealed inside.

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continued from page 49 1993

define the region for years to come.

“For every state that really drives into this industry, it’s been a huge boom. It’s a field that is truly untapped. The sky is not the limit. We can grow very rapidly in Arizona,” Poynter said. “It takes a long time to really nurture the kind of ecosystem that’s thriving here. I have great expectations for the space industry. It’s hit an inflection point and you’ll see it take off in a big way in Tucson.”

Paragon Helped Set the Stage When Paragon Space Development Corporation began in Tucson in 1993, the International Space Station was still five years away from launching its first phase. But the Paragon founders anticipated that life-support systems would be a crucial component of the next generation of space exploration.

“We recognized that there are biologists and chemists and there are aerospace engineers and they don’t necessarily all talk the same language. The concept was to bridge that gap,” said Grant Anderson, Paragon CEO, president and co-founder. “There’s no capsule that’s ever been designed for humans that didn’t include a life-support system. We felt like the industry would move toward longer and longer duration missions and the solutions would be different than say Apollo. When you start talking months instead of days, it’s a different problem.”

Fast forward to 2016, and the company’s long-developed expertise paid off with a new NASA contract for the full-scale development of Paragon’s patented Ionomermembrane Water Processor System to be demonstrated on the International Space Station. The contract is part of the continuing refinement and development of Paragon’s long-duration water recovery technology.

Paragon’s IWP system is designed to improve water recovery from the astronaut’s urine up to 98 percent, from the current level of 65 to 75 percent. Launching water into space is expensive – about $10,000 for every kilogram – so Paragon’s system can ultimately save NASA one launch per year. The IWP will be deployed to the ISS in the third or fourth quarter of 2017.

“NASA wanted to close the loop more,” Anderson said.

“There’s a better way to process water that’s more efficient and simpler.”

Having anticipated the growth of private space technology companies, Paragon began working with Elon Musk even before he founded SpaceX. “We saw that the commercial companies were eventually going to become more self-sustaining and not just rely on government work. The evolution has been decades in the making,” Anderson said.

“We are consistently providing hardware to the commercial as well as the government side of it.”

With close ties to others in Tucson’s space technology community − World View is a Paragon spin-off company and Vector CEO Jim Cantrell is a former Paragon board member − Paragon is an example of how cornerstone companies can create an environment for greater expansion in the industry.

“It’s exciting to see concentration of space companies happening here in Tucson,” Anderson said. “It’s a good melding of the university and the industry here and the locontinued on page 55 >>> www.BizTucson.com

Paragon Space Development Corporation is founded by a group of Biospherians and space scientists to design and build life support systems for extreme and hazardous environments.

2000

The UA’s Controlled Environment Agriculture Center begins operating its computercontrolled greenhouse. The center operates a prototype Lunar Greenhouse in collaboration with NASA and the South Pole Food Growth Chamber to provide crops for researchers stationed on the Antarctic Plateau.

2005

Large Binocular Telescope

The Large Binocular Telescope on Mount Graham begins operation using the first of its two 8.4-meter mirrors. The LBT is among the world’s most advanced optical telescopes.

2006

Aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the HiRISE camera captures its first images from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Martian orbit. Led by the UA’s Alfred McEwen, HiRISE is the largest and most advanced camera used on any deep space mission to date.

2008

The Phoenix Mars Lander

The Phoenix Mars lander successfully touches down on the Red Planet on May 25. It is the first NASA mission led by a public university, with the UA’s Peter Smith serving as principal investigator.

2011

After three flyby passes, NASA’s MESSENGER probe becomes the first to orbit NASA’s MESSENGER Mercury. It was a long-awaited return to the planet for the UA’s Robert Strom, the only scientist to serve on both NASA missions to Mercury.

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continued from page 53 2014

With a donation of $20 million from the founder and chairman of Interface Inc., the UA’s mirror lab is renamed the Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab.

2014

The UA establishes the interdisciplinary Defense and Security Research Institute to expand partnerships and collaborations between the university and industry.

2015

Construction of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope begins on Cerro Pachón ridge in north-central Chilé. The LSST will be a wide-field survey telescope, with an 8.4-meter mirror built by the UA and a 3200 megapixel camera designed to map the entire visible sky every few nights.

Raytheon MissileRaytheon Systems Small Satelite Small in Satellite Orbit

2016

The OSIRIS-REx mission launches on Sept.

8. Led by the UA, the $800 OSIRIS-REx million NASAsponsored mission aims to return a sample of the carbonaceous asteroid Bennu to Earth by 2023.

Raytheon Missile Systems Robotic Arm Moving Small Satellite

2018

Scheduled launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, which James Webb Space Telescope includes the Near Infrared Camera as its primary imager. Developed by a UA team led by Marcia Rieke, NIRCam will search in the infrared for galaxies that were among the earliest formed in the universe.

2025

Anticipated completion date for the Giant Magellan Telescope, which Giant Magellan Telescope will feature seven 8.4-meter mirrors cast by the UA Steward Observatory’s Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab. To be built at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile, the GMT will have a resolving power 10 times greater than the Hubble Space Telescope.

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Raytheon Missile Systems Small Satellite Manufacturing

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PHOTOS: COURTESY RAYTHEON

continued from page 53 cal governments have been cooperative.

It’s all come together.”

Raytheon Blends Defense and Space Even though its main business in Tucson exists in the defense sector, Raytheon’s work reaches into the space technology realm. Currently the plant is under contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in the U.S. Department of Defense to produce small satellites while also pursuing opportunities to potentially manufacture the company’s own designs or produce “build to print” of other companies’ designs.

“Raytheon is applying the experience and discipline with missile production – precision, size, mass production and affordability – to the development and production of small satellites,” said Buck Larkin, business development lead for Raytheon’s small satellite business.

“We see multiple uses for this technology both in the government and commercial sectors.”

In 2015, Raytheon completed a 9,600-square foot, $9.2 million expansion of its Space Systems Operations factory, where the company designs and manufactures its missile defense systems that are the first line against potential ballistic missile attacks. The company is the world leader in designing and building kill vehicles that travel into space to intercept enemy missiles.

Raytheon is working simultaneously on four kill vehicles. Guarding against intercontinental ballistic missiles, the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle is the intercept component of the GroundBased Interceptor, while the Standard Missile-3 is a defensive weapon used by the U.S. Navy to destroy short- to intermediate-range ballistic missile threats.

Also in the design phase at Raytheon are two next-generation kill vehicles with improved reliability and greater cost effectiveness. The Redesigned Kill Vehicle will leverage Raytheon’s expertise with the EKV to deliver a simpler replacement at a reduced cost, while the Multi-Object Kill Vehicle, as part of a 2015 contract, will use Raytheon’s advances in sensor, guidance, propulsion and communication technologies to be able to destroy several objects in space. continued on page 56 >>> www.BizTucson.com

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continued from page 55 Kitt Peak Remains Vital One lesson that Southern Arizona’s astronomy legacy can offer for the expansion of industry is that crucial infrastructure, once established, can enable cutting-edge work for decades to come.

As Kitt Peak National Observatory nears its 60th year, it remains one of the world’s premier sites for astronomy with 25 telescopes in operation, more than any other single site in the continental United States. Dozens of universities and research consortia around the world use the telescopes for research and education, while Kitt Peak’s robust public outreach program is responsible for creating a steady “astro-tourism” presence in the state.

“This is an investment in a very special kind of infrastructure that’s devoted to the attainment of knowledge and understanding of our place in the universe,” said Kitt Peak Director Lori Allen. “It’s an extremely valuable resource for the state.”

The two largest optical telescopes at Kitt Peak are being reconfigured with new instruments for new projects to research dark energy and exoplanets.

The 4-meter Mayall Telescope, completed in 1973, will embark on a new Department-of-Energy-funded project to study dark energy, using an instrument called the dark energy spectroscopic instrument. Known as DESI, the instrument will create the most detailed three-dimensional map of the universe that’s ever been made, conducting a five-year survey of the night sky to measure the red-shift of 30 million galaxies and quasars, yielding new information on the history and expansion of the universe and the role that dark energy plays.

“Telescopes are just big light buckets,” Allen said. “The characteristics of telescopes themselves don’t change much over the years. The basic function remains the same and what keeps them relevant is the modern instrumentation that’s built to attach to these telescopes.”

The 3.5-meter WIYN Telescope, completed in 1994, will add a new instrument commissioned by NASA to capture ground-based measurements of the velocities of stars that are hosting planetary systems. That data will join with NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite to study newly discovered exoplanets.

“We’re very excited that we have these two cutting-edge instruments being built now for our telescopes to work on the two most exciting problems in astrophysics today, the role of dark energy and the existence of Earth-like planets orbiting other stars,” Allen said.

Kitt Peak National Observatory

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BizSPACE

Buell T. Jannuzi Director Steward Observatory

Symbiotic Partners Though questions surrounding the origins of the universe will remain on the minds of next-generation astronomers, UA has expanded its reach to industry over time to ensure a strong connection that has mutual benefits. Steward Observatory Director Buell T. Jannuzi said a long-standing refusal to be pigeonholed into existing boundaries gives UA scientists an innovative edge.

“Now we’re in a new era where we’re also doing applied astronomy, where some of the techniques have broader applications, so we’re collaborating with industry,” Jannuzi said.

“There are times when industry wants to have access to the newest idea, the newest innovation, so they work with our faculty here. There are times when we’re going to want the expertise of a major engineering firm, when we want to draw on their experience dealing with large construction projects, or manufacturing or engineering and design challenges.”

Major NASA space exploration grants to the UA have not only brought millions upon millions of dollars to the local economy, but have also given students the opportunity to join in cutting-edge research even as undergraduates. That in turn has led to the UA attracting more top students to programs across the science, technology, engineering and math – STEM − fields.

“I’m just ecstatic for future university graduates,” said Rodriguez of the Arizona Technology Council. “They’ll have a huge sandbox of opportunities. That helps put our region on the global map and can lead to stronger attraction for other companies to locate here.”

A well-educated, high-tech workforce then enables more innovation and exploration in the private sector, he said. “That ongoing ability to connect engineers at the university with engineers at private businesses has the same positive effect that the ecosystem itself lends to attract even more projects.”

As long as there’s support for cutting-edge research and taking some risks, the UA will continue tackling the most interesting and difficult scientific challenges, Jannuzi said.

“The details are unpredictable, but we have every reason to expect exciting and wonderful things based on past and present activity,” he said. “The reason groups like World View choose to come here, I hope, is because they see potential partners with other industry and with the university by being located in Tucson.

“When you’re part of an exciting, innovative community like Tucson is for space science, it attracts the best people. We’re very excited by the companies wanting to come here. It’s part of the bigger picture of Arizona influencing the next century of space exploration.”

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Jim Cantrell

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PHOTO: COURTESY VECTOR SPACE SYSTEMS

PHOTO: BRENT G. MATHIS

CEO & Co-Founder Vector Space Systems

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BizSPACE

Vector Rockets into Tucson Fledgling Manufacturer Boosts Local Industry

By Eric Swedlund With advances in technology enabling satellites to become smaller, cheaper and better, it seems to follow that the rockets that launch them into orbit should do the same.

That concept led to the formation of Vector Space Systems, a microsatellite launch company that seeks to fill a growing market space by manufacturing smaller rockets for frequent and relatively inexpensive launches. Created by founders of SpaceX, which provides launch vehicles for NASA and commercial flights, Vector is producing the first rocket built exclusively for the microsatellite market. It opens the door to space for innovators who don’t need or can’t afford the traditional $100 million rocket launch to put their satellite in orbit.

Founded in April, Vector Space Systems announced in October that it will locate the company’s manufacturing facilities and headquarters in Tucson, at the Pima County Aerospace, Defense and Technology Business and Research Park, alongside both the established high-tech giant Raytheon Missile Systems and the fledgling World View Enterprises.

Jim Cantrell, CEO and co-founder of Vector Space Systems, explained the microsatellite industry with an analogy that reflects the changes Moore’s Law has brought about in the computing world.

Mainframes that used to take up entire rooms were scaled down over time to personal computers and ultimately smart phones with astonishing computing power relative to their size. Now, he said, is a moment of enticing acceleration in the microsatellite industry.

“This whole idea stems from a recognition that the microsatellites that are emerging are really the equivalent of the PC in space,” Cantrell said. “I’m old enough to have started programming on mainframes and getting to space has been the same thing up until recently. What we have now is an exceptional growth

period that is fueled by the microtechnology. That’s a new dynamic that has never really existed.”

Microsatellites range in size roughly from a breadbox to a laser printer. Vector offers the smallest satellite-launch vehicles on the market, the VectorR, which can take 50 kilograms to orbit at a cost of $1.5 million, and the Vector-H, which can take 100 kilograms to orbit at a cost of $3 million.

“What used to be $100 million to build a satellite is now $100,000. What has not kept up pace with that evolution is the launch vehicles,” Cantrell said. “The big launch vehicles are always going to exist. But the business with microsatellites is a lot more innovative and people are flying lots of them.”

By 2020, Cantrell estimates worldwide launches of microsatellites will number about 800 annually.

And Vector’s plans are aggressive, with a goal of 100 launch rockets each year.

“We’re trying to service that market directly and give them a rocket that’s scaled to the microsatellite,” Cantrell said. “Our business model is different.

We’re going to mass produce these things so we can fly often.”

Part of what drew Vector to Tucson is the example of what their neighbor Raytheon has been able to accomplish in terms of large-scale manufacturing.

“We can clearly sell that many. The issue is can we manufacture and can we launch that many,” Cantrell said. “Raytheon is a master of building complex machines in mass numbers and we’re confident of that side of our analysis.”

The business is ramping up at a pace that surprises even its founders. Just four days after announcing the company’s headquarters would be in Tucson, Vector issued a press release to announce a $60 million agreement with York Space Systems for launches from 2019 to 2022. continued on page 60 >>> Winter 2017

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continued from page 59

“We’re making sales rather quickly.

We’ve got the best team in the industry to do this sort of thing and the satellite builders are signing up. It’s exceeded all my expectations in every way,” Cantrell said. “When we first started the company, we thought it would take us nine months to raise the initial round and it took us 13 hours. The customers have flooded in because they see the team is credible and they see the product is credible.”

The purposes of the satellites are myriad, and companies from around the world are seeking Vector out for their ride into space.

“Our first customer is a Finnish company, Iceye, that is building a constellation of radar satellites,” Cantrell said.

“They’re about the size of an inkjet printer and they go up and send radar waves down to the earth to create images, useful for ice-flow tracking and things like that. They’ve bought 21 launches from us.”

Another customer is PlanetiQ , a next-generation weather forecasting

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and climate-monitoring company that will put up 100 satellites and use GPS signals to create a highly accurate view of the Earth’s atmosphere.

“The technology is really quite incredible and it’s one of those things that has enabled microsatellites to do more,” Cantrell said. “We still deal with the limits of physics but you can get around that by having more satellites.”

In July, the company acquired 16-year-old aerospace engineering firm Garvey Space Systems to boost its engineering capability. A portion of Vector Space System’s engineering workforce will remain in California, while the launches are slated for Alaska and Florida. But the bulk of the company will be in Tucson.

Several factors led Vector to Tucson, among them the city’s long-standing reputation as a space-science hub, a good workforce and educational pipeline in the University of Arizona, and eager cooperation from elected officials and industry partners.

“We’re always raising money and when I go to venture capitalists and

show them the slide that Pima County has passed a resolution to negotiate with us, that’s a very big plus. A lot of people in the investment community look at who else has put faith in them and they see a county that puts their skin in the game and that’s important,” Cantrell said.

“Hopefully we can become a magnet for people who want to start a business here. It’s a great place to do startups.

I watched what World View has done here and I’ve talked to them about dealing with the county. I can see a lot of that happening, people coming to talk to us, and I fully intend to be an evangelist for doing business here.”

For Cantrell, Vector represents an exciting step forward in an industry that hadn’t seen the same sort of innovation as its early years.

“I left the space industry five years ago because it had become stodgy and old,” Cantrell said. “I’d been done with it and went off to do some other things, but this new energy brought me back into it because I think some new accomplishments can be made.”

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“

Local builders, local architects …

We’d do business with them again in a second.

They brought it in under budget, which is unheard of in remodels.

Jim Click President Jim Click Automotive Team

” PHOTOS: CHRIS MOONEY

–

Jim Click Chrysler Jeep

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BizAUTOMOTIVE

Remodeling Just Clicked

Vroom to Move at Two Dealerships The first thing Jim Click did when he walked into Jim Click Dodge and later Jim Click Chrysler Jeep was say – “Wow.” Actually, it was closer to “wow… wow…wow” as he looked around his remodeled dealerships at the Tucson Auto Mall.

Architect Kim Acorn, John Nyman from Concord General Contracting, Click CFO Susan Artaz and Sarah Miller, a design adviser for the Jim Click Automotive Team, were instrumental in the redesigns. That’s in addition to more than 30 Tucson-based vendors involved in the projects.

“Local builders, local architects… we’d do business with them again in a second,” Click said. “They brought it

in under budget, which is unheard of in remodels.”

They weren’t cheap, costing a combined $6 million, but the work was worth every penny.

“When you remodel, you never know what you’re going to end up with,” Click said. “Plus, you don’t know what it’s going to cost.”

Jim Click Chrysler Jeep went from a dealership that was smallish by today’s standards to a more wide-open look and feel. Its high ceilings were lowered for better sound and coziness. The balconies were closed. The showroom has doubled. There’s a refreshment area in the renovated back and a playroom for children, a cozy sitting area for adults and kids, and new parts and service de-

partment areas. It now covers 14,661 square feet. More than 200 cars are featured on the lot.

“The store was just too small,” Click said. “It’s perfect now, very comfortable.

We’re delighted.”

And that’s with both locations, which are about 100 yards apart at the Tucson Auto Mall on the northwest side.

At Jim Click Dodge, there’s more office space and a wide-open feel. Like Jim Click Jeep, there’s added light and you can see across the showroom floor.

The main building is 21,450 square feet.

More than 300 cars are on the lot. WiFi connections are available as well as more seating for customers in the showroom and in the service area. There’s a continued on page 64 >>>

Jim Click Dodge

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BizAUTOMOTIVE continued from page 63 five-car-wide service area under a nice porch-like area that is at least twice the size as before.

“People who come in know more about buying a car because of the internet,” Click said. “We’re trying to make it more comfortable for them with nice furniture and lighting. They’ve done a great job,” he said of Acorn, Nyman, Artaz and Miller.

And his wife, Vicki, helped with the design and tile selection. Both locations use the same whitish, speckled tile brought in from Italy.

“The two (locations) have the same motif and same floor,” Click said. “Ford kind of adopted it. They liked it so much.”

The remodeling template was Jim Click Ford on the eastside, which was built in the mid-2000s.

In preparation for the changes, Click and Sam Khayat, Click’s vice president, visited dealerships in California and “learned what not to do.” And instead, they had all the ideas they needed in Tucson after a building a few new dealerships.

At Jim Click Dodge, the showroom is big enough for four late-model cars, there’s an entryway where the service area and the customer’s lounge is on the left and car salesmen are to the right.

There’s ample room to see and move freely.

“People want it open,” Click said.

“They don’t want to go car shopping, and we want to change that so we’re making it a great experience for them.”

Each dealership has Click’s array of sports memorabilia featuring plenty of University of Arizona signatures. There also is Olympic Games garb given to him by close friends and Olympians.

“We think we’ve built these facilities for the next 10 to 15 years,” he said.

“If we just keep them clean and maintain them as we go, we won’t have to go through this kind of expense for a long time.

“We want them to have that ‘wow’ when they come in. Facilities don’t sell parts or services or cars – people do. So what the facility does is set the stage for what’s about to happen.”

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SPECIAL REPORT 2017

THE REGIONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S BUSINESS MAGAZINE

SPECIAL REPORT CORPORATE SPONSOR

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Tucson’s Economic Feels SPECIAL REPORT COVER PHOTO:DAVID LONG

The Momentum Continues to Build The Tucson Metro Chamber is jubilantly celebrating its past, present and future.

Founded in 1896, the Chamber recently observed an amazing milestone – its 120th anniversary as the oldest, largest and most influential business organization in Southern Arizona history.

Chamber investors and business interests throughout metro Tucson also have good reason to rejoice the here and now as Tucson has finally emerged from a lengthy, bearish economic hibernation and looks to be bursting into a ragingly bullish local business cycle.

What a difference a year makes. At this time 12 months ago, Michael Varney, the Chamber’s president and CEO, was bemoaning the frustration being felt by business people throughout Tucson, who widely complained that local government policies were failing to create the pro-business environment needed to jump-start a local economy that had seen nothing but slow or stagnant growth since the onset of the Great Recession in 2008.

Now, just 12 short months later, following a year in which the Chamber emphasized an aggressive, proactive 72 BizTucson

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public policy and advocacy agenda, Varney is declaring Tucson and Southern Arizona to be “on a roll” and promises the chamber will do all it can to keep the high tide of local business growth and job creation rising well into the future.

“Many business executives have told me that they have not felt this kind of positive momentum and economic adrenaline in our area in quite some

“

Many business executives have told me that they have not felt this kind of positive momentum and economic adrenaline in our area in quite some time.

”

Michael Varney President & CEO Tucson Metro Chamber –

time,” Varney said. “It feels good to win. Creating jobs and realizing a better community gives everyone a natural high and helps expand our economy.”

In recent months the Tucson community has enjoyed a wealth of positive economic news, such as: • The announcement that about 2,000 jobs will be added at Raytheon Missile Systems over the next five years • The selection of downtown Tucson as home for Caterpillar Inc.’s surface mining and technology division, producing more than 600 high-paying jobs • HomeGoods’ move into its new $75 million West Coast distribution center, which employs some 400 people now and could grow to as many as 900 in the future • Comcast’s decision to renovate the former Home Furnishings building adjacent to Tucson Mall into a customer support center where about 1,200 are employed • Vector Space Systems will be a tenant at Pima’s County’s defense and aerospace park when it is fully built out, employing 200 www.BizTucson.com

Adrenaline Good GUIDING TUCSON METRO CHAMBER

By David Pittman Other good business stories in Tucson include the continuing development boom downtown; the arrival of a new sports franchise, the Tucson Roadrunners hockey team; and a recent report from Bloomberg citing that Tucson boasts the third-best, year-overyear job growth among U.S. cities with populations of 500,000 or more.

And in a business and travel coup in which the Tucson Metro Chamber played a major role, on Oct. 7 American Airlines began nonstop, daily commercial air service between Tucson International Airport and JFK Airport in New York City. The new air route not only promises to significantly bolster the Southern Arizona tourism industry, but it also ends Tucson’s unwanted distinction of being the largest city in the nation without nonstop air service to the Big Apple.

The New York flight is the result of a remarkably proactive effort by the Chamber to organize and oversee the fundraising effort needed to create a revenue-guarantee fund of more than $3 million to ensure American Airlines’ profitability during the first two years of operating the route. www.BizTucson.com

Varney said the person responsible for organizing and leading the Chamber’s effort to establish the revenueguarantee fund is Bill Assenmacher, CEO of CAID Industries and a member of the Chamber’s board of directors, whom Varney refers to as “a maniac on a mission to get things done.”

“Raising that amount of money wasn’t easy and it took a lot of work by a lot of people,” Assenmacher said.

“But getting this route established was extremely important to the Tucson economy and it had broad-based support.”

Varney said the Chamber’s next move may very likely be aimed at establishing daily nonstop flights to and from Washington, D.C. “We’re hoping none of the revenue-guarantee fund will be tapped over the next two years, which is the length of our commitment on the New York/Tucson route,” he said. “If there is a substantial amount of money left in the revenue-guarantee fund after two years – and we’re hopeful there will be – we will see if the donors are willing to make that money available as a revenue guarantee to establish a direct Tucson to Washington,

Vision Tucson Metro Chamber is the pre-eminent resource and advocate for business in Southern Arizona.

Mission Leading and advocating for a successful community.

Value Proposition The Tucson Metro Chamber provides area business owners and executives with a unique mix of products, services and advocacy to help them grow their businesses and build a better community.

Mantra When business is good, life is good.

Source: Tucson Metro Chamber

D.C. flight.”

In the meantime, the Chamber recently unveiled a pair of dramatic, innovative, pro-business initiatives it will take on in the coming year. The first, called Project Prosperity, was derived from a task force of business leaders headed by Assenmacher that is recommending a seven-item agenda designed continued on page 74 >>> Winter 2017

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PHOTO: DEAN KELLY

BizLEADERSHIP

BizLEADERSHIP continued from page 73 to make city government more effective and streamline and simplify the regulatory maze required to open a business in Tucson. Implementing all the proposed suggestions (which are described in greater detail on page 76) will require actions by the Tucson City Council and the city manager’s office.

The second initiative was developed by the Chamber’s Retail Theft Task Force, which is proposing an ambitious crackdown on organized retail theft through a coalition that includes retailers, local law enforcement agencies, the Pima County Attorney’s Office and local prosecutors. (More on this plan can be found on page 78.)

Throughout the year the Chamber continued to be a staunch advocate for business at all levels of government.

Ongoing advocacy is not as dramatic as new jobs and jet flights, but it is foundational for those and other successes to occur. Key advocacy priorities this year included: • Supporting the establishment of a high-tech business and manufacturing zone near Raytheon Missile Systems and Tucson International Airport • Expanding mission assignments at military installations throughout Southern Arizona • Keeping the Cherrybell Postal Distribution Center open and operating • Evaluating candidates for public office and administering a political action committee • Leading delegations of business leaders to the nation’s Capital to address members of the Arizona Congressional delegation and Pentagon officials • Participating in a coalition that successfully lobbied to reinstate JTED funding cuts • Hiring two new government affairs employees to expand the number of local public meetings the Chamber can attend

The Chamber also provided an online help desk resource for members, educated business owners and managers on procurement strategies, made advancements in workforce development efforts, hosted the Emerging Leaders Council, collaborated with

Greater Tucson Leadership and promoted a positive perception of Tucson.

The Chamber’s broad scope is entirely funded by member investments, Chamber advertising opportunities and special events. The Chamber represents 1,500 businesses that employ more than 160,000 employees in Tucson and Pima County. Small business makes up approximately 60 percent of Chamber membership.

“

For the Chamber to rise to a position of impact and relevance is what it’s all about.

There’s electricity in the boardroom because things are getting done – and we all know that we are just getting started.

”

Thomas P. McGovern 2015-16 Board Chair Tucson Metro Chamber –

Thomas P. McGovern, the Chamber’s 2015-16 board chair, credits Varney with modernizing the organization and reinvigorating its board of directors to be both more invested in the community and committed to advocacy for job creation and business growth.

“Mike (Varney) is an accomplished businessman himself and he has introduced the most modern business concepts in chamber work,” said McGovern, a civil engineer who is regional director for Psomas, a leading engineering firm in Arizona, California and Utah. “For the Chamber to rise from where we’ve been to a position of impact and relevance is what it’s all about.

There’s electricity in the boardroom because things are getting done and we all know that we are just getting started.”

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Chamber is Greatest Advocate for Business Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry called the Tucson Metro Chamber “the greatest advocate for business in Pima County.”

In an interview with BizTucson, Huckelberry also said that under the leadership of Michael Varney, the Chamber has been instrumental in creating a more cooperative environment between Pima County government and the private sector.

“We have turned the phrase ‘public/private partnership’ from a cliché into reality here in Pima County,” Huckelberry said. “There is greater communication and understanding between the private and public sectors than in the past. The Chamber is providing a communications conduit to local government officials and acting as a voice for local businesses.”

The Chamber’s advocacy supports job-creating economic development proposals and efforts to make business interaction with government less burdensome. The Chamber also invites high-ranking Pima County and City of Tucson leaders – including Huckelberry, Pima County Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bronson, Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild and City Manager Michael Ortega – to participate in Interface meetings with business owners and executives at which public issues that affect businesses are openly and freely discussed.

“It’s been very productive,” Huckelberry said. “The Chamber is very positive and promotes a can-do attitude.”

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BizLEADERSHIP

Project Prosperity

What Business-Friendly Looks Like

By David Pittman Top city officials and a group of business leaders have formalized a remarkable agreement designed to pave the way for reforms that cut regulatory red tape, make doing business in Tucson more predictable, and encourage increased investment and urban growth.

The document, known as Project Prosperity, has been endorsed by Mayor Jonathan Rothschild, City Manager Michael Ortega and members of the City Council, who have agreed to implement the seven basic tenets it contains.

In some cases that will be easy – in others, not so much. For instance, a review of the process of applying for and receiving a city business license outlined in the pact was found to be highly satisfactory. However, proposed designation of new infill incentive areas will take more work and Council approval.

The roots of Project Prosperity come from the mind of Michael Varney, the president and CEO of the Tucson Metro Chamber, who explained his vision this way: “For years we’d been trying to convince the City of Tucson to be more business-friendly. Then one night it occurred to me that we had never expressed to them what being more business-friendly looked like, which is what Project Prosperity has been all about.”

Varney said Rothschild and Ortega “deserve a ton of credit” for the consensus agreement reached in Project Prosperity “because they are the ones who have to drive it. None of this would have been possible without their input and cooperation.

“All of us who were involved in Project Prosperity are very grateful for the willingness of the mayor, the city manager and council members to consider these proposals and help us make changes that we never could have done by ourselves.”

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Industries, who served as chair of the Project Prosperity Task Force from its beginning two years ago to the announcement that city leaders would attempt to implement its provisions and were on board with its objectives to make Tucson more business-friendly and bolster its economic growth.

Project Prosperity started as an 11-member taskforce made up exclusively of Chamber investors who interacted with city government on such things as permitting and regulatory processes. Those investors included Varney; Assenmacher; Robert Medler, the Chamber’s VP of government affairs; Garry Brav, BFL Construction; Jude Cook, Cook & Company Signmakers; Joe Davey, Tucson Federal Credit Union; Trea Johnston, Tuff Shed; Omar Mireles, HSL Properties; Barbi Reuter, Cushman & Wakefield |PICOR; Richard Studwell, Durazo Construction; and Thomas Warne, JL Investments.

“After we had been at this for nearly a year, it was decided that if we broadened our base it would increase our chances for success,” Varney said. That was when Andrea Ballard of Tucson Association of Realtors; David Godlewski of Southern Arizona Homebuilders Association and Amber Smith of Metropolitan Pima Alliance joined the task force. Soon thereafter Mayor Rothschild and City Manager Ortega joined the group.

“We reached out to City Manager Ortega and Mayor Rothschild, who were receptive to many of the ideas being suggested,” Assenmacher said.

“Mike (Ortega) was very open to the city becoming more business-friendly.

Mayor Rothschild was impressed that we wanted to work hand-in-hand with the city. Soon Council members and city staff also became involved in helping craft the package.”

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Chamber, City Agree on Seven Actions The seven principle tenets recommended in the Project Prosperity document are designed to make Tucson more business-friendly. They are:

1

Simplify the process of applying for and receiving a new business license.

2

Make construction permitting and inspection processes more predictable and efficient.

3

Streamline and modernize code ordinances.

4

Create infill districts, similar to those being used to stimulate downtown development, in designated areas in all city wards to spur investment, create jobs and increase the tax base.

5

Require quantification of business opportunities that are realized, lost or denied in the City of Tucson during the zoning process (and not after the fact). Data collection would include such things as the number of jobs a project would create, anticipated sales taxes, and revenue flowing to the city from development and construction fees.

6

Host a Chamber-sponsored workshop on business operations and job creation for Tucson City Council, mayor, city manager and department heads.

7

Make changes to the City Charter to eliminate civil service status for department heads, modernize descriptions of city positions to reflect current circumstances, and give the mayor a vote on some things from which he is now excluded. This vote occurred and the proposed changes were adopted. Other changes, similar to ones defeated by city voters in 2010, would have to be placed on the ballot by the City Council and approved by voters to be implemented. www.BizTucson.com

BizLEADERSHIP

CART to Tackle Organized Retail Crime

Local Losses Total $5.9 Million A Year

By David Pittman Organized retail crime is a serious and growing problem that cost Pima County retailers $5.9 million last year.

Now a coalition led by the Tucson Metro Chamber plans to unveil a new program in January to fight back.

The coalition includes local retailers, area law enforcement agencies, the Pima County Attorney’s Office and local prosecutors. The program – called “We Watch. We Prosecute.” – was developed over the past year by the Coalition Against Retail Theft or CART. “Organized retail theft is not a 6-yearold kid putting a candy bar in his pocket or a single mom taking a loaf of bread to feed her children. It is people who make their living stealing off the shelves of retailers and turning that inventory into cash, typically on internet sites or at swap meets,” said Michael Varney, president and CEO of the chamber.

“It’s their career.”

While organized retail theft goes unnoticed by many people, it is a huge problem. Using data provided by the Arizona Department of Taxation and a formula used by the National Retail Federation, organized retail theft cost Pima County retailers $5.9 million last 78 BizTucson

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year. And those losses are often passed on to paying customers in the form of higher prices.

“CART was formed because the Chamber kept hearing complaints from retailers, both large and small, about the growing problem that organized retail theft was causing,” Varney said. “When businesses in our community have a problem, it’s the Chamber’s job to respond as best we can. Our response was to bring retailers, police and prosecutors together to work with the Chamber.”

One action CART and the Chamber promise is to introduce a bill at the Arizona Legislature that would require everyone convicted of misdemeanor retail theft to be fingerprinted and photographed. Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall, an active participant in CART, said if the measure becomes law it would make it easier to identify repeat retail theft offenders and increase the likelihood they would face felony charges that would make them eligible for incarceration if convicted.

“These are people who steal enormous amounts of merchandise,” she said. “I’m optimistic this proposal will

have bipartisan support because the state is losing a lot of sales tax revenue because of these crimes. Passing this proposal would be an economic benefit to the state.”

Other CART efforts include: • Providing 90-minute workshops to retail organizations detailing steps that can be taken to curtail retail theft – such as reducing blind corners in stores, efficient placement of mirrors, keeping goods away from exits, upgrading security and camera systems, increasing staff numbers and training employees to observe and document crime. Police officers will be specially trained to present these workshops. Media announcements will inform retailers of the availability of the workshops.

• Stickers and decals will allow retailers to post on windows and entry doors that they are participants in the “We Watch. We Prosecute.” program. Caliber Group, a marketing/ public relations firm, is working on a pro-bono basis to produce materials for CART.

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BizMILESTONE

Chamber History Exhibits

By David Pittman In reviewing the 120-year history of the Tucson Metro Chamber, those within the organization are struck by the realization that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

“I find it very interesting that today we are still talking about the same topics we have from day one in 1896,” said Michael Varney, the Chamber’s president and CEO. “Transportation, jobs, education, water, economic expansion were the issues the Chamber was most concerned about when we were starting and, in one way or another, they remain top priorities to this day.”

The Chamber story begins in 1896 when the Tucson Grocer’s Association, the precursor to the Tucson Metro Chamber, was incorporated and Hugo J. Donau was selected as its

first chairman.

The very next year, in 1897, the Chamber made recommendations to Congress that led to the City of Tucson being given the authority to finance water works construction.

In 1902, the group assumed the name Tucson Chamber of Commerce and set dues at $1 per month.

In 1918, a chamber committee worked on getting a gravel road built from Tucson to Casa Grande. In 1919, the Chamber helped spearhead a drive to establish not only the first municipal airport in Tucson, but the first municipal airport in the entire United States. The Tucson Municipal Flying Field was four miles south of Tucson on Nogales Highway, now the site of the Tucson Rodeo Grounds.

“Today our transportation concerns are more about im-

Here’s a sampling of other Chamber milestones: 1925

1927

1948

1980

The Chamber sponsored the first “Fiesta de los Vaqueros” rodeo.

The Tucson City Council, with support from the Chamber, replaced the city’s first airfield with a new one, which was built on a site where Davis-Monthan Air Force Base is today. Charles Lindbergh, who months earlier made his historic flight across the Atlantic, flew into Tucson to dedicate the new airport.

The Chamber, led by its Chairman Monte Mansfield (a Ford dealer who was the Jim Click of his day), brought together 15 like-minded civic leaders to charter the Tucson Airport Authority.

The Chamber raised the money needed to construct a new headquarters at its present location at 465 W. St. Mary’s Road.

Chamber of Commerce building early 1900's.

Photo: Arizona Historical Society (AHS# 10038) http://arizonahistoricalsociety.org

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‘Déjà Vu All Over Again’ proving our streets and highways, and expanding airline service to Tucson International Airport,” Varney said.

Shirley Wilka, Varney’s executive assistant, is the longest serving staffer at the Chamber. She began working there in 1971 while still in high school.

“When I started working here it was through a program called Cooperative Office Education,” she said. “It was very much like JTED is today.”

Wilka said the biggest changes at the Chamber during her tenure have been advancements in communications technology.

“When I started here I worked with an old plug-in switchboard telephone system, and we worked with typewriters, not computers,” she said. “When the first computer was brought

in, it was shared by everyone and it was the only one we had.

For a while fax machines were utilized extensively, but that has been replaced by email.

“The way we communicate with our investors has changed, but the issues and what we communicate hasn’t. If you read the minutes from past Chamber board meetings, the same subjects keep popping up. The issues are still transportation, education, city government, water and economic development.”

The Chamber reflected on its history and looked forward to its priorities and program of work to lead and advocate for a successful community during a Nov. 17 ceremony with live entertainment, food and beverages. The Chamber also collected items to be placed in a sealed time capsule that will be opened in 30 years, on the Chamber’s 150th anniversary.

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1991

1992

2011

2015

The Chamber is a key player in a proactive coalition that successfully removed Davis-Monthan Air Force Base from the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) list.

The Chamber receives the U.S. Department of Commerce Outstanding International Services Award for facilitating international trade.

The Chamber is rebranded with a new logo and name change to Tucson Metro Chamber.

The Chamber, in partnership with six member businesses, successfully completed the First Impressions Project, a $360,000 endeavor that beautified a sixtenths-of-a-mile stretch of Tucson Boulevard at the gateway to Tucson International Airport.

For a more detailed history of the Tucson Metro Chamber visit TucsonChamber.org/History www.BizTucson.com

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BizEDUCATION

Student intern at Micro Import Service

High School Interns Cash In Program Eases Workforce Shortages

By Rhonda Bodfield Trish Williams has hired a lot of technicians at her automotive repair shop, Micro Import Service.

And she could not have been more impressed with the incoming high school seniors selected as part of a new paid internship program developed by the Tucson Metro Chamber that’s designed to match companies in need of talent with ambitious young people who can grow into those roles.

Their résumés were impeccable.

They dressed professionally. And they looked her in the eye when they interviewed. “It was like they were seasoned pros.”

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The internship program was launched in the summer of 2016 in response to a couple of seemingly conflicting truisms that Lori Banzhaf has heard for years in her role as the Chamber’s executive VP: • Jobs go begging because businesses can’t find the workforce they need locally.

• Young people leave Tucson because there are no jobs.

Last fall, Banzhaf pulled together a roundtable discussion with about 80 CEOs who are Chamber investors. She asked for examples of workforce chal-

lenges they were facing. One hospitality industry leader said he was about to hire abroad because he could not find staff locally with the right mix of technical and soft skills.

That’s when Tucson Unified School District Superintendent H.T. Sanchez urged him to look again, noting the district teaches culinary arts. The employer’s reponse? “How would I know that?”

And that became an “aha moment” for Banzhaf. “We have one silo over here with lots of educational institutions doing what they do to advance education, and we have another silo over here that is free enterprise. We aren’t www.BizTucson.com

talking to one another and we aren’t connecting the dots properly.”

As the Chamber’s task force thought through what the internship should look like, they determined it should be paid. That is fairly unusual for high school internship opportunities, but Banzhaf said students too often must turn down more traditional programs because they don’t have the luxury of going without a paycheck when they have to help support their families or prepare for life after school. She also wanted to reach incoming seniors before “senior-itis” kicked in.

And while the taskforce had identified about 10 industry sectors with employee shortfalls, she wanted to pilot one, noting, “We have to walk before we run.”

Auto technology was the first.

And then the work really began.

TUSD met with the auto technology sector to review the curriculum being taught and ensure that in addition to the state mandates, their programs were teaching the skills businesses needed. In addition to tweaking the program to more closely align with business needs, the district then identified students based on the criteria outlined by the businesses: • The students had to be enrolled in the auto tech program.

• They had to have a passion for the work.

• And while they didn’t have to have the highest grade-point average, their attendance had to be up to par.

If they didn’t go to school, they might not get to the job site either. www.BizTucson.com

Most of the students stayed on longer than the six-week program. In Williams’ case, her intern stayed on longer and signed up to work both the fall and winter breaks. He will be hired on fulltime after graduation and the company will pay for his continued schooling in the auto technology program at Pima Community College.

Williams couldn’t be happier. “It’s clear to those of us who watch industry trends, that we’re in a place where there will be a lot of technicians retiring soon and there aren’t people ready to move into the field to replace them,” she said.

“This gives students exposure to the industry, and at the same time, you’ve got these students now who will graduate into really great careers and who will be contributing members of our own community, instead of going elsewhere.”

TUSD’s Sanchez said the district is honored to work with the Chamber on this program.

“It is our hope that businesses in the Tucson community take advantage of the opportunity to join forces with us and the Tucson Metro Chamber to provide on-the-job experience to our students as well as reap the benefits of the hard work and dedication our interns will provide,” Sanchez said.

Banzhaf said work is beginning now to gear up for next summer, including an expansion to four additional sectors – healthcare, engineering sciences, hospitality and construction. She is in the process of identifying companies who are willing to participate.

“I took on this project because the Chamber cares about our community,”

“

Connecting our future workforce with the companies who need qualified workers – that’s the right place for the Chamber to be.

”

Lori Banzhaf Executive VP Tucson Metro Chamber –

she said. “Connecting our future workforce with the companies who need qualified workers – that’s the right place for the Chamber to be.”

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Businesses interested in this internship program can contact Lori Banzhaf at 792-2250 Ext. 152 or lbanzhaf@tucsonchamber.org.

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PHOTO: AMY HASKELL

BizEDUCATION

From left

Melissa Vito, Senior VP of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management and Senior Vice Provost at University of Arizona; Cristie Street, Co-Founder and CEO, Nextrio; Kate Hoffman, Executive Director, Earn To Learn; Adam Begody, Non-Profit Program Development, Fundraising and Workforce Development, Earn To Learn

College Students ‘Earn to Learn’

Ready for Internship-to-Employment Pipeline

By Renée Schafer Horton In May, nearly 50 students who otherwise might never have gone to college will hear their names called at the University of Arizona commencement ceremony. They will celebrate this milestone with their family and friends because of the Earn to Learn program – a one-of-a-kind “savings to scholarship” program helping low- to moderateincome Arizona students reach their dream of a bachelor’s degree.

If Tucson Metro Chamber President and CEO Michael Varney has his way, these graduates will hang their framed degrees in Tucson, contributing to what local leaders hope is a “brain gain” for the city.

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nership with the University of Arizona, Northern Arizona University, Arizona State University and the federal Department of Health and Human Services’ Assets for Independence program.

Students in the program save $500 each year while participating in personal finance training to earn a $4,000 annual scholarship; $2,000 of which is funded through AFI grants with the remaining $2,000 provided by matched funds from UA, NAU or ASU. Since January 2013 Earn to Learn students have completed more than 12,000 hours of personal finance training and will have invested almost $1 million towards their own college educations.

Earn to Learn administers the schol-

arships while providing students college-readiness training in high school and ongoing mentoring throughout college.

“There is widespread agreement that the key factor in economic expansion is having a ready, willing, qualified workforce,” Varney said. “So many of our students graduate and leave town for work. We have Earn to Learn scholars right here at the UA and we want to keep them here.”

To do that, the Chamber is partnering with Earn to Learn to launch what they hope will become an internshipto-employment pipeline, said Earn to Learn CEO Kate Hoffman. continued on page 88 >>> www.BizTucson.com

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BizEDUCATION

continued from page 86 “Our mission is empowering students to successfully complete college,” Hoffman said. “With this partnership, we are engaging the local business community to support talent development that will ultimately impact our local workforce.”

To help its 1,500 members understand the Earn to Learn value proposition, the Chamber will host information sessions in early 2017.

“Basically it comes down to this – rather than spending 20 percent of a new recruit’s salary on training and relocation, local businesses can invest in an Earn to Learn scholarship and be paired with a college senior to intern at their company,” Varney said.

Once interns earn their degrees, “it would be a natural fit” for the company sponsoring their internship to hire them full-time, Varney said.

“It’s a mutually beneficial way for Chamber investors to contribute to the scholar’s life cycle while also meeting business recruiting needs,” he said.

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“

The critical X factor that we can control in economic expansion is creating homegrown, UA graduates as employees for our businesses – which is what Earn to Learn can help us do.

–

”

Cristie Street, CEO, Nextrio

The Chamber is especially interested in Earn to Learn students because many are pursuing STEM careers in science, technology, engineering or math – and many have close Tucson family ties, making them most interested in careers with local businesses.

Cristie Street, CEO of Nextrio, a Tucson-based technology solutions provider, is one of the biggest evangelists of the Chamber’s Earn to Learn proposition.

“Tucson is not a large city, we’re not a beach community, and while we are trying to build our brand as a science, technology, engineering and space destination, we’re at the beginning stages of that ecosystem,” she said. “The critical X factor that we can control in economic expansion is creating homegrown UA graduates as employees for our businesses – which is what Earn to Learn can help us do.”

Varney said the intern-to-work proposition could also help draw new employers to Tucson.

“When we invest in something like this,” he said, “it says to businesses that might be looking to relocate, ‘look, here’s how we’ve primed the employee pipeline for you. Come here and take your choice of students wanting internships and simplify your recruiting process.’ ”

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BizLEADERSHIP

Q&A

with

Michael Varney

By David Pittman

Q. How would you de-

scribe the state of the Tucson Metro Chamber in terms of membership and financial health?

The state of the Chamber has A. never been better. The number of investors in the Chamber is slightly

above 1,500 – which is the highest level since the Great Recession – and our operating budget has doubled over the last five years. We are a resource that companies of any size can invest in and benefit from.”

have more money, they spend more money. Our economy is largely driven by consumers, so consumer spending levels are vital to our prosperity. When people spend more money, they pay more sales taxes. Sales tax revenue is a primary source of revenue for the City of Tucson, which uses those funds to pave roads, build parks and ensure our public safety. When business thrives and people have good jobs, property tax revenue can increase. Property taxes are a primary source of needed revenue for Pima County. We want to see tax revenues rise – but we want it to be because the economic pie is growing, not because tax rates are being increased.”

Q. You frequently talk about Q. the importance of job creation and maintaining a growing economy. Why is that so important?

It is important our citizens have A. jobs. It is also important that those jobs are the kind of jobs that pay

well so we can boost the level of average household income. When people

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team were designed to improve the value of Chamber membership and the results were impressive. Varney and his staff now refer to Chamber members as “investors,” reinforcing the proposition that business owners get their money’s worth from investing in the Chamber.

In addition to serving with state, regional and national Chamber organizations, he’s served on the boards of Pima County Sports and Tourism Authority, Visit Tucson, the Southern Arizona Defense Alliance and Linkages.

The Chamber’s committee structure has largely been abandoned in favor of establishing volunteer task forces and projects that rely on investor volunteers. Could you describe this change and why it came about?

When people volunteer their A. time to help with important causes and projects, we don’t want to

commit them to attending meeting after meeting where nothing happens and nothing gets done. We wanted to get away from that. We have shifted instead to creating taskforces for special projects where important problems or issues are addressed and specific goals can be identified to make things better.

When those goals are met or the group reaches the end of the line, the task force will be disbanded and new priorities identified.

With the exception of three groups that still have regular monthly meetings, we really don’t have standing committees anymore. The Military Affairs Committee has many programs it runs annually on an ongoing basis, so it continues to operate as it always has. The Ambassadors remain focused on ensuring a best-in-class investor experience so that all Chamber investors realize the value of their investment, promote collaboration for business growth and success and develop meaningful professional relationships. Our Emerging Leaders Council – which is a group of continued on page 94 >>> www.BizTucson.com

PHOTO: BRENT G. MATHIS

When Michael Varney arrived in Tucson to take over the reins of the Tucson Metro Chamber in 2011, he inherited an organization that was reeling from the Great Recession and struggling with declining membership and revenue. Varney wasted no time in implementing pro-business initiatives to super-serve small business and advocate policies aimed at creating jobs, spurring economic growth and improving workforce development and education.

New Chamber programs implemented by Varney and his

Michael Varney

President & CEO Tucson Metro Chamber

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BizLEADERSHIP

Q&A

with

Robert D. Ramirez

By David Pittman

Q.

How long has Vantage West been an investor in the Tucson Metro Chamber and why are you so personally involved in the Chamber?

Vantage West has been an invesA. tor for more than 46 years, and I am personally involved with the Cham-

ber because I believe in our core mission of being a strong advocate for our local businesses, helping them grow to create a healthy community with wellpaying jobs for our residents.

Q.

As Chamber chair, what have you tried to accomplish and what would you point to as successes during your tenure?

My immediate focus was to reA. engage our board of directors by reworking our board meeting agendas,

schedules, time and financial commitment criteria. I have been involved in reaching out to our city and county gov-

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Ramirez has earned a bevy of awards and designations for his good works – most recently as GTL Man of the Year (see p. 176). He is revered by his employees – as well as top-ranking officials in local business, charity and political circles – as an inspirational, compassionate and impactful community leader. His vision for bright future is based on a collection of assets unique to Tucson that are the foundation for solid growth (see Biz Tucson Fall 2016).

“Bob is a terrific guy. I don’t know if there are words to describe how great a guy he is,” said Michael Varney, president & CEO of the Tucson Metro Chamber. “He is engaged and energetic and he wants to build a better Tucson.”

ernment officials to foster a positive and collaborative working relationship and at the same time focus on being a strong advocate for our business community. I have been actively engaged in the new American Airlines nonstop flight to New York City as well as working with other key organizations in promoting Tucson as a great place to work as well as raise families.

Q.

How would you describe your working relationship with Michael Varney, president and CEO of the Chamber?

My working relationship with A. Mike is great. We communicate sometimes on a daily basis. Mike is one

of the hardest working CEOs I have ever met and he is constantly working and thinking of the next best thing to introduce to our board members. He wants to ensure that Tucson continues to be a great place to work and live. He is passionate and committed to making a real difference in our Tucson community. Because of Mike, the Tucson Chamber is in great financial health.

Q. The Chamber is

celebrating its 120th anniversary, which is an amazing milestone. What is the greatest impact the Chamber has made in this community over the years?

One of my favorite authors is Dr. A. Jim Collins, who wrote the book “Good to Great.” In this book he talks

about what makes a great company – and it starts with great employees. I think the success behind the 120-year anniversary of our chamber has a lot to do with having great employees, along with a committed board of directors focused on our core mission of promoting a climate in which businesses can grow, create jobs and promote a strong local economy. We have seen how our Tucson community has grown over the last 120 years and I am confident in saying that our Chamber has been an active participant in this growth and success.

continued on page 94 >>> www.BizTucson.com

PHOTO: BRENT G. MATHIS

Robert D. Ramirez has lived the American dream. A native of Nogales, Ariz., he rose from humble beginnings to become president and CEO of Vantage West Credit Union, the largest credit union in Southern Arizona with assets of more than $1.5 billion.

Examples of Vantage West efforts to benefit Southern Arizona go on and on, as do Ramirez’s volunteer efforts on behalf of civic and charitable nonprofit boards, which include the Pima Community College Foundation, El Rio Community Health Center, DM50, San Miguel High School, Sun Corridor Inc. and Southern Arizona Leadership Council, to name a few. He is also the 2016-17 chairman of the Tucson Metro Chamber Board of Directors.

Robert D. Ramirez Chairman of the Board Tucson Metro Chamber

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BizLEADERSHIP MICHAEL VARNEY continued from page 90 outstanding young professionals under 40 years of age that has great leadership and fresh, meaningful programming – also continues to meet regularly.

Everything else has been morphed into a taskforce.

Q. Robert Ramirez has

been Chamber board chair since April 2016, a time of great success for the Chamber. How would you characterize his tenure as chairman to date?

Of all the chairs I’ve had the A. pleasure of working for, and that includes my time in Nevada, Bob is one

of the most organized. He keeps copious notes. He makes proactive phone calls to me for readiness purposes. He makes sure board meetings have all the right qualities to them and we are in a total state of preparation. In addition to being involved in the many accomplish-

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ments that occurred during his tenure, Bob has been involved in governance changes to make our board more inclusive and our board meetings more engaging. Bob is a visionary and he loves Tucson. He is committed to doing all he can to lift the quality of life for everyone in the community.

Q. You’ve said our economy is on a roll. Why?

Many business executives have A. told me that they have not felt this kind of momentum and econom-

ic adrenalin in our area in quite some time. There also is much more cooperation and willingness to create jobs – both among local government leaders and the community as a whole – than at any time during my tenure in Tucson. I truly hope this optimistic, pro-business outlook can be sustained.

Biz

ROBERT D. RAMIREZ continued from page 92

Q.

There has been a great deal of positive economic news in Tucson in recent months. Is it fair to say Tucson is finally rebounding from the Great Recession? What is your outlook for the Tucson economy?

A recent report from BloomA. berg ranked Tucson third for job growth among the top cities in the United States and based on all of the positive news about Tucson, I can say with confidence that we are finally rebounding from the Great Recession. The future looks very bright for us with recent arrivals like Caterpillar and HomeGoods, and the Raytheon and Comcast expansions. We do need to keep working on our infrastructure within our city and county to ensure that we continue our positive momentum.

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PHOTO: AMY HASKELL

BizLEADERSHIP

Emerging Leaders Council Will Shape Southern Arizona’s Future

By Romi Carrell Wittman Leadership is not a skill you’re born with – it’s learned and honed through years of practice. And while many local professional organizations offer networking and professionaldevelopment opportunities, only one focuses specifically on cultivating the next generation of business leaders through hands-on mentorship.

The Emerging Leaders Council, a group of 30 dynamic local professionals all under the age of 40, has two primary objectives – to cultivate tomorrow’s leaders while also shaping the civic and economic future of Southern Arizona.

Matthew Rosen, a financial advisor for Burk, Hall and Co., is the current ELC chairman. He says the ELC provides a unique opportunity for young professionals to learn directly from business leaders. In fact, it’s one of the only profession96 BizTucson

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al development organizations in Tucson to feature a formal mentorship program that pairs seasoned executives with upand-comers.

“The education comes through relationships our members build with our mentor executives, as well as elected officials and other invited speakers,” Rosen said. “We have the opportunity to learn what’s happening now and what’s coming.”

The ELC was created by the Chamber in 2014 with leadership from Ben Korn, owner of Safeguard, and Melissa Dulaney-Moule, a nonprofit marketing and communications professional. The ELC meets monthly.

The group is supported by the Tucson Metro Chamber, and ELC members often provide input to the Chamber’s board of directors on matters of the community and the economy. www.BizTucson.com

Front row from left – Jonathan Beaty, Yasmine Straka, Edgar Martinez, Jennifer Wong, Erin Paradis, Aaron Skoczen Middle row from left – Matt Ewing, Gabriela Cervantes, Juan Francisco Padres, Ben Korn, Taylor Davidson, Lindsay Welch, Andrea Barre Back row from left – Robert Fischer, Robert Medler, Todd Helmick, Evan Feldhausen, Eric Smith, Scott Arkon Not pictured – Eliezer Asunsolo, Tom Bersbach, Jesus Bonillas, Jonathon Crider, Ryan Frohberg, Tim Kinney, Amber Mazzei, Ariana Patton, Derrick Polder, Nick Puente, Matthew Rosen, Mike Saffer

“

Today’s senior leaders have an obligation to pass the torch to younger leaders who will care for their community and make it a better place to live.

Michael Varney President & CEO Tucson Metro Chamber –

”

Michael Varney, president and CEO of the Chamber, said the ELC gives its members a means to accelerate both their professional and personal growth. He adds that it’s incumbent on our community’s current leaders to groom the next generation.

“Today’s senior leaders have an obligation to pass the torch to younger leaders who will care for their community and make it a better place to live,” Varney said. “Senior leadership at the Chamber benefits greatly from the perspectives ELC members bring to decision making because they often see the community and its future differently.”

Each year, as current members “age out” of the group, the ELC looks for new people to join its ranks. The application process opens after the first of the year and closes at the end of February. The membership committee then evaluates all submissions.

“One of the biggest issues of any group is that it can become a ‘good-old-boys club,’” Rosen said. To avoid that and to maintain a diverse group composition, the ELC application process is anonymous – meaning the membership committee sees only the submission content, not names.

Looking ahead, Rosen says ELC members will continue to be actively involved in the community. “The ELC’s goal is to keep growing Tucson as well as we can.”

Biz For more information about the Emerging Leaders Council or to apply, visit http://tucsonchamber.org/ELC. www.BizTucson.com

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PHOTO: DAVID SANDERS

BizLEADERSHIP

Back row from left – Fernando Barraza, Chad Driedger, John Stuckey, Joel Johnson, Rick Hernandez, Kimberly Romo, Diana Richardson, Sarah Akers, Stacy Quiri, Lindsay Welch, R.D. Castillo, Jamison Brown, James Graves, Landon Walls Front row from left – Julio Espinoza, Linda Montes-Cota, Stephanie Calderone, Christine Huley, Robbie Petrillo, Evan Sullivan, Sarah Lennartz, Andrea Gerlak, Kimberley Hoidal, Liz Baker, Hanna Miller, Rose Capono, Carrie Gurenlian, Coco Horner, Jacqueline Martinez, Sarah Ruiz, Gabriela Cervantes, Alma Peralta Not pictured – Kevin Bedient, Tannya Gaxiola, Amy Walker, Alicia White

Greater Tucson Leadership Shaping Civic Visionaries

By Romi Carrell Wittman For people looking to learn about Southern Arizona – not just the stuff you read in the newspaper or see on social media, but the crucial issues that lie at the heart of our community – Greater Tucson Leadership is an essential education program. Since 1980, GTL has been shaping civic visionaries with its yearlong civic and leadershipfocused curriculum.

Students in this year’s program will notice one big change – a new executive director at the helm, Kasey Hill.

Longtime GTL executive director Suzanne McFarlin announced last spring that she was stepping down to focus full time on her leadership coaching consulting business. McFarlin had taken on the role in 2011, when the organization was going through a transition, 98 BizTucson

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eventually to become part of the Tucson Metro Chamber. Under her direction, she helped to reinvent the annual Man, Woman and Founder of the Year awards gala as a GTL event and get the organization on solid financial ground.

“It was time to pass the baton,” McFarlin said of her decision to step down. She remains actively involved with GTL and has been contracted to provide leadership coaching and curriculum to students on issue days over the next year.

Given the growth and financial success of the program under McFarlin’s leadership, the GTL board decided to change the executive director position from part-time to full-time. Kasey Hill was selected from dozens of applicants and began her duties in July.

She’s thrilled to be heading up GTL. “It’s such an exciting organization and I love the position,” she said. “I’m enjoying the chance to really get to know the community.”

Hill will learn about this community in depth as she goes through the program as part of the 39-member 2017 class. The cohort, which is one of GTL’s largest-ever classes, includes a diverse group of professionals from both the public and private sectors. Over the next year, members will take part in monthly “Issue Days,” each of which will focus on a different element or important issue in the community. Past issue days have covered public education, the border and criminal justice.

Biz www.BizTucson.com

Hill Takes Charge

At Greater Tucson Leadership

By Romi Carrell Wittman Despite moving here in what is arguably the worst time of year – when summer temps rise to levels that seem incompatible with life – Kasey Hill loves Tucson.

She also loves her new role as executive director of Greater Tucson Leadership.

Hill relocated to Tucson from Kentucky with her husband, Alan, who is attending the James E. Rogers College of Law. She was drawn to GTL because it fit perfectly with her background, which includes communications, event planning and fundraising.

“GTL is such a unique program,” Hill said. “I knew I could build on the great foundation that Suzanne put in place.”

Suzanne McFarlin, who had served as GTL’s executive director since 2011, announced last spring that she would be stepping down.

A Kentucky native, Hill was the communications director of the Danville-Boyle County Economic Development Partnership. Prior to that, she had worked as a journalist for several area newspapers. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Eastern Kentucky University and is a graduate of Leadership Boyle County, an area leadership program similar to GTL. Hill is looking forward to the year ahead, which includes taking part in the 2017 GTL class as a student as well as planning the Man, Woman and Founder of the Year awards gala, which takes place Feb. 11 at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort.

All in all, Hill couldn’t be happier with her move and her new job. “I’m still getting to know the community, but I’ve already learned so much. It just feels like home. This is where we’re supposed to be.”

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Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey

TUCSON METRO CHAMBER EVENT CALENDAR Issues Over Easy Hacienda Del Sol Guest Ranch Resort 5501 N. Hacienda Del Sol Road Jan. 27 and Apr. 28 from 7:30 to 9 a.m.

Issues Over Easy is a quarterly breakfast to connect investors with the Chamber’s Government Affairs program and keep them up to speed on public policy issues and current events affecting their business and community. Register at: TucsonChamber.org.

2017 State of the City JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa 3800 W. Starr Pass Blvd.

March 16 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The Tucson Metro Chamber hosts the annual State of the City luncheon where Mayor Jonathan Rothschild addresses more than 1,000 people detailing the goals, policies and objectives for Tucson in the coming year. The Chamber Business Expo is held in conjunction with this event. This large expo provides exhibitors the opportunity to showcase their products and services to the community. Register at: TucsonChamber.org/StateofCity

Mayor Jonathan Rothschild

Copper Cactus Awards Casino Del Sol Resort, Spa and Conference Center 5655 W. Valencia Road Sept. 8 from 5 to 9 p.m.

The Tucson Metro Chamber Copper Cactus Awards presented by Wells Fargo celebrate this region’s best small businesses - collectively the largest employer in our community. Every year more than 50 small businesses and business leaders are recognized for their accomplishments in award categories including work environment, growth, workforce development, community stewardship, innovation and leadership.

Learn more at: TucsonChamber.org/CopperCactus Interface Tucson Metro Chamber 465 W. St. Mary’s Road 10:30 to 11:30 am.

Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry

City of Tucson

Pima County

Jan. 26, 2017

Mar. 23, 2017

May 25, 2017

July 27, 2017

Sept. 28, 2017

Nov. 30, 2017

Interface is a program that provides Tucson Metro Chamber investors opportunities to communicate with high-level public officials such as Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild and Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry about public policy and doing business in Southern Arizona. The host speaker opens with a 15-minute presentation, then takes questions and comments from those attending for a lively exchange of ideas and information. Registration is free. Register using the events calendar at: TucsonChamber.org.

“The Tucson Metro Chamber’s events provide a fantastic opportunity to learn about businesses in our community and network with them.”

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B O A R D

O F

D I R E C T O R S

Chairman of the Board Robert D. Ramirez President and CEO Vantage West Credit Union Ramirez is responsible for operations of a $1.6 billion credit union with more than 141,000 members with 17 locations in four counties – Pima, Pinal, Cochise and Maricopa.

In addition to serving as the Tucson Metro Chamber board chair this year, he is member of the Sun Corridor Inc. Chairman’s Circle, vice chair of the Pima Community College Foundation board, past chair of CUES and a member of the boards of El Rio Health Center and San Miguel High School.

/

T U C S O N

Vice Chair Larry Lucero Senior Director of Government Relations and Economic Development UNS Energy Corporation and subsidiary Tucson Electric Power Lucero assists in advancing the interests of the utility and its customers. He also works with a variety of community organizations. Among those are Sun Corridor Inc., Chicanos Por La Causa, Southern Arizona Advisory Council, and Tucson Youth Development/ACE Charter High School.

Secretary Sherry Janssen Downer Partner and Owner Law Office of Sherry J. Downer

Ghee Alexander General Manager Hilton Tucson El Conquistador Golf & Tennis Resort

Downer is an attorney who helps her clients navigate complex labor and employment issues and business problems. She is secretary of the Chamber and serves on the Pima County Judicial Nominating Commission and the SHRM-GT Legislative Committee. She holds leadership positions within the parent organization of her daughter’s school. Downer has been honored as a Women of Influence, Up and Comer and by 40 Under 40.

Her peers recognized her as a Southwest Super Lawyers “Rising Star,” as one of the Best Lawyers in America and AV-Preeminent, the highest Martindale-Hubbell rating available.

Alexander is responsible for all aspects of the resort operation – including planning, positioning, financial performance, resource deployment and guest satisfaction. In addition to serving on the Chamber board, he is an executive board member of the Greater Oro Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Southern Arizona Lodging and Resort Association. In 2014 he was named General Manager of the Year by the Tennessee Hospitality and Tourism Association.

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M E T R O

C H A M B E R

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Immediate Past Chairman Thomas P. McGovern Principal Emeritus Psomas

Treasurer David Lopez-Monroy Shareholder BeachFleischman

McGovern represents Psomas, a regional engineering firm, in various outward-facing roles in the Southern Arizona business and civic community. He serves on the executive committee of the Southern Arizona Leadership Council board and chairs the economic vitality advisory committee of the Pima Association of Government.

He also is an Arizona Forward member of the Southern Arizona Regional Council.

As a partner and head of the firm’s international tax practice, LopezMonroy provides tax advisory and compliance services to businesses and individuals involved in crossborder business activities. He’s a new Chamber board member and is a board member of the Nonprofit Loan Fund. He is active with the Business Executives Leadership League and serves as a finance council member of St. Cyril Parish.

William R. Assenmacher CEO CAID Industries

Dr. Amy Beiter CEO Carondelet St. Mary’s Hospital

CAID Industries is Southern Arizona’s largest industrial metal fabricator serving local and international customers. Headquartered in Tucson, CAID also has locations in Logan, Utah, and Calama, Chile, and will celebrate 70 years in business in 2017. He serves as chair of the Chamber’s Air Service and Project Prosperity taskforces.

Assenmacher is founder and president of the Southern Arizona Business Coalition and chairman of Commerce Bank of Arizona, the only locally owned community bank. He serves on the boards of Tucson Airport Authority and AMIGOS. He is a UA Tech Parks Global Advantage Partner.

Beiter has served St. Mary’s and the community for more than 20 years. Named CEO in 2012, she oversaw the hospital’s major renovation. Beiter is board-certified in internal medicine, a member of the Society of Hospital Medicine and the American College of Physician Executives. She was selected as one of the “100 Physician Leaders of Hospitals and Health Systems” in the U.S. by Becker’s Hospital Review, and one of Arizona’s most influential women in business by Arizona Business. In addition to serving on the Chamber board, Beiter chairs the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.

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B O A R D

O F

D I R E C T O R S

Tannya R. Gaxiola Assistant VP for Community Relations University of Arizona

/

T U C S O N

Stephanie Healy Director of Public Affairs Cox Communications

Gaxiola is responsible for statewide, city and county government relations at the University of Arizona, where she also leads neighborhood relations and nonprofit relations. In addition to the Chamber board, she also serves on the board of directors of Community Provider for Enrichment Services, the United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona and Downtown Tucson Partnership.

Gaxiola has been recognized as a Tucson Woman of Influence and with a 40 Under 40 award.

Healy oversees government affairs, public relations, community development and media relations in Southern Arizona for Cox Communications. She is a Flinn Brown fellow and has received a number of leadership awards in the community. Her civic participation and board memberships include Arizona Forward, City of Tucson’s Economic and Workforce Development Commission, the City’s Charter Commission, DM50, El Rio Health Center Foundation, Southern Arizona Defense Alliance, University of Arizona College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Silver & Turquoise Board of Hostesses.

M E T R O

C H A M B E R

Mark C. Irvin Managing Member Mark Irvin Commercial Real Estate Services Irvin has long been engaged in commercial real estate with a focus in office, medical and investment properties. He is currently vice chair/secretary of the Rio Nuevo Board and a member of the Rotary Club of Tucson and the Tucson Breakfast Club. He’s also an honorary commander of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and emeritus board member of Boys and Girls Clubs of Tucson.

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Ben Korn Owner/Distributor Safeguard Korn and his team work tirelessly to help business and Tucson grow through branding, marketing and community involvement. His business has grown 40 percent in the four years he has owned the company with the trust and loyalty of like-minded local businesses also committed to growth. He is founder and immediate past chair of the Chamber’s Emerging Leaders Council and the immediate past president of Greater Tucson Leadership. He’s a member of the Centurions and the Conquistadores and received the 2014 Copper Cactus Small Business Leader of the Year Award.

Robert E. Lenhard President Hallmark Business Consultants

Jill Malick Business Banking Manager Wells Fargo

Tim Medcoff Co-Managing Member Farhang & Medcoff

Mitch Pisik President and CEO TM International

Lenhard is an alumnus of four universities and served in the U.S. Army before starting his Wells Fargo banking career. In 1982 he became a business broker. In 1988 he founded Hallmark Business Consultants, successfully transferring ownership of more than 500 businesses. He’s a charter member of the Arizona Business Brokers Association and the International Business Brokers Association. In 2003 he was named Arizona Broker of the Year. He’s served on the Chamber board for five years.

Malick oversees a team of commercial bankers who provide financial services to business customers in Tucson and Nogales. She is co-chair of the bank’s Southern Arizona Community Advisory Board. In 2016, Malick graduated with honors from the Pacific Coast Banking School at the University of Washington. In addition to serving on the Chamber board, she is on the board of the United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona.

Malick is also a member of the Southern Arizona Leadership Council.

Medcoff co-manages his growing law firm and is co-chair of both the labor and employment and commercial litigation groups. He leverages his comprehensive trial and litigation experience to advise employers with investigations, counseling and the defense of labor and employment claims, as well as defend manufacturers in complex product liability claims. He is peer-recognized as one of the best attorneys in America. In addition to the Chamber board, he serves on the boards of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern Arizona and Therapeutic Riding of Tucson.

Pisik runs one of the largest manufacturing companies headquartered in Tucson. He’s also an executive coach and business consultant.

As a Chamber board member, he actively advocates for the Chamber and the Southern Arizona business community. He also is on the boards of the Jewish Community Center, United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona and Vantage West Credit Union. Pisik received the 2016 Leader of the Year Award from SHRM-GT and was a 2015 and 2016 finalist for the Copper Cactus Small Business Leader of the Year award.

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B O A R D

O F

D I R E C T O R S

Barbi Reuter President/Principal Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR Reuter oversees C&W | PICOR, a Tucson-based employee-owned commercial real estate firm that actively advises small and large businesses and investors in Southern Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. The firm received the Best Place to Work Copper Cactus Award in 2016. She joined the Chamber board in 2016 and serves on the Project Prosperity Task Force. She is on the boards of YMCA Metro and Tucson Girls Chorus. She’s active in Arizona Town Hall and Women Presidents Organization. She was selected for Real Estate Forum’s Women of Influence 2015.

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T U C S O N

Walter Richter Public Affairs Administrator Southwest Gas Corporation Richter oversees government relations for Southwest Gas throughout Southern Arizona. He serves on the Chamber’s Candidate Evaluation Committee. He also serves on the board of directors of Sun Corridor Inc.

M E T R O

C H A M B E R

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Steve Rosenberg Owner and Publisher BizTucson Magazine

J.B. Shockey COO Crest Insurance Group

Rosenberg came to Tucson to attend the University of Arizona and stayed to launch a career in publishing that spans three decades.

In 2009 he founded BizTucson, the region’s quarterly business magazine. BizTucson recently launched BizNEWS, an online resource for business news updates. In addition to the Chamber, he serves on the boards of DM50, Raytheon Spirit of Education Awards, the Steven M. Gootter Foundation and Visit Tucson. Rosenberg is the founding chairman and a board member of Father’s Day Council Tucson.

Shockey has more than 35 years of property/casualty insurance experience and is heavily involved in strategic planning to continue the strong growth of Crest Insurance.

A graduate of the University of Arizona, he also attended graduate school at Illinois State University.

He has achieved the designations of Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter and Certified Insurance Counselor. He’s been involved with the United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona for the past two years and previously served on the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters in Ohio.

Lea N. Standridge Production Operations Raytheon Missile Systems

Howard Stewart President and CEO AGM Container Controls

Cristie Street Managing Partner Nextrio

Matt Wandoloski VP, Corporate Strategy & Analytics Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona

Standridge oversees a team at Raytheon that is responsible for strategic planning in its final integration factories, to include supporting current production requirements, new product integration, capital improvements, technology upgrades and workforce planning. She is the board liaison to the Chamber’s Emerging Leaders Council. In addition to the Tucson Metro Chamber, she serves on the board of directors at Casa de los Niños and Tucson Jewish Community Center.

Stewart manages AGM Container Controls, which manufactures products for container, missile, electro-optical, automobile, packaging and public facility markets. He was recognized as Tucson’s Small Business Leader of the Year in 2002 and his company received a U.S. Chamber of Commerce designation as America’s Small Business of the Year in 2009. Stewart is serving his second year as chair for United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona’s Tocqueville Society and is the 2016-2017 chair of the United Way board of directors. He also serves on the Greater Tucson Leadership board.

Leading this locally based IT consulting firm and its team of technology professionals keeps Street on her toes as they help businesses improve by leveraging smart IT. Nextrio supports the Chamber by sponsoring its annual Copper Cactus Awards, which salutes companies that innovate through technology. Street and her team are active with numerous nonprofit organizations such as Ronald McDonald House, Social Venture Partners, Mobile Meals, Arizona Public Media, Greater Tucson Leadership and Literacy Connects.

Wandoloski is responsible for guiding the company’s strategy and working with the internal informatics team to utilize data as a strategic asset. His experience in the healthcare industry spans 35 years. He serves on three boards – the Tucson Metro Chamber, Sun Corridor Inc. and the Insurance Industry Charitable Association.

He co-chairs the Southern Arizona Leadership Council’s healthcare committee and is a member of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council’s healthcare leadership council.

He’s also involved with Children and Youth Advisory, a subgroup of Valley of the Sun United Way.

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High-Level Chamber Investors Keystone Investors

Chairman Investors

BASIS Charter Schools

Common Group

Bombardier Aerospace

AAA Landscape

BBVA Compass

Commotion Studios

Casino del Sol Resort

Abbott Animation

BeachFleischman

Caterpillar Surface Mining and Technology Division

Aerotek

BFL Construction

CopperPoint Mutual Insurance Company

Desert Diamond Casino Sahuarita

AGM Container Controls

BizTucson

Alliance Bank of Arizona

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona

Desert Diamond Casino Hotel, Tucson

Alorica

Diamond Ventures

American Fire Equipment Sales & Service Corp.

Holualoa Companies

American Family Insurance

Amity Foundation

Norville Investments

Arizona Capitol Times

Port of Tucson Raytheon Missile Systems

Arizona Daily Star

Tucson Electric Power

Arizona Lotus Corp

University of Arizona Business Affairs and Tech Parks Arizona

ASARCO

Arizona State University

Caliber Group

Downtown Merchants Association

Carondelet St. Maryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hospital Casa de la Luz Hospice Cenpatico CenturyLink Chase Cigna Citi

Walmart

Bank of America

Climatec BTG

Wells Fargo

Banner-University Medical Center

CODAC Health Recovery & Wellness

Winter 2017

Crest Insurance Group Cushman Wakefield|PICOR

Walbro

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Cox Communications

CAID Industries

Atmosphere Commercial Interiors

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Coventry

Clements Agency

DPR Construction El Rio Community Health Center Elitise Empire Southwest Encantada Luxury Apartment Homes Fangamer Film Creations Finley Distributing Co. G2Mobile

www.BizTucson.com

BizLEADERSHIP Gibson’s Office Solutions

Lovitt & Touché

Granite Construction Company

Maximum Impact Physical Therapy Services

Hamstra Heating & Cooling

MC Companies

Siemens Industry

HDS

McDonald’s

Sierra Tucson

HealthSouth Rehabilitation Institute of Tucson

Nextrio

Simpleview

Northwest Medical Center

Sinfonia Healthcare Corp

Old Pueblo Community Services

SMG – Tucson Convention Center

Oro Valley Hospital

Smith Advisory Partners

Hudbay

Paragon Space Development Corporation

SOLON Corporation

Hughes Federal Credit Union

Pima Community College

Institute for Better Education

Pima Federal Credit Union

International Wildlife Museum

Pima Heart Physicians

Intuit

Pima Medical Institute

Jack Furriers Tire & Auto Care

Psomas

Jim Click Automotive Team

Quarles & Brady

JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa

Royal Automotive Group

Hensley Beverage Company Hilton Tucson El Conquistador Resort HSL Properties

Law Office of Sherry Janssen Downer Long Realty Company

www.BizTucson.com

Santé of Tucson Scripps Broadcasting (KGUN and cwTucson58)

Securaplane a Meggitt Company Serrato Corporation

Sonora Behavioral Health – Acadia Healthcare Sonora Quest Laboratories of Tucson

Texas Instruments TM International Torreon Golf Club Tucson Federal Credit Union Tucson Medical Center Tucson Orthopaedic Institute Tucson Roadrunners Hockey Club Tucson Unified School District U-Haul of Southern Arizona Union Pacific Railroad Univision Communications Vantage West Credit Union Visit Tucson

Southwest Airlines

Walgreens

Southwest Gas Corp.

Watermark Retirement Communities

Strongpoint Marketing Suddath Relocation Systems Sun Mechanical Contracting Sundt Construction

Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa World View Enterprises

Swaim Associates LTD Architects AIA

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BizLEADERSHIP

Getting Things Done Volunteer service powers the Tucson Metro Chamber’s initiatives. President and CEO Michael Varney said, “Volunteer service is greatly appreciated and necessary for the Chamber to make the greatest impact on our community.”

When it comes to volunteer service, the Chamber has two goals: • Be as effective in getting things done as possible.

• Maximize the value of the time Chamber investors give to Chamber programs.

That’s why the Chamber has discontinued many of its standing committees in favor of project task forces, Varney said. “Task forces are assembled from a pool of interested Chamber investors to tackle specific projects. Once a project has been successfully completed, the task force stands down.

Historically, committees and task forces have worked on projects in the following categories: • Economic development • Military affairs • Education and workforce • Small business • Government affairs

Now Chamber investors interested in helping the Chamber make a positive difference in our region are encouraged to submit their names and designate any specific area of interest they may have.

Since task force projects are always starting and ending, the available opportunities for volunteer service are constantly changing. Volunteers will be notified when a new task force project is being planned so they can be included on the new task force if they so desire.

Biz Investors are encouraged to submit their name, contact information and area of interest to info@tucsonchamber.org.

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Tucson Metro Chamber’s High-Impact Accomplishments The Tucson Metro Chamber provides area business owners and executives with a unique mix of products, services and advocacy to help them grow their businesses and build a better community. The Chamber’s many accomplishments are highlighted throughout this special section including: • Raised $3 million through the Air Service Task Force to secure and establish nonstop American Airlines flights to and from New York City (p. 73) • Initiated Project Prosperity to help city government become more businessfriendly and create more urban development opportunities (p. 76) • Established the Coalition Against Retail Theft (CART) to create solutions for the growing problem of organized retail crime (p. 78) • Developed a new Intern to Career program for high school students (p. 84) • Partnered with the Earn to Learn workforce development program (p. 86) • Paired the 30 members of the Emerging Leaders Council with senior executive mentors to accelerate professional development of Tucson’s young business leaders (p. 96) • Honored 54 local small businesses and charitable nonprofits at the annual Copper Cactus Awards for their excellence and achievements (p. 117) Chamber board, staff and investors work together to fulfill the Chamber’s mission of leading and advocating for a successful community. Their mantra is “When business is good, life is good.”

Here are additional recent Chamber accomplishments: • Led the halt of the City of Tucson’s proposed Mandatory Paid Time Off proposal, saving every business in Tucson 3.3 percent on their payroll expenses, regardless of employee structure or industry.

• Fought to keep the A-10 flying at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and preserve the estimated $1.77 billion economic impact of Davis-Monthan and the 162nd Air National Guard.

• Led delegation of business leaders to Washington, D.C. and met with 14 elected and appointed officials to advocate for matters important to the growth and prosperity of Southern Arizona’s economy.

• Tracked 273 different bills at the state legislature and published summary of state and local elected official’s voting records. State officials voted with the Chamber 65 percent of the time.

• Met more than 100 times with City Council, County Board of Supervisors, mayors of Tucson, Marana, Oro Valley and Sahuarita, state legislators and Gov. Ducey’s office to promote job creation and economic expansion.

• Hosted eight Interface meetings to create dialog between local business executives, County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry and Mayor Jonathan Rothschild.

• Led advocacy efforts to place $160 million in road repair funds to improve road conditions on 2015 Bond Package.

• Supported the launch of the Cradle to Career program, in collaboration with United Way of Southern Arizona, to improve K-12 education outcomes and the quality of the local workforce.

• Received and responded to more than 100 requests for problem-solving help through the “We Can Help” program on the Chamber website home page to help business owners and executives solve problems.

• Increased online exposure for more than 700 investors through marketing resources on the Chamber website and online business directory.

• Hosted more than 50 ribbon-cutting ceremonies celebrating investors’ milestones, anniversaries and grand openings.

• Hosted 38 opportunities for local business executives to make connections.

• Taught more than 30 local companies how to do business with the federal government.

• Saved Chamber investors more than $120,000 on office supplies and equipment with the Chamber’s exclusive discount program.

• Awarded $92,868 in dividends to Chamber investors using the Chamber’s CopperPoint Mutual workers compensation insurance program.

To learn more about the benefits of becoming a Chamber investor, call (520) 792-1212 or visit the website at TucsonChamber.org. www.BizTucson.com

HIRE SMART. TUCSON’S CHOICE FOR QUALIFIED, PROFESSIONAL STAFFING. Locally owned, but backed by one of the nations top 10 staffing firms, Remedy Intelligent Staffing of Tucson offers proven and unparalleled resources for placement services.

We unite employers with qualified associates — allowing both to prosper and grow. Let us find qualified employees for all your staffing needs.

We specialize in: • Business/Clerical Staffing

• Production

• Manufacturing & Logistics Staffing

• Assembly

• Call Center Staffing

• Warehouse

• Medical Clerical

• Temporary/Seasonal Hiring

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• Temp-to-Hire

Understanding people from the inside out enables us to find jobs that work for them. For you, that means workers who are focused and more productive.

We get people… who perform for you.

520.745.9696 5055 E. Broadway Blvd.

Suite B-103 Tucson, AZ 85711

Order staff or search jobs and apply online at www.remedytucson.com

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PHOTO: BRENT G. MATHIS

BizLEADERSHIP

Front Row, left to right: Shirley Wilka, Valerie Vargas, Sarah Akers, Edgar Martinez, Jackie Chambers, Margarita Arellanes Middle Row, left to right: David Long, Lori Banzhaf, James Kehl, Laura Nagore, Toree Calloway, Tammy Jensen, Grace Gegenheimer, Jill A’Hearn Long Back Row, left to right: Jason Cook, Carol Gatewood, Carissa Fairbanks, Michael Varney, Rosa Herrera, Patricia Rotondi Not Pictured: Robert Medler, Susan Manfredi

Executive

Business Development

Michael Varney President & CEO

Finance & Operations

Investor Services

Business Development & Advertising Director

Accounting Coordinator

Investor Services & Affinity Director

Edgar Martinez

Operations Assistant

Tammy Jensen

Government Affairs

Sarah Akers

Jill A’Hearn Long

Laura Nagore CFOO

Lori Banzhaf

Business Development Executive

Executive VP

Shirley Wilka

Communications

Executive Assistant

Carissa Fairbanks

Rosa Herrera

Communications Director

Executive VP Administrator

David Long

Creative Manager

Toree Calloway

Communications Specialist

James Kehl

Margarita Arellanes

Robert Medler

Susan Manfredi

Carol Gatewood Events Manager

Jason Cook

Events Coordinator

Investor Operations Manager

VP of Government Affairs

Investor Services Manager

Grace Gegenheimer

Valerie Vargas

Government Affairs Coordinator

Special Events

Investor Services Coordinator

Patricia Rotondi

Government Affairs Coordinator

Contact us: Call (520) 792-1212 – E-mail info@tucsonchamber.org Stop by: 465 W. St. Mary’s Road, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday Learn more at: TucsonChamber.org 114 BizTucson

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2016

Copper Cactus Awards Darren and Eliza Bayliss Honored as Leaders of the Year

By David Pittman Fifty-four businesses were honored has provided a pair of new shoes at in September when the Tucson Metro Christmas time to every student of Chamber presented its Copper CacOchoa Magnet School in South Tuctus Awards for the 19th year. son. And for the last two Christmas The Sept. 9 dinner event at the seasons, the business also has given a Casino Del Sol Resort & Conference pair of socks to each and every child Center drew an audience of more attending the school. than 700 to congratulate the area’s Darren and Eliza Bayliss opened top businesses in six categories: leadtheir first physical therapy location in ers of the year, best place to work, Tucson in 2005. Today they operate workforce development, business four locations in Tucson and two in growth, charitable nonprofit busiDallas. ness, and innovation.

It’s not the first time Winners were chosen the company has been from more than 400 honored as a Copper applicants that were Cactus Award winner. narrowed down to 54 In 2015, the business finalists. received an award for The prestigious the Best Place to Work Small Business Leader with 26 to 50 employees. of the Year was given Banzhaf said Maxito Darren and Eliza mum Impact makes Bayliss, owners and special allowances to operators of Maximum Darren Bayliss ensure that poor people Impact Physical Therapy Services. turned away by other Michael Varney, the providers receive needed physical therapy services. She said Chamber’s president and CEO, spoke the company is able to do so by acof the importance of small business to cepting payments from Medicaid and the local economy and the hard work, AHCCCS health plans and by using foresight and perseverance it takes to a sliding payment system for deductbuild a successful small business. ible fees owed by patients. Maximum “Small businesses make up 60 percent of the Chamber’s investors and Impact is also active in providing internships, training and jobs to impovone of the Chamber’s top priorities is to champion their prosperity,” Varney erished youth in the community. said. “The Tucson Metro Chamber “Eliza and I do not consider this our award,” Darren Bayliss said. “For Board of Directors and staff congratulate all Copper Cactus Awards finalus, it was a win for our entire orgaists for creating jobs and contributing nization. It was a collaborative effort to our local economy. We are proud to that wouldn’t have been possible withcelebrate your achievements and we out our employees.” are proud to showcase those achieveWells Fargo created the Copper ments to the entire community.”

Cactus Awards in 1998 and turned Lori Banzhaf, executive vice presiover the lead role to the Chamber dent of the Chamber, said that to in 2012. Wells Fargo continues to be qualify for the Copperpoint Small a presenting sponsor of the awards.

Business Leader of the Year, appliIntuit, Casino Del Sol Resort and cants had to not only exhibit creativCenpatico Integrated Care are coity and innovation in responding to sponsors. changing business conditions, but also Businesses sponsoring the various be meaningfully active in performing awards are Blue Cross Blue Shield community service work. She said of Arizona, Cenpatico, Cox Communications, Nextrio, Tucson Electric Darren and Eliza Bayliss “met and Power, and CopperPoint Mutual Inexceeded” all conditions for receiving surance Co. Winners of Copper Cacthe award. tus Awards are: Over the last five years, Maximum Impact Physical Therapy Services www.BizTucson.com

BizAWARDS BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF ARIZONA BEST PLACE TO WORK AWARDS 3 – 30 employees Pinnacle Plan Design

Pinnacle Plan Design collaborates with employers and their advisers to design and administer retirement plans that turn tax dollars into retirement benefits. Qualified retirement plans such as 401(k) plans and defined benefit plans offer business owners and executives the ability to reduce current tax liabilities, help ensure their personal retirement plans stay aligned with firm goals, and provide a benefit to recruit and retain the talent needed to grow their business.

Kevin Donovan

31 – 75 employees Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR

Founded in 1985 under the name PICOR, it has grown to become Southern Arizona’s leading independently owned, full-service commercial real estate company. It offers brokerage, property management and consulting solutions for retail, industrial, office, medical, land and investment properties. PICOR is a member of the Cushman & Wakefield Alliance, giving its Tucson clients access to highly valued national and global commercial real estate services.

Barbi Reuter Mike Hammond

76 – 250 employees The Hotel Congress

The historic Hotel Congress, which opened in 1919 and once provided rooms to legendary bank robber John Dillinger, is Arizona’s oldest continuously operated hotel.

Located downtown at the east end of Congress Street, the hotel boasts 40 periodfurnished rooms, banquet facilities, and a café that serves three meals a day every day of the year. It also is the home to Club Congress, an iconic nightclub featuring live bands. Hotel Congress has more than 175 employees.

Todd Hanley

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CENPATICO INTEGRATED CARE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AWARDS 3 – 30 employees The Solar Store

Katharine Kent

Serving Southern Arizona for nearly 20 years, the Solar Store is a full-service supplier of solar products and services to both residential and commercial clients. The Solar Store, which provides a wide range of renewable energy resources and services, has 14 employees.

Its installers, who receive ongoing training and are licensed in both solar electric and plumbing, are direct employees of the Solar Store and are never subcontracted.

31 – 75 employees DK Advocates

Dorothy Kret

DKA has provided employment services to people with disabilities and other barriers to employment for more than 30 years. The organization’s compassionate and qualified staff provides support to people from ages 18 to 80 who are unemployed, have limited work experience, or find it difficult to qualify for the jobs they want. DKA is dedicated to partnering with employers to create job opportunities for people who are ready to work. Its programs are free to participants and there are no fees for employers.

COX BUSINESS GROWTH AWARDS 3 – 30 employees Undisputed Fitness & Training Center

David Reilly

Operating from a more than 16,000 squarefoot facility at 1240 N. Stone Ave., Undisputed Fitness & Training Center has successfully combined mixed martial arts and physical fitness. It offers classes in boxing, kickboxing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, mixed martial arts, fitness boot camps, yoga, gradual resistance interval training, and women-only programming. The center’s clients range from professional athletes, body builders and power lifters, to those just wanting to stay in shape.

31 – 75 employees Port of Tucson

Alan Levin

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Port of Tucson is a transportation and logistics center that serves businesses those throughout Arizona, Northern Mexico and the Southwestern U.S. The Port of Tucson is the ideal location for an inland transportation hub - between California and Texas, 70 miles north of the Mexican border, adjacent to the Union Pacific Railroad mainline, and in close proximity to Tucson International Airport and two interstate highways heading north/south and east/west. This is the brainchild of Alan Levin, who purchased a 264-acre property in 1966 with the goal of creating a warehousing, distribution and manufacturing center based around the existing “intermodal” rail system and trucking lanes in the area.

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76 – 250 employees Total Care Connections

Since 2009, Total Care Connections has been providing in-home care and assisted-living placement to thousands of families and their loved ones in Tucson and Southern Arizona.

Known for its state-of-the art programs and services, Total Care Connections has become one of the largest and most trusted senior care providers in Arizona. Total Care Connections was recently recognized by Inc. 5000 as one of the 5,000 fastest-growing small businesses in the country. Inc. 5000 rankings are based on percentage revenue growth over a three-year period.

Daniel Stringer Danielle Stringer

NEXTRIO INNOVATION AWARDS 3 – 30 employees InduraPower/Elitise

Elitise LLC, owner of the InduraPower Intelligent Battery Series, is a recognized leader in R&D, engineering and manufacturing of the most advanced, intelligent lithium ion batteries for autos, motorcycles and boats.

The company has several patents in battery management systems, high-impact casings and printed circuit boards. Advanced features include remote control by a proprietary mobile phone app, power reserves to guarantee a final engine crank, heaters to provide starting power in cold weather, circuitry to turn the battery off when not in use, and a gyroscope to disconnect power in case of an accident. Elitise is embracing lithium ion power solutions and mobile technology to transform the traditional lead-acid battery market.

Sergei Begliarov Kagum Zakharyan

31 – 75 employees SinfoniaRx

SinfoniaRx is an innovative healthcare company that orchestrates health and wellness for patients with complex and chronic illnesses through its medication therapy management solutions. Using a proprietary software platform initially developed at the University of Arizona, SinfoniaRx analyzes more than 20 million prescriptions weekly to identify and resolve medication-related problems. To date, SinfoniaRx’s program has resolved more than 1.1 million medication-related problems, saving $625 million in unnecessary healthcare spending.

Monica Adams Andrea Moreno

76 – 250 employees The Hacienda at the River

by Watermark

Longtime Tucsonans David Freshwater and David Barnes opened their first Tucson senior living community, The Fountains at La Cholla, in 1987. Since then their company, Watermark Retirement Communities, has grown into a national senior living and care leader operating 37 award-winning communities throughout the U.S. Now, for the first time in 25+ years, Watermark will open two innovative “legacy” communities in the Catalina Foothills – one in 2016 and the other in late 2017.

June Hussey

www.BizTucson.com

BizAWARDS

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TUCSON ELECTRIC POWER CHARITABLE NONPROFIT BUSINESS AWARDS

BizAWARDS

$50,000 to $500,000 total revenue Southern Arizona Network for Down Syndrome

The Southern Arizona Network for Down Syndrome (SANDS) is an all-volunteer organization whose mission is to improve and enrich the lives of individuals and families living with Down syndrome. SANDS is able to do this by hosting diverse community events to raise public awareness about Down syndrome and to raise funds for needed beneficial therapies, programs, conferences and other services.

$500,000 to $2 million total revenue Make Way for Books

Seventeen years ago, Make Way for Books’ founder Mary Jan Bancroft answered a newspaper listing to read to 4-year-olds at a preschool in Tucson. She found the preschool to be lacking in age-appropriate, quality picture books. Deciding to explore this need further, Bancroft found that most of the childcare centers serving economically disadvantaged children had few to zero quality books for young children. So Bancroft founded Make Way for Books, which began providing books to under-resourced sites and offering early literacy workshops for educators and parents. Today, the organization is known as the early literacy resource center for Southern Arizona. It has provided services to nearly 300 preschools and childcare centers. Each year, Make Way for Books serves more than 30,000 children and families and 700 educators.

Steve Freeman Allyson Schug Chad Lee McKinley

Jenny Volpe

$2 million to $5 million total revenue Tohono Chul

Named one of the top “secret gardens” in North America by National Geographic Traveler, Tohono Chul means “desert corner.” For more than 30 years this urban oasis – which consists of nearly 50 acres saved from development near one of Northwest Tucson’s busiest intersections – has enriched people’s lives by introducing them to the wonders of nature, art and culture in the Sonoran Desert. Tohono Chul features native plant gardens, art displays and exhibits, indoor and outdoor dining, gift shops, historic architecture, seasonal plant sales, discovery tours, classes, concerts and more.

Christine Conte

$5 million to $10 million total revenue Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum’s mission is to inspire people to live in harmony with the natural world by fostering love, appreciation and understanding of the Sonoran Desert. Founded in 1952, the 98-acre museum is widely recognized as a model institution for innovative presentation and interpretation of more than 1,200 native plant species and 230 animals featured together in natural history and art exhibits. The Desert Museum is an economic driver for Tucson and Southern Arizona through conservation, research and tourism.

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Craig Ivanyi

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BizHR

The Empathy Factor Author: Embracing Human Needs, Feelings Key to Business Success

By Christy Krueger The modern world’s explosion of social media and fastpaced global business approaches are transforming how we communicate with one another in both personal and professional relationships. And according to Marie Miyashiro, the evolution is creating a new workplace culture that brings the importance of human feelings and needs into the forefront of business practices.

Miyashiro, president of Tucson-based Elucity Network consulting and training firm, calls this “the empathy factor.”

After growing up in an empathic home, Miyashiro had a rude awakening upon entering the workforce where she found empathy barely existed. As a business consultant, she eventually realized that what often needed fixing was not systems, but human connections. Now, she travels the world teaching business groups what empathy is, why it’s important to their organizations, and how they can embrace it.

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This fall Miyashiro gave a riveting 90-minute presentation to nearly 200 members of Society for Human Resource Management of Greater Tucson as part of its annual National Speaker series. She began by answering the question of why we need to embrace empathy at work.

Earlier generations, she said, were not as likely to question inequalities or unfairness as today’s workers and consumers.

“There are human needs that have to be addressed. They want to be seen as individuals. People are hungry to be human and professional at the same time. The younger generation is not going to stay at a job – they’ll quit – if they can’t have balance.”

The empathy factor in business, Miyashiro said, involves relationships both within a company and between a company and consumers. “Customers and employees have a stronger continued on page 125 >>> www.BizTucson.com

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“

People are hungry to be human and professional at the same time.

–

Marie Miyashiro President Elucity Network

”

continued from page 122 voice and that affects profits and productivity. They want to be seen and heard, and if you don’t get acknowledged, it shows up on Facebook.”

To immerse the SHRM-GT members in this idea, Miyashiro used interactive tools and exercises that helped them grasp the concept in real-life terms. First, she asked participants for their definition of empathy. Via their hand-held devices, they entered a disclosed online site and submitted words and phrases that were gathered through a live interactive audience participation platform. Almost instantly, responses were displayed on large video screens adjacent to the stage. Answers were shown in percentages and pie charts and also posted in the form of word clouds, which make words large or small based on their frequency of mention by those in the room.

Survey results included emotional connection, compassion and putting yourself in another’s shoes. Miyashiro likes to use “mindful curiosity” and “noticing without judgment.”

Those in attendance were then given exercises to help them practice empathy by imagining scenarios that evoke various thoughts and feelings and translating them into needs. Understanding one’s own needs helps to accept others’ needs, Miyashiro said.

“Human needs are behind all that we feel,” she said.

“To be empathic, we must be curious about ourselves and others. Empathy is understanding and recognizing human needs. A good way to give others empathy is to give it to ourselves first. Then it could change the way we feel about others.”

She strongly endorses the concept of self-empathy leading to interpersonal empathy and finally embracing mutual empathy, which equates to collaboration.

“Empathy is not for its own sake,” she said. “It creates meaningful work, productivity and profits. It’s common sense but not commonly used. It’s powerful because it’s rare in the business world.”

Miyashiro’s book, “The Empathy Factor – Your Competitive Advantage for Personal, Team and Business Success,” is available for purchase through major booksellers, Amazon, www.empathyfactoratwork.com and during her speaking engagements. It can also be found at www.nonviolentcommunication.com.

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Cyber Attacks

‘Burglar-Proofing’ Computer System

By Lee Allen If there’s a computer in your life, chances are you’re going to get hacked and it’s not a matter of if or when, but how badly.

“You’re not going to stop it. It’s inevitable. It will happen,” said Phoenix Special Agent Patrick Cullen, part of the FBI’s Cyber Crimes Division. Cullen was the presenter at a Sept. 29 breakfast at the Arizona Inn sponsored by Silverado Technologies.

“If you have a computer that’s online, it’s going to happen,” Cullen said. “In the business world, the equation involves companies that will soon be hacked, have already been hacked or are being hacked repeatedly.”

And it’s not just the big guys who get victimized, organizations as large as the federal government and familiar retail names like Target, Yahoo, Costco, Amazon and Walmart.

With increasing frequency, it’s the little guys who fall victim to the insidious attacks – and frequently don’t even know it.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is the lead federal agency for investigation of cyber attacks and notes, “The threat is incredibly serious – and growing. Cyber intrusions are becoming more commonplace, more dangerous and more sophisticated.”

Dell computers’ latest Security Threat Report notes: “In 2015, we saw a 73 percent increase in unique malware samples compared with 2014 (and) more than triple the 2013 number.”

“Problems with cyber breaches are increasing at a dramatic rate and it’s time folks understand the risks involved,” said Gene Hechler, president of Silverado Technologies. “Companies with 10 to 100 employees are the center of the target and that means most Tucson businesses are in the bull’s-eye. These 126 BizTucson

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are companies large enough to have data the bad guys might want, but typically are the least prepared to defend themselves against an attack.”

Data provided by Silverado Technologies showed that small businesses were in the crosshairs when it comes to targeted attacks. One newspaper headline shared with business audiences read: “Firms worry about breaches from hackers, not terrorists.”

Dell further states: “In 2015, a massive number of breaches succeeded against organizations who thought they were doing everything right. The solution is for companies to approach security as an end-to-end problem – from data creation and storage to its consumption and every transit channel in between.

Like architecture’s most fundamental stable shape, the arch, if all pieces are in place, it’s unshakable. But if one piece is missing or flimsy, the arch will crumble. Likewise, if security is weak at any point, the whole system risks collapsing.”

For small businesses in particular, internal resources generally aren’t there to fix a data breach when it happens. “A company with only a dozen or so employees probably doesn’t have a dedicated IT department to keep a consistent eye on things,” Cullen said.

And while there is no 100-percent guarantee against hacking, no totally impenetrable firewalls, no infallible encrypted codes, there are some protective measures that can be taken.

“Some systems have holes the size of a pickup truck that make it easy to enter and steal data,” Cullen said. “The secret is how hard to make it for the bad guys to achieve entry and how do you fix it once entry has occurred. It’s like burglarwww.BizTucson.com

BizSECURITY

Widespread is Best Defense

Steps to Keep Your Computer System Safe

proofing a house. If it’s easier for someone to break and enter at one location than it is for another site, unless hackers are targeting a specific business, they’ll go where it’s easiest to get into a system.”

Perhaps the most depressing thought: “Most companies have had a data breach and they don’t even know it,” Cullen said. According to a Microsoft report on the subject, “Cybercriminals tend to lurk in breached environments for far too long before being detected – the average time a hack goes undiscovered is more than 200 days.”

Said Cullen: “Some of these intrusions have been ongoing for years and we’ve seen businesses in Tucson that have been hit so hard, they’ve been forced to go out of business.”

“The worst case I’ve worked with involved a local client getting a ransomware on his computer,” said Stephen Crawford of Tucson’s Crawford Computer Company. Ransomware is an insidious type of malware that encrypts, or locks, valuable digital files and demands a ransom to release them.

“The biggest problem in the case of small companies with only a couple of servers is not so much the servers being attacked from the internet, but with user computers being compromised so that malware gains access – malware unknowingly installed by users downloading software, clicking on an infected web link or email, or using an infected USB drive. Often the attacker is a ‘bot,’ a program designed to gain access without actually doing anything. If you discover it quickly enough, you can disable it before any damage is done.”

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Many small businesses have only a single server, perhaps two at most, that could be compromised by malware access. "Sometimes users install malware unknowingly, so routine maintenance is a must as a way of detecting and deleting unwanted items," said computer expert Stephen Crawford.

At a recent SCORE seminar on the subject, business and banking attorney Kathy Winger, who deals with cybersecurity, offered some tips to head off cyber breaches: • Use consulting professions to determine and address specific risks in your business • Comply with industry data security standards • Install and regularly update antivirus software • Train employees about what to be on the lookout for • Keep your firewall turned on and protecting intrusions from hackers who might try to gain access • Turn off computers to effectively sever an attacker's connection, be it spyware or a botnet "All companies must protect PII (Personally Identifiable Information)," she said. "It's critically important to be aware of the PII that your business is collecting, holding and/or sharing third parties." > > BizTucson Winter 2017 >with 127

Bringing Health to Downtown Healthcare Leaders Tucson Medical Center & El Rio Community Health Center Join Forces

By Mary Minor Davis Downtown Tucson will be another step closer to having all the necessary services a resident or worker needs right in the neighborhood through a collaboration between two local leaders in the healthcare industry – Tucson Medical Center and El Rio Community Health Center.

The two organizations are joining forces to create HealthOn Tucson, a new, innovative, integrated health and wellness nonprofit collaboration.

The group’s first healthcare facility, HealthOn Broadway, will open in January 2017, serving both residential and workforce populations in the downtown area.

Both community health systems focus on improving the health and well-being of the community, said Julia Strange, VP of Community Benefits at TMC. “Coming together, we really are seeking to blend our two missions to create a unique, innovative approach to caring for patients – and in the case of our first location, we expect our patient base will be people who live and/or work downtown.”

The healthcare facility adds to a resurgence of downtown that has seen multiple residential developments accompanied by restaurants and retail take root. A grocery store, Johnny Gibson’s Downtown Market, now serves those residents. And a new hotel, the AC Marriott, is nearing completion.

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The facility will be in leased space on the first floor of the six-story One West building at 1 W. Broadway. It will provide state-of-the-art primary care, telehealth, health education and wellness coaching. It also will be accessible from the streetcar and staffed to handle 7,000 patients a year. BWS Architects is the designer of the HealthOn Broadway facility. Caylor Design & Construction is the builder of One West.

“We have spent a lot of time talking to people who live and work downtown to see what kind of healthcare services they need and want, how we can support employers with their health and wellness programming and more,” Strange said. “Because we both have experience in creating new medical models, the hardest part was finding the right location. We wanted a space that would build on that momentum and allow us to better serve downtown employees and residents, so we’re really excited about this location and our larger collaboration.”

Nancy Johnson, CEO of El Rio, agreed. “We are transforming how primary care should be delivered through patient experience, innovation, efficiency and clinical outcomes,” she said.

“TMC and El Rio are committed to creating a unique, integrated healthcare model, which has not yet been seen in Tucson.”

Both El Rio and TMC are expand-

ing their presence in the downtown area. El Rio has operated a clinic on Congress west of I-10 for years, and recently moved its administrative offices to the Manning House on the east side of the freeway. TMC has sponsored Meet Me at Maynards almost since it began, and started a healthy-eating program with Chef Janos Wilder at the Carriage House in May 2016.

TMC has been working with the City of Tucson and Pima County on the needs of their employees and having a downtown healthcare option. “Our www.BizTucson.com

BizHEALTHCARE

community is telling us that they want to access healthcare where they live and where they work,” said Judy Rich, president and CEO of TMC HealthCare.

“And it just made sense to partner with our colleagues at El Rio Health to bring this innovative concept to downtown Tucson.”

In addition to traditional treatment rooms, Strange said the center will offer “dialogue rooms” to provide informal space for health coaching, education and prevention techniques to help people take control of their health. “What

we’ve found is that patients have to be active partners in their care, and engaged in their own health, to really get the great outcomes everyone wants.”

Strange said they have been talking to employers, residents and other stakeholders for months to determine the greatest healthcare needs for the downtown market. As a result, they are anticipating two tracks of patients that will be served by the center.

“There are some patients who will make HealthOn their medical home, where they will come for primary care,”

she said. “There also will be other patients who already have a great relationship with their primary care provider but they have an urgent care kind of need, and want to duck over from work to have their throat looked at, for example.

“We built this concept around supporting local business and employees as well as responding to the needs of those folks in new residential developments, student housing and senior housing downtown.”

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Jason Grabosch Tucson native Jason Grabosch has joined Alliance Bank of Arizona as VP of commercial banking, senior loan officer, within the Tucson office. Grabosch is responsible for soliciting, negotiating, underwriting and coordinating the closing of commercial building and business, SBA and equipment loans in compliance with the bankâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lending policies and procedures. He brings 23 years of experience to the bank, 16 as a commercial/business lending officer.

Biz

Andrew Stegen

Andrew Stegen is the new GM at the Westward Look Wyndham Grand Resort & Spa. He will oversee daily resort operations while managing a staff of nearly 230 employees. Stegen joins the Westward Look team after managing the Stockton Seaview Golf Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey, for the past three years. He has spent nearly 30 years in the hospitality industry.

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Teamwork Takes Her to the Top

By Rhonda Bodfield Teamwork didn’t come naturally to Barbi Reuter – but it’s now absolutely a hallmark of her leadership style and a significant part of her longtime success in the commercial real estate industry.

Reuter, who became president of Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR on Jan. 1 with the support of her 11 partners, grew up in a single-parent home that left her with a fear of poverty, steely independence and a fierce determination to make good in the world.

In many ways, the model worked: She started as a receptionist at PICOR at its inception in 1985 as she worked her way through college. In a stunning trajectory, she was a partner by the time she was 26 years old.

But her appreciation of teamwork began to shift when she went back to college to finish her bachelor’s degree in business management and encountered group study. This was new for the student who always relied on her own grit and brains to land at the top of her class. Trust someone else for my grade?

Really?

“It took some adjusting and a bit of a leap of faith, but it really helped me learn the value of working with others to create something bigger and better than you could on your own,” Reuter said.

So it’s perhaps interesting that in addition to running the independent commercial real estate brokerage and management company, Reuter is otherwise best known for her prowess in connecting – both in her groundbreaking work in social media in commercial real estate space, as well as in strengthening opportunities for women in the industry.

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Reuter, routinely named among the most influential industry professionals online by blogger Duke Long, is wellknown for her online presence, from blog posts to social media. It’s a key skill for a company undergoing a generational shift as its founders transition to the next round of successors.

Long active in the local chapter of Commercial Real Estate Women, Reuter is finishing up a two-year term on the national board of CREW Network, designed to influence industry success by advancing the achievements of women.

“Opportunity-wise, I’ve never felt like I’ve been discriminated against, but I also know I’ve been the only woman in way too many rooms,” Reuter said.

Like many other industries in corporate America, commercial real estate struggles with pay equity for women, as well as a gap in who serves in senior leadership roles. Pay equity takes many forms: After Reuter took reduced hours during the slow times of the recession to spend more time with her children, it took her eight years to get back to her pre-recession income.

“It’s important to consider the root causes of why that is – and then figure out how best to foster growth and opportunity for women. And certainly the discussion isn’t just with women: There are many men who are leaders in this work who absolutely understand the results are better when you have a diverse team.”

At the same time, although building opportunities for women remains a strong passion, Reuter was open to feedback from mentors who noted her community and industry involvement

had become somewhat gender-centric.

“I’m intentionally now broadening that engagement and bringing my voice to other organizations,” said Reuter, who recently joined the Tucson Metro Chamber Board, as well as the YMCA Metropolitan Board.

Reuter, who served in property management for her first 20 years with the firm before shifting to a leadership role, has four key lessons she shares about what she’s learned in those years.

“There is power in authenticity – knowing and embracing your strengths brings opportunity, success and peace of mind,” she said. She noted there is power in listening, while knowledge of finance is a differentiator that can lead to career advancement.

Finally, she said, “Fear of failure is a limiter, so at all costs, avoid self-talk that holds you back. Taking risks and innovating can propel opportunity.”

Reuter acknowledges that property management is not the future career most kids daydream about – and indeed, she never intended to spend her entire career at one company. But the woman who drives a vehicle with the vanity plate “PICOR” said she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It’s home to me. This business is all about solutions – it’s relationship driven and it’s about adding value, literally and figuratively. And as a leader, it’s about making a difference and being connected to community. As leaders, we are motivated every day by the responsibility we have to the families who depend on the success of this company.

It’s what keeps us going.”

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PHOTO: AMY HASKELL

Barbi Reuter President Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR

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Downtown Rolls On New Leader for Downtown Tucson Partnership, More Projects

By Eric Swedlund Joining the Downtown Tucson Partnership as CEO in October, Kathleen Eriksen has taken the reins of an organization in the middle of a long-awaited resurgence in the city’s central core.

Eriksen had barely a month on the job when the DTP joined with Rio Nuevo in hosting Downtown Now, a celebration of the collective accomplishments made possible by $600 million in private investment.

“Downtown is incredibly vibrant,” she said. “Once I got here for the interview, I was completely blown away. It exceeded all my expectations and I immediately fell in love with Tucson. I’m thrilled to have this opportunity.”

Eriksen said there’s a long list of unique Tucson charms that already exist downtown: the restaurants, the arts and culture, the history of the area, and most importantly, she said, the people, who have been “welcoming, inclusive and genuine.” A large part of her job will be to continue the momentum already established, while moving forward with a cohesive plan.

“Tucson has experienced so much development in the last five years and there’s a lot more to come,” she said.

“What’s important now is managing this incredible growth.”

Eriksen brings 14 years of executive experience with downtown organizations in Michigan and California and is the founder of Eriksen Development Company, a full-service downtown development and consulting firm. Before working in downtown development, Eriksen was a small-business owner herself, with experience operating restaurants, catering and a coffee shop in redeveloped, historic buildings in downtown Jackson, Mich.

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plans for downtown, but said she’ll maintain a strong focus on fundamental areas like security, streetscape and signage to ensure downtown is safe, attractive and easy to navigate.

Striking the proper balance between downtown’s rich history and the ongoing new development also is a key to successfully assisting multiple stakeholder groups, she said.

“We need to preserve our history when we can. Luckily we have dedicated and passionate neighborhood groups overseeing a lot of that. But the Downtown Tucson Partnership needs to take on that role for ourselves as well,” she said. “We have to think creatively.”

At a DTP board retreat in January, Eriksen will present her top priorities for a new, comprehensive action plan.

After a month-long listening tour, meeting downtown stakeholders and gaining input about how the Downtown Tucson Partnership can best help, Eriksen has drawn up six focus areas: property and physical improvements, retail recruitment and retention, marketing and promotion, resource development and financing, residential and mixed-use development, and relationship building.

“We are thrilled that Kathleen will be the CEO for the Downtown Tucson Partnership,” said Randi Dorman, board chairwoman of the Downtown Tucson Partnership. “Her unique combination of relevant experience and endless enthusiasm for Downtown Tucson makes her the right person to take our downtown from momentum to maturity.”

Eriksen is the fifth CEO in the Downtown Tucson Partnership’s 18 years, taking over following the retirement of Michael Keith, who led downtown development efforts for six years.

Some of the plans Eriksen mentioned include updating DTP’s website, logo and marketing focus; activating downtown’s public parks through more events; creating downtown guides and accompanying maps that showcase things like restaurants and entertainment options; recruiting downtown residents as volunteers for a new ambassador program to connect with visitors; and creating a “foodie” tour.

Applying lessons from successful downtown groups and peer cities can be helpful, but most important, Eriksen said, is to focus on celebrating what Tucson has that can’t be found anywhere else.

“Tucson does have a lot in common with Austin and Portland, but it truly is uniquely Tucson,” Eriksen said. “Nowhere else in the world is like this and this is our biggest selling point.”

Rio Nuevo Updates

Rio Nuevo has approved public-private partnerships that include the new Caterpillar headquarters, the City Park development, and four new restoration projects that unite Peach Properties and Dabdoub Investments.

At Rio Nuevo’s Oct. 25 meeting, the board unanimously agreed to release requests for proposals to solicit a design team for the Caterpillar headquarters west of Interstate 10. The design and construction schedule would have Caterpillar take occupation of the new building in the spring of 2019. The build-lease deal was instrumental in luring Caterpillar, with an estimated $2 billion economic impact over 10 years.

For the Peach-Dabdoub projects, Rio Nuevo approved investing up to $4.4 million in mixed-use renovation of four continued on page 136 >>> www.BizTucson.com

PHOTO: SCOTT GRIESSEL/CREATISTA

WOMEN WHO LEAD

Kathleen Eriksen CEO Downtown Tucson Partnership

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BizDOWNTOWN continued from page 134 historic buildings: Chicago Store, the Arizona Hotel on Sixth Avenue, Bring’s Chapel on South Scott, and 123 S. Stone Ave. The projects will create an estimated $1.3 million every year in tax revenue.

A nearly 8,000 square-foot new space for Pizzeria Bianco will be the anchor at 123 S. Stone, keeping the iconic restaurant downtown after its two-year run on Congress Street. Additional retail, office and event space will complete that restoration.

At the Chicago Store, the one-time artisan pop-up Cultivate Tucson will have permanent space, joining BreakOut dance studio and restaurant/bar spaces.

The Brings development will feature the Owl’s Club, Exo coffee, Creative Tribe and Ace of Escape. The Arizona Hotel project will feature Miss Saigon, Yellow Brick Coffee, UPS Store, Sweat Shop fitness and 10 apartments.

For the City Park building on East Congress Street, Rio Nuevo agreed to advance $2.6 million of the $17 million project budget, now that developer Don Bourn has obtained financing from

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Bank of Tucson. In December, the Tucson City Council approved a $1.2 million tax incentive for the project.

Also in October, the Arizona Auditor General presented the results of the 2016 audit, finding Rio Nuevo in 100-percent compliance with statutes for the first time in the district’s history.

The audit cited transparency and recent success in projects, including renovation of the TCC Arena, construction of the new Greyhound Bus Terminal and Mercado Annex.

shift which has occurred downtown,” said Pamela Crim, President and CEO. “It has become the nerve center for small business and we want to increase our ethical and trustworthy marketplace within this growing community. Our move also allows us to build a headquarters that successfully serves all of Southern Arizona.”

The new BBB office is at 120 N. Stone Avenue, Suite 200.

BBB Moves Downtown

Construction on a new mixed-use, six-story development is planned to begin in April next to Tucson’s tallest building, One South Church.

The RendezVous building will combine 100 urban flats with retail and restaurants on the plaza level, announced Aerie Development. The one- and twobedroom apartments will be built over 7,000 square feet of commercial space.

Construction is planned for 14 months, beginning in April. The Davis Experience firm designed RendezVous and has partnered with Swaim Associates Architects on the project.

Southern Arizona’s office of the Better Business Bureau moved downtown in late December.

From a financial and physical standpoint, the move advances BBB’s mission, bringing the regional office closer to major partners such as the City of Tucson, Pima County, the Arizona Attorney General’s office, SCORE Southern Arizona and the Arizona Small Business Development Center.

“Not only does this move serve us positively in a financial capacity but it allows us to be a part of the dynamic

RendezVous Urban Flats Development

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BizBRIEFS

Deborah Kinkel-Suarez

Deborah Kinkel-Suarez is catering sales manager at the Westward Look Wyndham Grand Resort & Spa. She returned to Tucson from Houston, where she held the DSE position at the Houston JW Marriott Hotel. She previously was director of Starr Destination for the JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass where she was responsible for developing new market segments and maintaining existing relationships with corporate, association, entertainment and social accounts.

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Keegan, Linscott & Kenon

Accounting firm Keegan, Linscott & Kenon is now part of the RSM US Alliance, uniting with firms from 120 countries around the world under a common brand. Alliance membership enables the Tucson firm to access RSMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s broad range of national and international resources to further increase the value provided to clients and staff. RSM US Alliance member firms remain separate and independent businesses and legal entities.

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Jeremy Sharpe The Urban Land Institute has named Jeremy Sharpe, VP of Community Development for Rancho Sahuarita, as a 2016 winner of its international 40 Under 40 award, which recognizes the brightest young land use and real estate professionals. The ULI competition provides its members with the opportunity to nominate young leaders in any discipline including design, development, finance, planning landscape architecture, sustainability, public policy, transit, urban infrastructure and academia. Biz

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Mayor Rothschild

Scott Stietler

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PHOTOS: JASON FINDLEY

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AC Marriott Tops Out

By Eric Swedlund The AC Marriott hotel is progressing on time and on budget, with a toppingout celebration in November showcasing the fantastic views and sleek rooms.

On pace for completion by summer 2017, the eight-story, 136-room project will be the first new hotel built downtown since 1972.

The Tucson AC Marriott was the fifth franchise agreement signed in the United States for the brand, which is popular in Europe, specializing in urban settings and tight build sites, said developer Scott Stiteler.

The November topping-out celebration marked a milestone in a long effort for Stiteler and his partners to bring a hotel to downtown. Having seen the Antonio Catalan brand in Spain where it began, Stiteler knew it was the right fit for the lot on Fifth Avenue between Congress Street and Broadway.

“It’s become a real power brand for Marriott,” Stiteler said. “You get a lot of that European sensibility. I can’t tell you how excited I was the first time I got to see what a room looks like.”

The Tucson AC Marriott will be one of 16 opening in the United States in 2017. But the popularity of the brand didn’t make it any easier to secure funding for construction in Tucson. Stiteler said he went to about 10 banks before he was able to secure the loan from Bank of Tucson.

The property will feature 5,000 square feet of retail along Fifth Avenue.

A partnership is in the works with a local company, Stiteler said. A parking garage with more than 200 spots will be above the retail. The hotel rooms will make up the sixth, seventh and eighth floors, in a “U” shape open to the south. A rooftop pool will be the middle of the U. “The views are outstanding from every room,” Stiteler said. “We cut zero corners. Quality, quality, quality. It’s concrete, it’s steel, it’s copper. Not everyone does that. We want this to be here for a long, long time.”

The hotel will have an average daily rate of about $150, fluctuating seasonally. The lobby will feature a full-service bar with restaurant offering a European breakfast and limited Spanish tapas menu.

“The goal is to get people to come here, check in, get settled and go out to enjoy the businesses around us,” Stiteler said.

The project will be LEED certified.

Architects are FORS Architecture and Swaim Associates Architects and the general contractor is Lloyd Construction.

“For the whole team to come together on time and on budget is outstanding. It sends a message to the bank that they should continue to invest in the community in more and more projects,” Stiteler said.

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APPRAISAL James Bradley, CCIM AXIA Real Estate Appraisers jbradley@axiaappraisers.com DEVELOPMENT Greg Boccardo, CCIM Boccardo Realty greg@gregboccardo.com James Hardman, CCIM DESCO Southwest jhardman@descogroup.com Gary Heinfield, CCIM Advisors In Real Estate gheinfeld@ccim.net Melissa Lal, CCIM Larsen Baker, LLC melissa@larsenbaker.com George Larsen, CCIM Larsen Baker, LLC george@larsenbaker.com Margaret Larsen, CCIM Larsen Baker, LLC mlarsen@ccim.net Jason Wong, CCIM Red Point Development jwong@redpointdevelopment. com

FINANCE Mike Trueba, CCIM Commerce Bank of AZ mtrueba@commercebankaz.com

INVESTMENTS Gary Andros, CCIM Andros Commercial Properties gandros@ccim.net

Laurie Weber, CCIM Larsen Baker, LLC / LendAmerica lweber@ccim.net

Gary Best, CCIM KW Commercial best.gary.t@gmail.com

INDUSTRIAL David Blanchette, CCIM CBRE Dave.Blanchette@cbre.com David Gallaher, CCIM Tucson Industrial Realty dave@tucsonindustrialrealty.com Robert Glaser, CCIM Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR rglaser@picor.com J. Terry Lavery, CCIM Realty Executives Tucson Elite jamestlavery@laveryrealty.com Brandon Rodgers, CCIM Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR brodgers@picor.com

Swain Chapman, CCIM Chapman Lindsey Real Estate Services LLC swain@chapmanmanagementgroup.com Mick Cluck, CCIM Coldwell Banker Residential Br mick@mickcluck.com John Hamner, CCIM KW Commercial john@tucsoncommercial.com Jane Holder, CCIM Realty Executives Tucson Elite janeyholderaz@gmail.com David Houge, CCIM Realty Executives Tucson Elite david@ccimaz.com Ed Johnson, CCIM Invest-Com Real Estate ejohnson@ccim.net

James Kai, CCIM Kai Enterprises james.kai@kaienterprises.com Wayne Lindquest, CCIM Wayne Lindquist Commercial Real Estate Broker waynelindquist@yahoo.com Susan Ong, CCIM BroadStone Commercial Real Estate broadstone@aol.com James Robertson, CCIM Realty Executives Tucson Elite jr4CCIM@gmail.com

MULTIFAMILY Lance Parsons, CCIM ABI Multifamily lance.parsons@abimultifamily. com OFFICE Tari Auletta, CCIM KW Commercial tariauletta@kwcommercial.com Jannie Irvin, CCIM Mark Irvin Commercial Real Estate Services, LLC janine@markirvin.com

Paul Rosado, CCIM Commercial Real Estate Broker prosado@ccim.net

Mark Irvin, CCIM Mark Irvin Commercial Real Estate Services, LLC mark@markirvin.com

LAND Bob Benedon, CCIM Centra Realty bobbenedon@yahoo.com

RETAIL Craig Finfrock, CCIM Commercial Retail Advisors, LLC. cfinfrock@cradvisorsllc.com

James Marian, CCIM Chapman Lindsey Commerical Real Estate Services LLC jbm@chapmanlindsey.com

Debbie Heslop, CCIM Volk Company dheslop@volkco.com

Juan Teran, CCIM Realty Executives International jteran@ccim.net

Andy Seleznov, CCIM Larsen Baker, LLC andy@larsenbaker.com

BizREALESTATE

Expecting Good News Real Estate Forecasts Predicting Progress Lopez Named CCIM ‘Legend’

By David Pittman

By David B. Pittman Humberto S. Lopez, who co-founded HSL Properties in 1975, will receive the Real Estate Legend Award at the Southern Arizona CCIM Chapter’s annual market forecast at the Tucson Marriott University Park.

Lopez, the longtime president of the Tucson company, left his position about a year ago at the age of 70, turning the title and responsibility over to his nephew, Omar Mireles. Lopez is now chairman of the board.

HSL Properties has acquired and developed properties in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, New Mexico and Texas, and has formed more than 100 limited partnerships and limited liability companies.

HSL is focused on multifamily apartment communities, but also has invested in office and retail buildings, shopping malls, a golf course and hotels. The company currently owns and operates 37 apartment communities, 30 of which are in Tucson. In all, HSL oversees about 10,000 apartment homes that cover more than 7 million square feet.

In 2002, HSL formed its Asset Management Company, which provides site management and quality resident services for its properties. The Asset Management Company employs more than 300 people.

Last June, Lopez and David Mehl of Cottonwood Properties joined together in a partnership to buy The RitzCarlton, Dove Mountain. Nestled in the foothills of the Tortolita Mountains, The Ritz-Carlton is the only Forbes fivestar hotel in Arizona. HSL also owns the Hilton El Conquistador Resort in Oro Valley.

HSL Properties is also well-known for its philanthropy. In 2015 alone, the company donated more than $750,000 to dozens of organizations and causes.

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Rejuvenated confidence about Tucaccurate predictions a year ago in each son’s economic future is expected to market sector (industrial, retail, office, be a recurring theme at the upcoming multifamily, land and finance) make 26th annual CCIM Commercial Real year-in-review presentations in their Estate Forecast in February. areas of expertise. They also will lead “After many years of slow or nonpanel discussions among those making existent growth in the local economy, forecasts for 2017 regarding vacancy Tucson has experienced a number of levels, interest rates, land costs, convery positive announcements recently struction prices and other factors that from companies that are relocating or influence the local commercial real esexpanding here,” said Craig Finfrock, tate market. owner and designated broker for ComThe CCIM Forecast Competition is mercial Retail Advisors and VP of the among the longest-running events of its Southern Arizona CCIM chapter. type in the nation and has served as a “It has brought a renewed optimism model for other CCIM chapters across about Tucson’s economy and has rethe country to establish similar compesulted in other businesses exploring the titions. possibility of expanding here.”

CCIM stands for Certified ComFinfrock is overseeing the forecast mercial Investment Member. It is an competition and will serve as its master educational designation for a high level of ceremonies. The event will be Tuesof knowledge and expertise in the field day, Feb. 21, at Tucson Marriott Uniof commercial real estate that is recversity Park. ognized by commercial brokers, invesJohn R. Oliver, GM of global actors and developers around the world. counts and customer services at CaterTo achieve the designation, applicants pillar, is slated to speak about the demust attend classes, pass tests and docucision-making ment that they process that led have completed Caterpillar to at least $10 choose Tucson 26TH ANNUAL CCIM FORECAST million in real as the site of its COMPETITION estate transacSurface Mining Presented by CCIM Southern Arizona Chapter tions. & Technology Tuesday, Feb. 21 The SouthDivision, a deci- Tucson Marriott University Park, 800 E. Second St. ern Arizona sion that is ex- Registration and Networking – Starts at 11:15 a.m. CCIM chappected to trans- Program – Noon to 4 p.m. (Lunch will be served) ter will host late into a direct Networking reception – 4 to 5:30 p.m. (Cash bar) a CCIM 101 infusion of $1.9 course at the Chapter Members – $95 Nonmembers – $115 billion in eco- Table of 10 – $1,000 Tucson Assonomic benefits ciation of Resazccim@tucsonrealtors.org and 600 highaltors building paying jobs in Sept. 4 through Keynote Speaker Southern AriSept. 7. The John R. Oliver, Director zona. four-day introof Customer Services The 350 to ductory class & Global Accounts, 400 people excosts $1,000 Surface Mining & pected to atand is the first Technology Division, tend the event in a series of Caterpillar, Inc. will see the real classes required estate profesto achieve the sionals who CCIM designamade the most tion.

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Amy Chavez

CPA Amy Chavez of R&A CPAs, one of southern Arizona’s leading public accounting and business advisory firms, has been named a shareholder of R&A’s tax division. Chavez is a graduate of the University of Arizona Eller College of Management and joined R&A in 2006.

She has spent the majority of her career serving corporations and partnerships in real estate, construction, hospitality and education.

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William Assenmacher

William Assenmacher was elected chairman of the board of directors of Commerce Bank of Arizona. The CEO of CAID Industries had been a director of the bank since 2014. Commerce Bank is the only locally owned and managed bank in Tucson and focuses on small- to medium-sized businesses.

“This bank is ready for growth, not only here in Tucson, but also in Phoenix and some of the surrounding areas,” he said.

“Small business needs are definitely underserved in the banking industry. We will be there for them. Our employees work very hard to make our businessbanking relationships address the needs of the small-business community. Tucson’s future is very bright.” Assenmacher also serves on the board of directors of the Tucson Metro Chamber.

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PHOTO: AMY HASKELL

BizCOMMUNITY

Amy Geile, COO & Co-Founder, WeeWork for Good Kristen Littell, CEO & Co-Founder, WeeWork for Good

Passion for Compassion

Company’s Craft Kits Help Kids to Help Others

By Tara Kirkpatrick When her kids complained about dinner for the third night in a row, mother of five Kristen Littell loaded them into her car for an important lesson: They would go serve dinner to others.

Amy Geile, also a mom of five, was trying to correct her child’s somewhat cavalier attitude that they couldn’t help a homeless man asking for money in the train station.

It was when the two close friends shared their stories that the origins for their company, WeeWork for Good, first took root.

“We wanted to find a way to teach our children about compassion, and really quickly we realized that we weren’t the only parents who had that need,” said Littell, WeeWork co-founder 144 BizTucson

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and CEO. So in 2010, Littell and Geile began organizing giving-back events for families at Steele Children’s Research Center, Habitat for Humanity, Mobile Meals and other agencies. They brainstormed and created crafts for kids to best identify with various social issues, ranging from health and wellness to hunger, then empowering them to gift their creations. Kids assembled diabetes support kits for young Steele patients, built planters for new homes at Habitat for Humanity and made placemats for Mobile Meals.

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continued from page 144 objective,” said Geile, WeeWork co-founder and COO. “We were trying to touch all of the various social issues, so whichever one resonated with a particular child, it could inspire them personally.”

In those early days, families would go to the agencies to participate in events, but soon Littell and Geile realized that, to reach even more children, they needed a readymade product. “We wanted to develop a fun, easy way for parents and organizations to educate their children about important social issues,” Littell said.

Added Geile: “We wanted to be able to keep this mission going without having to keep asking for donations and become self-sustaining.”

The pair met with consultants, tax attorneys and mentors and ultimately decided to move WeeWork for Good forward as a Certified B Corporation, similar to actress Jessica Alba’s The Honest Company. Littell and Geile found a manufacturing partner in Tucson’s Beacon Group, which employs people with disabilities. And now, WeeWork sells its creative-giving activity kits, all designed by Littell and Geile, on www.weeworkforgood.com and www.amazon. com, shipping throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom with a global goal in mind.

“We really try to develop kits that will give the best example or the best hands-on way to teach that compassion,” said Geile. The kits celebrate 10 core social issues: animal welfare, basic necessities, children’s rights, cultural awareness, elderly, environment, health and wellness, hunger, literacy, and patriotism. Each contains all the supplies needed to complete the craft, a lesson booklet, gifting instructions and a small keepsake for the child. “We aim to have a product designed for each category by the end of 2017,” said Littell.

What’s more, each kit purchased enables WeeWork to make an in-kind donation to nonprofit groups – a toothbrush to a needy child for every dental health kit sold, a book donated for every literacy kit.

“It enables me to spend quality time with my girls making gifts that will be given to others,” said Laura Hisey, a Tucson mom of four and WeeWork supporter. “They are learning the importance of giving back to the community while using their talents and having fun. Our first project was a polar bear. The girls kissed the heart and said a prayer of healing for whomever would be getting him in the future. The heart was placed into the bear, he was stuffed and completed.”

In November, WeeWork offered up the first in a series of children’s books, Wee Walk in Someone Else’s Shoes, cowritten by Geile and Littell. It’s a venture, they joke, that uses their “right brains.” Geile is a former UA accounting professor and Littell has logged many years in business and software development. They have also launched a pilot compassion curriculum at St. Cyril of Alexandria School and eagerly look toward an app or virtual reality product as their next WeeWork project.

“We plan to disrupt the $19 billion U.S. toy industry with products that empower children with an opportunity to make a difference in the world,” Littell said. “Many products out there teach things like math and science, but there is nothing that teaches compassion.”

Biz www.BizTucson.com

SPECIAL REPORT 2017

THE REGIONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S BUSINESS MAGAZINE

60

YEARS OF SERVICE

MHC Healthcare Expands to15 Locations

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MHC Healthcare By the Numbers Year founded – 1957 Service area – 600 square miles

PHOTOS: AMY HASKELL

Locations – 15 health centers Budget – $50 million annually Primary care visits in 2015 – 200,000 visits, 45,000 patients Employees – 500 in 2016 + 150 projected new hires in 2017 Solar energy – Powers nearly 100 percent of MHC’s flagship, Marana Main Health Center

From left − Jon Reardon, Director of Behavioral Health; Luis Velasco, CIO; Dr. Jenitza Serrano-Feliciano, CMO; Lorraine Madrid, CCO; Clint Kuntz, CEO; Christopher Oben, COO and Jania Arnoldi, CFO

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BizHEALTHCARE

MHC Healthcare Network Expands

15 Health Centers Serve Metro Area

By Christy Krueger When healthcare providers spend time building relationships with patients and take interest in their overall health, the likelihood of positive outcomes increases.

That’s the goal of all those who serve the community through the MHC Healthcare network, previously known as Marana Health Center.

MHC Healthcare offers whole-person care based on a successful model introduced in Marana in 1957. Staff members put patients front-and-center while embracing innovative medical and technical advancements that ensure the highest level of care.

MHC is the state’s oldest community health center. It began in 1957 as a one-room clinic in a Marana cotton field where the medical staff cared for migrants, local agriculture workers and

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poverty-level people seeking medical services. With few care options available for miles around, it was immediately well received.

The founding vision to provide healthcare to the underserved of Marana continues today – yet that vision has expanded exponentially, said CEO Clint Kuntz. Today the MHC Healthcare service area covers 600 square miles with 15 locations.

“Initially, the MHC Healthcare board saw a need to serve the Marana community. Then we needed to move into other areas. We provide a variety of primary care health services all the way down to the southern part of Tucson. Half our patients or more are outside Marana in the Tucson area.”

The majority of its growth came in the past 15 years. As recently as 2002, MHC had just one satellite site – in Catalina. It added its 15th health center in October 2016 with the opening of Dove Mountain Health Center northeast of Tangerine Road and Dove Mountain Boulevard.

The decision to open in the Dove Mountain area was based on surveys and research, which found few nearby medical providers and specifically no urgent-care facilities. “We look continuously at where we need to expand to serve the population,” said Chris Oben, MHC’s COO.

Whole-Person Healthcare for All

MHC’s patient demographics have definitely changed. In addition to serving uninsured and low-income patients, MHC health centers treat many patients who have healthcare insurance and live in middle-income households.

The broader geographic and demographic expansions prompted the leadership to make the name change. In 2008, after 51 years, Marana Health Center was rebranded MHC Healthcare.

The model that MHC has used almost from the start is known as a community health center (CHC) and MHC was the first such health provider in Arizona. Nationwide, CHCs serve nearly 24 million people a year and save the country’s healthcare system more than $17 billion each year.

“Traditionally, a CHC is a place where anyone can go to get healthcare no matter the barriers, such as ability to pay. They have a sliding fee scale,” Kuntz said. “Funding is mostly through patient services just like any other provider. We also get a grant from the federal government – but that’s a small piece and only covers uninsured patients.”

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BizHEALTHCARE continued from page 153 and work closely with patients and their families. MHC Healthcare is a nationally accredited Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH), a model of primary care in which patients have a team of care providers – including physicians, nurses, pharmacists, nutritionists, social workers and educators.

“This is a provider-led cultural shift,” Oben said. “We look at the whole patient and we develop a relationship with the care team. It’s been very effective.”

Part of the system includes making sure each patient is up to date with preventive services, which Oben said saves money in the long run because issues are caught before becoming an emergency. This has also led to the use of care coordinators, who follow up when a patient is referred to an outside specialist.

Full Spectrum of Services

PHOTOS: AMY HASKELL

MHC’s main location, at 13395 N. Marana Main St., houses a number of care specialties and providers – from primary care to radiology, dental care to pediatrics, women’s health and pharmacy. Next-door is the Counseling & Wellness Center. The other 14 MHC Healthcare sites have less extensive offerings. Providers refer patients to outside pharmacies and other services that aren’t available at their neighborhood MHC. Integrating medical and behavioral care is a central concept that MHC has embraced, Oben said. “We were one of the first in the state to integrate them both into one facility.”

Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jenitza Serrano-Feliciano stresses the importance of

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MHC Healthcare Mission, Vision & Mantra Mission: MHC Healthcare is dedicated to providing excellence in integrated health services to the communities we serve.

Vision: MHC Healthcare will be the preferred provider of integrated health services. We will provide quality, culturally-competent service, encourage patient participation in healthcare decisions and empower them to achieve the highest quality of life.

Mantra: Quality healthcare with a heart!

treating each patient as a whole person.

“We don’t leave out social or psychological problems that may be interfering with medical issues. We do morning huddles with our medical and behavioral health teams to discuss who we will see that day and create a plan. That’s key in integrative care.”

This increased need to coordinate information between providers has led MHC to become more reliant on healthcare technology. Even prior to the Affordable Care Act’s mandate for electronic medical records, MHC launched its own system and then attempted to link with other healthcare providers in the state.

“In 2007, we started the EMR system to replace paper charts – which was the way of doing business then,” said Luis Velasco, chief information officer. “All the community health centers in Arizona got together and tried to define what EMR system would be best for everyone to adopt. Today, record sharing is still a goal that has not been so easy to implement,” Velasco said, although it is advancing. “Over time, EMR technology will become critical to satisfy healthcare quality reporting requirements, enhance patient services and manage integration efforts.” he added.

As healthcare technology, regulation and medical treatments become more complex, so does the overseeing of good business practices. When Lorraine Madrid started working at MHC in 2003, the center didn’t have a human resources department, let alone a compliance position. She hired an HR staff and 10 years later was promoted to chief compliance officer, the position she holds today.

Her primary role is overseeing compliance of statutes, rules and regulations and www.BizTucson.com

she’s the liaison with MHC’s legal counsel. Much of her job involves research, and she regularly keeps up with everchanging state and federal laws. Compliance in healthcare has become especially important in the last few years with the crackdown by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to fight fraud. Nationally, decreasing the number of false insurance claims by requiring providers to oversee billing and patient visits is saving CMS billions of dollars, Madrid said.

MHC Urgent Care at Dove Mountain

The new 16,000-square-foot center at Dove Mountain includes primary care, counseling & wellness and urgent care services. This is MHC Healthcare’s first urgent care that accepts patients on a walk-in basis. MHC Healthcare’s Quick Care currently only sees established patients for same-day care.

“Dove Mountain was a growing idea and a new venture to serve a greater variety of patients and a wider population,” said Jamie Young, head family nurse practitioner at Dove Mountain Health Center and MHC Urgent Care at Dove Mountain. “The demographics of patients we expect to see with primary care and family care is all ages, including seniors. On the urgent care side, we’ll see minor injuries.”

In addition to opening the Dove Mountain facility, MHC is completely renovating its Flowing Wells site. “It’s our oldest facility, built in the 1960s, and is in need of upgrades and renovations from top to bottom,” Kuntz said. “In other growth we’re looking at where we already serve – in the northwest and east sides – for gaps in care.” This may in-

MHC Healthcare is committed to the whole person – mind and body – to improve overall health and well-being.

Through Integrated Healthcare the staff coordinates primary medical care with dental, pharmacy and counseling & wellness services for all stages of life.

Clint Kuntz CEO, MHC Healthcare

Onsite Services Case Management Care Coordination Counseling & Wellness Dental Care Family Practice Insurance Outreach Internal Medicine Laboratory MHC Urgent Care Pediatrics Pharmacy Primary Care Quick Care Radiology Transportation WIC Program Women’s Health

clude the Tanque Verde area, depending on what unmet needs are found.

The leadership team of MHC has been fortunate in the past decade to be able to expand where it sees the need, yet this wasn’t always the case. CFO Jania Arnoldi remembers having one full-time provider, one parttime provider and a nurse practitioner when she started in 1999. The budget at that time was $990,000.

When MHC began receiving federal funding to cover uninsured patients, Arnoldi’s department got a financial boost. It allowed her to pay the bills. “Then we had to develop payroll and identify our issues and work through each of them.” During her tenure, Arnoldi said, “It went from momand-pop to 500 employees,” with a current budget of $50 million.

Arnoldi remembered it was Ora Mae Harn, then MHC’s Executive Director and former Marana mayor, who initiated expansion of the small office that MHC inhabited at the time. “Ora Mae was not afraid to ask for contributions and they paid for a lot of the expansion. We added on and grew until we finished expanding in 2002.” In 2012, MHC moved a few blocks to its current main facility, which is already maxed out of space.

Affiliated Specialties Cardiology Gastroenterology Neurology Oncology Ophthalmology Orthopedic MHC HealthCare MHCHealthcare.org (520) 682-4111

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PHOTO:COURTESY ZDOGGMD

MHC Healthcare Celebrates 60 Years In 2017 MHC Healthcare celebrates 60 years of caring for the communities it serves. Arizona’s first community health center has grown into a network of 15 health centers spanning from Marana, Dove Mountain and Catalina to Picture Rocks and central, east and south Tucson.

To commemorate this milestone and to thank the community for its strong support, MHC Healthcare is holding a gala event at The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain this fall. The featured speaker is nationally renowned physician and standup comedian Dr. Zubin Damania – aka ZDoggMD – who uses humor and wit to educate audiences on healthcare issues faced by patients and providers alike. www.BizTucson.com

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MHC HEALTHCARE 60TH ANNIVERSARY GALA Friday, Sept. 22, 2017 The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain 15000 N. Secret Spring Drive, Marana Cocktails 5:30 – 6:30 p.m.

Dinner and program 6:30 – 9 p.m.

Free valet parking available For tickets, contact Stephen Stone (520) 616 –1455 or sstone@mhchealthcare.org Winter 2017

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BizHEALTHCARE continued from page 155 Recruiting Nurse Practitioners and Physicians

Each time MHC opens a new health center and adds providers, a support staff must also be hired, Arnoldi said. With this in mind, MHC leaders predict a growth of approximately 150 employees between late 2016 and fall of 2017. And this is expected while maintaining financial stability. “We’re doing well financially,” she said.

To keep up with employee growth, MHC uses an in-house recruiter for the hiring of nurse practitioners and physicians. “He works with different agencies to see what talent is out there and if their interests match our mission of healthcare, which we try to maintain and follow through the whole process,” said SerranoFeliciano, stressing that the organization’s family feel is part of what attracts new hires.

Even with 500 employees as of November 2016, there is a tight and efficient communications system in place at MHC. This can be attributed, in part, to the provider taskforce, made up of a group of medical providers and leadership members. “On a daily basis we discuss challenges providers have in regards to operations,” meaning non-clinical issues. “It’s been successful. There have been policy changes based on input from providers,” Serrano-Feliciano said.

With all that MHC offers patients on a very personal level, it also does not compromise when it comes to medical technology. “We stay on top of the newest equipment and the best services we can provide,” Dr. Serrano-Feliciano said. That includes digital X-rays, ultrasound, dental devices and the pharmacy’s 2-yearold Parata robot.

Greg Redding is MHC’s Director of Pharmacy and holds a doctoral degree from the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy. He explained the Parata system: “The tech enters the prescription information and sends it to the robot, which holds 78 drugs. It fills the prescription, types the label, applies the label and applies the cap. In 40 seconds it spits it out.” Redding said it’s one of the best business decisions he’s made, and he credits Kuntz and Serrano-Feliciano for facilitating the purchase.

Acquiring the Parata robot for the pharmacy, hiring care coordinators and using an EMR system have all positively impacted MHC employees – yet the real winners are the patients. They spend far less time waiting for prescriptions, they know someone has their back during and following appointments, and they’re assured their personal medical history is secure. It’s the culture of MHC, where all staff members put patients first. Oben represents the MHC leadership team when he says, “This is a wonderful place to work. We have the best staff. They all want to help our patients.”

MHC Healthcare Foundation Funds Medical Care, Service Expansion For six decades MHC Healthcare has provided whole-person medical care in underserved areas – growing from a one-room clinic in a cotton field to 15 locations throughout the metro region, including the newest clinic in Dove Mountain. The nonprofit community health center has a $50 million budget and currently employs over 500 staff. Its service area covers 600 square miles.

“We are currently experiencing growth of about 13 percent per year. Our Dove Mountain Center opened in October and it’s growing rapidly,” said Stephen Stone, Director of Development for the MHC Healthcare Foundation. “We’re taking on patients a lot faster than anticipated. The need is there and we plan future growth strategically so we can continue providing quality primary care services in the communities we serve.

“As a nonprofit, MHC Healthcare relies on financial contributions from the community. The foundation is becoming a significant source of funding. Our goal is to generate sustainable income to establish, maintain and expand MHC’s services and programs.

“At this point we plan to purchase equipment as modern technology is always advancing and this helps us to deliver better quality service. We also work with our medical providers to expand programs and services that impact health, for example, addressing the needs of people with uncontrolled hypertension.

“In the near future, we’ll be raising funds for a new administration building to be built on land we own. We have already outgrown our Marana Main facility which opened in 2011. Once completed the existing building will be fully clinical.

Long-term, there will be continued expansion along the Sun Corridor – stretching north to Maricopa County – and promising new opportunities for the next 40 to 50 years,” added Stone.

Stone has 34 years experience in healthcare fundraising, including nearly a decade with the Carondelet Foundation here in Tucson, and most recently with the 220-bed Cheyenne Regional Hospital in Wyoming. He joined the foundation last spring.

“There are tremendous opportunities ahead and we will continue to expand – with the assistance of our foundation volunteers and donors. At MHC, every dollar raised goes directly into programs and services. We provide ‘quality healthcare with a heart.’ And that heart comes from our staff, our donors and our communities.”

Contact Stephen Stone at sstone@mhchealthcare.org or (520) 616 –1455.

Stephen Stone Director of Development MHC Healthcare Foundation

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From left:

Dr. Joshua Simon

Jon Reardon

Behavioral Health Director

PHOTO: AMY HASKELL

Behavioral Health Medical Director

Coached to Fullfill a Dream Training Program Puts Patients to Work

By April Bourie Behavioral health issues got in the way of Ryan O’Gurk’s dream.

MHC Healthcare’s Work Adjustment Training Program and his recovery coaches helped make that dream come true.

Behavioral health patients who are identified by their recovery coaches as good candidates for the program are placed in either the Cotton Blossom resale store or the Copper Café as trainees. O’Gurk, who has mild autism, worked in the Copper Café for approximately six months. This fit perfectly with his dream of owning his own concession business.

From age 7, O’Gurk wanted to be

a popcorn concessionaire. His mom’s boyfriend at the time had given him a catalog for a popcorn supplier, which he read until the pages fell out. When O’Gurk got older, the boyfriend took him to the Pima County Fair to work the concessions.

In the Copper Café, O’Gurk learned about health codes, how to keep a restaurant clean, cooking skills and general customer service skills. After completing the program, he also received startup funding from a program partner organization, Cenpatico, that helps support program graduates. Today, “Ry’s Snacks” sells popcorn and other types of snacks once a week in the lob-

by of the MHC Marana Main Health Center, and he is a concessionaire at several special events in the Marana area including the Cotton Festival.

“I never thought someone would be so generous to help me start my business,” O’Gurk said. “Working in the Copper Café was fun, and it made my dreams possible.”

That’s one of many success stories that come from including counseling and wellness services along with medical care. Seventy-five percent of the program’s trainees have successfully found employment.

“The program is successful because it gets trainees out of their comfort zone

SPOTLIGHT: The Work Adjustment Training Program is part of MHC Healthcare’s full range of behavioral health services, including outpatient therapy and case management, domestic violence assessment and treatment, substance abuse assessment and treatment, trauma services, parenting classes and support and education groups.

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PHOTO: CHRIS MOONEY

and gives them the opportunity and confidence to move forward,” said Sharon Mikrut, MHC’s Employment Services Supervisor.

The recovery coaches are familiar with all of a patient’s overall health and wellness issues, not just his or her medical issues. “In addition to working with all of the patient’s medical providers, recovery coaches take an integrated approach and are familiar with the external pressures patients deal with on a daily basis,” said Dr. Joshua Simon, MHC Behavioral Health Medical Director.

Trainees who need a little more assistance start out in the Cotton Blossom resale store, working mainly in the back, organizing and stocking donations. “Once they have proven that they can consistently arrive to work on time, have a good work ethic, can effectively interact with other people and perform other similar tasks, they move up to working in the Copper Café,” said Misty Kornacki, Cotton Blossom Manager. “Not all trainees start at the Cotton Blossom, but for those who need extra time and training, it is a good place to start.”

The recovery coaches also connect patients with an MHC job coach. Job coaches work with trainees to improve their customer service and work ethic skills. Job coaches also work with trainees on interview skills and creating a resume and help trainees to connect with various employers in the community.

“The job coach helps the trainees determine their potential and reinforces their independence,” said Jon Reardon, Director of Behavioral Health. “We call it helping them to ‘grow and glow.’ ”

PHOTO: CHRIS MOONEY

Employment Services Supervisor

Stephen Stone, Director of Development, MHC Healthcare Foundation Misty Kornacki Cotton Blossom Store Manager

PHOTO: AMY HASKELL

Sharon Mikrut

Ryan O’Gurk with his mother on left and MHC coach Rosemary Souza

Cotton Blossom Moves to Dove Mountain

By April Bourie

The Cotton Blossom resale store is moving from west of Interstate 10 to 5224 W. Dove Centre Road, northeast of Dove Mountain Boulevard and Tangerine Road.

“The area is poised for growth, and we want to take advantage of that growth and the financial and outreach opportunities it affords,” said Stephen Stone, MHC Healthcare Foundation’s Director of Development.

“One-hundred percent of the income from the resale store and other MHC Foundation programs is reinvested in services like the Work Adjustment Training program. These funds are also used to purchase medical equipment, provide startup funds for new services and programs, and to provide direct services for patients who cannot afford treatment.

“A growth in revenue means we can provide more needed services and programs to the community,” said Stone.

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Misty Castro Copper Cafe Manager

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Greg Redding

Director Pharmacy Services

Pharmacists areTouch Point for Patient Care

By Christy Krueger

Those old enough to remember picking up their medication prescriptions at the pharmacist-owned drugstore down the street have seen major changes in both the availability of prescription drugs and the way they’re dispensed.

By merging new industry practices with old-fashioned patient service, the pharmacies at MHC Health offer the best of both worlds – something patients are responding to positively.

Eleven years ago Greg Redding joined MHC with a doctoral degree from the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy. Now, as director of pharmacy, he is enthusiastic about how the

industry has transformed overall and specifically how MHC enables pharmacists to play a larger role in patients’ health.

The onslaught of new drugs reaching the marketplace in recent years means the pharmacist’s job is more complex than ever before. Pharmacy students today earn a Pharm.D., a four-year advanced clinical degree, versus the Bachelor of Science degree common in earlier times.

“As much as the drug scene is changing, medications are becoming more sophisticated and it’s becoming more specialized,” Redding said. “We now

have the ability to do therapeutic substitutions” – meaning the pharmacist can use a different drug than the doctor prescribed if it’s in the same therapeutic class.

“Today there are many options for those who are pursuing a career in pharmacy. Most people think of a pharmacist as the person behind the counter, but there are opportunities in long-term care, clinical pharmacy, nuclear pharmacy, home infusion and much more,” Redding said.

Patients are benefiting from many of these changes and probably more so at MHC’s pharmacy than at traditional

SPOTLIGHT: MHC Healthcare operates three full-service pharmacies – at Marana Main, Clinica Del Alma and Wilmot Family Health Centers. The pharmacists are part of the patient care team and now handle some tasks once reserved for physicians.

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pharmacies. Community health center staff members – including pharmacists – are closer to their patients by design.

Redding sees this as a significant advantage for those they serve.

He said MHC patients often visit the pharmacy more often than any other provider. So it makes for more efficient care when pharmacists handle some of the tasks once left to the physician.

“Some patients need to be frequently monitored – and the pharmacist is a convenient, available resource for this purpose. The pharmacist can then communicate with the care team if it’s determined that the drug dosage needs to be changed or some other action taken.

Redding strongly believes the MHC pharmacists have more collaboration with physicians than pharmacists at national chains do. “This happens more with us, for one, because we’re all in the same building. Second, we all meet on a regular basis. And the biggest thing is – we have access to electronic health records. We see diseases, prescriptions and treatments. Others don’t have ac-

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“

As much as the drug scene is changing, medications are becoming more sophisticated and it’s becoming more specialized.

”

– Greg Redding Director Pharmacy Services MHC Healthcare

cess to these things so there’s little communication in general.”

A specific example of how Redding’s department goes the distance with its customers is a program it’s starting for diabetics. “We’re trying to establish

a clinical pharmacy program. When diabetic patients come, we may check on blood glucose, do a foot exam, eye exam or dosage change to save the patient time by not having to go to the doctor again.”

One of the most progressive patientcentered strategies the pharmacy has initiated is coordinating the renewal timing for those taking multiple medications. “The biggest complaint we have is they want them all in the same day.

Otherwise they could be at the pharmacy three or four times a month.” To resolve this issue, MHC pharmacists use a software system that can vary the prescription length as opposed to using only the traditional 30-day cycle. This way the customers can pick up all of their prescriptions at the same time.

Redding said enthusiastically how thrilled patients are with the attention they receive from MHC pharmacists and the innovations that make their lives easier. “We get compliments from patients all the time for the speed of getting their prescription and our great service.”

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From left:

Daniel Robles

MHC Dental Manager

Vijay Patel , DMD

Director of Dental Services, MHC Healthcare

PHOTO: AMY HASKELL

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Good Oral Health Contributes to Better Overall Health

By April Bourie By the time most of us have finished first grade, we understand the importance of taking care of our teeth and gums. Definitely by the time the tooth fairy stops visiting, we understand that it is important to maintain good oral hygiene. Yet the benefits go well beyond that.

Recent research indicates that dental health also is linked to other aspects of physical and psychological health. “The bacteria created in the mouth travels through the body, so it makes sense that good oral health translates into better overall health,” said Vijay Patel, Director of Dental Services at MHC Healthcare.

“Most research has been done on how good oral habits can assist in maintaining blood sugar levels in diabetics, but there is also evidence that it can af-

fect cardiac and many other physical issues.”

Dental care also can improve a patient’s appearance and self-confidence and, combined with other MHC services, their lives.

“We created dentures” for a former trainee in MHC’s Copper Café, “and that greatly improved his self-esteem,” Patel said. “The combination of the improved aesthetic, job-training skills and increase in self-esteem gave him the ability to obtain a much better job almost immediately.”

MHC Healthcare takes an integrated approach to training its dental staff and providing dental care.

“We recently had staff from the WIC (Women, Infants and Children) Department come over to train our staff on breast-feeding and nutrition,” Patel said. “We also train other departments

on the importance of good oral habits.”

This integrated approach fosters teamwork, helps staff across the MHC system consider all aspects of patient health, and improves overall patient care.

Technology also allows MHC staff in all departments to share patient records to get the full picture of patients’ health and treatment plans.

“I am very proud of what we do and how we provide our services,” Patel said. “We improve the standard of life for our patients, many of whom could not afford to get these services if we weren’t providing them. Our integrated approach is what makes working at MHC so different from working at a more traditional dental office. We rival any other healthcare organization in quality and compassion.”

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SPOTLIGHT: MHC Healthcare provides comprehensive dental services including preventive cleanings, restorative care, crowns and bridges, extractions, root canals, complex periodontal (gum disease) care and orthodontics at its Marana Main Health Center, 13395 N. Marana Main St., and the Ellie Towne Health Center, 1670 W. Ruthrauff Road.

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Dr. Marsha Brooks-Candela

MHC Obstetrics & Women’s Health

Women Caring for Women

By April Bourie “Men can and do give quality OB/ GYN healthcare,” said Dr. Marsha Brooks-Candela, one of the service providers at MHC Obstetrics & Women’s Health at 2055 W. Hospital Drive, across a parking lot from the Northwest Medical Center Emergency Room.

“But when a woman has to get completely naked in front of someone for medical purposes, most of us are more comfortable doing so in front of another woman.”

Feeling more relaxed often leads to patients giving more information about their health concerns and their lives.

“We are not unlike the bartender or the hairdresser – hearing completely honest stories of our patients’ lives – because they know we can empathize,” Brooks-Candela said. “This leads to more details about the patient as a whole, which leads to better healthcare.

“This includes diet and nutrition, what to expect at various stages of life, and even what kind of resources a patient has for caring for themselves and

getting the medications they need.”

That “patient as a whole” approach applies to females at younger ages, as more of them are menstruating earlier, Brooks-Candela said. Many parents often don’t know how to discuss these issues with their daughters, and this leads to confusion and misinformation about what’s happening to them.

“OB/GYNs are teaching girls as young as 9 about respecting their own bodies and helping them manage both their emotions and their health during this time in their lives,” she said. “Hormones affect every aspect of a female’s body, and it is important for OB/GYNs to provide not only medical care, but emotional care as well.”

During her 26 years in the medical field, Brooks-Candela has worked in almost every model of healthcare, including her own practice, a large hospital setting and other community health systems. But she is happiest working at MHC.

“In this organization, we look at the whole person, not just the medical complaint,” she said. “It doesn’t do any good for me to diagnose a medical issue if the patient can’t get the medical supplies she needs because of transportation or monetary issues.

“MHC has its own pharmacy. Our medications are provided at a greatly reduced rate for those who cannot afford the high cost of their medicines.”

Like other areas of MHC Healthcare, MHC Obstetrics & Women’s Health provides medical care whether or not the patient has insurance – with fees on a sliding scale based on a patient’s ability to pay, payment plans and even costs written-off for those with very limited income.

“Success in our field means enabling the patient to get the healthcare they need within our system,” BrooksCandela said. “I am so proud that we provide the same quality of healthcare across the board, no matter what income a person has.”

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SPOTLIGHT: MHC Healthcare provides comprehensive women’s health services through all stages of life, from adolescence through the reproductive, pregnancy and post-menopausal years. It provides these obstetric and gynecological services with an all-female team of physicians and nurse practitioners.

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Vicki Clous

Family Nurse Practitioner MHC’s Freedom Park Health Center

Patients + Providers = Family

By April Bourie MHC Healthcare providers work as a team and with their patients to achieve the well-being of the whole person. Its mantra is, “Quality healthcare with a heart.”

“My relationship with my patients is like a marriage. It doesn’t work if the relationship is not strong on both sides,” said Vicki Clous, Family Nurse Practitioner at MHC’s Freedom Park Health Center near Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.

“My relationship with my patients may influence their decisions in the future and help us to break the cycle of poor health choices, food stamps and multiple pregnancies,” Clous said.

Clous, who has been at the health center for 11 years, is sensitive to the fact that many of her patients don’t have transportation.

“There has been talk of removing the laboratory services from our health center, but I am opposed to that,” she

said. “Many of our clients can’t get to another lab for a blood draw. If I’m going to get the test done, it has to be done here.”

Patients’ lack of transportation also means Clous is called upon to provide services usually performed at an emergency room or urgent care center. She finds herself stitching up wounds, conducting joint aspirations and providing injections to help patients with fibromyalgia or muscle soreness. It took her two

SPOTLIGHT: MHC Healthcare works closely with patients and their families, recognizing the unique needs, cultures and beliefs of each patient. MHC Healthcare coordinates care between specialty care, hospitals, home healthcare and community services. It provides many resources to care for its patients 24/7.

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hours to stitch up a patient’s severed tendon after a dog bite, but everything was in working order once it healed.

“Many of the people I went to medical school with have forgotten these skills because they don’t do them on a day-to-day basis,” Clous said. “I love the variety in my job and the positive impact it has on my patients’ lives.”

Dana Weir attests to MHC providers and staff going above and beyond a patient’s healthcare needs to help the whole person. Weir, a partner at Imwalle and Weir Strategic Consulting, has been conducting market research for MHC Healthcare on how to best use technology for optimum patient care.

At one clinic, when a patient told his doctor that he had a job interview coming up, the staff gave him appropriate clothes to wear and helped him practice his interviewing skills through mock interviews, Weir said. At another clinic, a patient needed to get his family to the food bank, so a staff member made an introductory call on the family’s behalf and arranged for transportation.

MHC supports the staff’s whole-per-

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son approach to care. “A lot of trust is given to providers and staff, which allows us to feel like we own our work,”

“

MHC feels like a family.

This allows us to work together collaboratively so our patients can be successful.

”

– Sharon Mikrut Employment Services Supervisor MHC Healthcare

said Vijay Patel, Director of Dental Services. “But we also have lots of support when it is needed.”

MHC also supports staff members’ professional growth. “MHC provides educational reimbursement and also has a training program called MHC University where we can learn everything from how to use Excel to how to improve communication and customer service skills,” said Daniel Robles, MHC Dental Manager.

Teamwork is key. Morning huddles – consultations between providers who serve the same patients – occur on a regular basis, according to Jon Reardon, Director of Behavioral Health.

“This ensures that the patients are getting the best and most informed care from their providers,” he said. According to Patel, these types of interactions across departments allow MHC staff to be familiar with their counterparts and to feel comfortable working together.

“MHC feels like a family,” said Sharon Mikrut, employment services supervisor. “This allows us to work together collaboratively so our patients can be successful.”

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BizTOOLKIT

New Due Dates Effective for 2017 Filing Season for Tax Years Starting after Dec. 31, 2015 Type of Entity

Filing Date

Extension Deadline

Partnership (Calendar year)

March 15

Sept. 15

S-Corporation

March 15

Sept. 15

C-Corporation

April 15

Sept. 15

C-Corporation (June 30 Fiscal Year end)

Sept. 15

April 15

C-Corporation (Fiscal year end other than 6/30)

15th day of the 4th month after year end

15th day of the 10th month after year end

Exempt Organizations (Calendar year)

May 15

Nov. 15

Trust and Estate (Calendar year)

April 15

Sept. 30

Individuals

April 15

Oct. 30

FinCen 114 Foreign Reporting

April 15

Oct. 15

W-2s and 1099s

Jan. 31

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Generally only available under extraordinary or catastrophic circumstances

Laura J. Liewen

New Tax Return Dates for 2017

By Laura J. Liewen

There are many reasons to connect with your CPA throughout the year, and the government has recently given a few more. Starting in 2017, new filing deadlines, minimum wage and mandatory sick pay will affect almost every business.

Beginning this year, the filing due dates for many tax returns have changed.

The changes apply to tax years starting after Dec. 31, 2015, so some fiscal year entities will not be affected until 2018.

Modifications have been made to partnership, C-corporation, trust, nonprofit and foreign reporting filing dates. Due dates for individuals, S-corporations and employee benefit plans remain unchanged.

Partnership returns are now due the 15th day of the third month following the end of the year. C-corporation due dates vary depending on the fiscal year end of the corporation and will change again in 2026. Trusts will have an additional 15 days of extended due date and

nonprofits will now have one six-month extension. Previously, the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts was due June 30. It is now due April 15 with a six-month extension available.

Perhaps the biggest changes are to information returns. Because these are reported on a calendar year, this change will affect all businesses starting in January 2017. In an effort to combat the filing of fraudulent tax returns, the IRS now imposes a due date of Jan. 31 for W-2s and 1099s, the same date they are due to recipients. This will be a big change for businesses that are used to filing these returns in February or March.

Penalties for late filing can be significant so you will want to make sure your business filings adhere with the new due dates.

Biz Laura J. Liewen, CPA, is a tax manager at R&A CPAs in Tucson. She can be reached at (520) 881-4900.

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PHOTOS: COURTESY CHILDREN’S MUSEUM

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From left – Wardell “Buck” Brown, District Manager, US Bank; Michael Luria, Executive Director Children’s Museum Tucson; Julia Strange,Vice President, Community Benefit at Tucson Medical Center; Michael Duran, Vice President, Chief Development Officer at Tucson Medical Center

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1

Children’s Museum Hits 30

Community Effort Brings Discovery and Innovation to Kids

By Larry Copenhaver

2 3

1) Young visitors on Hang Time, a component in the Museum’s Techtopia exhibit. Cox Communications is the sponsor of the exhibit. 2) Cocina: One of the newest additions to the Museum is the Flores Mercado in Bodyology. The Mercado is a reworking of the grocery store and juice bar into an area that honors Ray and Carlotta Flores and their contributions to the city and its culture. It features a small cocina, where kids can “make” burritos, tamales and even pizza and serve it to their families at the community table.’ 3) A father and daughter proudly show that they read together at the Museum’s Love of Literacy event in September.

Free community events like Love of Literacy are only www.BizTucson.com possible through the strong support of the community.

While museums can be associated with glass-enclosed display cases showing off relics from the past, children in Tucson have a special museum that is a place of discovery and innovation.

It’s called the Children’s Museum Tucson, 200 S. Sixth Ave., located in the former main library bearing the name of oldtime steel industrialist Andrew Carnegie. The children’s museum first opened in 1986 in a storefront on Pennington Street and was known as the Southwest Children’s Exploratory Center.

It moved into the historic old library building in 1991.

This year, the museum, filled with interactive STEAM exhibits − an acronym for science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics − and places of discovery, celebrates 30 years of providing educational opportunities in a building that is not like a library at all.

“The 30-year milestone is a great accomplishment, especially when you go back 30 years and consider the size of our community,” said Michael Luria, executive director of the museum.

“Then you fast forward, not just to us but to children’s museums around the country over the past 30 years. I think today, we have a better understanding of the

value we create in our communities in educational development.

“I think as an industry, there is much more of a holistic approach to serving our community than before,” Luria added. And that leads to financial contributions from the community where economic means are limited, too often a common denominator for low-income families.

The challenge: How do you create an institution like the Children’s Museum Tucson when you cannot charge an admission that actually accommodates the cost to operate the facility? Luria wondered aloud.

“You would price yourself out of the market,” he said. “Many families would not be able to afford the admission, so you need the support of the community.

When you make a philanthropic donation, when you invest in the Children’s Museum Tucson, that’s when you are contributing to this safe, interactive, hands-on educational experience for the benefit of all, and you end up with children in the community who have a good relationship in the arts that supplement what happens in the formal school setting.”

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continued from page 173 corporate philanthropy is instrumental in allowing the museum to better the community.

Major corporate sponsors and projects include: Bodyology − Primarily funded by Tucson Medical Center, the exhibit primarily highlights agricultural science from the farm to the store to the kitchen and teaches kids to make healthy food choices.

Techtopia – Sponsored by Cox Communications, this Southwest entomology exhibit identifies local critters by catching bugs on the Bug Rug. Dance and leave your mark on the Shadow Mosaic Wall or see how high you can jump on Hang Time. This area also explores nanoscience and nanotechnology.

Investigation Station – Sponsored by Angel Charities, this exhibit makes science fun by creating a roller coaster that defies gravity with the museum’s Power Pump Seats. Children race a friend on distribution of mass and discover the power of air in airways.

Electri-City – Sponsored by Tucson Electric Power, it helps kids learn the fundamentals behind renewable energy sources and energy efficiency.

Build It! – Sponsored by Cox Communications, this exhibit is limited only by children’s imagination as they explore the wonderland of physics and engineering as they build and create with a variety of materials.

Imaginarium Art Studio – Sponsored by the Ruth McCormick Tankersley Charitable Trust, the art studio gives kids the creative outlet to paint, draw and design.

In the past 12 months, the museum has invested more than $170,000 in new exhibits and exhibit upgrades. Additionally, the museum has invested $20,000 in improvements to the facility.

“We refer to ourselves as an informal learning environment,” Luria said.

“They learn socialization skills, and they obviously get an early introduction to art and science and mathematics and things like that. The museum creates an environment where kids and families connect − building bonds between generations, between parents and their kids, and grandparents and their grandkids.”

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BizHONORS

2016 Tucson Man of the Year

Robert D. Ramirez

By Romi Carrell Wittman Robert D. Ramirez, president and CEO of Vantage West Credit Union, thought he was going to a meeting to discuss the corporate office’s expansion project. After he sat down, a group of people came in the room and one of them was his wife.

“That’s when I knew something was up,” he laughed.

That something was a group led by Greater Tucson Leadership’s Executive Director Kasey Hill. They were there to announce that Ramirez had been named GTL’s 2016 Man of the Year.

“It was a big surprise,” Ramirez said. “A good surprise.”

Each year GTL takes nominations for Man of the Year. A diverse selection committee looks for individuals who have distinguished themselves over the past year with their active community support and demonstrated excellence in leadership.

Ramirez’s contributions to the community are something of a local legend. He wrapped up his term as campaign chair of the United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona last June and is currently chairman of the board of the Tucson Metro Chamber. He also serves on the boards of the El Rio Community Health Center, the Sun Corridor Inc. Chairman’s Circle, the Pima Community College Foundation, and the DM50, that works to educate the community on the vital role DavisMonthan Air Force Base plays within the region.

That’s just what is currently on his plate. His past achievements include serving on the advisory board of the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management, the board of the Ronald McDonald House and work with the Father’s Day Council Tucson to raise funds for type 1 diabetes research.

He also was named the Tucson Hispanic Chamber Man of the Year and Father of the Year by the Father’s Day Council Tucson.

When asked how he fits in his charitable and community work with his demanding job, he said simply, “It’s a natural fit.

It’s how my mom raised me.”

Born and raised in Nogales, Ariz., Ramirez attended the University of Arizona and earned a bachelor of science in accounting. Upon graduation, he became a certified professional accountant and, after working at Sundt Corporation, went to work for DM Federal Credit Union, which eventually became Vantage West. He’s worked there for the past 31 years, 16 as CEO, and has shepherded it through some tough financial times. www.BizTucson.com

“In 2008, we lost $10 million, but I told the board that we would work to restore profitability the following year,” he said.

“We did it by taking care of our members. Our focus was on growing into profitability rather than saving into profitability.”

Ramirez refers to this as his “promise on a promise” and it paid off. Not only did Vantage West avoid layoffs, in 2009 the company expanded its operations, enhanced member service, increased employee hiring, employee benefit packages and even issued bonuses to employees.

Throughout the recession and at a time when many companies scaled back corporate giving, Vantage West continued to be an active force for local nonprofits. Not only does the company donate money to charities selected by employees, it offers each employee up to 16 hours in paid time off each year to volunteer locally.

Ramirez models this behavior by giving generously of his time and resources.

Dr. Fayez K. Ghishan, who heads the University of Arizona’s Steele Children’s Research Center, has worked with Ramirez on the Father’s Day Council, which raises funds for type 1 diabetes research.

“Bob is a passionate man who dedicates a significant amount of his time and effort, as well as his money, to supporting this community,” Ghishan said. “Thanks in large part to Bob’s energy and passion, we now have a vibrant program of which all of us can be proud. This program will not only help the children of Arizona who suffer from type 1 diabetes, but through the research being funded here, all children around the world who suffer from this disease will be helped.”

Mary Rowley, owner of StrongPoint Marketing, echoed Ghishan’s thoughts. “I’ve personally known him for more than 15 years and have served with him on the executive committee of the Pima Community College Foundation board of directors,” she said. “Whatever Bob does, he takes seriously and gives 110 percent effort. He is an ardent supporter of young people and helping to achieve their potential.”

Despite his accomplishments and the respect he commands in the community, Ramirez remains humble. “I was honored,” he said of learning he’d been named Man of the Year. “I do what I do because I love helping people. It’s in my DNA. Katherine, my wife, is my team member and we work together. We love giving back to community and we love Tucson. We want to see it grow.”

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BizHONORS

2016 Tucson Woman of the Year

Cristie Street

By Romi Carrell Wittman

Cristie Street was feeling a bit grimy.

She’d spent all morning on her hands and knees at the Leo Rich Theater setting up the technology for the Social Venture Partners Fast Pitch dress rehearsal. When she returned to her office at Nextrio, she was surprised when a staffer met her in the parking lot. She was even more surprised when she entered and was greeted by what she calls “the prize patrol.”

Kasey Hill of Greater Tucson Leadership was on hand to give Street the news that she had been selected as GTL’s 2016 Woman of the Year.

Street was a bit overwhelmed. “All the company partners were there. The staff wrote me a wonderful card,” she said. “I was very honored.”

Street’s humility and giving nature were just two of the reasons she was selected for the award. Her visionary approach to leadership and community involvement also were reasons for her nomination.

As co-founder, CEO and managing partner of local tech firm Nextrio, Street leads a team of 45 professionals who provide extensive information technology services to more than 1,000 local organizations.

After graduating from North Carolina State University, Street relocated to Tucson in 1995 and began work at RightFax, a tech startup. Street had technical expertise, but she was drawn to language and technical communications.

“It was a combination of marketing and technical writing,” Street said of the job. “It was a great training ground for leftbrain and right-brain work.”

Street soon became a driving force within the company and frequently traveled all over the world to meet with clients. She learned how to negotiate contracts and to manage a tech company.

Eventually the RightFax founders sold the business and Street discovered she wasn’t happy with the new management. “They didn’t value the talent in Tucson and it became very cumbersome to do good work,” she said. “I questioned my purpose.”

She and two RightFax staffers, Oscar Fowler and Bill Street, Cristie’s husband, left the company and formed Nextrio.

“The name started as kind of an inside joke. Three people doing something new,” Street said. “It gave us flexibility to do www.BizTucson.com

what we wanted.”

Since that time, Nextrio has flourished, providing IT services to businesses across Southern Arizona. As the company has grown, Street has become active in the community.

“My mom’s family used to say that a good Southern woman could have a conversation with a brick wall,” Street said with a laugh. “I love to talk to people and hear their stories.”

That love of collecting stories, as Street calls it, led her to reach out and get involved with several local organizations.

She has served on the boards of Ronald McDonald House Charities, Arizona Public Media, Social Venture Partners, the Tucson Metro Chamber of Commerce and the Arizona Small Business Association, to name a few.

In many cases, Street provides much-needed IT support to local nonprofits.

Betty Stauffer, executive director of Literacy Connects, said in a letter of support for Street’s nomination: “Cristie Street played a huge supporting role for Literacy Connects shortly after our merger in 2011. None of the five merging organizations had the IT equipment or know-how to create one seamless system for our new organization.”

Street found the right solution for the organization and, through Nextrio, made a significant donation to make the implementation affordable. “Nextrio continues this financial and IT support for Literacy Connects,” Stauffer said.

Female executives in IT are rare and Street is often sought out for her expertise and advice. She frequently mentors young people and is involved with the University of Arizona Eller College of Management.

“The students need to see that women can aspire to lead in that industry,” said Nancy McClure, first VP at CBRE. “She is a brilliant example to others…she shares her skills and makes STEM careers visible to girls who often get lost along the way.”

Street is characteristically humble about being named Woman of the Year. “I have to give credit to a whole network of supporters who help me do what I do,” she said.

She’s also looking forward to continuing her work in the community. “There is a huge opportunity,” she said. “I have 900,000 more people to meet!”

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BizHONORS

2016 Tucson Founders Award Honoree

Si Schorr

By Romi Carrell Wittman

You may not know it, but the roads you drive on every day are improving thanks, in part, to the work of Si Schorr. If you’ve taken classes at Pima Community College, you also have benefited from his hard work and dedication.

In honor of his lifetime of civic involvement and community contribution, Schorr has received the 2016 Greater Tucson Leadership Founders Award.

“It’s a high,” he said. “Some great people have received this award in the past.”

Schorr has called Tucson home since 1957 when he and his wife, Eleanor, moved here from New York. Soon after they arrived, Schorr went to lunch with a group of city leaders, the “movers and shakers.” Among them were Roy Drachman and Evo DeConcini.

“They encouraged me to get involved in civic opportunities,” Schorr said. “Something like that wasn’t probable in New York City, but Tucson was growing and on the move and I had a chance to really get involved.”

Schorr’s first civic role was his service on the Pima County Planning and Zoning Commission. Shortly thereafter, he took the position of Assistant City Manager and Urban Renewal Director for the City of Tucson.

“I didn’t intend to stay in city government,” he said of the new city job. “But it was an unusual opportunity for a young person to grow with the city and to learn and enjoy what was occurring.”

Schorr went into private practice as an attorney, but maintained his active civic involvement. He’s served on numerous state and local boards and commissions, including the Governor’s Economic Planning and Development Advisory Board and as Chair of the Tucson Pima County Commission on Improved Government Management. He continues to serve on the City of Tucson Parks and Recreation Commission and the Tucson Airport Authority.

He was instrumental in the creation of the area’s first community college. “We looked at Phoenix and other locales and we knew we needed a community college here,” he said.

Along with educators Jack Fruchthendler and Maria Urquides, Schorr served on the first board of Pima Community College and was a driving force in getting its flagship campus built on West Anklam Road. That campus opened its doors in 1971, and today PCC serves about 70,000 students across its six campuses. www.BizTucson.com

He’s a founding member of the Southern Arizona Leadership Council and continues to serve on its board.

In 2002, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano appointed Schorr to the State Transportation Board, which also made him a member of the Pima Association of Governments. At the time, PAG was in the process of reformulating the Regional Transportation Authority, which would soon become a force throughout the region. Schorr helped to update legislation and served as the first chair of the RTA board.

The RTA was officially formed in 2004. Its first plan was developed in 2005 by a 35-member citizens committee, and voters approved it in 2006. Since that time, some 770 transportation improvements have been made throughout Southern Arizona.

“The RTA was badly needed,” Schorr said. “By and large, it’s achieved its goals.”

Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry has worked with Schorr many times over the years and believes Schorr was instrumental in transforming the area’s transportation system.

“A transportation system of appropriate capacity and quality is critical to the economic growth and well-being of our community,” Huckelberry said. “Si Schorr’s leadership has been instrumental in the success of the voter-approved RTA plan.”

Schorr and his wife also have been active mental health awareness advocates. Eleanor founded the Southern Arizona Alliance for the Mentally Ill. Schorr served as chair of Gov. Rose Mofford’s Commission on the Mentally Ill. In her letter of nomination, Sarah Smallhouse said the Schorrs worked tirelessly to improve how the community treats the chronically mentally ill. “They established the Schorr Family Award to recognize those who have promoted better public understanding of mental illness,” she wrote.

In addition to being a senior partner at Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie and participating actively in the community, Schorr has been a dedicated father to the four Schorr children, all of whom still live in Tucson, and grandfather to seven. Schorr’s twin sons, Lewis and Andrew, are partners in the same law firm.

When asked how he juggled it all, he said, “I, and others, just find ways to meld community work with family and professional obligations to improve the greater community.” Biz Winter 2017

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BizSALES

Head vs. Heart vs.

Logic vs. Emotion.

Where’s the Sale?

By Jeffrey Gitomer

Sales are made emotionally, and justified logically.

Some people are heartstrong. Some people are headstrong.

And most people, especially salespeople, don’t understand that the heart is a filter to a decision. They (not you, of course) think most sales are price-driven. Wrong.

For 25 years I have espoused the following statement, “The head is attached to the price, the heart is attached to the wallet. If you jerk on the heartstrings, the wallet comes popping out of the back pocket.”

That’s why beggars, er… charitable donation people, appear at Christmas. Christmas is the most emotional and heartfelt time of the year. You will never see a Salvation Army bell ringer looking for a donation or a contribution on the 4th of July or Labor Day or George Washington’s birthday. There’s a lot less emotion attached to those holidays.

The head is attached to the price. The heart is attached to the wallet.

How’s your heart?

Are you a price-only buyer?

Or do your decisions filter through your heart?

Think about how you make decisions. The first part of the decision is emotional: I love the car, I love the house, I love the dress. The second part of the decision is logical: When you love something, you have to decide if you can afford it.

And if you can afford it, and you want it, the heart takes you right back to the wallet. “Gotta have it, gotta own it, gotta wear it to the dance.”

Heart filtering is a very unknown, very unspoken, very untaught, very unwritten-about aspect of making and completing the sale. And, because of the internet, emotional decisions are slowly falling by the wayside for MINOR purchases.

Amazon.com is taking the place of a bookstore. Not completely, but only because my generation is more used to holding a book than holding an e-reader, or holding the book, becoming emotionally attached to it, and buying it.

It’s likely that my grandchildren will rarely enter a bookstore. They will go to Barnes&Noble.com way before they go to the Barnes & Noble bookstore. They will be downloading books on the airplane way before they buy a book at the airport bookstore.

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Luckily there will always be some form of an emotional purchase, and those that understand it will always be able to win over lowest price and the “price-only” logical decider.

Here’s what to think about and ask yourself as you’re going for the heart: •

Is this a long-term thought?

•

Is this an honorable, ethical statement or action?

•

Is this the BEST I can do?

•

Is this in favor of the customer?

•

Will I be proud to tell my mom what I did or said?

Here’s how to create emotion in the mind AND heart of the customer: •

Your attitude. It better be set on positive in all of your expressions.

•

Your friendliness. Your likeability is the gateway to your believability and their trust.

•

Offer a real value proposition. What are you saying to the prospective customer that proves value in their favor (not adds value that has little meaning, much less incentive to buy)?

•

Compelling presentation skills. You must relate to the prospect, and convince them with your passion.

•

Obvious belief. Your internal belief in your company, your product, and yourself are transferable. But your deep belief that the customer is better off purchasing from you is the heart of the sales process.

•

Self-confidence. Your confidence breeds their confidence.

•

Sincerity of expression. Sincerity comes from the heart.

•

Believability. This is a perception of the prospective customer, and one they gain from the way you express yourself.

•

Ability to gain trust. Trust is the ultimate sales tool. It’s free, but you have to earn it. And in the absence of it, you will lose to the person that has earned it.

MAJOR CLUE: If you’re a salesperson thinking, “commission,” that’s a head thought. If you’re a salesperson thinking, “do what’s best for the customer,” that’s not just a heart thought; it’s also a relationship thought. Think about that.

Ever had a situation that ended with you saying to yourself, “What was I thinking?” Answer: You were thinking without a filter. A heart filter. If you use your heart as a filter, your thinking and your expressions will be more genuine.

Biz

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of twelve best-selling books including The Sales Bible and The Little Red Book of Selling and The Little Gold Book of Yes! Attitude. His real-world ideas and content are also available as online courses at www.GitomerLearningAcademy.com.

For information about training and seminars visit www.Gitomer.com or www.GitomerCertifiedAdvisors.com, or email Jeffrey personally at salesman@gitomer.com. © 2016 All Rights Reserved - Don’t even think about reproducing this document without written permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer, Inc • 704/333-1112

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Gootter Grand Slam Gala

Glicksman Honored Attorney Elliot Glicksman will be honored at the 2017 Gootter Grand Slam Gala.

“Elliot’s helped the Foundation since Day One by contributing not only his time, but his dollars and spirit,” said Gootter’s sister, Claudine Messing.

For 3½ decades, Glicksman has been a legal crusader for the rights of crime victims, advocating in cases involving DUIs, workplace negligence and wrongful death, much of it pro bono work. His list of honors and awards is lengthy and impressive as are his contributions to the community in the form of time and talent.

“I was a stand-up comedian years ago and was asked to be the master of ceremonies at the Foundation’s first-ever event,” Glicksman said. “When you see people who put their own grief aside, turning their sorrow into a positive program for the community, it was an easy decision for me to get behind this group and get involved.”

Always the comedian, Glicksman said, “Besides, they have good food at the gala and I always like a spotlight. I’m the kind of guy who will start rolling out one-liners when the light goes on during a midnight refrigerator raid.”

Glicksman makes a salient point when he notes that “sometimes you don’t know if you’ve saved a life or not. I speak at high schools about underage drinking and don’t know if I’ve actually kept any kids alive because of my message,” Glicksman said, “but with Gootter, we’ve seen tangible results where people have collapsed on tennis courts and been saved through the availability of hands-free CPR units. I do a dozen charity fundraisers per year and if Gootter Foundation keeps asking me to be involved, I will.”

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Funding Research at UA Sarver Heart Center CPR Research Lab Headed by Dr. Karl Kern

By Lee Allen The Roman poet Virgil pretty much captured the essence of it all when he wrote − “The greatest wealth is health.”

And yet, despite our best individual diet and exercise efforts, there are those who succumb to a condition called sudden cardiac arrest in which the heart − without warning − suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating.

Most people are unaware of the danger sudden cardiac death poses until it strikes close to home, but it’s the leading cause of death in the United States and takes the lives of a thousand people a day.

That’s what happened in the spring of 2005 to Tucson husband and father Steven Gootter, age 42 and in good health, when he headed out for a morning jog with the family dog and never returned alive.

The Steven M. Gootter Foundation, established in his name, is working to defeat sudden cardiac death by supporting increased awareness, education, research and distribution of portable automated external defibrillators.

All of this takes volunteers, sponsors and participants in the annual fundraising Gootter Grand Slam gala dinner, the 12th annual event that will take place at Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa on March 3. Funds raised this year (approximately $400,000 to date) go to support Dr. Karl Kern of Sarver Heart Center’s 30-year-old program whose goal is preventing and curing cardiovascular disease through research, education and patient care.

“The Gootter Foundation’s support of the Sarver Heart Center’s CPR Research Laboratory has allowed us to continue our pursuit to improve outcomes, including long-term, neurologi-

cally intact survival rates after cardiac arrest,” Kern said.

The foundation recently surpassed a major fundraising goal when it reached the $4 million mark in ongoing efforts to fund research and provide lifesaving automated external defibrillators to first responders and area schools in Southern Arizona. To date, more than 200 AEDs have been placed in Tucson and surrounding areas, including 75 devices now in Tucson Police Department patrol cars.

“The more AEDs we place in our community, in locations where they are most likely to be used, the better the odds that lives will be saved,” said Andrew Messing, who came up with the initial idea of the Gootter Foundation and became its president. “There was such a feeling of despair in the community and an outpouring of support after my brother-in-law passed, that we wanted to do something positive that could make a difference in other people’s lives and perhaps save them from this type of tragedy.

“Our foundation has grown each year because people can relate to our mission. Sudden cardiac arrest is so widespread, there are no barriers, it affects everybody, and because our mission is so compelling, people have jumped on board to help.”

Messing is hopeful that the efforts in Tucson will become a model for the rest of the country. “When you get AEDs into law enforcement vehicles where they can be most effective, the survivor rate is five times greater. If we can continue to demonstrate that success rate, we’re hopeful Tucson will spur a nationwide trend.”

Biz

PHOTO: TOM SPITZ

BizBENEFIT

12TH ANNUAL GOOTTER GRAND SLAM GALA Friday, Mar. 3, 2017 Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa 3800 E. Sunrise Dr. 6:30 p.m.

Dinner, live music, entertainment, silent & live auctions Tickets: $195 Sponsorships also available (520) 615-6430 or www.gootter.org

Dr. Karl Kern The Gordon A. Ewy, MD Distinquished Endowed Chair of Cardiovascular Medicine The University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center

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2

PHOTOS: COURTESY JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT

PHOTO: AMY HASKELL

1

4

3 1. Junior Achievement volunteer Ed Eick 2. From left, Chrisie Ballard, BNI Arizona; Dana Coyle, BNI Arizona; and Frank Marino, Tucson Electric Power 3. Don Edwards, JA board of directors 4. From left, Jason Robinson, Northwestern Mutual; Chrisie Ballard, BNI Arizona; Stephanie Chavez, Vantage West Credit Union; Patricia Waterkotte, Rusing, Lopez & Lizardi; and Katherine Cecala, president, Junior Achivement Arizona 5. Junior Achievement of Arizona Southern District Board of Directors

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BizYOUTH

Junior Achievement Empowers Youth Students Learning Money Management, Job Skills

By Christy Krueger

Imagine a world, or even just our own community, where financial literacy is the norm for students graduating from high school, where they understand how to set and keep a budget, succeed at a job interview, and responsibly use a credit card. It would mean less debt, fewer poverty-level households, lower unemployment rates and an overall better economy.

These are the hopes of Junior Achievement, a 100-year-old organization that teaches K through 12 students transferable, real-life skills before graduation. The Arizona chapter was founded in Tucson in 1957, and a Phoenix chapter later branched off. Today, Junior Achievement of Arizona Southern District is led by District Director Chuck Zaepfel, a longtime Tucsonan.

Programs offered through JA include teaching grade-school students how to open bank accounts, save money and live within a budget. Seventh-graders learn about FICO scores and the difference between a credit and debit card.

Zaepfel recounted the story of a fifthgrade JA student in Phoenix who received a lesson in budgeting. His mother had difficulty paying the bills, and money regularly ran out before the end of the month. The student was able to give her budgeting ideas he’d learned in the classroom, and now there’s $10 left at the end of each month. Guess who gets www.BizTucson.com

to keep the windfall?

While financial literacy is an important part of the lessons taught through JA, it’s one branch on a tree of three.

The other two, workforce readiness and entrepreneurship, are the focus of JA’s high school programs. After spending 20-plus years as an entrepreneur himself, Zaepfel understands these issues.

“Half the people in the U.S. are employed by small businesses, and many people want to own a company,” he said. It’s important, he said, to guide students into the work area that’s right for them and offer the skills needed to get there.

Launched in 2008, JA You’re Hired for high school students exposes teenagers to skills such as résumé writing, choosing a career and many soft skills, including teamwork and professional speaking. The lessons are taught in one-

JA YOU’RE HIRED CHALLENGE

March 10, 2017 Pima Community College West Campus Sponsorship opportunities available Call (520) 792-2000 for more information

hour-a-week sessions for five to nine weeks in school classrooms.

“It prepares young people to succeed in a global economy,” Zaepfel said.

Added this year is the JA You’re Hired Challenge to be held on March 10. During the one-day event, the top 200 students from the program will be invited to participate in workshops, competitions and real-situation interviews with local human resource managers, some of whom will be offering summer internships. Other learning opportunities will include a “Dress for Success” class, a Toastmasters workshop and a networking hour with Tucson business people, where, according to Zaepfel, “they practice true networking in a safe but challenging environment.”

During the 2015-2016 school year, 7,500 students participated in Southern Arizona JA programs. While Zaepfel would like to increase that number by adding school districts, it’s dependent on corporate sponsors stepping forward. “It’s a funding issue,” he said.

“We’re restricted by money, but we have lots of volunteers.”

Almost all JA teachers are volunteers from the business community. Tucson Electric Power Company, Vantage West Credit Union and Society for Human Resource Management of Greater Tucson are some of the local organizations continued on page 188 >>> Winter 2017

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BizTOURISM

“

It prepares young people to succeed in a global economy.

”

Chuck Zaepfel District Director Junior Achievement of Arizona Southern District –

continued from page 187 whose employees or members help out.

They’re trained and given a curriculum, but “they add their own life experiences,” said Zaepfel. Each year top volunteers are recognized during an awards event in categories ranging from Children’s Champions to Coordinator of the Year and Principal of the Year.

Some volunteers are former students of JA, including its high school entrepreneurial program JA My Company offered from the mid-1970s through the 1980s. Those include John Fung, now associate director of development with University of Arizona Health Sciences, and Bob Chasan, franchise owner of N2 Publishing.

“We worked for 15 weeks, one time a week for 1½ hours,” Fung said. “Each team formed a company, created a name and sold shares for $1 a share. Then we made a product and sold it.” Jim Click Automotive and Southwest Gas, among others, sponsored the program and sent employees to act as advisers.

Chasan remembers a similar experience in JA My Company. “There was a CEO and a marketing director. I had control of finance and accounting. We had a team with about 15 people under us. The most important thing I learned in JA was learning to depend on good people to get everything done. It’s invaluable with what I do today,” which is overseeing the publishing of social newsletters for Ventana Canyon residents.

Fung’s top takeaway lessons were in the soft skills of dressing in proper business attire, offering a firm handshake and the importance of mentorship.

“This gave me a positive influence of looking up to mentors. It was a great learning experience for someone exploring business opportunities.”

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BizAWARDS

ASID Design Excellence Awards The Arizona South Chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers recognizes excellence in the field of interior design each year. This year a single firm – Interiors In Design – took three first-place honors in the Commercial and Product Design categories.

SINGLE COMMERCIAL SPACE FIRST PLACE

SINGLE COMMERCIAL SPACE FIRST PLACE DESIGNER Interiors In Design Eva Murzaite and Brandy Holden PROJECT Interior Design Studio and Coworking PHOTOGRAPHER Jeff Westlake Once an auto parts store, the building in downtown Tucson is now repurposed to house multiple studios, boutiques and restaurants.

The building dictated an industrial chic aesthetic with raw and reclaimed materials, exposed pipes and ductwork.

The upper mezzanine level was dedicated to Co Loft. It houses seven workstations with movable desks, partitions and storage cabinets for ease in adjusting the layout as new companies join the environment. The desks were created from scaffoldings to achieve spacious sit-stand work surfaces.

SINGLE COMMERCIAL SPACE SECOND PLACE

The downstairs is shared work and meeting space featuring a large custom conference table and full working kitchen with a movable island. Multiple purposes in a singular open space encourage collaboration between companies. It is also conducive for hosting events where everyone gathers to bond around the kitchen – the heart of the space.

SECOND PLACE INTERIOR DESIGNER Arizona Designs Kitchens & Bath, Sandra Nance PROJECT AZ Wholesale Appliance Display

SINGLE COMMERCIAL SPACE THIRD PLACE

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THIRD PLACE DESIGNER Lori Carroll Associates, Lori Carroll PROJECT Fore!

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COMMERCIAL UNDER 8000 SQUARE FEET

COMMERCIAL SPACE UNDER 8,000 SQUARE FEET

FIRST PLACE

FIRST PLACE DESIGNER Interiors In Design Eva Murzaite and Brandy Holden PROJECT Campus Crossings at Starr Pass PHOTOGRAPHER James Holden To remain competitive, it was time to transform the clubhouse of this housing complex that accommodates hundreds of students.

The reboot included the reception area, living room, computer lab, back offices and game room. The vision was a youthful modern environment with lively color, bold patterns, alluring lighting and comfortable party-proof furniture selected for both aesthetic quality and longevity.

A modern palette of white, various shades gray and smoky blues was accented with punches of teal, orange and green. Creative paint techniques, interesting textures in tile and wallpaper highlight the architecture of the building. In the entry, enormous starburst chandeliers serve as a focal feature, along with lit lifestyle images. In the computer lab, LED lighting was placed in the dropped ceiling that serves as the architectural centerpiece.

Pendants over each wall-mounted computer station define workspaces.

COMMERCIAL PRODUCT DESIGN FIRST PLACE

COMMERCIAL PRODUCT DESIGN FIRST PLACE DESIGNER Interiors In Design Eva Murzaite and Brandy Holden SECONDARY DESIGNER Pentimento Lighting Jennifer Tague and Mike Renneman PROJECT Copper Pipe Sconce PHOTOGRAPHER Jeff Westlake The goal was to create a decorative wall light to complement an industrial interior and achieve a finished and elegant look using industrial materials. The lights are constructed of copper and galvanized plumbing pipe and fittings. The look is softened by burnishing the natural copper to achieve a satin finish. A clear coat preserves the metalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s copper color and prevents it from oxidizing. Cut-crystal light bulbs enhance the lighting effect.

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PHOTOS: DAVID SANDERS

Paloma Lopez-Santiago, Fast Pitch Audience Choice and SVP Award Winner (Corporate and Business Relations Manager for Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona) and John Smith, Fast Pitch Chair

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BizAWARDS

Girls Scouts Make Right Pitch SVP Fast Pitch Winner Takes $15,000 in Prizes

PHOTOS: COURTESY GIRL SCOUTS OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA

By Monica Surfaro Spigelman Rest will come later for the energized Paloma Lopez-Santiago, manager of Corporate and Business Relations for Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona. Right now she’d rather spark an exchange about how her scouting organization has the power to influence the world.

“Girl Scouts teaches girls to discover, connect and take action,” said LopezSantiago, “and that means a girl can discover who she is, what she cares about, what her talents are, and how to connect and collaborate with other people, locally and globally.”

In perhaps a unique demonstration of this Girl Scouts power, Lopez-Santiago took her organization’s mission higher this past November by participating in Fast Pitch – the ambitious and creative capacity-building program brought to Southern Arizona by Social Venture Partners Tucson two years ago. LopezSantiago wowed an audience of more than 500 at the 2016 Fast Pitch fete, and walked off the stage as winner of both the TEP/People’s Choice and the SVP Tucson awards, totaling $15,000.

The way Lopez-Santiago tells it, there’s an ever-increasing urgency to embrace the Southern Arizona Girl Scouts’ mission because programs to teach girls how to become confident, responsible, productive and engaged citizens are desperately needed.

While traditional, volunteer-led troops remain a large part of scouting programming, the local Girl Scouts is one of only a few councils in the United States implementing a progressive, proactive approach, using a staff-led model to reach girls who may not normally have the opportunity to participate in scouting.

“Our volunteer-led troops are the cornerstone of the Girl Scouts movement,” Lopez-Santiago said, “but if we allowed ourselves to be content with this model we would only reach a fraction of girls, leaving out those who are the most www.BizTucson.com

vulnerable in our community.”

With 37 percent of the girls served coming from single-parent households and almost half of the girls served living at or below the federal poverty line, Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona has created 26 social justice programs that annually serve more than 2,000 girls in need. The goal is to serve 11 percent of all eligible girls, ages 5 through 17, who live within the eight counties of Southern Arizona.

“Our programs open doors of access,” said Lopez-Santiago. “They promote life skills, service learning, selfesteem, financial literacy, educational excursions, career exploration and building sisterhood.”

Free programming, led by specially trained college-aged female leaders, includes:

• Adelante

Jovencitas (Young Women Moving Ahead) assists girls ages 13 through 17 who are involved or at risk of being involved in the juvenile justice system, with three programs in three county locations, as well as matched programs in Pima, Yuma and Santa Cruz county juvenile detention facilities.

• Baby Camp offers a three-day, twonight Girl Scout camp experience to pregnant and parenting teen moms.

• Girl Scouts Beyond Bars brings girls

and their incarcerated mothers together to preserve relationships and foster leadership development in both moms and daughters.

• Foster

Care. Girls at various group homes throughout Pima County are offered free membership, providing continuity even when girls move in and out of foster homes.

• After

School Troops. This traditional and successful program is offered free at more than 10 schools in lowincome and high-need Southern Arizona communities.

Skills learned resonate later in college and career. So it was for Lopez-Santiago, whose own Girl Scouts experience was used as a dramatic illustration during the Fast Pitch presentation.

From an immigrant family, LopezSantiago’s initially poor English language skills made her a target for bullying in grade school. When she became a scout, Lopez-Santiago recalled, the program helped her develop courage and confidence: “So when my CEO Debbie Rich asked if I would feel comfortable in Fast Pitch and possibly share my personal story on stage, I made my decision to finally face my fears – which were speaking in front of a large audience and revealing to the world that my mother came to this country without permission to stay.”

Lopez-Santiago participated in a training process paired with mentors over the summer, and then was one of seven from a group of 15 semifinalists selected to participate in the November showcase held at Leo Rich Theater.

“Fast Pitch took me to another level of confidence that is exactly what the Girl Scouts is all about,” Lopez-Santiago said. “Stepping out of your comfort zone, growing into your full potential self, and being humbled by the support you are surrounded by.”

SVP Tucson Executive Director Ciara Garcia agrees: Fast Pitch influences individuals and organizations.

“Fast Pitch results are tremendous – new skills, enhanced community connections, awareness and support.”

“More than anything,” adds SVP Tucson board member John Smith, who chairs the Fast Pitch initiative, “the stories of all the finalists and their connection to the audience reminded everyone of the essential goodness that we share in this community.”

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PHOTO:DAVID SANDERS

BizAWARDS

Finalists: (from left) Kerri Lopez-Howell, YWCA; Beth Braun, Esperanza Dance Project; Paloma Lopez-Santiago, Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona; Jared Perkins, Children’s Clinics; Lia Pierse, Helping Hands for Single Moms; Tandala Kidd, Interfaith Community Services; Carrie Nelson, CHRPA

Fast Pitch Finalists

Fast Pitch Tucson is a free, two-month program for nonprofits to provide them with communication skills training and to connect them with leaders in the business, philanthropic and nonprofit communities who can help them achieve their goals.

The training culminates in the Fast Pitch event where seven finalists make three-minute pitches to a panel of judges and an audience of hundreds as they compete to win cash awards for their organization. The event was held Nov. 10 at the Leo Rich Theater at the Tucson Convention Center.

Children’s Clinics Jared Perkins

Children’s Clinics is a nonprofit pediatric outpatient clinic that makes the healthcare system easier to navigate for children diagnosed with chronic illnesses and experiencing poverty. Through a 25-year partnership between TMC, Banner UMC and Square & Compass, the clinic provides a family-centered, comprehensive medical home to meet the special needs of children and families, including primary care, specialty care, rehabilitative services and behavioral health. Last year the clinic served over 5,000 Southern Arizona children in 30,000 visits.

Community Home Repair Projects of Arizona Carrie Nelson

Community Home Repair Projects of Arizona is a nonprofit agency with a 34-year history of completing emergency home repairs for low-income homeowners across Pima County. Working in more than 1,500 homes last year, staff and volunteers continually focus on projects that improve the health and safety of the occupants, as well as functionality of the home.

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Esperanza Dance Project Beth Braun

Begun in 2011 by high school dance educator and professional dancer Beth Braun, the Esperanza Dance Project takes its name from the Spanish word for “hope” and uses dance and an interactive pre-performance classroom curriculum to help youth address childhood sexual violence. Teen and adult dancers, artists, writers and performers of diverse ethnicities, genders, abilities and ages are involved. The program provides safe spaces for peer advocacy, and this helps spread awareness as well as eradicate the stigma and shame associated with childhood sexual abuse and sexual violence.

Helping Hands for Single Moms Tucson Lia Pierse

Helping Hands for Single Moms Tucson addresses the obstacles single mothers face as they earn a college degree, providing an innovative scholarship program, practical services and a peer community. Since its launch in 2015, Helping Hands for Single Moms Tucson has inspired 87 percent of program participants to graduate as well as earn an average 3.5 GPA and up to $50,000 as a starting salary within six months of graduation.

Interfaith Community Services Tandala Kidd

ICS gathers faith communities and individuals from diversified background to support a variety of programs that help Pima County seniors, individuals with disabilities and people in financial crisis achieve stable, healthy and independent lives. There are more than 94 faith communities and 750 volunteers involved in programs that fill critical gaps in human services throughout Pima County.

YWCA of Southern Arizona Kerri Lopez-Howell

The YWCA of Southern Arizona shares a mission with 250 YWCA associations across the country, fighting racism, empowering women, and promoting community-wide peace, justice, freedom and dignity. At its South Tucson House of Neighborly Service campus, efforts support local food entrepreneurs and artists, in partnership with South Tucson’s Economic Development Team. In 2016, the YWCA hosted a Tucson Meet Yourself food tent for South Tucson vendors, and worked with local groups to develop neighborhood farmers markets.

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From left – Howard Stewart, president & CEO, AGM Container Controls; Ngoc Can, Diamond Ventures; David Whitford, Editor, Inc. Magazine; Base Horner, Executive Board Member & Chairman of the Screening Panel, Desert Angels; Jordan Lancaster, Avery Therapeutics; Dan Janes, McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship; Jen Watson Koevary, Avery Therapeutics; Ken Kraft, VP, Cox Business

PHOTO: PAUL TUMARKIN/TECH LAUNCH ARIZONA

BizENTREPRENEURS

Get Started Tucson Pitch Nets Top Prize

By Renée Schafer Horton In a University of Arizona lab, a living bandage made of cardiac muscle cells lies beating in a Petri dish, waiting to save lives. With a boost from a local, small-business pitch competition, the brains behind this biotechnology are one step closer to bringing it to the commercial market.

Avery Therapeutics, creator of the MyCardia™ tissue regeneration graft, was the grand prize winner at the third annual Get Started Tucson pitch competition Oct. 27 sponsored by Cox Business, Inc. Magazine and StartUp Tucson. The company won a $25,000 cash prize from Cox – the largest cash prize Cox has awarded in the nearly 30 competitions it has sponsored across the country – as well as a bundle of noncash prizes. The company was one of eight finalists picked from 69 pitch-fest 196 BizTucson

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applications.

The goal of the MyCardia™ graft is to reduce the need for heart transplants in the 90 percent of heart attack victims who go on to develop ischemic heart failure, said Jordan Lancaster, Avery’s chief scientific officer. Heart failure is a progressive disease that worsens over time and Avery’s graft would be aimed at the patients who no longer respond to drug therapy and are facing an eventual heart transplant. If successful, it would allow graft recipients to live longer and go from being confined to a hospital bed or couch to taking a stroll with their grandchildren or gardening in their back yard.

The company leveraged Nobel-prize winning cell technology to create its graft, which can be placed on the surface of a heart through surgical or minimally

invasive techniques. The graft then integrates with the native heart tissue to stimulate growth of new blood vessels and heart muscle in the area that had been damaged by the cardiac arrest.

Jennifer Koevary, Avery’s COO and CFO, said pre-clinical tests have demonstrated a 30 percent improvement in both the contraction of the damaged heart and the filling of the heart with blood.

This project began nine years ago when Lancaster was working at the University of Arizona with Steven Goldman, a local cardiologist with more than 40 years’ experience. Goldman also is a co-founder of Avery Therapeutics.

“We were looking at clinical trials that were using injectable cell therapy and they weren’t working,” Lancaster said.

“What we came up with is a way to dewww.BizTucson.com

“

We were looking at clinical trials that were using injectable cell therapy and they weren’t working. What we came up with is a way to deliver those cells to the heart in a way that has a better chance of success and it is essentially a living band aid.

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Steven Goldman Co-Founder Avery Therapeutics –

liver those cells to the heart in a way that has a better chance of success and it is essentially a living band aid.”

The product has been tested with success in pre-clinical models. Avery is working on continued manufacturing in a lab space the company rents at the UA, and anticipates beginning human testing in 2020. Recently, the company had a breakthrough and developed the ability to cryopreserve the MyCardia™ graft without any loss of functionality.

“We make it, freeze it, ship it to a hospital, and then physicians thaw it. It starts beating and can be implanted,” Lancaster said.

Koevary said Avery will use the Cox Business award in part to hire a regulatory expert to help the company develop a strategy for approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a key step to transitioning from laboratory scale to clinical product.

In addition to the cash award, Avery Therapeutics will receive a Cox Business Technology package, an online profile on the Inc. Magazine website, admission to Startup Tucson’s Thryve Business Accelerator Program, a year’s rent at the Co-Lab workspace, and the opportunity to pitch its business to the Desert Angels screening panel for the chance to get further funding, according to Ken Kraft, VP of marketing for Cox Business. The grand prize is worth approximately $65,000.

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Get Started Tucson Finalists GraphLock The bane of every teacher’s existence is students distracted by cellphones. But in some cases, the cellphone is an educational aid. GraphLock is a $5 downloadable scientific graphing calculator paired with a patent-pending lock that allows the classroom teacher to block all other cellphone functions when the calculator is being used. It is meant to help equalize education while keeping students focused, said CEO Mallory Dyer. GraphLock won the United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona’s $5,000 Social Impact prize and a $1,000 Audience Choice award, earned by garnering the most text votes from the 350-plus audience.

PopConGo Tony Ford, COO, pitched an online comics and collectibles marketplace. The site has already helped individuals sell more than $40 million in their personal super hero, sci-fi, gamer and collectible assets, and Ford was seeking funding to expand the site to become “the Etsy of pop culture.” PopConGo.com would not only transform the way people buy, sell and trade pop culture merchandise, but also positively impact the local Tucson economy. He said Brooklyn-based Etsy now employs more than 800 people, reaching a market – arts and crafts – that is 25 percent smaller than the pop-culture collectible market.

Copper Hummingbird Nancy Biggins, CEO, has more than two decades of experience working with hummingbirds. She sells hummingbird feeders direct to customers and offers her wares in 111 retail outlets. She is on track for $200,000 in sales in 2017 with the feeders and wants to move into the hummingbird food market by creating the first certified organic, certified fair trade hummingbird diet. Customers have sought organic food for their hummingbirds, but the current sources have unrefined organic iron-containing sugars in them and iron is fatal to the birds. Biggins seeks to meet that need with an iron-free organic hummingbird food.

InCycle Water Todd Anchondo, CEO, says his company has identified a major barrier to rain water harvesting by homeowners: UTS, or Ugly Tank Syndrome. People don’t want to sacrifice their home’s aesthetics or yard space for the enormous steel cylinders currently used in most water harvesting systems. To solve UTS, InCycle created the patented Rain Wallet, rain water panels made of food-grade plastic that can hold 110 gallons of rain water each. The tanks interlock like giant Legos and can be covered with almost any building material to hide them from view meaning a shed could store tools and your rain water.

TiltRite More healthcare workers suffer injury on the job than any other occupation and cost employers $27,000 per injury. Many of these injuries come from lifting and moving patients on hospital beds. TiltRite was developed by two labor and delivery nurses. It is a patented design featuring an inflatable sheet placed under a laboring woman, then inflated from various angles to safely roll her to one side with the touch of a button. Ana Greif, CEO, said the device will greatly lessen or eliminate labor and delivery room injuries and could possibly be expanded to other areas of a hospital.

Difference Maker Joshua Chung, CEO, pitched an online crowd-funding platform for city projects.

A person could visit the Difference Maker website and upload an idea – be it refurbishing a local park or launching a bike-share program – and raise funds from people most interested in that project. Then, local government and businesses could match funds, accelerating the time between idea and completion. Chung said something similar happens in England, where the mayor of London has used the crowd funding-match funding model to fund the conversion of an abandoned water tank into an art gallery and an abandoned railroad into a neighborhood park.

Sharing Tribes Sharing Tribes is a modern workplace backyard fence that aims to help companies engage their workers while encouraging more sustainable living through a website that allows employees to borrow and lend goods and services. CEO Anita Bhappu said research shows only 13 percent of employees worldwide are fully engaged at work, and active disengagement costs employers $450-550 billion a year. Companies could subscribe to Sharing Tribe software and employees would connect in a private marketplace. A patent-pending mobile app would also be available, allowing workers to connect on the go and collaborate on work projects, Bhappu said.

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BizTOOLKIT Clearing a PATH for Business Tax Reductions

By Herbert Hoffman & Mark Colvin

A new tax law, the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (PATH 2015), has brought a number of positive, progressive tax changes that businesses owners should be considering and planning for now. Here are a few of the changes: 45L Energy-Efficiency Home Credit

This energy-efficiency credit is for new residential buildings and has been extended through 2016. It offers developers a $2,000 tax credit per new unit, so new multi-family dwellings may qualify.

179D Deduction for EnergyEfficient Commercial Buildings

For at least two more years, commercial building owners can take a deduction for the cost of improving the energy efficiency of qualifying structures.

R&D Tax Credit Now Permanent and Enhanced

Since it was first offered in 1981, the

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R&D credit is considered permanent, making it possible for all eligible businesses to actually plan for it.

More Time to File for Expanded WOTC

Employers had until Sept. 28, 2016, to file for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit for all hired employees in 2015 through September 1, 2016, which offered a federal income tax credit up to $9,600 per employee in the year of hiring.

NMTC Recognizes Community Investment

The New Market Tax Credit (NMTC) program attracts capital to low-income communities by providing private investors with a federal tax credit for investments made in businesses or economic development projects in certain locations.

50-Percent Bonus Depreciation

Herbert Hoffman

extended and ultimately phased out.

It applies to new (not used) property placed in service during the calendar year, and remains at 50 percent through 2017.

Cost Segregation Studies

Cost segregation studies are an efficient tool to increase cash. A cost segregation study allows a taxpayer to separate those portions of a building that can be depreciated using a shorter depreciable life, generally five and 15year property.

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Herbert Hoffman is tax principal focusing on tax consulting in CliftonLarsonAllenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Tucson office. He can be reached at (520) 352-1263 or herbert.hoffman@CLAconnect.com.

Mark Colvin is a regional leader in CliftonLarsonAllenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s federal tax solutions practice. He can be reached at (309) 495-8754 or mark. colvin@CLAconnect.com

This first-year depreciation deduction, available to all businesses, is also

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BizAWARDS

Common Ground Awards

Recognize Collaboration in Development

By Romi Carrell Wittman On a warm autumn evening in early November, some 450 people arrived at the J.W. Marriott Starr Pass to celebrate something that was missing in the long, brutal election cycle: collaboration and unity.

The mood was festive as people gathered to recognize 20 projects selected to receive Metropolitan Pima Alliance’s Common Ground Awards. Caterpillar, the Fortune 500 company that just relocated a division to Tucson, also received an Award of Distinction.

“We can do more together than we can separately,” said Amber Smith, MPA’s executive director. “This award was created to recognize collaboration that results in great community or economic progress.”

An alliance that draws its members from the business, government and nonprofit communities, the MPA was founded in 1997 with the goal of bridging the divide between commercial dePark Tucson

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velopment and public interests. Today MPA aims to improve quality of life and economic prosperity throughout Southern Arizona through public policy advocacy and education initiatives that foster balanced, responsible development in the region.

The gala was MPA’s 12th annual Common Grounds Awards ceremony.

As the name implies, the night was about honoring people from both the public and private sector – not to mention both sides of the political aisle – who have come together in unique ways to overcome obstacles and to propel Southern Arizona forward.

The 20 Common Ground winners reflect a diverse group of projects including everything from land use and redevelopment projects to education and workforce development programs to economic development initiatives.

The following are some highlights.

Reaching out

Banner University Medical Center was recognized for its comprehensive community outreach efforts surrounding the redevelopment of its University Medical Center campus. Over a 12-month period, City of Tucson staff, elected officials and Banner representatives worked closely with adjacent neighborhood associations to ensure that the rezoning and redevelopment of the area would not negatively impact area residents.

Redevelop and reuse

When Tucson Unified School District closed several of its schools, there were concerns about the future of those properties and the neighborhoods in which they were located. One of the sites, Fort Lowell Elementary School, caught the eye of Craig Masters at 5151 E. Pima LLC. Situated in a quiet neighborhood near medical facilities, it was

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an ideal site for Mainstreet Transitional Care Facility, which provides post-acute transitional care for patients needing short-term rehabilitative care. Representatives from 5151, TUSD, the City of Tucson’s Real Estate, Planning & Development Services team as well as the Magnolia and Avondale Neighborhood Associations worked together to make the project a reality.

Educating tomorrow’s workforce

young people have returned to school and have gone on to graduate.

Economic renewal

Tucson is once again home to a major sports team, thanks to a team of Rio Nuevo and City of Tucson representatives. The team negotiated with the Arizona Coyotes to bring the Tucson Roadrunners, the Coyotes’ minorleague franchise, to town, but it wasn’t as simple as it would seem. The Tucson Convention Center Arena badly needed renovation to meet American Hockey League standards. The team set to work bringing in nearly $4 million public and private investment for renovations. On Oct. 28, the Roadrunners kicked off the season with a sold-out game.

A workforce education project involving more than 20 local organizations including AzRISE, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson Electric Power and Sunnyside School District was also spotlighted. “Building our Workforce through ESTEAM: Engineering, Science, Technology, Entrepreneurship, Arts and Math” is an initiative that aims to address the needs of local businesses for a skilled workforce. ESTEAM targets high school stu– Amber Smith dents as well as military Executive Director veterans with the goal Metropolitan Pima Alliance of introducing them to technical career paths.

“

This award was created to recognize collaboration that results in great community or economic progress.

New possibilities

One of the most talked about local initiatives was also honored: the non-stop Tucson-to-New York air service out of Tucson International Airport.

The Tucson Airport Authority and the Tucson Metro Chamber worked tirelessly with the local business community to secure the $3 million revenue guarantee fund required by American Airlines to initiate the route. The route went into service in October.

“Public-private partnerships are the foundation,” Smith said. “We have to continue to inspire the public sector to work with the private sector and vice versa.”

”

Keeping kids in school

Steps to Success, a program created

by TUSD and the Office of the Mayor, received an award for its steps to getting students back in school. Members of the local business community – including TUSD superintendent H.T. Sanchez and Mayor Jonathan Rothschild – personally visit the homes of children who have dropped out of high school. Since the program’s inception, more than 50 Park Tucson

Biz Tucson Roadrunners

The Common Ground Award Winners Are: Banner University Medical Center: Transforming a Campus La Estancia Mainstreet Transitional Care Facility Making Action Possible (MAP) Dashboard Park Tucson: Collaborating to Promote Economic Development in Tucson’s Emerging Urban Center Pima County’s Multi-Species Conservation Plan, Endangered Species Act Section 10 Permit Steps to Success Tucson Roadrunners Tucson-New York City Non-Stop Air Service Garden-to-Cafeteria

The Common Ground Awards of Merit Are: Building our workforce through ESTEAM – Engineering, Science, Technology, Entrepreneurship, Arts and Math Clearwater and Common Ground: Storage, Recovery, and Partnership in Southern AZ and Statewide Colossal Cave Road, Acacia Elementary to Old Vail Middle School Marist on Cathedral Square Paseo de las Iglesias Pima County South Rillito West Central Interceptor Rehabilitation Project (SRI) Sahuarita Farms Land/River Master Plan Sale of the City of Tucson’s “Civano Parcel” Unified Development Code Text Amendment: Urban Agriculture World View Headquarters

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BizTRIBUTE

Celia Sarabia Hightower’s Legacy Leading El Rio from Bankruptcy to National Model

By Mary Minor Davis Celia Sarabia Hightower, CFO for El Rio Community Health Center, was instrumental in guiding the organization out of bankruptcy and into one of the country’s leading community healthcare systems. In October she passed away from pancreatic cancer at age 62.

“She was every beautiful adjective you could list,” said her husband, Penn Hightower. “Fiesty, tough as nails, a bit of that Latina temperament. She was known for her iron fists with velvet gloves.”

The two met at Sahuaro High School in Tucson. “It was a wonderful ride from the day I met her. We had that special ‘first true love’ that never faded,” Penn said. They were together for more than 45 years.

This writer had the pleasure of sitting down for an interview with El Rio’s CFO when researching a special section for BizTucson in the spring of 2016 and connected immediately. She had that effect on people everywhere, according to her family. She made you feel like you were the special person in the room, even as she captured attention with her energy, her smile and her warmth.

“That’s a rare gift for someone who is successful,” said her brother, Mike Sarabia. “Celia had that ability to make you feel it was always all about you, no matter what the situation.”

She began her career as a nurse, then earned a graduate degree and went into banking.

Celia recalled the day she was moved to leave banking and take on a huge financial challenge at El Rio. “I was at a business breakfast in 1987, and Jaime Gutiérrez (head of El Rio at the time) spoke passionately about the healthcare challenges of the underserved in the community, the uninsured populations in the barrios. I knew I had to come (to 202 BizTucson

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El Rio).”

What she found when she arrived at El Rio was an organization in debt, facing bankruptcy, and possessing “an army (of employees) in disarray.”

“The staff was very distrustful of management and was not engaged in the organization – because they didn’t feel it was going to survive,” she said.

Appealing to the mission, Celia was able to turn the organization around quickly, leading El Rio to profitability in her first year.

Celia Sarabia Hightower “The employees started to change.

They decided to stay with us,” she said.

By the time Celia retired last summer, El Rio had grown into a national model for innovative, personalized, high-quality healthcare, serving 92,000 patients at 14 campuses across the city, with a budget of $135 million.

At her retirement party, former El Rio CEO Kathy Byrne said to Celia, “Your hard work, tenacity, creativity and unrelenting optimism are reflected in every building and program of the health center.”

Sarabia said he and his sister, two of six children, were very close, despite their 11-year age difference. “She set the bar pretty high for me, and it was because our father really instilled in her – in all of us – that if you worked hard, were kind to others and focused on your goals, you could do anything. Celia took that to heart and always exceeded expectations.”

When Celia announced she was leaving private industry to go to El Rio, Sarabia said he was shocked. “I told her, you can work for a Fortune 500 company and do anything. She told me, ‘I love being at El Rio. I’m doing important work and building a legacy.’ ” Celia was active throughout the community, serving on the board of Angel Charities and as an active member of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. She was named Woman of the Year by the YWCA, Top CFO by Inside Tucson Business, and CFO of the Year for Nonprofit Organizations by FEI Arizona. She also was inducted into the Sahuaro High School Hall of Fame.

She is survived by her husband; daughters Kristina and Sandra; grandsons Stirling, Brodie and Wesley; her mother, Delia Sarabia; her siblings, Jose, Sandra, John, Michael and Terry; and many extended family members.

“Celia’s passion for humanity, family, travel, adventure, El Rio and her community inspired me and so many others to contribute more, play more, engage more and passionately embrace each day God gives us here on Earth,” said Brenda Goldsmith, executive director of the El Rio Foundation and a close friend. “I will deeply miss my friend.

She was one of my inspirational soul sisters. We will continue the mission she grew for 29 years at El Rio.”

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