May 2021 Issue of In Business Magazine

MAY 2021

Branding and Politics – Once a Taboo Mix, How Does It Play Today?

CRE:

What’s the Big Picture for Metro Phoenix?

Can Benefits Flex with

This Month’s Guest Editor

Walter Crutchfield

Partner at Vintage Partners

Work-from-Anywhere?

Inclusion Includes the Disabled Critical Differences among Contract Dispute Clauses $7.95 INBUSINESSPHX.COM

THIS ISSUE WESTMARC

Return Stronger Access training programs for new career opportunities.

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Supported, in part, by funds available through the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) under Title 1B of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).

Doctors Plan of Arizona: Your new health plan experience In collaboration with Banner Health Network, Doctors Plan of Arizona is designed to provide a better health care experience for you and your employees. With lower out-of-pocket costs1 and an integrated approach to care designed for better outcomes, this health plan helps your employees and their families access a broad network with over 4,200 providers2 to choose from — right where they live, work and play.

Learn more

Call your broker or visit uhc.com/dpaz

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For costs and complete details of the coverage, contact your broker or UnitedHealthcare sales representative.

2

UnitedHealth Network Access internal analysis, June 2020.

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Additional copays, deductibles or coinsurance may apply when you receive other services — such as surgery and lab work.

Insurance coverage provided by or through UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company or its affiliates. Administrative services provided

by United HealthCare Services, Inc. or their affiliates. Health Plan coverage provided by UnitedHealthcare of Arizona, Inc. B2B EI20236739.1 1/21 © 2020 United HealthCare Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 20-189173-B

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for primary care provider visits, urgent care visits, online visits and convenience care visits3

MAY 2021 COVER STORY

GUEST COLUMNISTS

46

Bashas’ Purpose Drives Social Change This month spotlighting Bashas’ Family of Stores, Tyler Butler’s series explores the myriad ways businesses give back and the positive ways their programs impact our community.

47

Quick Tips to Cool Hot Heads Discussing strategies business leaders can use with themselves and their workforce, nationally renowned federal crisis negotiation specialist Doc Elliot concludes his series on preventing workplace violence.

48

Embrace the Unknown Bruce Weber begins a series on Change: The Provider of Opportunity.

24

CRE: What’s the Big Picture

With input from veterans in the Valley’s real estate industry, In Business Magazine explores activity and trends in the commercial real estate market in Phoenix from the perspective of investors, developers and lessees.

FEATURE

34

Tech Trends Continue to Shape How We Live, Work and Learn

Susan Anable delves into ways the pandemic has further accelerated advances in technology.

49

Inclusion Is Different – Not Difficult

Tova Sherman discusses onboarding persons with disabilities and creating the most productive environment possible.

50

Employee Onboarding: How to Succeed in a Remote-First Workplace

Aleksandra Sulimko explains why it’s important for employers to help their “virtual hires” understand and embrace the company culture — and offers suggestions to help it happen.

51

Work from Anywhere? Benefits May Not Be as Flexible

In all the pros-and-cons debates on working remotely, one consideration may be being overlooked. Doug Ramsthel examines its impact on employee benefits.

DEPARTMENTS

9

Guest Editor

Walter Crutchfield, partner with Vintage Partners, introduces the “Commercial Real Estate” issue.

10

Feedback

Dr. David Berg, Lauri Leadley and Melynn K. Wakeman respond to In Business Magazine’s burning business question of the month.

PARTNER SECTION Presents

A Closer Look at West Valley Growth and Success!

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WESTMARC

A closer look at West Valley growth and success

MAY 2021

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Briefs

“Partnership Gives The Alkaline Water Company Significant Distribution Gains,” “Guides and Resources,” “Local Standouts Recognized for Achievements and Philanthropy,” “Pita Jungle Spirit in Mexican Ghost Kitchen” and “Design’s New Direction PostPandemic”

13

By the Numbers

What factors are at play in telecommuting safely — and how does Arizona compare to the other U.S. states?

14

Startups

“Relax, Escape on Neighbor’s Outdoor Furniture” and “Alanté’s Coordinated Healthcare Solution”

15

CRE

“Resimercial Trending as Workplace Design,” “Sale of Agave Center, Scottsdale, Sets Record,” “Water Feature Sets Off The BLVD Development in Avondale,” “Denver-based Company Enters Phoenix Market with Chandler Project,” “New Mesa Entertainment District to Include a Surf Lagoon” and “Back to School – Trends in K–12 Construction”

18

From the Top

Steve Maderazzo built Canyon State Electric on perseverance and technology – and 43 years later is evolving the business with leadership from his children.

20

Healthcare

“Making Healthcare More Accessible” and “COVID Has Impacted the Nutrition of Your Employees”

22

Technology

“Persefoni Creates Intelligent Carbon Tracking Software” and “Residential Proxy Prevents Intellectual Property Violations”

35

Books

New releases give fresh insights on business thinking.

36

En Negocios

Feature articles in Spanish and English on Economia / Economy, Ventas / Sales, Liderazgo / Leadership and Finanzas / Finance

44

Economy

Jason Romero discusses the impact of increased longevity on retirement planning, and why employers should care.

45

Legal

Local attorney Andrea Marconi examines differences in contract dispute resolution provisions business should be aware of when creating their business contracts.

52

Nonprofit

United Way demonstrates the power of teaming up with the business community to achieve bold community goals.

53

Assets

2021 Tesla Model Y Plus: Eye contact is critical to human connection. Can it be done when Zooming?

54

Power Lunch

Ghost Ranch: Redefining Southwestern Cuisine

66

Roundtable

Eric Yaverbaum considers why so many companies are taking a stand now and mixing branding and politics.

A recent survey by the HR Policy Association found most respondents agree that diversity and inclusion (82%) and cultural transformation in anticipation of the postCOVID work environment (71%) are top issues of concern at their companies. hrpolicy.org

We’re Making Our Mark on Medicine OptumCare® believes that great health begins by providing forwardthinking leadership in the discipline of medicine. So we proudly serve Phoenix with advanced health care at 16 clinics with over 40 providers, all dedicated to putting the patient first. We’re here to stay—and to move care in our community in bold new directions.

Find out more at professionals.optumcare.com.

©2020 Optum, Inc. All rights reserved.

May 2021

Hi Phoenix, Let’s spend smarter.

In Business Magazine is a collaboration of many business organizations and entities throughout the metropolitan Phoenix area and Arizona. Our mission is to inform and energize business in this community by communicating content that will build business and enrich the economic picture for all of us vested in commerce.

PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS Kristen Merrifield, CEO Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits (602) 279-2966 www.arizonanonprofits.org Jess Roman, Chief Executive Officer Arizona Small Business Association Central Office (602) 306-4000 www.asba.com

Learn more at getdivvy.com/phx1

Steven G. Zylstra, President & CEO Arizona Technology Council One Renaissance Square (602) 343-8324 www.aztechcouncil.org Doug Bruhnke, Founder & President Global Chamber® (480) 595-5000 www.globalchamber.org Jean Briese, President NAWBO Phoenix Metro Chapter (480) 289-5768 www.nawbophx.org Anne Gill, President & CEO Tempe Chamber of Commerce (480) 967-7891 www.tempechamber.org Our Partner Organizations are vested business organizations focused on building and improving business in the Valley or throughout Arizona. As Partners, each will receive three insert publications each year to showcase all that they are doing for business and businesspeople within our community. We encourage you to join these and other organizations to better your business opportunities.

The members of these and other Associate Partner Organizations receive a subscription to In Business Magazine each month. For more information on becoming an Associate Partner, please contact our publisher at info@inbusinessmag.com.

ASSOCIATE PARTNERS Ahwatukee Foothills Chamber of Commerce ahwatukeechamber.com Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry azchamber.com Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce azhcc.com The Black Chamber of Arizona phoenixblackchamber.com Chandler Chamber of Commerce chandlerchamber.com Economic Club of Phoenix econclubphx.org Glendale Chamber of Commerce glendaleazchamber.org Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce phoenixchamber.com Greater Phoenix Equality Chamber of Commerce gpglcc.org Mesa Chamber of Commerce mesachamber.org North Phoenix Chamber of Commerce northphoenixchamber.com Peoria Chamber of Commerce peoriachamber.com Phoenix Metro Chamber of Commerce phoenixmetrochamber.com Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce scottsdalechamber.com Surprise Regional Chamber of Commerce surpriseregionalchamber.com WESTMARC westmarc.org

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May 2021

VOL. 12, NO. 5

Publisher Editor En Negocios Editor Graphic Design

Rick McCartney RaeAnne Marsh Edgar Rafael Olivo Benjamin Little

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Susan Anable Alison Bailin Batz Tyler Butler Doc Elliot Rachel Eroh Mike Hunter Carla Vargas Jasa Nathan Lamberth Andrea Marconi David Mora Maya Nahra Doug Ramsthel Jason Romero Tova Sherman Wendi Stalling Aleksandra Sulimko Karolis Toleikis Bruce Weber Ricky Wright Eric Yaverbaum ADVERTISING

Operations Louise Ferrari

Business Development Louise Ferrari Cami Shore

Events Amy Corben More: Visit your one-stop resource for everything business at inbusinessphx.com. For a full monthly calendar of business-related events, please visit our website.

Inform Us: Send press releases and your editorial ideas to editor@inbusinessphx.com

President & CEO Rick McCartney

Editorial Director RaeAnne Marsh

Financial Manager Tom Beyer

Office Manager Allie Schimmel

Accounting Manager Todd Juhl

Corporate Office InMedia Company

45 W. Jefferson Street Phoenix, AZ 85003 T: (480) 588-9505

info@inmediacompany.com

www.inmediacompany.com Vol. 12, No. 5 In Business Magazine is published 12 times per year by InMedia Company. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to InMedia Company, 45 W. Jefferson Street, Phoenix, AZ 85003. To subscribe to In Business Magazine, please send check or money order for one-year subscription of $24.95 to InMedia Company, 45 W. Jefferson Street, Phoenix, AZ 85003 or visit inbusinessphx.com. We appreciate your editorial submissions, news and photos for review by our editorial staff. You may send to editor@inbusinessmag.com or mail to the address above. All letters sent to In Business Magazine will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication, copyright purposes and use in any publication, website or brochure. InMedia accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or other artwork. Submissions will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

InMedia Company, LLC reserves the right to refuse certain advertising and is not liable for advertisers’ claims and/or errors. The opinions expressed herein are exclusively those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the position of InMedia. InMedia Company considers its sources reliable and verifies as much data as possible, although reporting inaccuracies can occur; consequently, readers using this information do so at their own risk. Each business opportunity and/or investment inherently contains certain risks, and it is suggested that the prospective investors consult their attorney and/or financial professional. ©2021 InMedia Company, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission by any means without written permission by the publisher.

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WALTER CRUTCHFIELD, VINTAGE PARTNERS

Commercial Real Estate Rises in Phoenix

Walter Crutchfield is a partner at Vintage Partners, a Phoenix, Ariz.-based commercial real estate development and investment company, as well as a fourth generation Arizonan whose family has been developing land locally since 1961. Signature projects include the redevelopment of Uptown Plaza, which was a finalist for the RED Awards “Retail Development of the Year,” and Rise Uptown, an adaptive reuse mid-century modern boutique hotel in Uptown Phoenix.

Moving up in the CRE spotlight these days is industrial and multifamily. And Phoenix is leading the pack in those segments, while other segments are adapting to considerable shifts in market needs.

Many of the negative shifts felt in other parts of the country have not impacted the Phoenix market as deeply. Couple that with strong in-migration, growth in manufacturing jobs, strong home sales and a pro business environment, and Phoenix is emerging as a leader in CRE post-pandemic recovery. Phoenix has always had pioneers in CRE. From Del Webb to Bob Gosnell to John Graham, our leaders have accurately interpreted the trends and developed new products to meet emerging needs. Visionary leaders and great market dynamics will produce a robust recovery that will lead other large urban cities.

Development activity is evident on any drive around Phoenix neighborhoods. For this month’s cover story, In Business Magazine spoke with developers and investors behind some of the activity to discuss the types of projects that are energizing our CRE market and what parts of the Valley are attracting the most interest. To round out the picture, real estate brokers offer insights into aspects of greatest concern to the lessees whose businesses occupy the commercial spaces.

Technology is impacting some of the trends in CRE demand as well as the operations of individual businesses. In feature article “Tech Trends,” Susan Anable, vice president of Government and Public Affairs for Cox Communications, explores technology trends that will continue to shape how we live, work and learn.

Other areas of business needing a mind shift are retirement programs and legal disputes. In the Economy feature, Jason Romero, a financial advisor with Desert Financial Credit Union and Desert Financial Wealth Management, provides perspective and suggestions on retirement programs.

And Fennemore attorney Andrea Marconi discusses options in contract dispute resolution to help businesses make informed choices in their contract transactions in the Legal feature.

Addressing other important subjects, benefits expert Doug Ramsthel considers how changes in work and workplace arrangements may require businesses to give a fresh look at their employee benefit provisions, human resources professional Aleksandra Sulimko examines onboarding strategies for businesses in an increasingly remote-first workplace situation, and thought leader Tova Sherman discusses the importance of including persons with disabilities — and how to do it.

From new enterprises to healthcare, technology and where to have that important business lunch, In Business Magazine provides a range of relevant information to help strengthen our business community. It’s my pleasure to help present this May edition of In Business Magazine.

EN NEGOCIOS Manténgase informado sobre temas empresariales en español a través de En Negocios, artículos para los lectores de habla hispana en el área metropolitana de Phoenix.

Visite inbusinessphx.com/ ennegocios para más información.

Stay informed on business topics in Spanish through En Negocios, articles for Spanish-speaking readers in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Visit inbusinessphx.com/ ennegocios for more information.

Sincerely,

Walter Crutchfield Partner Vintage Partners

CONNECT WITH US: Story Ideas/PR: editor@ inbusinessphx.com

We Get to Live Here There are so many great things about living in Greater Phoenix.

We asked Walter Crutchfield of

The weather (mostly), the influx of new and notable businesses,

Vintage Partners to lead this issue. He

the recreation and even the proximity to so much more regionally

knows so well what opportunity we

and nationally. But nothing, perhaps, is as great as how we have

have here in the Valley and has such

fared through the pandemic. In this issue, we explore the great

a grasp on the commercial real estate sector through his many

developments and the hot areas that are populating like nothing

projects and clear interest in keeping the Greater Phoenix area

we have ever seen before. Phoenix is rising despite the curbing of

authentic to its roots and as prosperous as possible. We want to

so much over this past year.

thank him for all that he has done to make our business community

Branding

and Politics

Play Today?

Does It Mix, How a Taboo – Once

DON’T MISS OUT!

MAGAZINE

MAY 2021

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Guest Editor

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This Month’s MAY 2021

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Photo courtesy of MMPR

flourish — even in this past year.

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$7.95

INBUSINESSPHX.

Get a year of In Business Magazine Subscribe now at inbusinessphx.com

—Rick McCartney, Publisher

Let us know what you think of this issue of In Business Magazine. Email our publisher at feedback@inbusinessmag.com.

Business Events/ Connections: businessevents@ inbusinessphx.com Marketing/Exposure: advertise@ inbusinessphx.com Visit us online at www.inbusinessphx.com

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SPEAKING OUT

What were the most significant moves you made to strengthen and grow your business over this past year?

FEEDBACK QUESTION: Let us know what you want to know from the Valley’s top business leaders. editor@inbusinessphx.com

For all past Feedbacks go online to inbusinessphx.com and see what Valley executives think on various business topics.

MAY 2021

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DAVID BERG

LAURI LEADLEY

MELYNN K. WAKEMAN

President and Co-Founder Redirect Health Sector: Healthcare

Founder and President Valley Sleep Center Sector: Healthcare

President and Designated Broker Wakeman Integrity, LLC Sector: Real Estate

In the face of the global pandemic, it was harder than ever for people across the U.S. to access the healthcare they needed. Medical clinics were closed, non-essential services were canceled, and fear of infection was everywhere.

The Redirect Health team immediately saw the threat that the COVID-19 pandemic posed for the healthcare industry as a whole and to our members, and our team got to work to make sure we could continue to provide quality care to our members when they needed it most. This included expanding our telehealth (Virtual Primary Care) services nationwide amid a global pandemic — ensuring that members would have access to care 24/7.

By expanding our Virtual Primary Care, the Redirect Health team was also able to avoid and overcome the worst of the medical supply chain shortage issues by taking our services virtual.

The most significant moves Valley Sleep Center made over the past year were to remain open in full operation but following the Arizona Department of Health and CDC regulations. We implemented telemedicine to keep our patient provider relationship and help with ongoing treatment. We used the time to create our Sleep to Slender Program to help our patients manage their weight and improve overall health.

We implemented Virtual Community Health Talks each evening to educate the public on sleep health, overall wellness and wealth, and engaged the public on things like “How to Sleep in Stressful Times.” and “Is my CPAP a ventilator?”

We chose to invest in our team by offering an online money course to help them learn how to budget. Our team was also allowed to work from home, and we provided the resources they needed.

I am personally in awe over how our team responded in the coronavirus adversity. We believe in “patient for life” and we want to give them many “more days in their life.”

As the founder and president of a woman-owned commercial real estate brokerage firm, I made the conscious decision to hire consultants to free up my time so I could focus on the things I do best: representing my clients and getting them the very best deal possible. I hired a marketing team to revamp my webpage to gain an entirely new avenue of clients by promoting services instead of going to door to door or cold calling. I freed up time by meeting my clients in virtual meetings instead of driving to a meeting at a restaurant.

I hired a company to add virtual tours for all of my listings. I added Zoom calls to review potential properties with my clients. For training new associates, I added Microsoft Teams instead of inperson training.

I was able to double my production, making 2020 my best year in business.

More importantly it allowed me to offer more of myself to my clients by being creating efficiencies and streamlining work-flow processes, in the end offering better services to my client.

Valley Sleep Center valleysleepcenter.com

Melynn is president and designated broker of Wakeman Integrity, LLC, which specializes in healthcare commercial real estate. She has realized success in the industry based on her vast and diverse healthcare business background, as well as her impeccable reputation. She is a well-respected commercial real estate sales professional, consultant, business developer and operations, with a Bachelor of Science in applied management from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix.

Redirect Health redirecthealth.com David Berg, D.C., is the president and cofounder of Redirect Health, a national leader in healthcare innovation. Dr. Berg simplifies the traditionally complex healthcare systems and, through strategic, outside-the-box thinking, innovates new ways to deliver simple and affordable healthcare to people everywhere. Dr. Berg majored in Physics and Biology at the University of Toronto before earning his Doctor of Chiropractic degree in 1990.

Lauri Leadley CCSH, RPSGT, is the founder and president of Valley Sleep Center, as well as a Clinical Sleep Educator. Battling rheumatoid arthritis as a young child inspired her to help others as an adult, so she began working as a respiratory therapist. After many years as a respiratory therapist, she launched an in-home medical testing service that found instant success. She quickly outgrew her home base and her current business, Valley Sleep Center, was born.

Sign up for the monthly In Business Magazine eNewsletter at www.inbusinessphx.com. Look for survey questions and other research on our business community.

Wakeman Integrity, LLC integrityrealty4u.com

QUICK AND TO THE POINT

GUIDES & RESOURCES Find out more in each issue of In Business Magazine as we provide resources and guides that can help businesses get and stay connected to the information they need to build business.

COVID-19 Business Stimulus: With now two phases of the Paycheck Protection Program loans and other Small Business Administration loans and stimulus packages, we include these links for businesses: • Restaurant Revitalization Award Portal: restaurants.sba.gov • PPP Loans: bit.ly/sba-ppp • SBA Stimulus: bit.ly/c19-guide-resources

Photo courtesy of Alkalline88

Partnership Gives The Alkaline Water Company Significant Distribution Gains Scottsdale-based The Alkaline Water Company, the creator of Alkaline88TM, has entered into its first major agreement with a Direct Store Distributor (DSD). After eight years of growing the brand in the grocery channel and becoming the No. 1-selling bulk alkaline water in the country, management has chosen to enter into a long-term agreement with local distributor Hensley Beverage Company.

By joining forces with Hensley, one of the largest and most respected family-owned beverage distributors in the nation, The Alkaline Water Company expects broad based distribution of its beverage brands, Alkaline88® and A88 Infused™, across the state of Arizona. Its expansion through Hensley into convenience and other “up-and-down-the-street” retail outlets should eventually double the company’s sales in the state. Hensley will also be servicing The Alkaline Water Company’s grocery clients, and Arizonans can expect to see pallet and endcap displays at many of their local grocers.

As Alkaline88 is now available in more than 70,000 retail locations across the nation, the product has garnered recognition from consumers across the nation. With strong consumer acceptance in grocery, the timing could not have been better for taking this next step in expanding the company’s sales efforts through a partnership with Hensley.

With Cindy Hensley McCain as chairman, Hensley services all of Arizona with a customer base of more than 9,000 retail locations. Hensley Beverage Company is a multi-generational, family-owned, local Arizona beverage wholesaler that distributes a diverse and first-rate portfolio of beverages, including Anheuser-Bush InBev beers, top-selling local and regional craft beers, premium nonalcohol beverages, water, soda, tea, wine and spirits.

The partnership comes as a win-win for both companies. In addition to the projected double to triple sales increase from the distribution through Hensley Beverage Company, The Alkaline Water Company can expect such benefits from the partnership as a new penetration of its flavored waters, its single-serve offerings and its aluminum bottles throughout the State of Arizona and an increased presence of the brand overall in convenience stores.

For Hensley, the company is excited to work with the fastest-growing alkaline water company in the country. In most of Hensley’s new distribution partnerships, it is left picking up the pieces of a company that’s starting at the ground level. The Alkaline Water Company is already an established, well-known beverage brand.

Although there should be significant increased sales with the new distribution, The Alkaline Water Company sees no issues with keeping up with the increase in production. The company’s co-packer in Phoenix, Whitewater Bottling, is well prepared to keep up with the capacity as the increased sales roll in.

—Ricky Wright, president and CEO of The Alkaline Water Company (thealkalinewaterco.com)

• Get My Check: irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment • Federal Resources for U.S. Small Businesses: covid-sb.org • Vaccine Finder and information: vaccinefinder.org • Testing (Onsite and Mobile): aztestnow.com Vaccine: As vaccines become readily available and businesses begin to go back to the office, we offer these links for more information on where to get vaccinations and who will qualify: • No appointments necessary (but recommended) beginning April 26, 2021.

• Registration: podvaccine.azdhs.gov • General Information: azdhs.gov/index.php

SMALL BUSINESS Assistance and Guidance: Many businesses are looking for information that will improve business through programs to enhance services, resources that can assist in day-to-day business or simply connecting businesses with opportunities. Here are this month’s resources: • Small Business Financial Resources: azcommerce.com/covid-19/financial-resources • Arizona Small Business Association: asba.com • CPLC Women’s Business Center: prestamosloans.org/womens-business-center • Small Business Development Center: maricopa-sbdc.com IN BUSINESS MAGAZINE In Business Magazine creates many resources throughout the year. Here are our most recent: • WESTMARC: The West Valley Connected: nbusinessphx.com/department/westmarc • In Business In the Firm Guide: inbusinessphx.com/2021-in-the-firm MORE Each month we will include other added resources and guides. Here is what we have for our readers this month: Free In Business Digital Subscription: • Get all of the pertinent news and information as it relates to COVID and your business though the In Business Dailies. Sign up today at inbusinessphx.com/subscribe.

Less from the Tap? According to the Arizona Department of Water Resources, the state used about 7.1 million acrefeet of fresh water in 1957 and 7.0 million acre-feet in 2017. Meanwhile, the population of the state has increased substantially from just over 1 million in 1957 to more than 7 million in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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QUICK AND TO THE POINT

Local Standouts Recognized for Achievements and Philanthropy ACHIEVEMENTS

Fired Pie Is Only AZ Restaurant to Make ‘Hottest’ List When national publication QSR Magazine announced its annual 40/40 list of America’s hottest startup fast casuals for 2021 earlier this year, locally owned and operated fast-casual pizza concept Fired Pie was the only Arizona-based restaurant on the list.

Restaurants are selected based on the brand’s menu, branding and potential trajectory. In 2013, Fired Pie exploded on the dining scene as the first fast-casual pizza and salad restaurant of its kind in Phoenix. This past year, Fired Pie turned seven, celebrated its 20 Valley locations, and announced the opening of its newest concept, a fast-casual rapid online and carryout location at 19th Avenue and Northern in Phoenix. firedpie.com

Handwrytten Named a ‘Most Innovative Company’ Handwrytten, an online handwritten notes service formed in 2014 to reignite the art of handwritten correspondence by using custom-built and -designed robots, was named to Fast Company’s prestigious annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2021 in the Robotics category. The list honors the businesses that have not only found a way to be resilient in the past year, but also made an impact on their industries and culture as a whole. handwrytten.com

PHILANTHROPY

PROShred Arizona Event Benefits Desert Labrador Retriever Rescue PROShred Arizona raised $5,500 for Desert Labrador Retriever Rescue during its recent Shred A Thon charity event in Scottsdale, which allowed Valley residents to securely dispose of a banker’s box of documents in exchange for a $5 to $10-dollar donation. It was PROShred’s sixth charity event for the Labrador rescue. proshred.com

Larry H. Miller Dealerships Deliver Carfuls of Comfort for AZ Foster Children A caravan of vehicles from nine Larry H. Miller Dealerships locations across Phoenix last month delivered carfuls of donations to Arizona Department of Child Safety’s Welcome Center in Phoenix. Simple items of comfort included new suitcases, blankets, pillows, pajamas and socks collected through employee and public donations during a month-long, statewide “Luggage of Love” campaign, initiated as a way to help the many Arizona children who often have no time to pack basic necessities when they are removed from their homes and taken to safe foster care environments. lhmauto.com

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Pita Jungle Spirit in Mexican Ghost Kitchen Pita Jungle has taken its healthy Mediterranean concept and moved to a new continent with A Su Salud — “to your health” — a Mexican food ghost kitchen. Piloting its concept at its Tempe location, Pita Jungle launched A Su Salud in March, offering delivery through its third-party delivery partners as well as pick-up service.

“Mexican cuisine offers a palette of vibrant and fresh ingredients that overlaps with the fresh ingredients that reside within the Pita Jungle pantry, making it a natural leap for us to interpret authentic Mexican recipes through our healthy-cooking Mediterranean-diet approach,” says Bassel Osmani, one of Pita Jungle’s founders, pointing out that, actually, Pita Jungle has a well-delineated history of interpreting global cuisines, especially Baja and Sonoran delights that have appeared on our Pita Jungle menu

through various entrées like Blue Corn Nachos, Medchilada, Pico de Gallo and Chicken Del Sol. “The ghost kitchen operates as a distinct subunit within the same four walls, benefitting from efficiencies in the preparation of same ingredients, that are culinarily tweaked to satisfy the Mexican food format,” Osmani explains. “As much as possible we use the same prepared fresh ingredients — such as prepped veggies and proteins — to build a high-quality product with a Mexican-food profile.”

A Su Salud asusaludaz.com Pita Jungle pitajungle.com

Design’s New Direction Post-Pandemic The year 2020 was a tough one for most industries. Phoenix-based Ideation Design Group felt the brunt of the pandemic's crushing losses to restaurants, hospitality brands and the airport industry on a multi-faceted level. Fast forward to 2021, and things are looking up for the renowned design firm that successfully navigated a pivot by expanding into new industries and focusing on pandemicera problems that required creative design solutions. Now, the company is optimistically moving forward with new growth and hiring in an industry that was crushed in the pandemic.

“Like many businesses, our 2020 losses were significant as a result of projects being halted all over the world, especially those with our partners in airport development, foodservice and related industries,” says Carl Schaffer, a partner with Ideation Design Group. “It was challenging, but we evolved by focusing on new industries and providing innovative design solutions for businesses and brands that needed to reconfigure operations for the COVID-19 era.

With a longstanding reputation as one of the leading airport design firms in the US, Ideation Design Group shifted its portfolio from serving the skies to focusing on the open roads.

“One of the most surprising and exciting areas we have expanded our business is reimagining the ‘truck stop’ experience as we become ever more reliant on the supply-chain system that ensures products move efficiently throughout the country and more and more Americans opt for travel by car,” Schaffer says.

Now called ‘Travel Centers,' these aren’t your father’s trucks stops or gas stations. Ideation Design Group has completely reimagined the fill up center experience as bright and inviting with modern designs that feature clean lines, stylish interiors and a variety of popular food and beverage brands in an updated convenience store-meets-food court format serving the needs of American truckers and travelers alike.

Ideation Design Group has also ventured into new areas of interior design requiring more staff with specific expertise. “As we ease into ‘the new normal’ and expand our firm’s capabilities to innovate design for a variety of new companies and industries, we have started ramping up on hiring for design industry professionals that have experience in a variety of industries,” says Deb Sylva, a partner with the firm.

Ideation Design Group ideationdg.com

Arizona ranks No. 6 on the index created by leading outsourced communications company Moneypenny highlighting the states taking selfcare and wellness seriously. It created its index from an analysis of disposable income per capita, national park sites, average precipitation, number of residents per health clubs, “beauty salon” search volume and “therapist near me” search volume. moneypenny.com/us

Photo courtesy of Pita Jungle

LOOKING GOOD

BY MIKE HUNTER

METRICS & MEASUREMENTS

Telecommuting Safety – Are Companies Safe in Arizona?

Arizona isn’t best, but is better than most U.S. states

by Mike Hunter

With so many Americans working remotely, telecommuting has soared through the roof last year — Forbes reported in March 2020 that 58% of America’s knowledge workers were working remotely. Instead of hopping on a train, bus, or into a car to get to the office, many Americans are joining meetings via video conferencing and collaborating from home. As convenient as working from home may be for telecommuters, it also poses serious security threats for companies.

At the start of lockdown, hackers had a heyday exploiting sensitive company data from unsecured remote employee devices. In fact, data breaches and hackers increased by 400% in the U.S. at the beginning of the pandemic, according to the Aspen Institute. With data breaches on the rise, companies everywhere are still struggling to secure their employees’ devices from a distance.

Which states set up their companies for the most telecommuting success? The team at Go.Verizon.com analyzed the number of data breaches, phishing attacks, malware

attacks, internet privacy laws and more in each state (along with the District of Columbia) to determine the safest places for telecommuters.

Vermont, South Dakota, North Dakota, New Hampshire and Louisiana each had zero reports of stolen records as a result of a data breach between 2018 and 2019.

Although the Golden State didn’t rank high on the list, California has 15 internet privacy laws (itemized by BakerHofstetler on the firm’s website, www.bakerlaw.com), which is the most of any state, including Washington, D.C. In the state that plays host to Silicon Valley, it makes sense that Californians would invest in cybersafety and security.

Arizona’s ranking at number 20 puts it in the upper half of the country, and well above states commonly seen as competitors for business development and attracting new business: Texas at number 32, Colorado at number 34 and California at number 35.

VERIZON SURVEY METHODOLOGY

Telecommuting Safety Ranking by State, Arizona is 20th Rank

State

1

Vermont

2

South Carolina

3

South Dakota

4

Alabama

5

Nebraska

6

Michigan

7

North Dakota

8 9

State Population

Data Breaches per 100,000 people*

Records Lost/Stolen in Data Breaches by State per 100,000 people*

Percent of Privacy Laws by State**

Corporate Data Breaches per 100,000 people

Malware Breaches per 100,000 people

Phishing Breaches per 100,000 people

To rank each state on its level of safety for telecommuters, Verizon analysts looked at five main categories:

623,989

0.00

0

25%

0.48

0.32

4.81

5,148,714

0.02

685

30%

0.29

0.49

4.62

884,659

0.00

0

15%

0.23

0.57

3.62

4,903,185

0.04

134

25%

0.16

0.59

3.90

1,934,408

0.05

333

15%

0.21

0.31

4.19

9,986,857

0.05

145

35%

0.35

0.54

5.03

762,062

0.00

0

10%

0.52

0.26

2.23

New Hampshire

1,359,711

0.00

0

25%

0.22

0.88

6.03

Louisiana

4,648,794

0.00

0

30%

0.30

0.58

13.98

10

Mississippi

2,976,149

0.13

2,171

10%

0.07

0.27

3.29

11

Arkansas

3,017,804

0.13

313

35%

0.46

0.27

3.48

12

Ohio

11,689,100

0.07

159

20%

0.25

0.51

4.67

• Privacy laws by state;

13

Oklahoma

3,956,971

0.05

7,093

20%

0.28

0.76

4.27

14

Tennessee

6,829,174

0.10

8,616

25%

0.31

0.67

4.54

15

Missouri

6,137,428

0.10

297

15%

0.29

0.44

6.08

16

Kansas

2,913,314

0.07

400

25%

0.48

0.41

8.44

• Crime type by victim count for corporate data breaches, malware/scareware/ viruses, and phishing/ vishing/smishing; and

17

Delaware

973,764

0.10

52

55%

0.72

0.72

6.57

18

Maine

1,344,212

0.07

49

35%

0.52

1.12

3.57

• Crime type by victim loss for the same categories mentioned above.

19

Minnesota

5,639,632

0.04

31

20%

0.35

0.48

4.59

go.verizon.com

20

Arizona

7,278,717

0.10

260

30%

0.48

0.56

7.62

• Total number of data breaches from 2018-2019 on the state level reported to Attorneys General and/ or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; • Total number of records lost/stolen by data breaches from 2018-2019 on the state level reported to Attorneys General and/ or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for businesses;

*2018-2019 **100% means they have all 20 of the categories Source: The Safest States for Telecommuters (go.verizon.com/resources/safest-most-dangerous-states-telecommuting)

Data breaches and hackers increased by 400% in the U.S. at the beginning of the pandemic, according to the Aspen Institute.

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INBUSINESSPHX.COM

BY RAEANNE MARSH

ENTREPRENEURS & INNOVATORS

Relax, Escape on Neighbor's Outdoor Furniture

Driven by the Affordable Care Act, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) now requires healthcare providers to provide healthcare information in a standardized electronic format, and also requires patients to have access to their health information electronically. In addition, CMS developed new care management physician billing codes such as chronic care management and remote patient monitoring, which help the patient cover the cost of these vital services. These services drive down the overall cost of care by, among other things, helping patients adhere to their physician care plan — which helps unnecessary hospitalizations — and eliminating duplication of medical services.

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INBUSINESSPHX.COM

capital, we built a pretty exhaustive model to determine what our capital needs would be, without taking on too much capital.”

As he started the business, Arambula says he took to heart advice he’d been given to make sure to take the time to align on goals with his co-founders. “At face value, it seems like a very elementary piece of advice, but I think most founders rarely spend the time to explore those difficult questions prior to jumping headfirst into a business,” he says. “Mike, Chris and I spent a lot of time — and still do — discussing our collective perspective on the future of Neighbor, what we each hope to extract from the experience and how to make sure we’re consistently checking in to see how we’re staying true to our original vision.”

Neighbor hineighbor.com

Alanté’s Coordinated Healthcare Solution Virtual healthcare continues to evolve, and Alanté has entered that space as an integrated healthcare solution that aims to create both better quality of life for the patient and peace of mind for the family. Providing coordinated and integrated care services for a patient and the patient’s family under the direction of the patient’s physician, the Scottsdalebased company is built around the premise that state-of-theart healthcare can be done virtually.

The goal for founder and CEO Mark Hansen — son of a small-town doctor who focused a large portion of his practice on geriatric care — was to elevate care for seniors by taking away the pain, fear and uncertainty patients and their families experience when they enter our complex healthcare system.

“We want people to spend their time getting better and achieving a better quality of life versus trying to manage an overwhelming fractured healthcare system,” Hansen says.

Among the wide range of questions patients and their families must manage are “What should I expect next, and when?”; “Who can I trust to give me accurate information?”; What services are available and how do I access them?”; and “How will I pay for it?”

“The best advice I received was from my father,” Hansen says. “He drove home to me that what is most important for

seniors’ overall health and well-being is to keep them at home and in their community when providing healthcare solutions.

Maintaining seniors’ independence is always the most important thing to their health and well-being. Never take away a senior’s existing support and social structure; instead, always try to enhance it.”

Hansen founded the company in 2020 and launched it this year. His biggest challenges, he says, have been the ability to integrate with various electronic healthcare platforms, which vary from provider to provider, and identifying how patients could pay for these services whereby it would be affordable and ultimately result in a reduction in the overall cost of their healthcare services.

Alanté alantehealth.com

Discussions about work environment post-pandemic includes considerations on vaccinations. A majority of respondents to a recent survey by the HR Policy Association reported using two main approaches to encourage their employees to get vaccinated: paid time off (53%) and manager encouragement (50%). Some are not encouraging their employees to get vaccinated at all (13%), while few are mandating that certain populations be vaccinated (7%). hrpolicy.org

Photos courtesy of Neighbor (top), Alanté (bottom)

Launching with the Haven Collection, a modular seating collection constructed from sustainably harvested teak, Neighbor’s main channel of distribution is its own website.

It recently began distribution with Crate & Barrel and Huckberry.

“We’re on a mission to help our customers include their outdoor spaces in livable square footage,” says Nick Arambula, co-founder and CEO of Neighbor. The company, founded this past October, designs and distributes outdoor furniture and goods built for a long life outside.

“The idea to launch an outdoor furniture brand had been swirling around in our minds for quite some time,” Arambula relates. “Then, when COVID was thrust upon the world, it hit us like a ton of bricks. Most of our homes were turned into a 24/7 restaurant, school, office, gym, and the list goes on. Our spaces that were historically used to recharge, relax and refresh became a space of stress and constant demand. We all talked how we found ourselves escaping outside to find some relief.”

Arambula had spent the previous four years working at Tuft & Needle, which is where he met the other co-founders, Chris Lee and Mike Fretto. “Our time at Tuft & Needle provided a great training ground to build a profitable business that focused on the home. At T&N, we were very comfortable with designing and shipping big, bulky items to customers’ front doors; we knew that experience would be invaluable in launching Neighbor.”

Demand almost immediately surpassed their expectations, which, Arambula says, forced them to make some big bets on purchasing a lot of inventory. “In order to support that, we’ve raised a little bit of money. In making our decision around

PROPERTY, GROWTH AND LOCATION

GET REAL

by Mike Hunter

Sale of Agave Center, Scottsdale, Sets Record The recent sale of Agave Center at $9.775 million sale and 6.2% CAP, brokered

by Colliers International, represents a record persquare-foot rate for an unanchored Scottsdale shopping center.

The 2.46-acre shopping complex, with 16,038 square feet of

Photo courtesy of Ten01 (left), Colliers International (right)

Resimercial Trending as Workplace Design With all the social and economic change happening over the past year, most industries are in a state of disruption, and commercial real estate is no exception. While many of the trends we are anticipating for the next several years are not entirely new concepts, the overarching trend is that companies will need to evolve in order to stay relevant.

For the commercial office market, the Dot Com generation of the last several years saw a shift away from closed offices to more of an open and social environment. The current evolution of that has birthed the concept of the “anti-office.” The trend was heightened by the pandemic and driven by the public’s need to feel comfortable and safe in an environment they cannot control, as they would at their own home.

A buzzword that started circulating back in 2018, “resimercial,” has emerged with a vengeance. Over the past year, many companies have shifted to virtual offices and have modified their infrastructure to continue to function as normally as possible while their employees work primarily from home. Pre-pandemic, some companies had already seen the benefits of full-time or part-time telecommuting, while many more have seen the benefits of being able to blur the lines between home and work over the last year.

As companies make the decision to return to the office, they will need to find ways to introduce the feeling of home into the commercial office space. This will be driven by providing employees with comfort, familiarity and added amenities that they have become used to while working from home. Resimercial means just that: incorporating a home-like atmosphere into the work environment.

One major change we see is the need for health-and-wellness-related updates such as washable surfaces, open air, fitness components and modified food offerings to be mindful of pandemic concerns. Companies should continue to err on the side of caution regarding sanitation, even in a completely post-pandemic world.

At the root of it all is a concept of empathic design — a design philosophy that focuses on the end user in a deeper way by trying to anticipate wants and needs. By no means is this a new concept, but the importance of it is becoming more widespread. Employers being more in tune with the specific needs of their employees is paramount. Recently, empathic design has taught us that we cannot design only for the energetic extroverts as we have in the past. Creating spaces that accommodate multiple personality types adds depth to a property’s amenities and allows for inclusion and connection. Incorporating fitness spaces, meditation spaces, virtual and augmented reality, art studios and other amenities that foster creativity for multiple personality types will be on the radar.

Working from home brings convenience when it comes to child care, food preparation, dry cleaning, laundry, et cetera, and those offerings should be considered as something we incorporate more into the office environment.

—Wendi Stallings, principal of Phoenix- and San Francisco-based Private Label International (privatelabelintl.com), a full-service interior design studio that develops hospitality environments and lifestyle brand experiences for clients worldwide

retail space and positioned at the highly trafficked intersection of Scottsdale Road and Acoma Drive, is 100% occupied by local and national credit tenants.

“The Scottsdale market is one of the hottest commercial and residential markets in the country,” says Eric Carlton, executive vice president at Colliers. “Retail centers are still alive and thriving in the COVID era, and buyers can find tremendous opportunity.

Out-of-state capitol continues to flow into Arizona. Agave Center showcases the return available for retail property owners looking to sale assets under the current market conditions.” colliers.com

Water Feature Sets Off The BLVD Development in Avondale A new water feature project, which recently broke ground at the corner of Avondale Blvd. and W. Dale Earnhardt Dr., in Avondale, will be the showpiece at The BLVD, an exciting new development along Avondale Boulevard. The project will include two signatureentrance water features, a one-acre lake, koi pond, splash pad, pedestrian bridges and inviting landscaping.

Once completed in August of 2021, the public oasis at The BLVD will consist of more than 5.5-acres of space that will set the stage for future development within the Park Avenue District. The project is expected to cost $4.8 million dollars, to include all the entry water features. Partnering with the City of Avondale on the project are Phoenix-based Willmeng Construction and J2 Engineering & Environmental Design. avondalelocaledge.com • willmeng.com

Denver-based Company to Build Chandler Connection Marking its entry into the Phoenix industrial market, Denver-based Comunale Properties has selected Stevens-Leinweber Construction to build Chandler Connection, a 201,000-square-foot, Class A industrial building immediately adjacent to the Chandler Municipal Airport in Chandler, Arizona. Construction is scheduled to begin July 2021, with an anticipated completion during first quarter of 2022.

Located on Germann Road, between Gilbert and Cooper roads, Chandler Connection will offer premier mid-bay industrial space that will include a fenced and secured concrete truck court, dock-high and drive-in loading, and can accommodate users ranging from fullbuilding down to 14,500 square feet.

Additional project team members selected by Comunale Properties include architect Butler Design Group and Ken McQueen and Chris McClurg from Lee & Associates, who will serve as the development’s exclusive leasing brokers. comunaleproperties.com • lee-associates.com • stevensleinweber.com

One major change in the workplace setting is the need for health-andwellness-related updates such as washable surfaces, open air, fitness components and modified food offerings to be mindful of pandemic concerns.

15

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INBUSINESSPHX.COM

PROPERTY, GROWTH AND LOCATION

New Mesa Entertainment District to Include a Surf Lagoon A new entertainment destination recently broke ground in Mesa. Cannon Beach will be a 37-acre surf, shop, gym and multi-use development. The project by Cannon Beach Developers, two and a half years in design and development, will bring the ocean to Arizona in a place unlike any other in the state. The oasis, located at the cross streets of Power and Warner roads in Mesa, will include an on-sight hotel, retail, office, dining and more.

The development is geared toward the growing population settling in the East Valley, with a burgeoning influx of California surfers, young and old, who have relocated to Arizona and yearn for the beach as well first timers who want to venture into the world of surfing. Revel Surf will anchor the development with a 3.3-acre surf lagoon featuring the world’s first Swell MFG’s Traveling Surf Technology and UNIT Surf Pool’s Stationary Rapid Surf Technology, in one location. This unique combination will create a more natural surfing lineup, with a peak wave rather than a right-session-only or left-session-only option as found in many of today’s wave pools.

“The Swell MFG will create peak waves and provide some of the most epic and diverse wave sets for every level of surfer,” says Matt Gunn, co-founder of Swell MFG. This new technology and layout has gained the attention of the professional surf community due to its ability to cater to all skill levels.

The Cannon Beach development design team includes talent from Hawaii to Germany. The land planning project was developed in consultation with Arizona locals EPS Engineering, H20 Design and Adaptive Architects.

Revel Surf plans to open in May 2022, with surrounding amenities to follow. The Cannon Beach development is currently entertaining proposals from potential tenants for its various pad locations.

—Mike Hunter Revel Surf Parks revelsurf.com

For many, elementary school classes were in portables, lunch was held in a boxy multi-purpose room and technology meant the chance to play Oregon Trail. And we loved it! Today’s students, however, just have way cooler schools, thanks in great part to innovation.

According to Patrick Sheppard of CHASSE Building Team, a key component of design today is collaborative spaces, as evidenced by the John S. McCain Elementary School in Buckeye, set to open later this year.

“We’re installing accordion-style glass walls that can be opened to the learning corridors adjacent to each room. These corridors are designed with pivot walls that can be moved and rotated to fit the learning approach for the day,” says Sheppard.

McCain Elementary is also getting a “sky bridge,” which will serve as the main building connector to each wing of the school.

“It also featured a video wall with multiple displays positioned next to ‘learning stairs,’ a hybrid learning space outside of the classroom,” says Sheppard.

Hohokam Elementary School, completed in March, similarly developed these hybrid spaces while modernizing the 62-year-old campus.

Preservation, according to CHASSE’s Vicente Terán, is also critical to many schools undergoing renovation.

“Hohokam was designed by renowned architect Ralph Haver,” says Terán.

“As a result, before modernizing, the Scottsdale Unified School District, SPS+, CHASSE and others worked directly with the staff and community via public meetings to determine the best path forward.”

The consensus was that all parties understood updates should be made to connectivity, school flow, the cafeteria and more, but no teardown should take place given it is a vital piece of Scottsdale history.

According to Terán, other trends include exterior amphitheaters, innovation centers and actively engaging students during the build.

“We’ve even completed a school with indoor slides and a community garden,” says Terán, referring to Creighton Academy.

—Alison Bailin Batz CHASSE Building Team chasse.us

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Trends in K–12 school construction include actively engaging students during the build.

Photo courtesy of Revel Surf Parks (top), CHASSE (bottom)

Back to School – Trends in K-12 Construction

MINDING THEIR BUSINESS

Steve Maderazzo Builds Canyon State Electric on Perseverance and Technology A look back in time as Canyon State Electric celebrates 43 years in the Valley

by Rachel Eroh

CANYON STATE ELECTRIC CELEBRATES 43 YEARS IN THE VALLEY • Steve Maderazzo started Canyon State Electric (CSE) in 1978 when he was just 26 years old.

• CSE started out as a subcontractor mostly for insurance companies, doing repairs after house fires. Then CSE moved on to construction, mostly commercial work.

• Large-scale projects CSE has worked on to date have been the Marshalls Distribution Center at 1,500,000 square feet, the Mark Anthony Brewing factory at 898,000 square feet and a SWIC AmerisourceBergen manufacturing facility at 240,000 square feet.

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The electrical construction industry looked very different in the 1970s. Processes that are streamlined now were much more time-consuming 43 years ago without the help of the technology we have today. However, nothing could deter Steve Maderazzo, then in his mid-20s, from starting a company from scratch and in 1978 Canyon State Electric was founded.

Despite having no entrepreneurial experience, Maderazzo succeeded through his positive attitude and drive, working twice as hard to convince general contractors and business owners that he could deliver high-quality results and complete their projects on time.

“I’ve always been a positive person and when I have my mind set on doing something, I will get it done,” Maderazzo says. “I had to work hard to build a solid reputation in the Valley. Being so young was definitely a bit of an obstacle, but I never let it stand in my way.”

Maderazzo’s perseverance paid off. CSE quickly made a name for itself as a reliable, high-quality subcontractor and was entrusted with electrical installations of increasingly larger construction projects throughout the Valley. CSE adapted quickly to industry and technology changes. Maderazzo and his team understood that to stay ahead of the competition they needed to integrate new technology. Throughout the decades, technology that was revolutionary at the time, such as the fax machine, was always adopted quickly. Computers and mobile technology further paved the way.

Difficulties arose during the 2008 recession when CSE, like many others, took a major hit. The company’s revenue dropped from $40 million to just $9 million. The banks urged CSE to shut down operations, but Maderazzo and his team persevered by creating a stream of additional revenue from their new branch, Super Electric, servicing residential customers.

During this time, Maderazzo’s two children, Stephanie Hughes and Christopher Maderazzo, who had been with the company for some time, stepped into leadership roles.

Their fresh ideas and leadership styles, and their father’s expertise, were crucial in overcoming the recession and upholding CSE’s success and legacy in the Valley. Hughes’ transformational and supportive leadership meshed with Christopher Maderazzo’s Conscious Capitalism approach to create a cohesive leadership team.

“It was definitely a difficult time for the company during the recession,” Hughes relates. “However, as a team we learned a lot and continued to grow despite the economic turmoil. Through the knowledge we gained during that time, we are more flexible, adaptable and ready to take on any new challenges that may lie ahead.”

A fresh concept that Hughes brought on was a free education program she built to be an investment in CSE’s

Steve Maderazzo with daughter Stephanie Hughes and son Christopher Maderazzo

employees and to help with the retention of a talented workforce. The University of Canyon State Electric offers courses for all employees to gain knowledge and skills, building their future success in the company.

Christopher Maderazzo put increased focus on philanthropic endeavors, energizing his teams to consider both the economic and environmental sustainability of the organization. CSE most recently started using solar-powered trailers on job sites to lower cost and conserve energy.

By pursuing a variety of projects in various industries — including multifamily, hospitality, retail and more — CSE has been able to keep business booming. However, innovation is the bread and butter to leading the company into the future.

Technologies such as Virtual Design and Construction (VDC), drones and robotics began to filter into the industry.

CSE now has its own 3-D modeling department utilizing VDC, along with drones and robotics to streamline the entire construction process, often cutting projected timelines nearly in half while still maintaining high quality standards.

Visualizing potential issues before projects even break ground saves its clients valuable time and money.

“Being quick to implement new technology into our processes has greatly benefited the overall success of our company,” Hughes says. “We ensure that our teams are effectively trained and ready to use all new tech before integrating it into the field. Being able to do this efficiently has kept us on top of this competitive industry.”

With new projects continuing to come down the pipeline, CSE does not have any reason to slow down. Despite its continued growth and expanding team of, currently, 170 employees, as the Valley’s leading electrical contractor, CSE still maintains the same family values and welcoming culture that it has upheld for the past 43 years.

“We’ve been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to serve the community for this long,” Steve Maderazzo says. “I’m very excited to see what the future holds for us.”

Canyon State Electric canyonstateelectric.com Super Electric getsuperservice.com

Enabling architects, engineers and contractors to create digital models of buildings and project sites. Virtual Design and Construction models enable them to visualize and plan building designs, processes, schedules, budgets and more.

Meet Uncertain Times with Confidence.

Quarles & Brady understands your COVID -19 business issues and provides advice and solutions to your challenges.

VISIT OUR COVID-19 MICROSITE AT WWW.QUARLES.COM for current information on how legislation and announcements resulting from the pandemic impact your employees and business operations.

FOR INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT Leonardo Loo, Phoenix Office Managing Partner, at 602.229.5638 or leonardo.loo@quarles.com.

quarles.com

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YOUR BENEFIT IN BUSINESS

WELL WELL WELL

Making Healthcare More Accessible Technology has transformed life as we knew it in

COVID Has Impacted the Nutrition of Your Employees

many ways, though the change has accelerated with the once-in-a-century health crisis.

Telehealth, although not new, is rapidly gaining acceptance. Research conducted by McKinsey found that adoption of telehealth rose by 46% in April of 2020, at a time during the global pandemic when patients’ ability to see their doctors was severely restricted. Even before the pandemic, a 2019 study published by The American Journal of Managed Care revealed that nearly 67% of patients and 59% of clinicians reported no difference in the “overall quality of visits” for virtual vs. in-office care.

What is most encouraging to those of us who work in the industry is that telehealth removes transportation and other barriers, giving more people access to care.

Terros Health patients are excellent examples of this. From their desktop computer to a laptop or a smartphone, they can connect — usually the same day — with a caregiver to tend to their physical or mental health needs, or to join an individual or group counseling session. They can connect from their digital device at home or from a telemedicineequipped room at one of our 17 health centers.

Our team is still seeing patients in person, but many of our patients have told us telehealth makes it easier for them to see a provider and get the quality of treatment they need.

But there is another benefit of telehealth.

Using an innovative electronic health record (EHR) platform called NextGen Enterprise with NextGen Virtual Visits, Terros Health is able to integrate medical and behavioral health data into a single system, giving clinicians access to a patient’s complete or whole health record. The results: improved efficiencies and coordination of care, fewer administrative errors and — best of all — improved outcomes for patients.

This is significant, especially considering the rise in the number of patients with mental health conditions, including many who have never visited the doctor for such conditions.

—Nathan Lamberth, a licensed professional counselor and integrated site director at Terros Health (www.terroshealth.org), a health care company focused on the whole person, providing primary care and specializing in mental health and substance-use treatment

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Eating right rarely is due to a lack of knowledge.

One could argue too much nutrition knowledge pushes people into confusion and furthers the issue of poor nutrition habits.

After having spent 12 years as a registered dietitian in health coaching for medium to large organizations, there’s one thing I know for sure: Most people know what to eat to be healthy; doing it is an entirely different conversation. tors that impact employees’ ability to eat right include long hours or non-standard hours and schedules, inability to manage time, mis-managed priorities, unclear expectations, job satisfaction and fear of job loss. COVID-19 hasn’t changed this problem, it’s only inflamed it.

Furthermore, all these factors contribute to stress. The Grokker 2021 Working American’s State of Stress Report informs us 76% of workers describe themselves as currently “stressed” and 46% of workers describe their stress levels as moderate or higher. It goes on to state 48% of workers report increased consumption of unhealthy foods, 42% of workers report decreased physical activity and 25% report increased use of alcohol or other controlled substances. As health coaches, we are seeing an increase in take-out meals and restaurant meals, missed family meals, eating while working, missed breakfast and prepared entrees.

What can employers do now? Start with and cover the basics.

While most people know what’s healthy and what’s not, not all do. Providing basic nutrition information to employees is a good start. It’s important to keep it simple and make access to it incredibly easy — no more than three clicks on a computer or smart phone away. Organizations that have vending machines or a cafeteria could consider the possibility of adding healthy options.

As more in-person meetings begin, start off on the right foot by providing nutritious options. Many companies are starting to adopt farm-to-worksite programs as part of a CSA, Community Supported Agriculture. Participating employees prepay for a season’s worth of produce from local farms and pick up their weekly bag of produce from the CSA truck right outside the workplace. Employers whose employees work from home could encourage them to do the same, keeping healthy food around and stop for “health breaks” such as a walk or lunch.

While this is an excellent start, knowledge rarely translates into implementation. For this reason, I suggest businesses check their insurance resources or hire an external vendor to act as a third-party support for their organization in health coaching with habit and behavior change that addresses the real reasons their employees don’t or can’t eat right. It’s important to be sure this resource focuses on the how instead of the what to eat. Lastly, employers can provide resources that get closer to the root cause of poor nutrition habits that address everyday mental wellbeing, namely stress, anxiety and depression. Thanks to COVID, this conversation is no longer taboo.

The pandemic has blurred many lines.

Employers can take positive and meaningful advantage of this time to have the conversation with employees about work and home life balance, stress management, workloads, job satisfaction and other real factors contributing to the health and wellness of their organization.

—Maya Nahra, a registered dietitian, diplomate of the American Institute of Stress and founder and president at Nuuaria (nuuaria.com), a wellness company that helps people and companies (which include PING golf and CVS Health) get healthy and stay healthy

In March 2020, an estimated 45 million people — about 20% of American adults — were diagnosed with a mental health condition, according to data by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By June, that number surged to more than 40%, likely because of the isolation, economic hardships and other effects of COVID-19.

INNOVATIONS FOR BUSINESS

TECH NOTES

by Mike Hunter

Persefoni Creates Intelligent Carbon Tracking Software As companies worldwide strive to fight climate change by curbing carbon emissions, they lack the tools for calculating and reporting organizational carbon footprints with the same confidence that they manage their financial transactions. Persefoni provides companies across all industries and sectors a detailed picture of their carbon footprint to improve understanding of how and where to operations. The Mesa-based company is the first to connect the entire sustainability disclosure and reporting cycle via an AI-native carbon footprint management platform. The platform integrates thousands of data points across the business value chain to calculate organizational carbon footprints in real-time, which to date has been a largely manual process. With advanced analytics and AI models built into the Persefoni platform, organizations receive data-driven insights that suggest optimization opportunities for future planning and forecasting.

At the recent SXSW Pitch® event, Persefoni was selected as the winner of the Enterprise & Data category, as the best technological innovation for its category-creating ClimateTech SaaS platform, which helps large enterprises and institutional investors calculate, report, and reduce their carbon footprints.

Launched in August 2020, Persefoni is rapidly accelerating the ClimateTech market segment as a leading provider for large enterprises and institutional investors seeking to better understand the most effective way to measure and reduce their carbon footprint. The company is already working with leading investors like global Private Equity firm TPG to manage the carbon footprint of its $85 billion dollar portfolio and is on track for significant expansion this year.

“We’re a diverse, global team bound by the common cause of fighting climate change, and we’ve brought together some of the best people from both the software and sustainability worlds,” says Kentaro Kawamori, CEO and co-founder of Persefoni. “What gets measured gets done, and Persefoni is continuing to build and equip organizations with the necessary tools for understanding, and ultimately reducing, the environmental impact of their operations.”

Persefoni persefoni.com

MAY 2021

22

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Residential Proxy Prevents Intellectual Property Violations Tech-savvy retailers are utilizing IP address hopping to improve their website performance and grow their operations scale. While the technology helps genuine brands thrive, it could simultaneously be giving away a significant share of their business to counterfeit frauds.

What we are seeing is, with most physical stores closing down due to COVID-19 and online traffic rising, retailers have been looking for ways to successfully move their operations online.

Web scraping and its applications in business intelligence, testing site performance and ad verification have helped many genuine companies thrive; unfortunately, it has also become an essential tool for counterfeit fraud.

While the exact figures of online fraud increase are still being determined, the European Payments Council reports an uptick in e-commerce fraud.

Simultaneously, according to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, Americans have already lost more than US$145 million to fraud related to the coronavirus.

Among many types of fraud, e-commerce website cloning is one type of malicious activity that the increasingly available web scraping services have enabled. The way it works is, fraudulent actors identify a high-demand retailer, use a residential proxy to copy its website rapidly, and upload it to one or several website domains similar to the original. These cloned websites then present identical merchandise as the original.

To tempt shoppers into committing to a swift purchase, the owners of these fraudulent websites often reduce the prices and present it as the “big sale.” Consequently, unsuspecting buyers purchase these items and receive counterfeit products.

In response to these pernicious trends, some

Web scraping is the process of extracting a website’s underlying HTML code, enabling the scraper to replicate the website’s content. It can be done manually, or automated using bots.

residential proxy providers have taken security measures to prevent e-commerce fraud. To avert the potential dangers, residential proxy providers have enabled their users to utilize web scraping to detect potential intellectual property violations.

One of the services we provide at IPRoyal is allowing our users to scan the web for copies and counterfeits of their products. This way, if the user suspects that malicious actors are running a copy of their website and are selling counterfeit items, they can immediately take measures to protect their customers from fraud.

Offering a way to obtain and process large amounts of data quickly, residential proxy providers help companies get a better overview of their competition and boost their customer conversions. However, at the same time, they could be unsuspectingly (or voluntarily) assisting fraudulent users in reaping millions in profit.

At IPRoyal, we’ve always worked with genuine companies and individuals only. To make sure that stays the case, we have implemented an advanced user identity verification process and have been checking to make sure that we are not enabling website replication, DDoS attacks and other forms of illegal activity.

If the situation persists and more businesses move online, there will be more instances of ecommerce fraud. And, while industry-wide regulations are nonexistent, it will be up to network infrastructure providers how far this issue escalates.

—Karolis Toleikis, CEO of IPRoyal (iproyal.com), which provides tailored solutions to address business intelligence, VPN, wireless, data centers, hosting, marketing agencies, ISP, colocation providers and more

Photo courtesy of Daniel Igdery on Unsplash

systematically lower the environmental impact of

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CRE: What’s the Big Picture?

We examine the commercial real estate market in Phoenix

by RaeAnne Marsh

Interest in Metro Phoenix’s commercial real estate industry spans not only all its segments but naturally draws in most of the rest of the business community as companies need space for their operations. Perspective on the state of the market and its future varies by the angle from which involvement stems, and In Business Magazine explores those viewpoints of investors, whose capital infusions power the industry, developers, who create the products, and lessees, whose needs inform the direction of the industry.

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Phoenix CRE from an Investor’s Perspective “There is no doubt that industrial and multifamily — including single-family for rent product — are driving the activity in the market right now both from a tenant demand standpoint and a capital investment standpoint,” says Steven Schwarz, founding partner of ViaWest Group, a Phoenix-based, full-service commercial real estate investment, development and property management firm.

Explains Dave Kotter, principal of Scottsdale-based commercial mortgage broker Integrity Capital, “Manufacturers are coming here in droves because there has been an increased need for production.

Apartments are of great interest because they are a safe bet.” Noting a huge influx of people coming to the Valley, all of whom need a place to live, he adds, “It is easier right now to fill an apartment building over an office space.”

Observing that many office, retail and hotel developers have transitioned their business plans to incorporate or refocus entirely these product types, Schwarz says, “In Phoenix, we not only have new entry into the market from developers seeking these product types but also from out-of-state developers who now have a strong desire to be in the Phoenix market.” In fact, he says that “industrial and multifamily in Phoenix are as ‘hot’ as they have ever been.”

Andrea Davis, principal of Scottsdale-based brokerage firm Andrea Davis CRE, illustrates the strength of the industrial market by describing a recent transaction: “A recent very strong local warehouse client toured a 35,000-square-foot facility that fit their requirements nicely. We quickly negotiated the letter of intent and

“Manufacturers are coming here in droves because there has been an increased need for production. Apartments are of great interest because they are a safe bet.” —Dave Kotter 26

MAY 2021

proceeded to reviewing a lease.” With both parties understanding time was of the essence, lease comments were emailed back to the landlord within a week (“This dance in CRE often takes four to six weeks,” says Davis). The transaction was tracking quickly on two weeks, but the day after the tenant’s lease comments were received by the owner, the landlord’s broker called Davis to let her know a national credit tenant wanted the space at full asking lease rate, for five years and no tenant improvements. “Even if my client met the terms, the landlord had made its decision — the national tenant was less of a risk and added value to their property.”

In this space, Davis points out logistics and distributions are on the rise and the demand is thriving. “Phoenix is poised for growth and a major boom,” she says. “Employment base, water, power, IT and connectivity to other locations and proximity to Mexico are key for industrial sustainability. Phoenix has it all.”

Schwarz describes interest in industrial and multifamily as at all-time high from existing investors and developers as well as those who are new to the Phoenix market, noting that while tenant demand for office has been slow over the past year and the sector has its issues and concerns, it has not stopped capital investment in Phoenix.

“Many investors believe that the Phoenix office market will perform well in the foreseeable future due to a movement out of higher-cost, regulated and dense environments to this market with lower costs of doing business and living, quality lifestyle and less regulation.

“Interestingly,” he adds, “there is not much office product on the market for sale as most landlords are waiting for the leasing situation to improve before considering selling, and to date there has been very few distressed situations.”

Davis sees activity among Arizona investors adding to their commercial real estate portfolios. “Some are riding the wave of influx of out-of-state investors and selling their investments at a profit. Most are reinvesting back into the Arizona market, banking on continued growth and lack of product, which drives up pricing.”

For example, Sunrise Preschool is a local investor who annually acquires at least one investment. “Unable to find his desired

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r ot o c Al our ex te an sy de Ge r, lib org ra e O ry ) live (T

“The reality is that some things are quite different from a few years ago, and others are similar. However, everything has accelerated,” Schwarz says. He points out that movement out of core business markets such as New York, San Francisco and Chicago is real. “The primary prior issues in office space of employers seeking a way to control their P&L and the high costs of tenant improvements for landlords have only been exacerbated by the pandemic. Workfrom-home will definitely be explored by many companies and should result in a softer office market around the country for a number of years.” He believes, however, that Phoenix is among the markets that will bounce back more quickly.

As Kotter points out, “The influx of people from other states such as California is driving the difference. Phoenix has done a good job attracting new employers to the area, with more coming every year. We have 130,000 people moving here every year. An influx of people that big is going to have a huge impact on the commercial real estate market.”

Explains Davis, “With the exodus from California and other poorly managed states, an influx of investors has

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THE MARKET THEN AND NOW

poured into Arizona, reducing our cap rates by a point or more and reducing local inventory.” She notes, for example, that absolute triple net lease coffee franchises and fast-food chain investment properties could be purchased around a 5 to 5.5% cap rate two years ago, but same investment today is trading for the low 4% cap rates.

“Brokers and investors need to stay on top of the market to secure a quality commercial real estate investment in Arizona. A lot of cash is coming in from other states, influencing our inventory. Deals are closing quickly and at unheard-of prices.”

Full work-from-home is not expected to last very long and flex working is expected to take over as the primary approach of employers, according to Schwarz, who also sees industrial and multifamily continuing to perform extraordinarily well. “There is a ton of capital available and information flows very quickly now, so there are no hidden secrets in our business,” he says. “It’s really a matter of who knows how to uncover the best opportunities.”

Pointing out that new development generates jobs and also provides buildings to which new requirements can locate, Schwarz says, “This is a big issue for some larger users who need accessibility to land, buildings and labor” and notes that not every market can provide these attributes in a cost-efficient way. “Fortunately, for us, Phoenix and the other markets in which we are active (Nevada, Colorado and Utah) can.

“While some of these markets, especially Phoenix, were heavily reliant on the impact that real estate generated on economic growth, that has shifted now with significantly more diversified economies in which CRE growth is more of a reactor to the growth occurring rather than a driver of it. We are seeing massive construction costs increases currently due to substantial demand and lower manufacturing outputs, which will likely keep over-development in check on a going forward basis.”

CRE remains an integral part of our economy. Says Kotter, “If you think about real estate: You bring housing to a location and that housing brings people into a community to live and spend. The production of a new manufacturing business helps the real estate market because it creates jobs which creates a need for housing.”

“As long as people and companies continue to migrate in masses to Arizona, our economy will thrive,” says Davis. “People support commercial real estate; commercial real estate supports people.”

he

return, we ventured into Las Vegas for a peek.” However, they found Arizona product had more stability and potential growth.

“We found the perfect acquisition to diversify his portfolio — a longer-term absolute triple net lease asset with the desired return.”

Opportunities, she says, “are here for the persistent patient investor.”

While Kotter believes that, from an Arizona perspective, prices have gone up and those who have been in the Phoenix market for a long time have the mindset of not wanting to pay these high prices, those from California or New York looking to get into business here see significantly lower prices to build in Arizona. In fact, he says, “New investors and developers are coming to Phoenix in droves.”

Specifically, he says, Phoenix is becoming a major place for people who want to develop multifamily properties. “Strong employment, pro-business policies, increasing rents, and great weather in Arizona all come together to make the Valley a popular destination.”

Says Davis, “Investors are searching anywhere in Arizona that meets their criteria for their ideal return on an investment. A 1031 tax deferred exchange client wanted an 8% cap rate absolute triple net lease investment. To satisfy our client’s return requirement, we ventured into strong tertiary markets such as Prescott and Buckeye and accomplished their net return goal.”

So, some corners and corridors are hotter than others, of course.

Kotter sees Scottsdale, Gilbert, Glendale and Buckeye as the areas seeing the most interest. Schwarz breaks it down by use. Addressing the office market, he names Tempe, Scottsdale, Camelback Corridor, and the Southeast Valley as the suburban markets in Metro Phoenix that seem to be of greatest interest to investors because of the anticipated shift of office use and demand post-pandemic. In industrial and multifamily, he says demand is everywhere. “In regard to industrial, it really comes down to where developers can find available land,” he says, noting that this has resulted in the greatest amount of activity being along the Loop 303 near I-10. “But developers would prefer infill locations if they can find them,” he says.

“We have been very fortunate to uncover land opportunities in the ‘heart-of-town’ for six new projects totaling 1,700,000 square feet.”

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Phoenix CRE from a Developer’s Perspective SEGMENT STRENGTHS

Although noting that interest in office space has been minimal over the past year as many industries have successfully gone virtual, Kelly says, “Office buildings are anticipated to start filling up at the end of the year, and the Greater Phoenix area has a growing market of flex office space.”

“Within the office industry, we are realizing interest in financial institutions, technology and healthcare companies based in Phoenix looking to expand their footprint,” says Mike Ebert, managing partner of RED Development, sharing that Alliance Bank recently expanded its CityScape Phoenix headquarters from one floor to six floors, now totaling 155,000 square feet and creating 110 new seats for new part-time, remote and contract employees. “Overall,” he says, “leasing occupancy across RED’s Arizona portfolio continues to remain strong.”

Additionally, Ebert says, “On the retail side, we are experiencing active interest within food and entertainment. New-to-market 810 Billiards & Bowling are leasing locations at both CityScape Phoenix and Chandler Village, which are both opening this summer.”

Both Tucson and the Valley block of Phoenix, Mesa and Scottsdale were recently identified in the top 10 commercial real estate markets for 2021, according to Kelly. With that, she cites Mitchel Allen, Greater Phoenix Economic Council senior vice president for Business Development, and Thomas Maynard, vice president for Business Development, for noting that “freeways rule in Greater Phoenix,” as she points out that industrial development interest is highest along the 303 Corridor in the West Valley in Goodyear and Glendale and the southeastern portion of the Loop 202 near Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in the Mesa and Gilbert area, and the greatest interest for office space is near ASU’s main campus and newer builds along key transportation corridors. “As we move past the pandemic,” she says, “office activity should increase.”

Noting that his company, George Oliver, focuses its development on two product types – industrial and experiential office, Kremer says, “For our Industrial product, we’re concentrated on the groundup development and repositioning of industrial and e-commerce real estate, which, in metro Phoenix, has us closely monitoring active submarkets like the Loop 303 corridor in the West Valley, the Loop 202 corridor in the East Valley toward Williams Gateway Airport, and infill sites where there is opportunity for redevelopment and lastmile fulfillment projects.

“On the office side, we currently own CASA in North Phoenix, Lofts in North Scottsdale and The Alexander and The Johnathan in downtown Chandler. We also just completed the acquisition of Hayden Station on Mill Avenue in downtown Tempe. We are still focused on finding additional assets in those markets or in Central

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“Along with the industrial sector, multifamily housing is the hot commodity in the Valley,” says Michael D’Andrea, vice president of development at the Related Group. “With the population growing at an exponential rate, there is a shortage of single-family inventory and we are now seeing multi-family and industrial projects outpacing office and retail projects, which have been adversely affected due the pandemic.”

There is general agreement that those two sectors are hottest right now, but they seem to be jockeying each other for that top position, as some developers vote for one and some the other.

Mike Orr, senior vice president with SunCap Property Group who heads its Western projects, sees industrial development the most desirable market segment currently, with multifamily a close second.

“The pandemic has accelerated the rise of e-commerce and will continue to fuel the need for high-quality industrial space. In the industrial space, the demand for speed to market has only increased,” he says, noting SunCap’s clients are looking for sites and partners that can deliver for them within a compressed timeline.

“Across the state, we have seen a higher demand for industrial sites,” says Carrie Kelly, executive director of the Arizona Association for Economic Development, noting that Sun Corridor Inc. has reported seeing nearly 100 new opportunities for industrial companies relocating to the Tucson area. “Arizona is also seeing an influx of entrepreneurs and small-sized businesses,” she says.

On the other hand, Curt Kremer, founder and managing partner of George Oliver Companies, says, “It seems like multifamily is still the leader of the clubhouse in Arizona, although industrial has made an aggressive push over the past 12 to 18 months to challenge for that lead.

“At George Oliver,” he continues, “we are obviously bullish on office due to our recent successes with our projects. Office still has a bright future in Arizona, but right now the investor’s appetite is noticeably stronger for multifamily and industrial. Record-high industrial demand was a key motivator for the launch of our new entity, G.O. Industrial.”

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"Within the office industry, we are realizing interest in financial institutions, technology and healthcare companies based in Phoenix looking to expand their footprint." —Mike Ebert

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CA SA ) Ol ive r( eo rg e co ur te sy G Ph ot o

“Phoenix’s fundamentals are extremely attractive to outside investors and there’s plenty of recent data calling out Phoenix as a top growth market for just about every commercial real estate product type over the next five years.”

—Curt Kremer

Scottsdale. The demand drivers in these markets continue to outpace other Valley locations and seem to fit our office product the best.”

D’Andrea sees Scottsdale as “the city with the most cache in Arizona,” although he notes growth continues to improve in the southeast Valley, northeast parts of Phoenix and in the West Valley in cities like Glendale, Peoria, Avondale and the I-303 corridor.

But, as Ebert notes, it truly depends on the product type the developer is interested in. “When it comes to office properties, significant interest and leasing activity continues in Downtown Phoenix at CityScape Phoenix and Block 23, along with our new mixed-use development at 44th and Camelback Road and two North Tempe developments.”

Justin LeMaster, vice president of U.S. Industrial for Hopewell, sees greatest interest in the West Valley, along the I-10 and Loop 303 corridors; and in the East Valley cities of Chandler, Gilbert and Mesa.

And, pointing out that the Loop 303 corridor has a lot of industrial development right now, Orr shares that SunCap’s Gilbert Spectrum development in the Town of Gilbert has received significant interest from industrial and office users alike. “With a limited supply of industrial land and available industrial product in the Southeast Valley, we have three buildings totaling 300,000 square feet going through site plan approval in the Town of Gilbert with groundbreaking anticipated in July.”

ATTRACTION TO DEVELOPERS OLD AND NEW

“Most developers who have been here remain active. Many have become more active,” says LeMaster. He notes that 20 years ago, the Phoenix economy was heavily driven by single-family home building and hospitality, but “our economy has become much more diverse and we have seen tremendous growth from tech, manufacturing and e-commerce-related companies, which has attracted developers and investors who were not interested in Phoenix in the past.

“This also,” he continues, “has to do with our growth and that we have now become an emerging Tier 1 market, where before Phoenix was considered a Tier 2 (Secondary) market. Now, Phoenix is on the radar of many large institutional investors and capital groups, where before many were not focused on Phoenix.”

In this regard, observes Ebert, “We’re seeing more institutional investors that used to mainly focus on coastal primary markets begin to move into the Phoenix market to find stability and value that can’t be matched elsewhere.”

In fact, shares Orr, “There are numerous new capital sources and development companies considering investing and developing in

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the Phoenix MSA. In virtually every conversation SunCap has with prospective capital partners in other markets, they inquire about our Phoenix pipeline. When we share we are active in the Southeast Valley in the Town of Gilbert, we consistently receive additional inquiries into our plans.”

George Oliver’s Kremer reports similar experience. “We have absolutely seen new developers in all product types show up to Phoenix over the past six months,” he says, explaining, “Phoenix’s fundamentals are extremely attractive to outside investors and there’s plenty of recent data calling out Phoenix as a top growth market for just about every commercial real estate product type over the next five years.”

He adds, “Everyone has been affected differently by the events of the past 12 months, and everyone has responded in their own unique way. Depending on the product type, we’ve seen our competition either hold back on the sidelines until there’s more certainty in what’s to come, or make a heavy push to fill their pipelines and position themselves with plenty of product for the expected recovery.”

Discussing industrial, in which his company specializes, SunCap’s Orr says that “2020 saw many Phoenix developers of office and mixed-use projects turn their attention to industrial development.”

Calling 2020 “a record year for industrial real estate” and observing it appears to be continuing into 2021, with several new projects announced, he notes, “Colliers reported that in 2020 there was 13.9 million square feet of net absorption and 16.0 million square feet of industrial space delivered — the most industrial inventory ever for a single year.”

Emphatically stating, “Most certainly there is much interest in the Metro Phoenix Market,” D’Andrea explains, “The sub-market economic indicators are creating demand for developers of all product types to come stake a flag in the sand throughout Phoenix.

The pandemic has fueled migration patterns of people coming from high-density coastal cities to cities more inland areas that offer more sprawling living opportunities, such as Arizona, Texas and Colorado.

Even large operations such as Nationwide Insurance, USAA, Amazon, Intel, Pay Pal, Wells Fargo and Taiwan Semiconductor are offering high-paying opportunities with job growth, which has become very attractive to multifamily housing developers.”

As to mixed-use developments, Ebert refers to one of his company’s projects in discussing the “great opportunities in the Greater Phoenix market” that exist for developers: “There’s been such an influx of new residents from out of state, and Downtown Phoenix is becoming a setting that seamlessly combines the live, work, play environment with centers like CityScape Phoenix. Due to that,

MAY 2021

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“Arizona has proven it can weather the storm of an economic downturn because we took steps to diversify our economy after the last recession." —Carrie Kelly

there’s an incredible demand for mixed-use developments in dense submarkets and that’s making them an essential product right now.”

Says Kelly, “Greater Phoenix is known for its accessibility to the availability of a skilled workforce.” She notes that cities like Chandler and Gilbert have successfully recruited many companies to the area, including Mercy Care Hospital, Deloitte, Silent Aure, Progressive Insurance, and Northrop Grumman. “Arizona has become one of the most desirable states to work, which is exciting news for investors and developers interested in relocating to Greater Phoenix,” she adds. “We also expect to see our downtown areas continue to be solid investments as well. With advances in technology throughout the pandemic, site selectors can ‘visit’ more destinations without the added travel expense, making the process much more efficient and affordable.”

DRIVERS OF MARKET CHANGE

“Population growth, e-commerce, on-shoring of manufacturing and the ‘COVID Factor’ are all driving forces to what is happening right now in our market,” LeMaster says, noting he has have never seen the amount of demand for multifamily and industrial that the market is showing now. The vice president of Hopewell Development’s U.S. industrial segment says, “COVID has fueled Phoenix’s growth, as people and companies are moving to Phoenix from all over the country at a rapid pace. COVID has also accelerated e-commerce growth and increased demand for more manufacturing here in the U.S. to produce products faster and control the supply chain.”

Compared to when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in the second quarter and Phoenix multifamily activity “came to a screeching halt as everyone wanted to wait and assess the market to see how things were going to develop,” D’Andrea says, “When it became clear Phoenix was remaining at the top as a destination city and rent payments were holding steady, activity began to pick up in the third quarter. He reports that, as of the fourth quarter of 2020 and into early 2021, the growth and supply continue to race to keep up with the high demand for more living and working possibilities.

“The demand for lower living costs will support demand for rentals in the West Valley,” D’Andrea continues. “Workforce housing, which is already in short supply, will see greater demand due to economic uncertainty, which in turn will continue to push occupancies and rents higher on all apartment assets. Based on what we are seeing, multifamily housing is expected to remain the top product type of choice for investors, with increasing momentum heading into the second third and fourth quarters of 2021.”

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He notes, however, “Although the Phoenix market continues to grow and thrive for select residential and commercial product types, the cost of construction continues to outpace inflation and rental growth, which is a viable concern.”

Looking at industrial development, Orr says its acceleration has been driven largely by an increase in e-commerce. “That, coupled with the pro-business environment in the Phoenix MSA, continues to drive demand.”

Ebert reports that RED Development is seeing an increase in demand for new and expanded spaces with financial institutions and the healthcare and technology business sectors, compared to a few years ago. “There are more conversations about corporate headquarters relocating to Greater Phoenix than in the past,” he says.

“Also, there’s been an acceleration of movement within the food and entertainment industries and a shift from specialty retail.”

“Having been in the industry for almost 20 years, I think the biggest difference I see is diversification,” says Hopewell’s LeMaster.

“Looking at Phoenix today, we are attracting jobs and industries that we wouldn’t have had a chance to attract in previous cycles.” Citing such drivers as ASU, business-friendly government policies and optionality for end users as big reasons for this change, he says, “I think the CRE industry across all product types is doing a great job of delivering better products than we were previously, which is proving the optionality thesis and attracting excellent users.”

That diversification is the result of intentional effort, which Kelly believes is paying off. “Arizona has proven it can weather the storm of an economic downturn because we took steps to diversify our economy after the last recession,” she notes. “The commercial real estate market looks bright because of statewide collaboration and a concentration on a skilled workforce and education. The Arizona Commerce Authority is taking a proactive approach to assisting communities with broadband infrastructure to drive future rural Arizona development. The pandemic also has brought rural regional communities together, and we see initiatives like in Yavapai County to create coordination among a wider area to drive economic development efforts.”

CRE’S ECONOMIC IMPACT

“The impact of the CRE market on the economy is huge,” says RED’s Ebert. “The market is instrumental in attracting and retaining new businesses to the Valley and, in turn, creating new jobs for Arizonans.”

Observing that speculative development creates supply for companies looking for space to occupy, Hopewell’s LeMaster explains

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that many companies want to see, touch and feel the real estate prior to making a decision to locate to a new market. “CRE creates many jobs from not only the construction industry, but also the new jobs the companies are bringing to the Valley,” he says.

“CRE has always had a huge impact on the Phoenix Market,” says The Related Group’s D’Andrea. He anticipates some moderation this year from the aggressive development and investment in apartments and multifamily living that we have seen, and notes that a new supply of units expected to hit the market in the next one to two years may raise concerns about oversupply in certain submarkets in Phoenix. But, he says, “We should expect our multifamily sector to remain strong, provided construction costs and key commodity volatility can stabilize.

Harking back to the earlier discussion of industrial and multifamily CRE segments, AAED’s Kelly names them as the top two economic drivers in commercial real estate. “With so many people moving to the state, the demand for housing is high, and developers have been working nonstop to develop multifamily housing options,” she says.

She points out that the West Valley has seen a number of industrial parks developing along the 303 freeway, Goodyear’s industrial

corridor is nearly filled, and Glendale has recently started construction on a 335-acre lot for industrial use. And, while acknowledging that retail and office space took a backseat amid the pandemic, with people working and shopping from the comfort of their homes, she says, “This lull is only expected to last through the end of the year as more vaccines are distributed and people go back to work.”

Also not to be overlooked is the revenue contributed by the CRE market at both the state and local level, which Ebert and LeMaster characterize as “significant.”

“Phoenix is a real estate-driven market, where we’ve had the benefit of expansive development and minimal barriers to growth for many decades,” says George Oliver’s Kremer. Observing that can be both a blessing and a curse, he credits the metro area’s cities and governing authorities for “a great job of allowing growth where it’s needed and limiting growth where it’s not.” He believes the CRE industry has and will continue to create jobs and stimulate our local economies. “Based on the recent tenant activity we’ve seen in our product types,” he says, “the Phoenix job market is going to continue to shine and attract new residents who are making the decision that many of us have already made — which is that life in Arizona is just better.”

Phoenix CRE from a Lessee’s Perspective

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Observes Teeter, “The full impact and evolution of remote working is creating a new dynamic in the office sector. It has brought about some uncertainty that has resulted, in some cases, in more office occupiers seeking shortened lease commitment lengths as they are figuring out their longer-term strategy.” And there has been little in the way of new construction, she says.

In the industrial sector, Teeter reports occupier activity at an alltime high, with record absorption in 2020 — and showing no signs of slowing at three months into 2021. “Additionally,” she says, “we saw an increase in industrial rental rates due to unprecedented demand for space.”

Noting that high level of activity, Mulhern says the biggest concern is the availability of smaller space. “Currently, every new developer in the market is building to attract larger users (more than 100,000 square feet), but the vacancy rate for industrial buildings under 50,000 square feet is less than 4%.”

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“Location is always a common need and concern,” says Craig Coppola, an industry veteran and founding principal of Lee & Associates Arizona. “Additionally, all users of space want great access in and out of their location, including freeways.”

Cathy Teeter, CBRE managing director, cites employee safety, engagement, productivity, and retention as some of the common concerns among occupiers across categories. “These were concerns prior to the pandemic and certainly remain high priorities,” she says.

“Other common concerns are rising construction costs, supply chain issues, and available labor.” She notes that flexibility regarding tenants’ footprint — the ability to shed surplus space while retaining the ability to accommodate future growth — will continue to be important to all occupiers going forward.

Addressing the office sector as distinct from the industrial, retail and multifamily sectors, Rick Padelford, an Arizona REALTOR® with Realty Executive Commercial, says, “As offices begins to open back up and vaccines continue to be more widely distributed, the office sector will need to consider how to clean and disinfect common area spaces and the evolution of air circulation throughout office spaces.”

He adds, “This is also something that we could see transferring to the retail sector,” noting that COVID-19 created some common concerns among the sectors.

Office remains on shifting sands. “Leases are still on hold as tenants remain unsure of their next move,” says Bob Mulhern, senior managing director of Colliers in Arizona.

“Touring has pick up dramatically, which is a positive indicator that companies are still looking to return to the office.” Observing that sublease space continues to be added to the market, he adds, “However, not all sublease space available is vacant. Some tenants are putting their space up on the market as an additional option.”

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Confidence is a big difference between sectors, Coppola observes. “Industrial tenants have more confidence in their business plans for now, and will commit to longer-term leases.

Office tenants are still trying to figure out what their new hybrid models will look like. They are searching for as much flexibility right now, particularly in lease term. Of these three sectors, retail continues to see the biggest disruption in its business, accelerated by the pandemic.”

What little new construction there is in the retail sector, the concentration is on properties with drive-thru features, says Teeter.

“Retailers’ main concern is e-commerce as it continues to grow and impacts brick and mortar locations,” Padelford says.

“Physical retail stores aren’t going away, but they certainly don’t need as much space as before.” In fact, he points out, “As we see vacancy in larger retail spaces, we will continue to see the industrial sector repurpose a lot of this space both here in the Valley and nationally.” A current example he offers of this adaptive reuse is Paradise Valley Mall being converted to a mixed-use project.

WHERE’S THE ACTION?

“That’s easy,” Coppola says. “Right now, warehouse industrial is on fire — along the 303 is the hottest — along with multifamily and single-family residential. All three are as strong as they have ever been.” Citing Amazon’s presence with almost 20,000 employees, 11 warehouses and fulfillment sites — to which it is actively looking to add more — plus its tech hub in Tempe, Coppola points out Amazon is not the only tenant moving to Arizona taking office, warehouse and manufacturing space. “Sub Zero, REI, White Claw, Silicon Valley Bank and thredUp have all moved in or expanded in the past few years. Pure office tech tenants, such as Robinhood and Align Technology, have also signed leases in Tempe, even during the pandemic.” South Scottsdale, he says, remains another strong tech hub. “We lease SkySong, which is 95% in its existing buildings, which include Oracle and Limelight.”

Teeter calls out Scottsdale, Tempe and Chandler as likely to continue to see good activity in office, along with the MetroCenter area north of Deer Valley, which she expects to benefit from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s announced $12 billion semiconductor fabrication plant construction.

Noting that available land in the Southeast Valley has become extremely scarce — as has land on the West Loop 303 corridor — Mulhern relates, “Recently, a back-office property was sold in South Tempe, which will be demolished and redeveloped as Class A warehouse space. The industrial market has had such positive rent growth and low vacancy that the new facility will be quickly absorbed.”

“Right now, warehouse industrial is on fire — along the 303 is the hottest — along with multifamily and single-family residential. All three are as strong as they have ever been.” —Craig Coppola 32

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Land availability is the condition Teeter cites for the “incredible activity” industrial is seeing in the far East and far West Valley areas — Mesa Gateway in the former and Goodyear and Glendale in the latter. “The biggest concentration of vacant product is being built in those markets as they have the largest supply of developable industrial land. As a result, both of those submarkets are landing large requirements,” she says. Retail’s hot spots, she says, are Surprise, Chandler, Gilbert and Queen Creek.

The West Valley is where Padelford sees the greatest activity overall – and potentially continuing, as he notes the tremendous current growth in residential and industrial, and observes, “As that continues, the retail sector will follow.

“We’re very fortunate in Maricopa County, as the net migration for this past year still exceeded 83,000. The greater Phoenixarea is still incredibly affordable compared to California and the ‘gateway cities,’” Padelford continues. Crediting the Arizona Commerce Authority as well as the other economic development agencies for the great job they have been doing in continuing to bring in thousands of jobs, he says, “In commercial real estate, jobs drive just about everything. As long as jobs are being created, we will continue to have people move to Arizona, and then those individuals will need places to live, work and shop.

Noting that in the past quarter alone, Intel announced an additional $20 billion dollar expansion, and Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) its multi-billion-dollar plant in north Phoenix, Padelford says Maricopa County is becoming the largest chip manufacturer in the country — “and that is just one element of the massive growth we’ll see in the years to come.”

DIFFERENT TIMES, DIFFERENT MARKET

“The driving difference in the market between now and a few years ago,” Padelford says, “is safety and health concerns.

Certainly, the pandemic wasn’t on anyone’s radar and wasn’t anything that anyone could predict, but there are a lot of similarities in the market.” The similarities have to do with the setting in which people will work, he explains, as some people still want to work in an office even though work-from-home has become more common. “Some people believe they aren’t as productive at home and long for the opportunity to easily collaborate with colleagues.”

The retail sector has felt the impact of online shopping and e-commerce, as Padelford observes, “COVID-19 effectively accelerated tech and e-commerce by several years.”

The industrial sector is also benefiting from e-commerce, as well as from the manufacturing industries, Mulhern says, but notes that multiple job industries are preforming well.

Two in particular are healthcare and technology. “Unlike the previous cycle, where the economy was driven by home building construction, healthcare is now the leading industry in Phoenix,” he says. And, citing Colliers’ national report “O’ Tech Talent, Where Art Thou,” which analyzed tech talent in various categories, Mulhern notes Phoenix ranked No. 5 in ‘volume rankings’ because of the market’s strong creation of graduate students, “which has been drawing the attention of tech tenants for the past couple years.”

“Over the past decade,” says Coppola, “we are now adding some very compelling additional difference-makers, including Arizona State University. For example, Zoom just signed a 30,000-square-foot lease in Tempe to build a new R&D center. Why? Proximity to ASU and its engineering school.

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Same with Infosys taking space on campus at Novus to open an innovation hub. ASU now has over 300 joint ventures with companies working side by side with ASU professors, students and researchers.” That is in addition to what Coppola calls “the usual” factors impacting the market: great weather, growth opportunities, and proximity to California — “our biggest contributor to people moving into Arizona.”

“A few years ago,” Teeter says, “we saw healthy activity across all property segments in the Phoenix Metro area.”

In 2020, industrial posted its best year on record for net absorption and new supply. Asking rates are reaching their highest levels on record as vacancy continues to drop. As trends in ecommerce and onshoring accelerated during the pandemic, activity in the Valley picked up and continues to remain strong.

“Today, more so than in years past, we are seeing an increasing number of occupiers coming into our market for the first time.

“Some of these companies already have plans to continue their growth in the Valley and expand their footprint,” Teeter continues. “While industrial was strong in years past, the market size was just under 10 million square feet of annual net absorption between 2016 and 2018. Now, we expect 12 million square feet of net absorption, setting a new base level for this region going forward as more companies enter the market and the size requirements increase.”

In the office market, Teeter reports a larger disparity emerging in activity between high-quality and less-desirable locations.

Whereas in years past, demand across all building classes was fairly steady, she notes that throughout 2020, occupiers have shifted their focus to well-located, newer Class A properties, with employees’ health and wellness top of mind as well as the creation of spaces that attract employees to the office.

“Efforts by our economic development partners from GPEC and ACA have helped draw interest from companies outside of Arizona and helped create a more diverse economic base.

Some of the latest announcements from well-known high-tech manufacturers have had a ripple effect. Net migration to the Valley has only accelerated during the pandemic as work-fromhome options have expanded throughout the nation.

“For occupiers, the Valley is seen as a place where their employees want to live due to high quality of life, climate and relative low cost of living,” she says, although cautioning, “One area to watch is housing affordability. Housing is quickly becoming less affordable and that could have a dramatic effect on quality of life in the future.”

the multiplier effect — is over $3.7 trillion in economic contribution,” Coppola says, noting CRE is everywhere, from office space for all business to every retail shop/restaurant and apartments. “With Arizona’s growth, commercial real estate is a key driver for the economy and our fortunes even more than the U.S., because we are growing so fast.” And growth, he says, means commercial real estate. “The huge win for Arizona is the announcement of TSMC Semiconductor, which bought 1,000 acres of land and will build a $12-billion factory to manufacture semiconductors. This is almost 2,000 high-paying jobs directly, but they will need dozens of suppliers as well.”

Specific to Arizona, Mulhern cites NAIOP’s Economic Impact of Commercial Real Estate Report 2021: Commercial real estate development contributed $11 billion to Arizona’s GDP, and the industry as a whole created and supported 83,805 jobs, which generated $4.0 billion in wages and salaries.

“Arizona offers high-quality real estate options for companies moving their operations to the Valley,” Teeter notes, pointing out these opportunities attract new-to-market firms such as Align, LifeStance and Robinhood, and that TSMC, Intel and Electra Meccanica needed available real estate to bring their manufacturing to Arizona. “In short,” she says, “real estate is one of the major components that companies consider when determining whether they will bring jobs to our state.

Fortunately, we have had a great story to tell on the commercial real estate front, which has helped attract companies to Arizona and, in turn, fueled our area’s population and economic growth.”

The commercial real estate market’s impact on our economy is tied to job opportunities, Padelford explains. “For every job that is created, the impact to the economy is more than just the job. That employee may have children, goes to restaurants, goes shopping and needs a place to live. When you talk about CRE, that single job has a significant impact on the economy as a whole.”

CRE’S ECONOMIC IMPACT

Related Group relatedgroup.com

“Per the NAIOP Research Foundation, commercial real estate contributes to 18% of all U.S. GDP, which — including

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Andrea Davis CRE andreadavis.co Arizona Association for Economic Development aaed.com Arizona Association of REALTORS® aaronline.com CBRE cbre.com Colliers colliers.com George Oliver Companies georgeoliver.com Hopewell Development hopewelldevelopment.com Integrity Capital integrity-capital.com Lee & Associates Arizona lee-associates.com RED Development reddevelopment.com SunCap Property Group suncappg.com ViaWest Group viawestgroup.com

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INNOVATIONS FOR BUSINESS

Tech Trends Continue to Shape How We Live, Work and Learn The pandemic has been a technology accelerator Susan Anable is vice president of Government and Public Affairs for Cox. She oversees media, community relations, government affairs and internal communications in Arizona and Nevada.

She is the Immediate past chairman of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry Board.

Cox Communications is committed to creating meaningful moments of human connection through broadband applications and services.

The largest private telecom company in America, it serves six million homes and businesses across 18 states. The 3,100 Arizona employees of Cox are proud to have topped numerous J.D. Power and Associates’ studies of customer satisfaction and for many years top “Ranking Arizona-Best of Arizona Business” list.

Cox Communications is the largest division of Cox Enterprises, a familyowned business founded in 1898 by Governor James M. Cox. cox.com

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by Susan Anable

This time last year, most of us were hunkered down in our homes under stay-in-place restrictions. Little did we know it would become a global pandemic that would bring about broad-sweeping change in so many facets of life — technology included.

The pandemic has been a technology accelerator for businesses, municipalities, schools, healthcare and homes. As such, those of us at Cox Communications who provide internet, telephone, security and video services to thousands of Arizona small and regional businesses and more than three million connectivity products within homes across the state have seen a few interesting technology trends that we believe will continue through the rest of 2021.

PROVIDER ADOPTION AND INVESTMENT IN TELEHEALTH GROWS

Finding ways to connect virtually with one’s doctor is getting easier, too. According to a Cox Business survey, only 28% of respondents said that their healthcare service provider offered telehealth before COVID-19. Providers, too, gave telehealth a thumbs up, with 57% viewing it more favorably than before the pandemic and 64% feeling more comfortable using the technology.

Further, the same report shows up to $250 billion of current U.S. healthcare spend could go virtual — up from $3 billion pre-COVID-19.

SMART COMMUNITIES KEEP GETTING SMARTER

From waste management and water meters to street lighting, parking and public safety, communities are getting smarter by the day.

In Arizona, Cox is partnering with ASU students and faculty to design the next wave of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions focused on projects pertaining to smart and connected products that will empower citizens, students and local

government teams to live and work more efficiently and enhance the quality of life. At the Cox Connected Environments Collaboratory, the ASU team is looking at urban redesign, augmented reality and the workforce of the future as well as fleet management, health and wellness and public safety.

Smart communities are increasingly becoming a priority nationwide — and worldwide. The pandemic has accelerated smart city tech, and citizens are more open to smart community tech than ever — which is unlocking doors to rapid growth that will continue. Going smart enables municipalities to make more effective data-driven decisions, decreases inefficiencies and streamlines and automates processes. It also enhances citizen and government engagement, improves infrastructure and provides new economic development opportunities.

And the trend toward just-about-everything-smart is taking place inside the home as well. According to Statista, North America in 2023 is expected to have 40% of the worldwide market of consumer spending on smart home systems like smart assistants, smart speakers and smart door locks and light switches.

THE CLOUD MOVES CLOSER TO THE EDGE

Greater demands on bandwidth and latency issues have placed a greater spotlight on edge computing — or, as Gartner defines it, when information processing is located close to the edge where things and people produce or consume that information.

Analysts last year forecasted that edge computing would experience significant growth, especially since cloud vendors deployed more edge servers in local markets while telecom providers moved forward with 5G deployments.

Before COVID-19, Forrester predicted that the edge cloud service market would increase by a minimum of 50%.

IDC’s worldwide IT predictions for this year include that the pandemic’s impact on workforce and operational practices will

At the Cox Connected Environments Collaboratory, the ASU team is looking at urban redesign, augmented reality and the workforce of the future as well as fleet management, health and wellness and public safety.

STRATEGIES FOR WORKING REMOTELY be the driving force behind most edge-driven investments and business model changes — well beyond 2021.

Wellbeing at Work What if the next global crisis is a mental health pandemic?

It is here now. One-third of Americans have shown signs

SCHOOL AND WORK WILL CONTINUE TO BE DIFFERENT

Work and school are back in different forms, making broadband connectivity essential. Many employees who were forced to work from home this past year may continue to do so permanently. According to Forbes, the percentage of workers permanently working from home is expected to double this year and Big Tech is leading the way, with companies like Twitter and Facebook having recognized the benefits of employees working from home indefinitely, even as offices reopen.

Although working from home might have had a rocky start, employees have mastered using real-time chat and video conferencing to stay connected. According to SHRM, 94% of 800 employers surveyed by Mercer, an HR and workplace benefits firm, said that productivity was the same or higher than it was before the pandemic. Our own workforce at Cox will likely see a work/work-from-home hybrid model in the future.

Interactive video conferencing and chat have enabled teams to maintain cohesion and stay connected while working out of the office.

On the education front, Rand Corporation researchers found approximately 20% of public school district superintendents and charter school leaders said they plan to continue online schooling as an option once the pandemic subsides — or are considering the online option for families and students who want the choice.

Whether teaching or learning from home or in the classroom, datadriven insights improve the classroom experience. Apps empower teachers to digitally administer homework, quizzes and tests and have one-on-one face time with students and parents.

And through artificial intelligence and machine learning, automated technology allows teachers to monitor and evaluate the progress students are making and better understand their strengths and weaknesses. For students, apps enable learning through gamification, which creates a fun and positive learning environment and can make the most reticent student excited about his or her studies.

MORE CONTENT MEANS MORE BANDWIDTH AND NAVIGATION HELP

The entire world has been streaming more than ever. Internet service providers like Cox have experienced the equivalent of two years of traffic growth in the first few months of the pandemic and it has remained constant at those new levels.

And high-intensity applications, aka “bandwidth hogs” like video streaming platforms that make online work and school possible, are essential yet difficult to attain without the appropriate bandwidth.

Therefore, ISPs have answered this increasingly streaming boom by offering affordable internet packages that take care of all streaming needs — voice, video or otherwise.

Speaking of voice, whether folks are binge-watching “Jeopardy!” on Netflix or jamming to music from Spotify using their Alexa, the use of streaming services and voice assistants is on the rise. With so many great TV shows to watch, it’s challenging to remember what’s on Peacock, Hulu, Netflix, Amazon and so on. But voice remotes allow users to pull up a series, app or movie with just a few words, such as “Find the Discovery channel” or “What should I watch?”

It feels good to be cautiously emerging from the pandemic, and the technology trends that have come to the forefront will continue throughout 2021 — and long after as well. Because Cox is committed to making digital life easier, we’ll continue investing in ways to better connect people and bring these critical technologies to life.

Internet service providers like Cox have experienced the equivalent of two years of traffic growth in the first few months of the pandemic and it has remained constant at those new levels.

of clinical anxiety or depression, and the current state of suffering globally has risen significantly. The mental health pandemic manifests everywhere, not least in the workplace.

As organizations around the world face health and social crises, as well as economic uncertainty, acknowledging and improving wellbeing in the workplace is more critical than ever. The book also gives leaders ideas and action items to help employees use their innate talents and strengths to thrive in each of the wellbeing elements. And Wellbeing at Work introduces a metric to report a person’s best possible life: Gallup Net Thriving, which will become the “other stock price” for organizations.

Wellbeing at Work: How to Build Resilient and Thriving Teams Jim Clifton and Jim Harter Gallup Press

336 pages Available 5/4/2021

$27.95

Managing Employees Without Fear Managing without fear is the ability to make personnel decisions, from hiring to separations and everything in between, without fear of breaking the law and with the goal of creating a work environment employer and employees are proud to be part of. Adam Rosenthal expertly delivers every manager’s comprehensive, go-to practical guide for managing a legally compliant workplace and building a positive, productive and first-class work culture along the way. Packed with unique insights and lessons from an attorney who has counseled and represented companies and managers in thousands of workplace disputes, this book provides people managers with effective tools on how to successfully navigate around complicated personnel issues from improving hiring and onboarding practices, to adopting strategies in dealing with underperforming employees, to implementing meaningful ways to promote diversity and inclusion.

Managing Employees Without Fear: How to Follow the Law, Build a Positive Work Culture, and Avoid Getting Sued Adam R. Rosenthal

256 pages

Society For Human Resource Management

Available 5/18/2021

$28.99

Leading at a Distance Although working remotely is not new, the global pandemic has placed virtual work at the center of everyday life. And it has thrust workforce strategies to the core of business operations globally. As the shift toward large-scale virtual work continues to grow and become a permanent fixture — by some estimates, 30% of the workforce will be working virtually — leaders must understand how to build virtual work environments that foster connected, engaged and high-performing teams. Although some forward-thinking companies and not-forprofit organizations have made significant investments in technology and virtual collaboration, many others have simply joined the “Zoom culture” without fully appreciating what it takes to operate effectively at a distance on a sustained basis.

Leading at a Distance: Practical Lessons for Virtual Success James M. Citrin and Darleen DeRosa Wiley

240 pages Available 5/25/2021

$25.00

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En Negocios

Edgar R. Olivo es un educador empresarial bilingüe, asesor económico y colaborador de varios medios de comunicación. Es apasionado por la educación y comunidad.

Está certificado en finanzas y análisis de datos y posee un título en negocios de la Universidad Estatal de Arizona.

Edgar R. Olivo is a bilingual business educator, economic advisor and contributor for several media outlets.

He’s a nonprofit executive who is passionate about education. He is certified in finance and data analytics and holds a business degree from Arizona State University.

MAY 2021

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POR EDGAR R. OLIVO

ECONOMIA / ECONOMY

La economía verde

Cómo las pequeñas empresas pueden beneficiarse de la sostenibilidad planificando ahora La crisis climática no ha desaparecido, ni tampoco la brecha de ingresos cada vez mayor entre ricos y pobres. La pandemia ha magnificado estos desafíos a medida que los gobiernos luchan por contener también la propagación del virus mientras gestionan las consecuencias económicas, apoyan a los trabajadores y garantizan la continuidad de la escolarización de los niños. A pesar de la tristeza, hay buenas noticias. Con las opciones adecuadas, los gobiernos y las empresas de todos los tamaños pueden abordar todas estas crisis simultáneamente haciendo la transición a la economía verde. ¿Qué es la economía verde? Puede considerarse como la visión mejorada del crecimiento en la que la economía se basa en la interacción armoniosa entre los seres humanos y la naturaleza e intenta satisfacer las necesidades de ambos. Una economía verde puede generar beneficios ilimitados que pueden mejorar la vida de las personas con un desarrollo sostenible y coherente. En esencia, promueve el triple resultado: personas, ganancias y planeta. Imagine una economía que genera más dinero en las comunidades, empleos sostenibles, tecnología mejorada, mejor infraestructura y aprovecha el poder de la energía renovable mientras mejora nuestra competitividad global a través de la innovación.

La Administración Biden ha propuesto un plan económico histórico de $2 billones de dólares que tiene como objetivo

crear millones de puestos de trabajo con el Plan de empleo estadounidense. “No es un plan que se pasea por los bordes.

Es una inversión única en una generación en Estados Unidos”, dijo Biden durante un discurso el 31 de marzo de 2021 en un centro de capacitación en carpintería en Pittsburgh. Llamó a la propuesta “la mayor inversión en empleos estadounidenses desde la Segunda Guerra Mundial”.

Las pequeñas empresas se encuentran en una posición difícil para hacer la transición. Para empezar, hacer la transición a un modelo de negocio más ecológico cuesta dinero y cerrar la brecha de conocimientos prácticos requerirá más inversiones en educación y asistencia técnica. Afortunadamente, una nueva programa fue lanzado recientemente por el Servicio Público de Arizona para ayudar a los propietarios de pequeñas empresas a ser ecológicos con capacitación en línea y asistencia con reembolsos para ayudar a los propietarios de pequeñas empresas a ser ecológicos. Hay otros recursos comunitarios disponibles como el Programa Cero Residuos en la ciudad de Phoenix y El programa Scale Up de Local First Arizona.

Para las pequeñas empresas que están listas para comenzar sus esfuerzos ecológicos, la planificación debe comenzar ahora. Aquí hay tres áreas clave con preguntas que lo ayudarán a enfocar su plan de sustentabilidad para la economía verde:

Cada año, alrededor del Día de la Tierra, tanto los consumidores como las marcas grandes reflexionan sobre sus actividades diarias, evalúan cómo sus comportamientos están impactando nuestro planeta y asumen compromisos públicos con la sostenibilidad. Ahora más que nunca, los consumidores están optando por apoyar a las empresas con misiones sostenibles que lideran con valores éticos y ambientales.

BY EDGAR R. OLIVO

ENGLISH TRANSLATION Un plan de sostenibilidad lo ayuda a lograr sus objetivos ecológicos para crear un beneficio social (personas), financiero (ganancias) y ambiental (planeta).

Personas: Piense en todas las personas que participan en el éxito de su empresa.

Piense en sus socios comerciales, sus trabajadores y sus clientes. Cuanto más tiempo dedique a reflexionar sobre esta visión, más comenzará a desarrollar una imagen clara de cómo será el éxito de su pequeña empresa a medida que se vuelve verde.

Ganancia: ¿Cuáles son mis gastos de energía y servicios públicos actuales? ¿Han subido o bajado? ¿Cuándo son mis temporadas pico? ¿Cuándo son mis temporadas lentas? ¿Puedo realizar inversiones para actualizar mi equipo y tecnología? ¿Cuánto me puedo permitir? ¿Existen oportunidades para reducir mis costos de energía actualizando las prácticas de mi lugar de trabajo? ¿Dónde quiero ver un retorno claro de mi inversión? ¿Es en mis gastos de servicios públicos o aumento en las ventas? ¿O ambos? ¿Cuánto necesito apartar para asegurarme de mantener vivos mis esfuerzos de sostenibilidad a largo plazo? ¿He comenzado un presupuesto ecológico para saber cuáles son mis objetivos de ingresos, de modo que pueda hacer las mayores inversiones con el tiempo?

Planeta: ¿He considerado si mis proveedores también tienen prácticas de sostenibilidad? ¿Puedo encontrar formas de reducir mi impacto en el medio ambiente natural reemplazando los plásticos de un solo uso o conservando el agua? ¿He explorado los recursos ecológicos en mi comunidad, como la oficina de mi ciudad local o la asociación empresarial dedicada a los esfuerzos ambientales? ¿Existen oportunidades para mejorar mi cadena de suministro con proveedores que son más responsables con el medio ambiente? ¿Existe alguna iniciativa comunitaria que pueda apoyar para seguir avanzando en los esfuerzos ecológicos donde opera mi empresa? ¿Cómo mediré el éxito en mi comunidad?

Ahora, eso puede parecer mucho en lo que pensar para desarrollar una visión para un negocio más ecológico, sin embargo, dedicar tiempo a esto lo pondrá en el asiento del conductor para lograr sus objetivos y volverse más competitivo. El camino hacia la recuperación económica y un futuro más verde pasa por la comunidad de las pequeñas empresas.

The Green Economy

How small businesses can benefit from sustainability by planning now The climate crisis has not gone away, nor has the ever-increasing income gap between the rich and poor. The pandemic has magnified these challenges as governments struggle to also contain the spread of the virus while managing the economic fallout, supporting workers and ensuring continuity of schooling of children. Despite the gloom, there is good news. With the right choices, governments and businesses of all sizes can address all of these crises simultaneously by making the transition to the green economy.

What is the green economy? It can be thought of as the improved vision for growth where the economy is built on the harmonious interaction between humans and nature and attempts to meet the needs of both.

A green economy can generate unlimited benefits that can improve the lives of people with consistent, sustainable development. In essence, it promotes the triple bottom line: people, profit and planet.

Imagine an economy that generates more money in communities, sustainable jobs, improved technology and better infrastructure and harnesses the power of renewable energy while improving our global competitiveness through innovation.

The Biden Administration has proposed an historic, $2 trillion economic plan that aims to create millions of jobs with the American Jobs Plan. “It’s not a plan that tinkers around the edges. It’s a once-ina-generation investment in America,” Biden said during a speech on March 31, 2021, at a carpentry training center in Pittsburgh. He called the proposal “the largest American jobs investment since World War II.” Small businesses are in a sticky position to make the transition. For starters, making the transition to a greener business model costs money and closing the know-how to do-now gap will require more investments in education and technical assistance.

Luckily, a new program was launched by Arizona Public Service recently to help small-business owners go green with on-demand training and rebate assistance to help small-business owners go green. There are other community resources available, such as the Zero Waste Program at the City of Phoenix and The Scale Up Program from Local First Arizona.

For small businesses that are ready to start their green efforts, planning needs to start now. Here are three key areas with questions to help you focus your sustainability plan for the green economy: A sustainability plan helps you achieve your green goals to create a societal (people), financial (profit) and environmental (planet) benefit.

People: Think about all the people who are involved in making your business successful. Think of your business partners, your workers and your customers. The more time you spend reflecting on this vision, the more you will start to develop a clear picture of what success will look like for your small business as it goes green.

Profit: What are my current utility and energy expenses? Have they gone up or down? When are my peak seasons? When are my slow seasons?

Can I make investments in upgrading my equipment and technology? How much can I afford?

Are there opportunities for me to reduce my energy costs by updating my workplace practices?

Where do I want to see a clear return on my investment? Is it in my utility expenses or increase in sales? Or both?

How much do I need to set aside to ensure I keep my sustainability efforts alive for the long run?

Have I started a going green budget to know what my revenue targets are, so I can make the bigger investments over time?

Planet: Have I considered if my vendors also have sustainability practices? Can I find ways to reduce my impact on the natural environment by replacing single-use plastics or conserving water? Have I explored the green resources in my community, like my local city office or business association dedicated to environmental efforts? Are there opportunities to improve my supply chain with vendors who are more environmentally responsible?

Are there any community initiatives I can support to further advance green efforts where my business operates? How will I measure success in my community?

Now, that may seem like a lot to think about to develop a vision for a greener business, however, spending time on this will put you in the driver’s seat to achieving your goals and becoming more competitive. The road to economic recovery and a greener future runs through the smallbusiness community.

Each year around Earth Day, consumers and major brands alike reflect on their day-to-day activities, assess how their behaviors are impacting our planet and make public commitments to sustainability. Now more than ever, consumers are choosing to support businesses with sustainable missions that lead with ethical and environmental values

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7 estrategias comprobadas

Para ayudar a una pequeña empresa a crecer durante COVID-19 Recientemente, tuve una conversación sobre estrategias de ventas con el propietario de una pequeña empresa local que se vio afectada por la crisis de COVID-19 durante uno de nuestros grupos de emprendedores. Me preguntó: “¿Qué puedo hacer para hacer crecer mi negocio durante estos tiempos?”, Le respondí, “volvemos a lo básico”.

Para mí, volver a lo básico significa concentrarse y desarrollar las relaciones con sus clientes y la comunidad a la que ya sirve. Pero, durante COVID-19, construir nuevas relaciones parece una tarea más difícil. Hoy en día, parece mucho más difícil competir con los grandes de la ciudad, ya que el marketing digital se vuelve mucho más competitivo para que las pequeñas empresas sigan el ritmo. Las pequeñas empresas tienen una gran ventaja sobre los grandes: ¡conexión personal e impacto en la comunidad local!

Hay muchas estrategias probadas que puede implementar para hacer crecer o volver a hacer crecer su pequeña empresa, incluso durante los climas económicos más difíciles. Las siguientes estrategias no requieren que salga de su casa o gaste mucho dinero. Simplemente requieren su tiempo, concentración y compromiso con lo básico.

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¿Donde empezar?

Primero, necesita hacer un inventario de sus valiosos recursos. ¿Cuánto tiempo tiene para dedicarle a su proceso de ventas? ¿Cuánta energía requiere de usted? ¿Cuánto dinero ha reservado o puede reservar para su sitio web y publicidad digital?

Hágase estas preguntas antes de comenzar para tener una mejor idea de su enfoque.

A continuación, debe tener algunas metas.

Realizar un seguimiento de sus clientes potenciales, nuevas ventas, ventas existentes y proyecciones le dará la información que necesita para ver si su estrategia está funcionando.

Aquí hay siete estrategias probadas para ayudarlo a hacer crecer su pequeña empresa durante COVID-19: 1. Conozca muy bien su modelo de negocio y sus clientes. Quieres ser el experto en lo que haces, ya sea que estés cortando el pelo, haciendo velas, arreglando mascotas o vendiendo un servicio virtual. Tómese el tiempo para comprender cómo venden y escalan sus competidores. Luego, dedique mucho tiempo a comprender realmente lo que necesitan sus clientes.

2. Enfóquese en brindar el mejor servicio.

Una vez que tenga una idea clara de lo que

necesita su cliente, realmente dedique un esfuerzo a ajustar su marca y calidad. Empiece por ver cómo su cliente lo encuentra, le compra y habla sobre usted después de haberle comprado.

Si hay oportunidades para mejorar en cualquiera de esas áreas, estará en camino de ser considerado como el mejor servicio de la ciudad.

3. Crear lealtad y solicitar referencias.

Cuando brinda un servicio excelente, sus clientes estarán más que felices de enviarle referencias.

Piense en la última vez que experimentó un servicio increíble; no podías esperar para contárselo a alguien ¿verdad?

4. Maximice sus redes sociales y su sitio web. A estas alturas, debería ser muy obvio que todas las empresas deben tener presencia en línea. Asegúrese de mantener su sitio web y perfiles de redes sociales actualizados y activos.

5. Encuentre mentores y formas de crecer.

No conozco a una sola persona exitosa que haya hecho algo por sí misma. Todos necesitan ayuda y todos pueden beneficiarse de un mentor. Un mentor puede ser alguien de su industria o un curso en el que se inscriba y que puede ayudarlo a pulir sus habilidades.

6. Ayude a su comunidad. Durante estos tiempos difíciles, es más importante que nunca

Las pequeñas empresas son la clave de la recuperación económica en Estados Unidos. Las pequeñas empresas crean dos tercios de todos los nuevos puestos de trabajo e impulsan la mayor parte del crecimiento económico anual a nivel nacional. Dada la actual agitación económica y del mercado laboral, las pequeñas empresas son más importantes ahora que en cualquier otro momento de la historia de Estados Unidos.

BY EDGAR R. OLIVO

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

7 Proven Strategies

These can help a small business grow during COVID-19

brindar ayuda a aquellos a quienes puede ayudar y realmente la necesitan. Ayudar a su comunidad es otra estrategia eficaz para presentar su negocio de manera positiva.

7. Concéntrese en lo que funciona.

Usted conoce su negocio mejor que yo, así que vigile de cerca su estilo personal de ventas. Realice un seguimiento de lo que funciona bien en su proceso de ventas y detenga lo que no funciona. A medida que desarrolle un sentido más fuerte de su propio estilo de venta, documente cómo lo hace.

Con el tiempo, utilizará esa información para desarrollar una capacitación de ventas para nuevos representantes de ventas que lo ayude a escalar en el futuro.

Siga estas sencillas estrategias que le ayudarán a desarrollar un sólido enfoque de ventas que irá más allá de cualquier pandemia o crisis económica. Reflexione sobre sus métodos de venta actuales y realice ajustes a medida que hace crecer su negocio. No existe una solución mágica; sin embargo, estas estrategias comprobadas están ayudando a muchos propietarios de negocios a hacer crecer su negocio, incluyendo los míos.

During one of our entrepreneur groups recently, I was having a conversation about sales strategies with a local small-business owner who was impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. He asked, “What can I do to grow my business during these times?” I replied, “We go back to the basics.”

To me, going back to basics means focusing and building on the relationships with your clients and community you already serve. But during COVID-19, building new relationships seems like a more difficult task. Today, it seems much more difficult to compete with the big guys in town as digital marketing becomes much more competitive for small businesses to keep up. Small businesses do have one major advantage over the big guys — personal connection and impact to the local community!

There are plenty of time-tested strategies you can implement to grow or re-grow your small business, even during the hardest of economic climates. The following strategies do not require you to leave your house or spend a lot of money. They simply require your time, focus and commitment to the basics.

Where to start?

First, you need to take inventory of your valuable resources. How much time do you have to commit to your sales process? How much energy does it require from you? How much money have you set aside or can you set aside for your website and digital advertising?

Ask yourself these questions before you start so you have a better idea about your approach.

Next, you need to have some goals. Keeping track of your leads, new sales, existing sales and projections will give you the information you need to see if your strategy is working.

Here are seven proven strategies to help you grow your small business during COVID-19: 1. Know your business model and customers really well. You want to be the expert in what you do, whether you are cutting hair, making candles, grooming pets or selling a virtual service. Take the time to understand how your competitors sell and scale. Then, spend a lot of time truly understanding what your customers need.

2. Focus on providing the best service. Once you have a clear idea of what your customer needs, really spend effort in fine tuning your brand and quality. Start by looking at how your customer finds you, buys from you and talks about you after they have purchased from you. If there are opportunities to improve in any of those areas, you will be on track to being regarded as the best service in town.

3. Create loyalty and ask for referrals. When you deliver an excellent service, your customers will be more than happy to send you referrals.

Think about the last time you experienced amazing service; you could not wait to tell someone, right?

4. Maximize your social media and website.

By now, it should be very obvious that every business needs to have an online presence. Make sure you keep your website and social media profiles updated and active.

5. Find mentors and ways to grow. I do not know a single successful person who has done anything all by themselves. Everyone needs help and everyone can benefit from a mentor. A mentor can be someone from your industry or a course you sign up for that can help you polish your skills.

6. Help your community. During these trying times, it is more important than ever to extend help to those who you can help and truly need it. Helping your community is another effective strategy to present your business in a positive light.

7. Focus on what works. You know your business better than I do, so keep a close eye on your own personal sales style. Keep track of what is working well in your sales process and stop what is not working. As you develop a stronger sense of your own selling style, document how you go about it.

Eventually, you will use that information to develop a sales training for new sales reps to help you scale in the future.

Follow these simple strategies to help you build a strong sales approach that will go beyond any pandemic or economic crisis. Reflect on your current sales methods and make tweaks as you grow your business. There is no magic bullet approach; however, these proven strategies are helping many business owners grow their business, including yours truly.

Small businesses are the key economic recovery in the United States. Small businesses create two-thirds of all new jobs and drive most of the annual economic growth nationally. Given the ongoing economic and labor-market turmoil, small businesses are more important now than any other time in American history.

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Los pronombres importan

7 estrategias para crear un ambiente de trabajo con inclusión de género “¿Podrían todos hacer una ronda rápida de presentaciones con su nombre, cargo y pronombres?” Este tipo de solicitud puede parecer rara en la mayoría de los ambientes de trabajo, pero para las empresas que invierten en la inclusión LGBTQ y en lugares de trabajo con inclusión de género, los pronombres se han convertido en un punto central importante.

Desde enumerar pronombres en firmas de correo electrónico hasta botones de pronombres que usan los trabajadores minoristas, la comunidad empresarial se está volviendo creativa al adoptar estas prácticas inclusivas.

Los pronombres se utilizan en las interacciones cotidianas y es fácil dar por sentado cuánto dependemos de las señales y suposiciones cuando nos dirigimos a los demás. Muchas veces ni siquiera lo pensamos. Además, muchos de nosotros recurrimos al lenguaje de género para expresar respeto, formalidad y / o transmitir un tono amigable con un cliente.

• Damas y caballeros, ¡bienvenidos a nuestra conferencia anual!

• Señora, ¿puedo ayudarla con su compra?

• Señor, ¿quería ver otro producto? ¿Le suena familiar? La mayoría de las personas no quieren hacer daño al usar un lenguaje de género. Pero, al hacer una suposición errónea sobre la identidad o expresión de género de

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una persona y, por extensión, sus pronombres, puede ser insultante, dañino y, si se hace repetidamente, constituir prejuicios o acoso en el lugar de trabajo. De acuerdo con una Investigación de Pew, en los Estados Unidos, se estima que hay 1.4 millones de estadounidenses transgénero, y uno de cada tres adultos (de 18 a 29 años) conoce a alguien que usa pronombres de género neutro.

Los pronombres son profundamente personales, al igual que nuestros nombres. Están vinculados a nuestro sentido de identidad y comunican cómo queremos que los demás nos reconozcan y se dirijan a nosotros. Considere cómo se siente cuando alguien lo llama por el nombre equivocado a pesar de haberse presentado. Esto puede conducir a sentimientos de invalidación y, desafortunadamente, para muchos de los que conocen la importancia del uso correcto de los pronombres, comprenden el dolor y la incomodidad asociados con la falta de respeto al género de la otra persona.

Elegir prácticas de pronombres inclusivos en su lugar de trabajo es importante para construir una cultura de respeto y pertenencia para cualquier persona que de alguna manera se vea desafiada por el modelo tradicional de identidad y expresión de género.

De acuerdo con los defensores del lugar de trabajo, aquí hay algunas formas en que su

empresa puede implementar estrategias que incluyan el género al promover el uso respetuoso de los pronombres en las interacciones.

1. Es mejor evitar el uso de la frase “pronombres preferidos”. Esto implica que el uso de pronombres es opcional frente a un requisito.

En su lugar, simplemente diga “pronombres”.

2. En las reuniones, invitar a las personas a compartir sus pronombres puede ser una práctica impactante. Sin embargo, tenga en cuenta que la elección de un individuo de compartir sus pronombres debe seguir siendo opcional.

Obligar a compartir puede generar ansiedad, especialmente para aquellos que aún no han descubierto su propia expresión de género.

3. Al saludar a sus grupos, elija entre una variedad de presentaciones neutrales, como “hola miembros del equipo,” “todos,” “invitados valiosos,” “amigos” o “gente.”

4. Durante su proceso de contratación, asegúrese de que haya oportunidades para que los candidatos revelen pronombres proporcionando una lista de pronombres y su nombre elegido. También puede tomar la iniciativa y presentarse en entrevistas con su nombre y pronombres para permitir que otros hagan lo mismo.

5. Actualice sus formularios y registros internos agregando autoidentificación voluntaria en la documentación escrita relevante. Incluya

Referirse a alguien por sus pronombres correctos es una forma básica de cortesía. De manera similar a llamar a alguien por el nombre incorrecto, llamar a alguien con los pronombres incorrectos puede ser increíblemente degradante.

Nuestros pronombres de género son parte de nuestra identidad, al igual que nuestra raza, religión y orientación sexual.

BY EDGAR R. OLIVO

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Pronouns Matter

7 strategies to create a gender-inclusive workplace “Can everyone do a quick round of introductions with your name, job title and pronouns?” This request may seem unusual to make in most workplaces, but for companies investing in LGBTQ inclusion and gender-inclusive workplaces, pronouns have become an important central point. From listing pronouns in email signatures to pronoun buttons worn by retail workers, the business community is getting creative by embracing these inclusive practices.

Pronouns are used in everyday interactions and it is easy to take for granted how much we rely on signals and assumptions when we address each other. Many times, we do not even think about it. In addition, many of us fall back on gendered language to express respect, formality and/or convey a customer-friendly tone.

• Ladies and gentleman, welcome to our annual conference!

• Ma’am, I can help you with your purchase?

• Sir, did you want to see another product?

opciones de género más allá de masculino y femenino, como en sus documentos. Cuando enumere honoríficos, incluya la opción Mx. (pronombre “mixto”), esto es utilizado por la comunidad expansiva de género.

6. Muestre sus pronombres en su firma de correo electrónico. Muchas más empresas están implementando esfuerzos para compartir pronombres de esta manera.

7. Las áreas adicionales de visualización de pronombres incluyen, entre otras, directorios de empresas, biografías del personal, presentaciones de empresas, plantillas de PowerPoint, recursos humanos y nómina, plataformas de gestión, etiquetas y placas de identificación, perfiles de Slack, tarjetas de visita, perfiles de redes sociales, y nombres de los participantes en Zoom.

Al utilizar estas estrategias de inclusión de género, está comunicando su compromiso con la diversidad, la equidad y la inclusión. La práctica regular y los esfuerzos enfocados pueden ser de gran ayuda para establecer un ejemplo importante de respeto entre sus colegas. Alentará a los miembros de su equipo a buscar comprender mejor y conectarse con quienes los rodean, lo que conducirá a un entorno productivo y armonioso.

Do these sound familiar? While most people do not mean any harm by using gendered language, making a wrong assumption about someone’s gender identity or expression and, by extension, their pronouns, can be insulting, harmful and, if done repeatedly, constitute workplace bias or harassment. According to Pew Research, in the U.S., it is estimated there are 1.4 million transgender Americans, and one in three adults (ages 18–29) knows someone who uses genderneutral pronouns.

Pronouns are deeply personal, much like our names. They are tied to our sense of identity and communicate how we want others to recognize and address us. Consider how it feels when someone calls you by the wrong name despite your having introduced yourself. It can lead to feelings of invalidation and, unfortunately, many of those who know the importance of correct pronoun usage understand the pain and discomfort associated with being misgendered.

Choosing inclusive pronoun practices in your workplace is important to build a culture of respect and belonging for anyone who in some way is challenged by the traditional model of gender identity and expression.

According to workplace advocates, here are a few ways your business can implement genderinclusive strategies by promoting respectful use of pronouns in interactions.

1. It is best to avoid using the phrase “preferred pronouns.” This implies that the use of pronouns is optional versus a requirement. Instead, simply say “pronouns.”

2. In meetings, inviting people to share their pronouns can be an impactful practice. However, keep in mind that an individual’s choice to share their pronouns should remain optional. Forcing to share can lead to anxiety, particularly for those who are not out yet in their own gender expression.

3. When greeting your groups, choose from a variety of neutral introductions such as “hello team members,” “everyone,” “valued guests,” “friends” or “folks.”

4. During your hiring process, make sure there are opportunities for candidates to disclose pronouns by providing a list of pronouns and their chosen name. You can also take the lead and introduce yourself in interviews with your name and pronouns to allow others to do the same.

5. Update your internal forms and records by adding voluntary self-identification on relevant written documentation. Include gender options beyond male and female such as “they” on your documents. When listing honorifics, include the option Mx. (pronoun “mixed”) — this is used by the gender-expansive community.

6. Display your pronouns on your email signature. Many more companies are implementing efforts to share pronouns in this way.

7. Additional areas of pronoun display include, but are not limited to, company directories, staff bios, company presentations, PowerPoint templates, human resources and payroll, management platforms, nametags and name plates, Slack profiles, business cards, social media profile, and Zoom participant names.

By utilizing these gender-inclusive strategies, you are communicating your commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. Regular practice and focused efforts can go a long way to set an important example of respect between your colleagues. It will encourage your team members to seek to better understand and connect with those around them, leading to a productive and harmonious environment.

Referring to someone by their correct pronouns is a basic form of courtesy. Similarly to calling someone by the wrong name, calling someone by the wrong pronouns can be incredibly degrading.

Our gender pronouns are part of our identity, just like our race, religion and sexual orientation.

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Cómo las pequeñas empresas propiedad de minorías pueden obtener una ventaja competitiva con una certificación de diversidad Si posee una pequeña empresa y es parte de un determinado grupo demográfico, su empresa podría calificar para una certificación de diversidad que le otorgará acceso a subvenciones especiales, programas de proveedores y grandes contratos. Esta es una excelente manera de hacer crecer su negocio cuando planea vender a otras empresas o al gobierno. A medida que la diversidad se convierte en un tema cada vez más importante en el ámbito empresarial, planificar con anticipación para los programas de recuperación económica podría encaminarlo hacia grandes oportunidades de crecimiento.

Una certificación de diversidad se presenta en muchas formas, la más común es la empresa de propiedad de minorías o MBE por sus siglas en ingles. Esta certificación está diseñada para darle una designación especial como proveedor diverso. Toma el Consejo Nacional de Desarrollo de Proveedores Minoritarios (NMSDC por sus siglas en ingles) por ejemplo. Se establecieron en 1972 para promover las empresas minoritarias certificadas al mitigar las barreras raciales sistémicas que enfrentan los propietarios de empresas minoritarias a través de la certificación MBE. La certificación MBE ha sido adoptada por casi todos los municipios, agencias estatales y federales, así como muchas empresas como

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parte de iniciativas más amplias de diversidad de proveedores. Actualmente tienen capítulos en todo el país para ayudar a las empresas propiedad de minorías con el proceso de solicitud y presentación de documentos de verificación.

Estas certificaciones especiales lo ayudan a demostrar que su empresa cumple con los requisitos del programa de inclusión y abre las puertas a oportunidades que pueden no estar disponibles para proveedores no certificados.

Por lo tanto, le brinda una ventaja competitiva.

Muchos de los programas que se ofrecen a las empresas de propiedad de minorías certificadas son obligatorios por ley y deben obtener un cierto porcentaje de empresas de propiedad diversa. Es estimado el gobierno federal gasta más de $400 mil millones cada año en productos y servicios, de los cuales el 23 por ciento se reserva para pequeñas empresas y otro 16 por ciento para pequeñas empresas diversas. Se espera que esto crecera medida que la Administración Biden impulsa una mayor inclusión en el gasto público para ayudar a crecer las pequeñas empresas propiedad de minorías y promover la equidad racial. Hay muchos tipos de certificaciones de diversidad más allá de las basadas en la etnia, existen propiedad de mujeres, propiedad de LGBTQ, propiedad de veteranos, propiedad

desfavorecida y Zona comercial históricamente infrautilizada certificaciones también.

Si es una empresa propiedad de minorías, siga estos cinco consejos para comenzar con su certificación MBE. Otras certificaciones de diversidad pueden tener pasos similares y sus propios requisitos para calificar.

1. Revise los criterios. Para calificar, los dueños de la empresa deben ser ciudadanos estadounidenses, la empresa debe estar ubicada en los EE. UU. y la empresa debe ser al menos 51% propiedad de minorías operada y controlada.

2. Reúna los documentos requeridos.

Deberá organizar varios documentos clave, como sus artículos de incorporación, leyes, acuerdos de asociación y declaraciones de impuestos durante dos años. Esta es una lista corta, hay más documentos necesarios en general para demostrar su propiedad e integridad financiera.

3. Complete la solicitud. La información y los documentos de la solicitud deberán enviarse en línea al sitio web de la oficina más cercana a su región. En Arizona, es el Consejo de Desarrollo de Proveedores Minoritarios del Sudoeste del Pacífico.

4. Paga la tarifa de solicitud. Las tarifas pueden oscilar entre $150 y $ 350 para las empresas que generan menos de $1 millón y entre $610 y $1,100 para las que generan más de

Una certificación de empresas minoritarias tiene muchos beneficios, como acceso a contratos privados y gubernamentales, un sentido de comunidad con otras empresas certificadas, publicidad adicional y visibilidad con corporaciones más grandes. Muchas agencias del gobierno federal incluso tienen el mandato de recompensar una cantidad sustancial de contratos a empresas certificadas propiedad de minorías.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

BY EDGAR R. OLIVO

How Minority-Owned Small Businesses Can Gain a Competitive Edge with a Diversity Certification

$50 millones. El pago se procesará en línea.

5. Envíe la solicitud para su entrevista y espere su aprobación. Una vez que todo esté enviado y pagado, tendrá que programar una visita al sitio para ser entrevistado por un especialista en certificación de NMSDC. Y sí, van a visitar su casa si tiene su negocio en su casa.

El proceso de certificación MBE puede tardar hasta 90 días en completarse. Una vez que una empresa ha enviado todos los materiales de solicitud, será revisado por el Comité de Certificación de NMSDC. Si el Comité aprueba la solicitud, se enviará a la Junta de NMSDC para su aprobación final. Si la Junta rechaza la solicitud, una empresa puede enviar una carta apelando la decisión que aborda las inquietudes. Si aprueba la solicitud, recibirá un aviso por correo electrónico.

Más allá de las oportunidades de contratación, las empresas con certificación de diversidad disfrutan de los beneficios como conectar con otras empresas certificadas.

Aprovechar estas certificaciones clave como una pequeña empresa propiedad de minorías definitivamente le dará una ventaja competitiva en una economía inclusiva que se está desarrollando y creciendo.

If you own a small business and are part of a certain demographic group, your business could qualify for a diversity certification, which will grant you access to special grants, supplier programs and large contracts.

This is a great way to grow your business when you plan to sell to other businesses or the government.

As diversity becomes an ever-increasingly important topic in the corporate arena, planning ahead for economic recovery programs could put you on the road to big opportunities for growth.

A diversity certification comes in many forms, the most common of which is Minority Owned Enterprise or MBE. This certification is designed to give you a special designation as a diverse supplier. Take the National Minority Supplier Development Council, for example. It was established in 1972 to advance certified minority businesses by mitigating systemic racial barriers faced by minority business owners through the MBE certification. The MBE certification has been adopted by nearly every municipality, state and federal agency as well as many companies as part of broader supplier diversity initiatives. It currently has chapters throughout the country to help minority-owned businesses with the process of applying and submitting verification documents.

These special certifications help you prove that your company meets inclusion program requirements and opens doors to opportunities that may not be available to non-certified suppliers — thus giving you a competitive edge. Many of the programs offered to certified minority-owned businesses are required by law and must source a certain percentage of diverse-owned businesses.

It is estimated the federal government spends more than $400 billion each year on products and services, of which 23% is set aside for small businesses and another 16% to diverse small businesses. This is expected to grow as the Biden Administration pushes for more inclusivity in government spending to help boost minorityowned small businesses and advance racial equity.

There are many types of diversity certifications beyond ethnicity-based; there are women-owned, LGBTQ-owned, veteran-owned, disadvantagedowned and Historically Underutilized Business Zone certifications as well.

If you are a minority-owned business, take these five tips to get started on your MBE certification.

Other diversity certifications may have similar steps and their own requirements to qualify.

1. Review the criteria. To qualify, the business owners must be U.S. citizens, the business must be located in the U.S., and the business must be at least 51% minority-owned operated and controlled.

2. Gather required documents. You will need to organize several key documents, such as your articles of incorporation, bylaws, partnership agreements and tax returns for two years. This is a partial list; there are more documents required in general to prove your ownership and financial integrity.

3. Complete the application. The application information and documents will need to be submitted online to the website that covers the region where you are located. In Arizona, it is the Pacific Southwest Minority Supplier Development Council.

4. Pay the application fee. The fees can range from $150 to $350 for businesses generating less than $1 million and $610 to $1,100 for those generating more than $50 million. The payment will be processed online.

5. Send application for your interview and wait for your approval. Once everything is submitted and paid, you will have to schedule a site visit to be interviewed by an NMSDC Certification Specialist. Yes, they come to your home if you are a home-based business.

The MBE certification process can take up to 90 days to complete. Once a business has sent in all application materials, it will be reviewed by the NMSDC Certification Committee. If the Committee approves the application, it will be submitted to the NMSDC Board for final approval. If the Board rejects the application, a business can submit a letter appealing the ruling that addresses concerns. If it approves the application, you will receive a notice via email.

Beyond the contracting opportunities, diversity certified businesses enjoy the benefits of networking with other certified businesses. Taking advantage of these key certifications as a minority-owned small business will definitely give you a competitive edge in an inclusive economy that is unfolding.

A minority business certification has many benefits, such as access to private and government contracts, a sense of community with other certified businesses, leverage for marketing purposes and visibility with larger corporations. Many federal government agencies are even mandated to reward a substantial number of contracts to certified minority-owned businesses.

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Economy

DEVELOPING & GROWING BUSINESS DYNAMICS

Increased Longevity and the Impact on Retirement Planning And for employers, an impactful employee recruiting and retention tool

by Jason Romero

Jason Romero, a financial advisor with Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., has spent more than two decades helping clients manage and preserve their wealth. He understands the dynamics of wealth and how to balance the complex forces at work and adapt as conditions change. desertfinancial.com raymondjames.com

Investment advisory services offered through Raymond James Financial Services Advisors, Inc. Securities offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. member FINRA/SIPC. Investment products are not deposits or obligations of the credit union, are not NCUA insured and not guaranteed by the credit union. They are subject to risk and may lose value.

Desert Financial Credit Union and Desert Financial Wealth Management are not registered brokers/dealers and are independent of Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. Investing involves risks and you may incur a loss regardless of the strategy selected. No investment strategy can guarantee your objectives will be met.

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Over the last several decades, our life expectancy rate has continually increased. Today, the average expectancy is around 80 years in the United States. The U.S. Census Bureau projects longer life expectancy for decades to come. By the year 2060, life expectancy is projected to have continued its steady increase.

In addition to this forward-looking projection, life expectancies have, historically, increased consistently going back as far as 1950. Specifically, life expectancy has increased more than 10 years over the period from 1960 to 2017 in the United States. This is generally great news and may give us the opportunity to spend more time with family, travel, enjoy hobbies and find new passions. Of course, the other side of the coin is that living longer can strain traditional retirement plan investment models to the point that they may not fulfill most of our individual retirement goals.

While many commercials and ads would suggest that running a bed and breakfast or a vineyard in retirement may be the dream for some retirees, most individuals have a different vision for their retirement. Many simply desire the ability to live comfortably in retirement, leave a modest nest egg to loved ones, and potentially make a gift to a favorite charity.

These goals can be obtainable, through proper financial planning both prior to retirement and during retirement.

With the importance of retirement planning and the impacts due to increased longevity in our society, having a competitive retirement plan option as part of an employer’s benefit plan has become extremely important. It can not only make a difference for an employee’s retirement planning, but it can be an impactful employee recruiting and retention tool for employers. Previous generations were more reliant on defined benefit plans such as pensions to supplement social security to meet their retirement income needs. In today’s world, employers typically have moved away from providing pension plans and more consistently offer defined contribution plans such as a 401(k) or 403(b). In a defined contribution plan, the employee and/or the employer contributes to the employee’s individual retirement account under the plan. Employers often offer employees an employee contribution match as part of their defined contribution plan, which can be an important benefit to helping their employees with their retirement savings. The contributions are generally invested, and the value of the account will fluctuate with the changes in the value of the investments. This is a reason why it is important for employers to also consider the investment fund options and retirement planning resources available to employees.

The investment portfolio allocation an employee chooses can vary greatly depending on their individual needs and preferences. Having a range of investment fund options available in the defined contribution plan can benefit the

Life expectancy has increased more than 10 years over the period from 1960 to 2017 in the United States.

employee. This may allow employees to consider an asset allocation suited to their individual circumstances while helping them plan for their assets and income to last during a longer retirement period.

As pre-retirees prepare for their futures, implementing a financial plan and regular reviews of their financial plan and any asset allocations are essential to staying on track.

Employers providing these resources as part of their benefits package can be helpful, as many employees may not know where to find these resources. When planning for retirement, it is important to not only consider their initial retirement goals but to look beyond the targeted retirement date and into retirement as well. While they may have a specific retirement asset goal in mind, a key piece of the planning process is how they will spend those assets in retirement.

Investors, especially those planning for retirement, may have been affected by the recent volatility. With an already extremely long period of historically low interest rates and the Federal Reserve indicating that interest rates will remain low for some time, investment portfolios that are primarily in traditional fixed income products such as Treasuries, CDs, money markets and bonds can create a challenge in the longevity of a retiree’s portfolio. This will look different for everyone, but it is important to identify events and expenses that could impact each employee’s retirement spending.

Regardless of the type of change (financial markets, the economy or family dynamics), having a plan in place and being open to adjusting it as circumstances dictate can help weather storms, identify opportunities and stay on track. Plan, review, adjust and repeat as often as needed or desired. Financial advisors and a financial plan can help provide guidance to address the changes that occur over time and be a steady reminder of their long-term goals and vision. A good financial plan is never really finished. It will adjust and change as a person’s life and goals change.

LAW MATTERS TO BUSINESS

Contract Dispute Resolution Provisions Are Not One-Size-Fits-All Go beyond boilerplate and get the right dispute resolution clause for business contracts

by Andrea Marconi

As businesses focus on growth in the post-COVID future, this is a good time to take stock of legal affairs. It is important for companies to review their legal health and contracts from time to time to ensure that all appropriate legal protections are in place and properly documented. When contracts are updated or new ones drafted, however, the focus is often centered on key terms involving payment and scope of work. Although these terms are vital, it is a mistake to ignore “boilerplate” terms as unimportant or “standard.” Dispute resolution clauses are critical and one size does not fit all. Having the right contract language can save significant cost and headaches later.

A dispute resolution clause is a written understanding between parties about what will happen if a disagreement arises and outlines steps for resolving issues before they escalate. Including dispute resolution clauses in contracts helps prevent parties from immediately running to the courthouse to resolve disagreements, which is an expensive and often lengthy process. Too often, however, parties insert a standard dispute resolution clause simply requiring arbitration and think that is sufficient. Arbitration, however, is not always the best option, and there are other options to consider before or in place of arbitration.

Parties must first decide the forum to resolve disputes.

Contracts with a multi-tiered approach are becoming popular.

These provide a mechanism to resolve disputes informally prior to filing arbitration or litigation. For example, the parties can first require informal negotiations between business representatives (with or without lawyers) after formal written notice of a dispute is provided. This often helps resolve disputes more quickly and cost-effectively and allows the parties to craft appropriate business resolutions before becoming entrenched in conflicting legal positions. Also, for longer-term contracts, requiring upfront informal negotiations helps parties quickly mend and maintain future working relationships.

Either in lieu of informal negotiations or as a second step if negotiations fail, parties can require mediation prior to further action. In mediation, a neutral third party helps the parties facilitate negotiations, generally during a half- or full-day meeting. A skilled mediator frequently helps parties resolve disputes and reach decisions that are mutually beneficial to both whereas the decision by a judge or arbitrator favors one party over the other. Parties can also hire a mediator with expertise in a particular industry, if needed.

If a dispute cannot be otherwise resolved, the parties may require arbitration instead of litigation. Whether arbitration is preferred to litigation depends on several factors, including the type of dispute.

For instance, in simple contract disputes, arbitration may be favored as it can be faster, more efficient and more flexible than litigation. Also, if the dispute involves technical or

specialized expertise, the parties can retain arbitrators with knowledge in the desired field rather than a judge unfamiliar with the issues. Arbitrations are also confidential, which may be important depending on the dispute and whether avoiding public attention is desired.

Unless the parties otherwise agree, however, arbitration decisions cannot be appealed like court decisions. Thus, parties risk being stuck with a negative decision and no recourse. Arbitration is often more fact-driven, so cases with primarily legal issues (e.g., interpreting contract language) may be better for judges. Although arbitrators can make early legal rulings, many seem to favor deciding cases at the factual hearing after weighing all the evidence and reach a decision that “splits the baby” in some regard. Courts are also better suited for emergency relief, such as restraining orders and injunctions. It is also generally more expensive to file an arbitration demand because the national arbitration associations impose significant filing fees (often thousands of dollars vs. hundreds to file a lawsuit). The parties must also pay the arbitrator’s hourly fees. Thus, despite common misconceptions, arbitration is not always better, faster or cheaper. Businesses should carefully consider the nature of likely disputes under contracts and the appropriate dispute resolution mechanism for them.

Parties can also draft contract language that may discourage litigation and increase risks for filing frivolous claims. Such provisions include requiring lawsuits to be filed in a business’s home jurisdiction, waiver of jury trials, damages limitations and requiring the losing party to pay the prevailing party’s attorneys’ fees.

A well-drafted dispute resolution clause can save businesses significant resources when legal disputes arise, and allows for a more collaborative approach to resolve disputes so that parties can get back to doing business. An effective and experienced attorney is critical to ensure businesses have dispute resolution clauses that meet their needs.

The number and cost of business lawsuits continues to increase, threatening businesses’ health and financial security.

Attorney Andrea Marconi serves as vice chair of Business Litigation at Fennemore. Her areas of practice include business litigation, healthcare and real estate. fennemorelaw.com

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Social Impact

BUSINESS GIVES BACK

Bashas’ Purpose Drives Social Change As an added way to fundraise for their organization, more than 1,400 nonprofits, schools and churches utilized the grocer’s Community Support Card program last year. Each participating nonprofit has a specially designated set of grocery gift cards that are distributed to supporters.

When supporters reload their gift cards, 6% of the reloaded amount is donated back to the organization. In 2020, Bashas’ Family of Stores gave back more than $72,000 to these organizations through this program. bashas.com/ourcommunity/communitysupport-card

Tyler Butler (“Tyler Butler | Giving in Style”), founder and CEO of 11Eleven Consulting, is a corporate social responsibility practitioner and expert leader in the corporate citizenship space. She has served on numerous national and local boards and is often cited as a subject matter expert by Forbes, Entrepreneur, U.S. News & World Report and more.

11elevenconsulting.com givinginstyle.net

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Forward-thinking initiatives serve its communities

by Tyler Butler

Bashas’ Family of Stores was founded in 1932 by two brothers. And to this day, Bashas’ is still family owned. Now on its third generation of leadership and with more than 100 stores across Arizona under multiple brand names, Bashas’ has been an integral and long-standing component to Arizona’s growth.

From the very beginning, Bashas’ has been committed to giving back and uplifting Arizonans. In fact, giving back to the community is a founding principle of the company, dating back to the matriarchs of the Basha family. Their core belief was that in order to have a successful, thriving business, you must support those around you to create a better community for all.

Bashas’ focus is on supporting local nonprofits that are doing work in the communities it serves. Education, hunger relief, health and human services, veteran services, community enrichment, and disaster relief are critical areas of concentration. Bashas’ strives to support as many organizations as it can annually, using a variety of different fundraising and outreach programs that have been developed over the years.

Often ahead of its competition where social impact efforts are concerned, Bashas’ was the first grocer in Arizona to provide special shopping hours for seniors, recognizing early on that this population would be more vulnerable to COVID-19. This type of forward-thinking action has led the grocer to other groundbreaking initiatives. From its in-kind donation program supporting emergency response teams and nonprofits to its emergency meal programs that have aided the Navajo Nation and St. Mary’s Food Bank, Bashas’ is always thinking ahead about the communities it operates in.

Sustainability has also been an important ongoing initiative to the operations of Bashas’. Through partnerships with local organizations to divert food waste and feed hungry families, Bashas’ Family of Stores’ Grocery Rescue program diverted more than 1.24 million pounds of food from landfills to more than 75 nonprofit agencies in 2020. Representatives from local food banks, churches and schools regularly pick up produce, bakery, deli and dairy items so that hungry families in need can consume the perishable items before their expiration date.

“We have been recycling since the ’70s,” says Edward “Trey” Basha, president and CEO of Bashas’ Family of Stores. “We always strive to reduce our company’s footprint through a number of sustainability and recycling efforts. We’re always looking for ways to improve, through technology, operations and new ideas.”

This proclivity toward innovation is also apparent in Bashas’ signature Charity of the Month program. “We want to do our part to share what resources we can to help those who especially need it,” says Basha. Through Bashas’ Charity of the Month program, selected nonprofits are featured throughout Bashas’ stores, which accept donations from customer at their registers. One hundred percent of the donations they collect go directly to the featured nonprofit.

Bashas’ not only raises valuable funds through this purposedriven marketing effort, but it also encourages the nonprofits to share the campaign messaging with their constituents.

In 2020 alone, Bashas’ Charity of the Month program raised more than $2.2 million for Arizona nonprofits. “While many businesses decided to focus their fundraising support solely on pandemic relief, we remained steadfast in our commitments to our Charity of the Month program in addition to pandemic relief support,” says Basha. “We knew local nonprofits were continuing to experience strong fundraising challenges and were counting on us.”

Basha credits the increase in Charity of the Month donations to a technology upgrade that invited customers to donate through PIN pads at checkout, rather than relying solely on cashiers asking each customer individually. “The holidays were an especially challenging time for so many families, and the pandemic only exacerbated that,” says Wells Fargo Lead Region President Don Pearson. “At the same time, the resiliency and generosity of the human spirit has become the true ‘heartbeat’ of our community. It inspired us to team up with Bashas’, Feeding America and Arizona food banks to make the holidays a bit brighter.”

Among the nearly two dozen organizations benefitting from the grocer’s 2020 Charity of the Month campaigns were American Heart Association, A New Leaf, Arizona Humane Society, Banner Children’s Hospital, Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center and The Salvation Army.

“Last year was a challenging one for so many individuals and families,” says Basha. “Seeing the incredible generosity of our customers — and Arizonans as a whole — is a silver lining.”

Since the company’s founding in 1932, Bashas’ Family of Stores has given back more than $100 million to charities across Arizona. The company has plans to continue its fundraising efforts and continue to live by the words of its founders: “When we prosper, Arizona prospers.”

Often ahead of its competition where social impact efforts are concerned, Bashas’ was the first grocer in Arizona to provide special shopping hours for seniors, recognizing early on that this population would be more vulnerable to COVID-19.

Photo courtesy of Bashas'

BASHAS’ COMMUNITY SUPPORT CARD

SAFETY PROTOCOLS FOR BUSINES

Workplace

Quick Tips to Cool Hot Heads in the Office But these tips can be applied to defuse disagreements pretty much anywhere

by Doc Elliot

Face it, the times we are in are rife with conflict. If you work in an office — any office — you are well aware of office politics. People don’t get along well; Human Resources always has a challenge up their sleeves and yadda yadda yadda. What happens when the headlines are bubbling over with tense internal conflict?

Serious social and political issues divide households and the workplace, and sensitively addressing these issues in today’s climate requires sensitivity, skill and, often, professional intervention. Since we all stress so much upon the “winwin” situation in developing proactive strategies to improve interpersonal communication and lessen the propensity for personnel blow-ups at work, here is a roundup of the top five essential tips for quickly cooling heads in the face of escalating conflict at work.

After all, we have to work at the same place, day in and day out. There’s no point in keeping an argument alive if you have to see the same person the next day. Right?

Take it as an occupational hazard. However, as long as everyone is working under the same roof and toward a common goal of keeping the workplace peace, things should go smoothly. For this exercise, we referenced several common scenarios at the offices, but these tips can be applied to defuse disagreements pretty much anywhere — to easily resolve any conflict at the workplace, at home, or other social situation where unexpected tension flares up.

5. Assume the role of peacekeeper. Those in a position to resolve a conflict at the workplace should listen to both sides.

Some employees play the victim card, but it’s important to listen to everyone — and remain unbiased. Even if there’s a personal preference for one employee over the other, it’s important to remain neutral. Doing so will help in identifying the exact reasons that led to the inflamed situation in the first place.

4. Try to establish a communication bridge. It’s important to get both parties to talk. We know that workplace conflicts often lead to terribly draining passive-aggressive cold wars that can deeply fracture workplace culture and lead to unhappy employees and unproductivity, which is why it’s so important to identify, address and resolve even the smallest micro-aggressions when they happen. To do that, everyone has to get involved and opened up about the conflict. Of course, it will start with pointing fingers, but there will be a resolution when both employees or parties have conveyed their concerns and everyone feels equally listened to and heard.

3. There’s always a common ground. People should consider: What’s the point of arguing or having a conflict at the workplace when they know they will have to deal with the same person the next day? Look at the bigger picture and know that there is always a common ground. Find it.

2. There is no harm in compromising. Compromising takes a lot of courage. Often, people are not so submissive because of their alter ego. For the sake of common grounds and working together, however, it’s more productive to give in a little. Those in a leadership position can set the example by taking the first step toward compromise, themselves, with grace and flexibility. It will inspire their colleagues to harness the same emotional mindset. As a result, the company will miraculously evolve into a group of people working together as a team.

1. The realization factor. In the end, the most important tip for de-escalating conflicts at work is the realization factor. After all, we are human beings; we are made of complex emotions that either balance or unbalance our work profile. This is exactly why different schools of management proposed the idea of having a Human Resources department at companies.

In the maelstrom of productivity, we often forget the very central role of a Human Resources manager is to work with people. The job of the Human Resources department is not just about monitoring employee performance, managing their pay scales and holidays. The most important aspect of human resources is to manage “humans” as a resource. We are all valuable, and we need help from time to time to hone our abilities to work in a company. The HR team is a company’s varsity team, coaches and support staff. Business leaders should support their HR team and ensure they know the importance of their role. It’s leadership’s role to communicate the culture and expectations for the company from the top down, and HR has a unique responsibility and opportunity to help effectively cultivate whatever that value system is.

The most important tip for de-escalating conflicts at work is the realization factor. After all, we are human beings; we are made of complex emotions that either balance or unbalance our work profile. This is exactly why different schools of management proposed the idea of having a Human Resources department at companies.

A nationally renowned Federal Crisis Negotiation Specialist, Doc Elliot is founder and president of Phoenix Training Group.

Since 1976, Phoenix Training Group has been the nation’s leader in workplace violence prevention training, customizing effective anti-violence training programs for corporations across all industries. phoenixtraininggroup.com

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Change

NEW OPPORTUNITIES

Embrace the Unknown

The first article in a series on Change: The Provider of Opportunity

by Bruce Weber

Bruce Weber is founder and president/CEO at Weber Group. Weber brings more than 20 years of experience to the for-profit and nonprofit community, working with startup, growth and mature organizations. His focus is in strengthening organizations through strategic planning, organizational development, leadership and board development.

He is a BoardSource Certified Governance trainer and a founding partner of the Nonprofit Lifecycles Institute. webergroupaz.com

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In 1959, “The Twilight Zone,” a TV program, debuted in the U.S. The show was built around creating an experience surrounding the unknown. The show’s actual description was “It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the ‘Twilight Zone.’”

The “pit” of our fears and the summit of our knowledge is something that continues to resonate today in the business world. We are so often faced with deep uncertainty about our future that we are sometimes driven into doing nothing. This impasse makes it difficult for us to recognize our inaction, but, rather than running from it, we should learn to embrace the uncertain. While it is human nature to be fearful of what we don’t know, it is sometimes helpful to take a deep breath, step back, and allow the circumstances to sink in.

I had the chance to visit Omaha Beach in Normandy, France, a few years ago. As I listened to the guide recount the story of what the military encountered when coming ashore, I could not imagine the horror of the unknown as the soldiers approached the beachhead. Despite the calamity, chaos and loss of life, there were still those who examined the situation, accepted what was happening, and allowed their creativity to examine what one could do to survive. So, how do we begin the journey to accept the unknown and move forward?

First and foremost, we must accept that there will always be unknowns in our future. It would be great if there were a road map to success that we could all follow and arrive at our predicted destination, but that’s not likely. The sooner we accept encountering the unexpected as a part of the journey, the sooner we can move ahead.

Second, we must treat the unknown as an opportunity to question. Leaders should question who their company is, the “why” they exist, and how not knowing everything offers an unbiased freedom to explore. Business leaders should communicate this thinking to their staff and encourage them to relinquish their fears into exploration. Yes, there are basic core needs like keeping everyone employed, ensuring profitability and keeping customers happy, but in uncertain times, those remain front and center and an integral part of the exploration.

Finally, as the leader of your organization, according to Jon Gordon, author of The Power of Positive Leadership, “it’s not just about what you can do, but what you can inspire, encourage, and empower others to do.” Those who are leaders should embody confidence to use this time of the unknown to think, create and explore. Ten years from now, there will be people who have achieved extraordinary success in every field of endeavor. While we don’t know who they will be, one thing is sure — they won’t be people who have played it safe and stuck to “business as usual.” Rather, they will be people who have continued to stretch themselves, to forge new ground despite the unknown and unpredictability it invites, and to risk failure in the process.

I brought home as a small souvenir a stone from Omaha beach, and it sits on my desk. Every day it serves as a reminder of the brave soldiers who battled the unknown on that stormy day. They had little choice but to consider the possibilities that lay ahead, not knowing for certain the future. There are so many things we can’t predict, so we must embrace the unknown — and once our path becomes clear, so does the horizon.

“If uncertainty is unacceptable to you, it turns into fear. If it is perfectly acceptable, it turns into increased aliveness, alertness, and creativity.”

—Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose

OUR SUBJECT IN-DEPTH

Inclusion is Different – Not Difficult Recognizing there are extreme variances in disabilities, onboarding any new team member means creating the most productive environment possible

by Tova Sherman

For more than 20 years, the most common question I have received from P3 leaders across North America is “How?” — “How can I include persons with disabilities in my workplace and still be a profitable business?”

My answer is always the same.

Onboarding persons with disabilities is different, not difficult — and how different depends less on their issues than yours. More specifically, onboarding depends more on the hiring/management team’s disability confidence than any accommodation might.

Are we as leaders, managers and hirers disability-confident enough to ensure bias is not playing a part in our hiring process — which, in turn, dramatically affects our onboarding capacity?

We all want the right person for the right job, but a diverse workplace without an inclusive culture is, well, like a house without a foundation, or maybe a coffee without a cup — you get the idea.

As a Diversity Educator, I receive onboarding questions all the time, which is why I like to step back and reframe the initial question of “how to onboard” to “Are we ready to onboard fairly and without bias?” and “As an organization, do we have the disability confidence to ensure that the talent pool we draw from includes as many fits for the position as possible?”

Those who can answer these questions with a resounding “yes” are ready to onboard all new employees into a welcoming, disability-confident workplace.

But there are more who are not so sure. In fact, the majority of business leaders want to be inclusive but frankly do not know where to begin. In my book, I outline 18 inclusion-isms to becoming a genuinely disability-confident employer. Here are three relating specifically to onboarding best practices: Win, Win, Win: Onboarding is about ensuring the new hires are provided all the tools to be successful. But at the same time, the workplace benefits from their presence and, of course, the bottom line improves in some way. I call this “win,

win, win.” When we onboard with disability confidence we are setting up the employee, the team and, of course, the business to be successful in our ever-changing workplace. That is the first rule of onboarding: to focus on the win, win, win.

People Don’t Come with Instructions: When bringing on new team members who disclosed in the interview that, for example, they are on the ADHD Spectrum, employers should remember no matter who or what they may know about ADHD does not mean they know this new hire and how ADHD Spectrum Disorder affects this person. It is so important to start the accommodation process open-minded and ready to learn. I like to remind everyone that, unlike IKEA furniture, people simply do not come with instructions.

Revise Revisit Reassess: No matter who the employee is — whether they identify as living with disability or not — onboarding means creating the most productive environment possible for the new member of the team. That means finding out how they “work best.”

Recently, we onboarded a new employee who selfidentified with some accommodation requirements. She was quite sheepish to discuss her needs, despite her knowledge of what we do at reachAbility. We discussed her needs and revised her workspace to reflect those needs; that is what I mean by “revise”: Revise the workplace in small ways that ultimately benefit everyone. That is what happened with this new employee. She asked about glare-resistant glasses ($4 each) and next thing you know the entire team is asking to use them. I see this as a low-cost accommodation that benefits all. By checking back with her on initial accommodation and allowing her to share the advantages of the glare-reducing glasses, we all benefited from a “revisit.” Finally, there is never a good time to stop checking in anyway, so reassessing the accommodation is another way to ensure the new team members are truly the best they can be. Now, that is a true win, win, win!

Onboarding persons with disabilities is different, not difficult — and how different depends less on their issues than their employer’s.

Tova Sherman is an award-winning inclusion leader and CEO of the NGO reachAbility. Her trailblazing approach to equalizing the playing field around disability at work has led her to be a highly sought-out presenter and consultant to P3 clients across Canada and the U.S. She is the author of the recently released book, Win, Win, Win: The 18 Inclusionisms You Need to Become a Disability Confident Employer. reachability.org

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DECISIONS THAT MATTER

Employee Onboarding: How to Succeed in a Remote-First Workplace Helping virtual hires understand and embrace the culture holds a lot of weight

by Aleksandra Sulimko

Remote work has been an option for some employees for many years, but recently many were thrust into it for the first time without warning. As businesses ramp up hiring efforts, many are realizing that looking to candidates outside their localities can provide great advantages. With a global talent pool, companies have access to more candidates with varied skills and experience, and are capitalizing on this, hiring employees for remote and hybrid work. With that, HR teams and business leaders are presented with new challenges: onboarding employees virtually.

What is the key to doing this successfully? HR and business leaders must consider a few key elements to make sure the process is both enriching and engaging.

COMMON CHALLENGES WITH VIRTUAL ONBOARDING AND HOW TO OVERCOME THEM

Aleksandra Sulimko is the human resources director at TheSoul Publishing.

She oversees the HR department, bringing her strong level of expertise to help strengthen this function within day-today operations. At the same time, her team supports each business division to improve employee well-being, empowerment and development. thesoul-publishing.com

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The first major shift companies face comes down to logistics, including getting paperwork filled out. Moving this online can be seamless with strong digital tools, and crossing this off the list early enables HR to make sure time is allocated to more important tasks — specifically, integrating new joiners into the company culture.

This is often the greater challenge with virtual onboarding, and helping new joiners understand and embrace the culture holds a lot of weight — it can make or break a first impression.

Companies must find ways for their company values to shine during onboarding so new employees feel included and see the organization as a community rather than just a means to a paycheck.

CREATING VIRTUAL ONBOARDING EXPERIENCES EMPLOYEES WILL REMEMBER – AND FOR THE RIGHT REASONS When it comes to culture, companies must show, not just tell. Explaining how great an organization is will be meaningless if there isn’t proof to back it up. Leaders must bring something unique to the table to give new joiners an idea of what the company is about.

For example, videos by the creative team are integrated into the onboarding process at TheSoul Publishing, which has been hiring and onboarding remote workers for more than five years. These videos help new hires gain an understanding of what makes that organization special. Employers can tap into the expertise of their creative team to make something unique that truly shows who they are as an organization. These should

focus less on highlighting the company’s revenue, perks or accolades, but instead on the purpose, DNA and future goals.

SET EMPLOYEES UP FOR SUCCESS TO HELP THEM GET IN SYNC

People need to know the rules to play the game — and it’s the responsibility of the employer to make these clear so new joiners can succeed. That can happen with a few simple steps.

It’s important to establish attainable goals and a timeline from the start. Clearly outlining projects not only makes the definition of success clear, but also enables managers to assess performance objectively. Assigning new employees a variety of individual projects and creative opportunities to work with stakeholders on bigger initiatives will help them spread their wings, achieve success and meet the fuller team.

Employers should also define processes for communication early in the process. Employees need to know if a company relies more on Slack, email or another system for daily chatter.

Understanding these nuances is key to collaboration.

Assigning a new hire buddy can provide a new person with a go-to resource for questions and concerns. They should be paired with someone at a similar level within the organization so their buddy can share relatable experiences and tips to keep in mind as they progress at the organization.

It’s also helpful to organize “meet and greets” with many different employees, even if each meeting is not with someone the new member will work with daily. Being unfamiliar with others on a company call can make someone feel like the odd man out, which can be detrimental to their experience. Eliminating this potential awkwardness by coordinating introductory chats allows the new hire to get to know more people.

WHAT TO KEEP IN MIND FOR BRINGING ON NEW WORKERS

By bringing personality and fun into the onboarding process, companies can get started on the right foot and help new workers feel connected, engaged and included. Remember, it is important not only to have a new joiner become familiar with the processes and workload on day one, but also to understand how each team works and collaborates on a daily basis.

Employees want a positive and engaging workplace experience.

Making cultural onboarding an important part of the process will set the stage for success and leave the best possible impression on organizations’ newest team members.

Companies must find ways for their company values to shine during onboarding so new employees feel included and see the organization as a community rather than just a means to a paycheck.

PEOPLE ARE KEY

Work from Anywhere? Benefits May Not Be as Flexible Considerations as remote working gains traction as a potential perk

by Doug Ramsthel

Working remote has truly come to mean working from anywhere as employees have started to move to their favorite vacation spots, closer to relatives and out of state to lowercost areas, so long as there is dependable internet. Remote working is now coming to be viewed as a potential perk to offer employees. However, this initial reaction of allowing work from anywhere may be shortsighted when employee benefit limitations are considered.

Employee benefits are designed to attract and retain employees, and, when they fall short and fail to offer the promised and expected benefits, can become a motivation for talent to leave. Employers should keep potential benefit limitations in mind before embracing a policy of letting employees work from anywhere.

Benefits often are limited by geography: As an example, if Kaiser is a company’s primary medical plan, moving to a location outside of where Kaiser is offered leaves an employee with no or very limited medical coverage. Under a PPO (preferred provider) plan, a less densely populated area may have a very limited network or perhaps only out-ofnetwork coverage, exposing both the employer and employee to significantly increased claims costs. Disability may function entirely differently from state to state due to statemandated disability coverage. Understanding these limits and communicating these clearly to the employee who is looking to relocate is extremely important to managing employee expectations and, ultimately, job satisfaction.

Challenges communicating and educating: Technology-aided attention deficit disorder was here well before COVID, but now it attacks with a sweeping vengeance.

Video conference call upon video conference call produces attention fatigue. Most people are guilty of answering emails and texts on these calls while pretending to pay attention.

Scientists have provided much data over the years that prove multi-tasking and lack of focus limit the ability for best thinking outcomes and reduce productivity. But most people charge on, ignoring this advice and doing as much at once as possible. Employers must cut through all this noise and communicate and develop an understanding of their programs in a fresh and concise manner, beyond just the obvious of conducting all this virtually. Communicating in an entirely different way will be required.

Mental health: This period of isolation has been tough for all of us, as we are social creatures. Going through this isolation has been very tough for a lot of us and we have experienced, close and personally, the importance and potential struggle of maintaining good mental health. Three out of five American workers reported feeling lonely during the pandemic, according to a Cigna study. The study found

that loneliness has a negative impact on work performance; 12% of lonely workers say they believe the quality of their work is not up to par. These workers also reported feeling “less engaged, less productive” and they constantly think about quitting their jobs.

According to the Mental Health Index: U.S. Worker Edition, employee stress levels, already considered high before the pandemic, rose 22%, and anxiety rose 45% since February 2020. Employees’ risk of depression is up 145% when compared to before the pandemic. Furthermore, general anxiety is up 80%, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is up 77% and social anxiety is up 61% since last year.

Allowing employees to work from anywhere will require an employee benefits package to beef up coverage and resources to promote and maintain good mental health for employees to remain productive and feel connected.

Benefits administration: With the complicated virtual world now and competing priorities, a company’s benefits administration system needs to be clear and easy for employees to understand and use. With the enhancements and improvement of UX (user experience), employers should consider making this tool a magnate for employees as a place to go for learning and development, company community, and company values and culture. Leaning on these tools to fill in the natural office culture and sense of community that occurs when everyone is together in a workplace but is lacking when employees work from anywhere has never been more important.

Managing the many complications and nuances of benefits that work-from-anywhere requires can be overwhelming.

Slowing down and taking the process step-by-step will enable employers to consider how, in the long run, embracing the virtual workplace can result in a more productive, engaged and happy workforce than was ever possible within the confines of an office.

An analysis by Global Workplace Analytics estimates that if an employee works remotely half the time, the employer will have a projected savings, on average, of $11,000 per year. Employees will also save by reducing costs associated with commuting, between $2,500 and $4,000 per year.

REMOTE WORK HAS PERKS AND PITFALLS Working from anywhere can improve quality of life and job satisfaction, but employees should not expect an employer to pick up the tab for a new in-home office setup — and the costs aren’t tax deductible.

Doug Ramsthel is a partner at Burnham Benefits, a Baldwin Risk Partners Company, one of the top 50 employee benefit consulting firms in the United States. burnhambenefits.com

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INVESTING IN COMMUNITY

Teaming Up with the Business Community to Achieve Bold Community Goals United Way’s community-centered five-year plan to create Mighty Change in Maricopa County

by Carla Vargas Jasa

A HEALTHY ARIZONA ECONOMY REQUIRES INCREASED POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION By 2020, 65% of all jobs will require postsecondary education and training beyond high school. Although there are plenty of paths to get there — technical institute, an apprenticeship, community college, university, military service — today there aren’t nearly enough adults in Arizona with the training or education needed to support a healthy economy the future will demand.

The Arizona Department of Education website offers information about postsecondary education and training in Arizona. azed.gov/cte/ctepostsecondary

Carla Vargas Jasa is the president and CEO of Valley of the Sun United Way in Phoenix, which serves the more than 4.3 million people of Maricopa County and is among the largest United Ways in the nation.

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A little over a year after the rampant rise of COVID-19, there’s hope on the horizon. Vaccination programs continue to roll out and the next round of stimulus checks are reaching many Arizona families. Although there is light at the end of the tunnel, recovery efforts could take years. Additionally, the pandemic shone a bright light on health and economic disparities, especially for communities of color that must be addressed for our community to effectively move forward.

For 95 years, Valley of the Sun United Way has served millions of individuals, children and families across Maricopa County. For our neighbors in need to be able to recover and rebuild, the idea of “change” isn’t bold enough. It’s time to kick down old barriers and champion news ways of thinking.

United Way is teaming up with the entire community to tackle systemic, interrelated issues that continue to create barriers to a quality education, accessible healthcare, affordable housing and a living wage. United Way is dedicated to redeploying its energies, realigning resources and engaging partners in new ways … to drive Mighty Change in our community.

In March, United Way unveiled its new five-year plan for Maricopa County, called MC2026, which shines a light on community-level goals and focuses our resources on achieving those goals. The new plan is a direct result of a year-long, community engagement and input process that included three surveys, 18 virtual town halls and 24 deep dive focus groups.

United Way’s community-centered planning process led to four key areas for the MC2026 plan. Woven into each of the strategies is a focus on diversity, equity, access and inclusion.

The main elements of the plan include: • Health: Remove barriers to ensure everyone in our community is healthy, with a focus on access to food and healthcare.

MC2026 Goal: Decrease food insecurity by 50% and increase the number of individuals with access to affordable care by 100,000 by 2026.

• Housing and Homelessness: Ensure all can have a safe home to call their own.

MC2026 Goal: Reduce homelessness by 50% by 2026.

• Education: Close opportunity gaps to ensure children read at grade level by 3rd grade and youth are prepared for educational success and employment by 2026.

MC2026 Goal: Increase the number of 3rd graders reading proficiently by 25% and increase the number of people aged 16 to 24 who are working and/or in school by 38% by 2026.

• Workforce Development: Open pathways to better paying jobs.

MC2026 Goal: Increase preparation of individuals for a living wage job by 33% and achievement of higher paying employment by 20% by 2026.

To achieve the objectives set out in the MC2026 plan, the organization will build upon its strong relationships with the Valley’s business leaders and will elevate opportunities to match corporations’ Corporate Social Responsibility objectives to the needs of our community.

An exciting area of exploration, within the MC2026 plan, is how United Way and corporate partners might co-create new strategies to support programs that provide opportunities for individuals to participate in work-based learning, apprenticeship and mentoring experiences.

In February, United Way had more than 60 local CEO and business leaders join United Way’s CEO Advisory Circle, which will serve as a “kitchen cabinet” of thought partners to the organization, advising how to best engage the Valley’s business community in achieving the bold five-year goals.

United Way will also leverage its partnerships with the Greater Phoenix Economic Council and Valley Leadership to mobilize leaders to meaningfully impact the most pressing issues facing Arizona.

Jeff Guldner, chairman, president and CEO of Pinnacle West Capital Corp and board chair of GPEC, stated, “You [United Way] can be a connector . . . that is United Way’s power and is what it’s known for — to connect us with those innovators, the partners it has in the community — that will have ideas we haven’t thought of.”

More than ever before, consumers want to engage with companies that are helping society in meaningful ways.

Companies want their brands to be perceived as contributing to the greater “social good” in an authentic way. United Way serves at the nexus of our community; as the connector to solutions that continue to change lives. The organization is uniquely positioned to activate employee engagement, elevate company brand and meet the critical needs of our community to create . . . Mighty Change.

Valley of the Sun United Way’s new MC2026 plan addresses the larger interconnected areas of Health, Housing and Homelessness; Education; and Workforce Development. The five-year plan is a direct result of a year-long, community engagement process and is the new direction for United Way. vsuw.org/mightychange

WE VALUE WHAT WE OWN

2021 Tesla Model Y

The 2021 Tesla Model Y is a fully electric small SUValmost-crossover. Roomy and built with all the bells and “technology” of a Tesla, the Model Y will bring the future to the driving experience.

With an overnight charge at home, this Tesla will wake up to a full battery every morning. And when on the road, it’s easy to plug in along the way — at any public station or with the Tesla charging network. Tesla currently has more than 20,000

Superchargers worldwide, with six new locations opening every week, making it easy to take that road trip.

Fully equipped with Tesla All-Wheel Drive, this model has two ultra-responsive, independent electric motors that digitally control torque to the front and rear wheels — for far better handling, traction and stability control. Model Y is capable in rain, snow, mud and off-road.

With the car’s elevated seating position and low dash, the driver has a commanding view of the road ahead. The interior of Model Y is simple and clean, with a 15-inch touchscreen, immersive sound system and an expansive all-glass roof that creates extra headroom and provides a seamless view of the sky. A 15-inch touchscreen display designed to improve over time will command all. Over-the-air software updates introduce new features, functionality and performance on a regular basis, keeping Teslas always up-to-date (as well as up to speed …)

Like every Tesla, Model Y is designed to be the safest vehicle in its class. The low center of gravity, rigid body structure and large crumple zones provide unparalleled protection. And the rear, side and forward-facing cameras provide maximum visibility.

—Mike Hunter

2021 TESLA MODEL Y MSRP: $39,990 Range: 303 miles (EPA est.)

Dual Motor All-Wheel Drive Top Speed: 155 mph 0–60: 3.5 sec

Tesla tesla.com

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perception of direct eye contact by looking at the camera.

This challenge isn’t new. Actors and newscasters have long known the need to look at the camera to connect with their Photos courtesy of Tesla (top), Eyelinez (bottom)

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Auto Pilot: All new Tesla cars come standard with emergency braking, collision warning, blind-spot monitoring and more. Model Y will have Full Self-Driving capability, enabling automatic driving on city streets and highways pending regulatory approval, as well as the ability to come find its owner anywhere in a parking lot.

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MEALS THAT MATTER

GRILLED TROUT Chula Seafood trout, pork belly, native white bean hash, pickled Romanesco shishitos, smoked bacon butter sauce and parsley, served with pickled red onion salad $29

$28

COCOFLAN White chocolate milk crumble, raspberry mousse, mesquite tuile and fresh raspberries $12 David Mora is the executive chef at Ghost Ranch. Reflecting the multicultural history of the region, Ghost Ranch dishes embody the spirit and possibility of the Wild West with hearty cowboy steaks, smoky rancho beans and largerthan-life taco platters.

Ghost Ranch honors the history of Arizona by offering guests exceptional hospitality in a setting inspired by the iconic red rocks and beauty of the desert.

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A Tempe-based restaurant bringing heat to the Valley

by David Mora

Navigating through the fire that 2020 imposed upon the hospitality industry was tough. As a restaurant that takes pride in the experience we provide for our customers, we knew being able to do so from a distance would be a difficult feat.

Unwilling to sacrifice our identity, Ghost Ranch shut its doors from July to January to take the time to perfect our craft before reopening them to the community. Coming onboard as the new executive chef, I knew I wanted to preserve the classics that our guests love while introducing specials that highlight local vendors who need the support as much as we do. We have stayed true to our mission and are more confident than ever in our in cuisine.

Keeping the history of Arizona at our core, the ambiance at Ghost Ranch continues to showcase the beauty of the desert. As we are focused on providing a safe experience for all our guests during this unique time, we strive to rise above expectations and provide a safe experience for all of our guests and follow COVID-19 protocols set by the CDC to keep our space as clean and safe as possible. We continue to require masks when guests are not seated and ensure that our staff members are always wearing face coverings. Beyond that, our tables are spaced out and sanitized whenever possible. Plus, our menus are still accessible through QR codes that can be viewed at guests’ convenience. We strive to make Ghost Ranch much more than just a culinary experience, but a place that provides comfort and the spirit of the Wild West.

Our extensive menu embodies flavor of the Southwest and remains loyal to Mexican favorites. One of our all-time best sellers, the Queso Fundido, combines a cheese blend, Schreiner’s chorizo and pico de gallo, and is served up with hand-made tortillas. Our classic Roasted Chicken Enchiladas,

one of three enchilada dishes on the menu, are topped with our famous green sauce and served with frijoles charros and rice. To spice things up, a hearty Cowboy Steak provides guests with 14 ounces of prime ribeye, cooked to perfection and served with our crowd-favorite Chimayo Chile Sauce. We pride ourselves on having options for all and our menu also has many vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options.

For weekend warriors, we continue to serve up brunch that highlights our signature sizzling flavors. The Red Adobo Breakfast Burrito is a wonderful combination of ingredients that include chicken, beans, eggs, cheese, pico de gallo, avocado and heirloom tomatoes. To pack on even more heat, a side of our Chimayo Chile Sauce should do the trick. To sweeten things up Southwest style, the Tres Leches French Toast is a twist on the classic with Agave Crème Anglaise to honor the popular Sonoran plant.

Ghost Ranch is proud to be back and serving Arizona’s community. We know it’s important that we stay true to our roots and continue to inspire the spirit of the Wild West regardless of the circumstances.

Ghost Ranch 1006 E. Warner Rd., Tempe (480) 474-4328 ghostranchaz.com opens at 3 p.m. during the week, at 11 a.m. on the weekend

Ghost kitchens are a growing trend in the restaurant industry that enables off-site dining. Ghost Ranch is a full-service restaurant that serves up a Southwest ambience along with its cuisine.

Photos courtesy of Ghost Ranch

POLLO ASADO Grilled Two Wash Ranch half chicken, creamy Hayden Flour Mills polenta green chile jus, sweet potato hash and roasted Cippolini onion

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2555 E. Camelback Rd., Suite 180 Phoenix, Arizona 85016 MAY 2021

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Why WESTMARC? • Much of the imminent growth of Maricopa County is, and is projected to continue to be, in the West Valley.

• WESTMARC is at the center of industries; partners; and political, business, education and nonprofit leadership capital in the region.

• WESTMARC is the West Valley’s organization providing its stakeholders the opportunity for Connection, Collaboration, Recognition and ACTION.

Welcome to WESTMARC

by Sintra Hoffman

Greater Phoenix West Valley has achieved tremendous growth over the last several decades. An influx of residents and businesses is helping the region shed its image as a bedroom community, now earning its reputation as a great place to live, work and play. Today, more than 1.7 million people call the West Valley home, and its population over the next five years is projected to grow at twice the national rate of growth. The region’s mix of luxury and affordable housing contributes to a diverse community that attracts both executives and first-time home buyers. The West Valley’s average household income is currently 75,566 and continues to rise.

West Valley amenities attract people to the region. These well-known areas include State Farm Stadium (home of the Arizona Cardinals), Gila River Arena (home of the Arizona Coyotes), Phoenix Raceway (home of NASCAR Championship Race), Westgate, P83 and Park West entertainment districts. Additionally, the region is home to five spring training stadiums and numerous outdoor recreation opportunities at three regional parks — Lake Pleasant, White Tank Mountains and Estrella Mountains parks. Unique dining options are also on the rise but likely kept a secret by locals in the sub-regions of this 3,000-square-mile mega-region.

The West Valley’s large talent pool, affordable cost of living, ease of doing business and availability of land has attracted healthcare, advanced business services and advanced manufacturing and distribution companies to the region. Recent business announcements include Microsoft, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC), Ball Corporation, White Claw and many more, bringing thousands of jobs for talented West Valley residents.

Luke Air Force Base is another great asset for the local economy and talent pool.

Luke is a major economic driver in the region with an economic impact of 2.2 billion in the State of Arizona. Each year, more than 600 professionals separate from military service and many stay here, adding to the strong workforce in the region.

The West Valley has a solid transportation infrastructure network that provides regional and interstate connections from coast to coast, to global markets through California ports of entry and direct links to Mexico, our nation’s leading trading partner.

Many West Valley freeways continue to strategically attract major industries based on location, amenities and great community planning.

To round out the West Valley’s story, the region is served by more than 25 postsecondary colleges, universities and career technical education (West-MEC) and numerous public and private K-12 education school districts, which include award winning districts.

As president and CEO of WESTMARC, I’m proud to represent, market and work with our partners in attracting quality company and jobs for our residents. WESTMARC is the collaborative hub for business, government, education and nonprofits ready to charge forward and lead the West Valley’s growth.

ENHANCE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE REGION • West Valley Pipeline – A 5-year Strategic Plan to promote and grow the West Valley’s workforce • Target Industries: Aerospace Advanced Business Services Advanced Manufacturing Healthcare Information Technology Transportation and Logistics • Greater Maricopa Foreign Trade Zone (GMFTZ) • Promote West Valley quality of life and protect the region’s natural assets • Pursue infrastructure programs INCREASE MEMBER VALUE • West Valley’s Legislative Voice • Innovative, Informational and Connective: Summits Signature Events Forums Asset Tours • Key Issue Committees: Economic Development Education and Workforce Development Healthcare Infrastructure Public Affairs West Valley Quality of Life • Business Connections • Strategic Regional Advancement We highlight our Members and their Initiatives: • Regional and Statewide Media • Social Media • Marketing Materials • WESTMARC Website • Marketing Collaborations MEMBERSHIP LEVELS • Chairman’s Circle • Premier Partner • Platinum • Gold • Silver • Bronze 15 Communities … One Voice!

Working Together to Advance the West Valley

Here We Grow! The West Valley on the Rise

by Ilana Lowery

The West Valley has seen significant growth over the past two to three years across just about all industries. From commercial and residential real estate to health care and employment to manufacturing and supply-chain management — the region has been on the positive side of progress.

“The West Valley has taken on a special role in our region during the COVID pandemic,” said Suzanne Kinney, president, and CEO of the Arizona Chapter of NAIOP. “As more commerce moves online, warehouses and distribution centers in the West Valley have made it possible to provide essential goods to our population in a timely and efficient manner.

“The region’s excellent infrastructure, strategic location, qualify workforce and affordable land cost all make it an ideal location for continued growth of these critical facilities,” she said.

Residential Booming

More than 1.7 million people call the West Valley home, and its population over the next five years is projected to grow at twice the national rate of growth. By 2030, the West Valley will be home to 2,094,824 residents, according to the Maricopa Association of Governments.

Fortunately, the current housing market is healthy and robust with a mix of high-end and affordable housing in the West Valley that is attracting both executives and first- time home buyers.

Residential projects in the pipeline include: • In Avondale, Brookfield Residential Properties Inc. is developing Alamar, a 1,130-acre master-planned community with nearly 3,700 homes.

• Georgia-based homebuilder Ashton Woods purchased a vacant 328-acre parcel at the northwest corner of Happy Valley Road and the 75th Avenue in Peoria for $72.6 million at a state land auction.

• Shea Homes bought 415 acres adjacent to the land that Ashton bought in last year. The company already has built two other communities called Alora Vita near that parcel.

• In Surprise, Toll Brothers is developing a master-planned community called Sterling Grove with a 750-acre gated golf course community. They expect to sell 2,200 homes ranging from the mid$300,000s to the low-$500,000s.

• Maracay Homes, which focuses on the second-home market with properties averaging $600,000, has three communities in the West Valley where the builder is offering a variety of home prices.

• Lennar Homes has several West Valley projects on the drawing board, including a $600 million investment in Asante, where the company is looking to build 2,000 entry- level to luxury homes near 163rd Avenue and Deer Valley Road in Surprise.

Supply Increases for Manufacturing

Goodyear consistently has been a top submarket for industrial and logistics development in the Valley. There was 3.2 million square feet of industrial space under construction in that city at the end of thirdquarter 2020, according to CoStar. Amazon is on track to become Goodyear’s largest employer and will have nearly 3,000 employees in the city by the end of 2021.

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China-based mattress manufacturer Mlily purchased 643,798 square feet of industrial space in Goodyear for a facility to make its memory-foam products. The city of Goodyear and Globe Corp. also formed a partnership to develop a 120,000-square-foot building housing Goodyear City Hall, a public park and 100,000 square feet of speculative Class A office space.

The rise of e-commerce and strain on the supply chain over the past 10 months has made the need for industrial space a top priority for business.

Wholesale food distributor Kehe leased 471,205 square feet in Glendale, and construction is underway on a 465,000-square-foot Amazon fulfillment center in Surprise that is expected to open in late 2021.

Shopping for Retail Space

The retail story for much of the Valley has been bleak because of Covid-19, with big-boxes closing, mall stores shuttering and small businesses struggling to stay afloat. In Peoria, however, city officials have laid out an “aggressive” economic development plan, according to Mayor Cathy Carlat.

Peoria is looking to attract “the type of private investments and businesses we know our residents want, Carlat said.

One of those development projects is the Park West retail center at Northern and 91st avenues, which has just undergone a 4 million make over and now boasts more than three dozen eateries, entertainment and shopping options.

“Park West has focused on providing the West Valley’s premier

INBUSINESSPHX.COM

dining destination with recent openings of multiple award- winning, chef-driven restaurants, including Hash Kitchen, Sicilian Butcher, and Jalapeno Inferno, with more coming soon including Wildflower Bread Co.,” said Kelly Price, business development manager for CIRE Equity.

Price added that Park West was the fastest-growing retail center in Arizona in 2020 with seven new store openings.

Another project gaining momentum in is Stadium Point, a mixed-use development near the Peoria Sports Complex. The land, which is owned by the city, is along 83rd Avenue south of Bell Road and includes more than 1 million square feet of development on 17 acres. The project will feature Class A office, parking, retail and dining, as well as a hotel, residential, retail and entertainment.

Health Care

In addition to residential, retail and manufacturing, medical office and specialty health care development is looking to the West Valley for the future. One of the most promising projects is the Akos medical campus in the Avondale Health- Tech Corridor north of Interstate 10.

“The West Valley has been underserved and was prime for an affordable access to top health care providers, physicians and specialists,” said Timothy Cozatt, investor relations officer for Akos. “Housing and

Dan Kelly, Senior Vice President - DMB Jim Kenny, President - El Dorado Holdings The Honorable Michael LeVault, Mayor - Town of Youngtown Cole Libera, Director of City & County Government Relations - Dorn commercial growth onPatrick the westside have President of Business Operations & Strategic Devel Murphy, WESTMARC Staff accelerated at a fast pace with many Bill Olson, Senior Vice President, Division Manager - Newland Real E affordable housing options for families. Sadly, Sintra Hoffman The Honorable Councilmember - City of Avondale basic services and infrastructure such asMike Pineda, President and CEO health care or retail establishments were Michele Pino, Commercial Site Selection & Industrial Spec. - Land A Neil Terry struggling to keep pace.”

Julie Rees, Principal - Triadvocates Chairman of the Board of Directors The Akos medical campus estimates hiring Partner The Honorable Chris Riggs, Mayorat -Orcutt TownWinslow of Gila Bend between 500-600 net new high-wage jobs Kimberly Jordan Dr. Rey Rivera, President Estrella Mountain Community College for physicians, nurses, technologists and Director, Strategic Partnerships and Theand Honorable support staff in Avondale Surprise. Juan F. Rodriguez, Mayor - City of Tolleson Business Development Work on Phase 2 ofThe the Akos campus, Rebecca Hays Rovey, Councilmember - Town of Wic Honorable Emily Striffler which includes a sister building with Dr. Teresa Leyba Ruiz, President - Glendale College Business OperationsCommunity Manager complimentary services, has started. There Mike Theile, Senior Vice President, Commercial Relationship Manag Orus Bronson are clinical and surgical practices in the Graphic Design and Marketing Rogerpractice Theis,and Director of Development - Brookfi eld Properties Develo pipeline, including a dental sleep lab.

Job Growth

Coordinator

Ex-Officio Board Members

Sandra Bassett, President & CEO - West Valley Arts Council The Honorable Michelle Hess, Executive Director - Leadership West Kevin Knight, District Director - Congressman David Schweikert’s O Events Dates Office Penny Pew, District Director -Upcoming Congressman Paul&Gosar’s Tom Sadler, President & CEO - Arizona Sports and Tourism Authorit May 11 Ron Sites, Executive DirectorEconomic - Fighter Country Summit Partnership Development Christopher Toale, Director Community Initiatives Team – Luke Air F May 26

It’s that kind of hiring activity that keeps West Valley leaders optimistic about new employment opportunities in the region.

Currently, about 36% of metro Phoenix’s health care talent; 32% of its finance and insurance labor; and 34% of manufacturing workers reside in the West Valley.

By 2030, 40 percent of the metro’s population growth will occur in the West Valley.

Companies such as Chewy, Farmers Insurance, SK Food Group, UPS, Andersen Corp., and others have either located to or expanded in West Valley cities in the past three years with hiring numbers in the thousands.

Honorary Director

Hot Topics - Residential & Retail Growth

June 1 The Honorable Doug Ducey, Governor – State of Arizona West Valley Industry Spotlight & Job

Director Emeritus

Matching Forum: Manufacturing June 10 Legislative Breakfast

The Honorable Janice K. Brewer, Past-Governor – State of Arizona

Newly Elected Board of Director Chair Neil Terry Neil Terry is a partner with Orcutt Winslow, a locally founded architectural and interior design firm with offices also in Nashville and Dallas/Ft. Worth. He primarily oversees the firm’s Senior Living studio, which he expanded to serve a national market. He is proud of the number of state veterans homes that Orcutt Winslow has been honored to design, winning WESTMARC its 12th home recently in Kentucky. Throughout 6751 N. Sunset Blvd. Suite 210 his career, he has had the pleasure of designing Glendale, AZ 85305 numerous types of buildings, making for an interesting volume of work.

Terry works closely with clients to create a well-orchestrated game plan and has led numerous Tel. 623.435.0431 design teams seeking to achieve the client’s goals through interactive communication and westmarc.org continuous monitoring. He has helped to develop a strong, customer-focused environment at Orcutt Winslow with an emphasis on developing trends in design solutions.

Terry strongly believes in using his design experience to help solve community challenges.

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Marcus Braithwaite Manager, Digital Marketing & Special Events

July 28 Hot Topics - Employment Growth – Office/Manufacturing/Supply Chain Sept. 21 Healthcare Summit Sept. 22 Hot Topics - Workforce Development Sept. 24 Annual Golf Classic

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MAY 2021

59

Goo

2021: A Year in Transition — What is on the Horizon for the West Valley?

By Ilana Lowery

As Covid vaccines continue to roll out and restrictions are lifted by Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, CEOs are facing pressure to make decisions about when and how professionals will return to office work.

Reports say that by mid-summer, a good portion of the workingage population should be vaccinated, which will play a significant role in how and when employees go back to work. And as workers prepare to return to the office, productivity, technology, communication, and collaboration are at the forefront of every manager’s mind.

Commercial real estate experts say new office space is being engineered for maximum social distancing, touch-free operations and air and surface sanitization.

Paul Komadina, Phoenix-based senior managing director at CBRE, said regardless of how workspaces are configured, offices are being prepared for near-term occupancy with Covid-19 safety protocols and considerations in mind.

According to the most recent data from CBRE, 93% of the firm’s clients are preparing for office re-entry with social distancing floorplans; 93% are also implementing an increased/modified cleaning schedule; and 74% have a phased re-entry plan. Additionally, CBRE property management professionals are reporting a shift in the most sought-after building amenities.

“Features such as enhanced indoor air quality, touchless technologies, and outdoor amenities have increased in popularity because of Covid,” Komadina said.

Trends in Employment

Demand for industrial space in the West Valley was growing before the COVID-19 pandemic, but the rise of e-commerce and a strain on the supply chain over the past year, has made the need for industrial space a top priority for business.

“Throughout the pandemic, the West Valley has continued to attract new companies,” said Sintra Hoffman, president and CEO of WESTMARC, a public-private coalition of 15 West Valley communities.

“While many small businesses were impacted, larger companies in health care, manufacturing and logistics increased their investments to meet changing consumer behaviors,” she said.

In addition to residential, retail and manufacturing, medical office and specialty health care development also has been scooping up real estate in the West Valley. One of those projects is the Akos medical campus in the Avondale Health-Tech Corridor north of Interstate 10. The new medical campus estimates between 500-600 net new high-wage jobs for physicians, nurses, technologists and support staff in Avondale and Surprise.

Officials in Avondale also recently announced significant health care locates with the expansion of Phoenix Children’s Hospital and ClearSky Rehabilitation Hospital.

Additionally, Banner Health recently added a 53 million Glendale health center — one of its largest — to its portfolio of growing properties throughout the Valley.

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New Opportunities

Opportunities in the West Valley for Class A office space has been limited, but one of the newest projects to come online in Goodyear will include 100,000 square feet of Class A speculative office space.

The city of Goodyear and Scottsdale-based Globe Corp. formed a public-private partnership to develop 47 acres owned near 150th Drive and McDowell Road. The projects will include a 120,000-squarefoot building housing Goodyear City Hall and city departments, a civic park and the spec class A office space.

The suburban “office renaissance” has made the West Valley — Goodyear in particular — a popular place to build, said Mike Olsen, CFO of Globe Corp.

According to a study by CBRE, 95 percent of the workforce in Goodyear commutes to downtown Phoenix. The oftentimes brutal Interstate 10 drive into work in one reason Olsen is optimistic about the Globe project.

“Having the city of Goodyear as partner made it easier to build the project on spec,” he said. “While Goodyear is nationally recognized as a hotspot for industrial development, we felt like we could pull in a corporate tenant.”

Olsen said Globe already is beginning to work on branding and on the retail space that will be part of the overall project, recently named GSQ-Goodyear.

The first phase includes the city hall and the Class A office space, and it is expected to be finished in June, but Olsen said Globe is working to finish the civic park area by November to commemorate the city of Goodyear’s 75th anniversary with a celebration in the park.

Reimagined Workspaces

As a result of the pandemic and more than a year of work-at-home scenarios, companies are rethinking space needs going forward.

Corporate headquarters are giving way to satellite offices around the Valley now that the concept of remote work is a productive and, for some, a welcome reality.

There are several existing properties in the West Valley for shared, reimagined and reuse spaces, said Hoffman, adding that the West Valley has a strong and talented workforce with 32% of advance business workers residing in the region. This presents many options for satellite offices in existing, reuse or new spaces.

For example, in late 2019, San Diego real estate developer PMB converted the former Dickinson Palm Valley 14 movie theater in Goodyear into a medical plaza, a “uniquely challenging adaptive reuse project” according to Mark Toothacre, president of PMB. The project repurposed the 50,000-square-foot, 1980s-era multiplex movie theater into state-of-the-art medical offices. The multitenant medical space is 100% leased with tenants including Abrazo Medical Group, Abrazo Wound Clinic, Arizona Pain Doctors, Cardiovascular Consultants, MedCure, SimonMed Imaging, and STI Physical Therapy.

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Commercial Real Estate

SPOTLIGHT ON THE BEST

Prologis Is Making Big Moves General description and history of the firm

The world’s largest industrial REIT with more than 984 million square feet in 19 countries, and the world’s foremost industrial developer, Prologis is redefining logistics real estate to better serve today’s complex supply chain demands.

• Prologis’ 1,700 employees work closely with its 5,500 customers to provide effective supply chain solutions while focusing on sustainability.

More than 486,000 people who go to work in the USA and 850,000 around the world are under Prologis’s roofs each day.

• Globally, Prologis’s economic reach exceeds $2.2 trillion of goods that flow through its distribution centers each year, representing 3.5% of the world’s GDP. • Many of Prologis’s global properties are designed to achieve LEED certification. Prologis is ranked

as one of the Global Top 100 Sustainable Organizations in the World as well as receiving the top award for the seventh year in a row, NARIET’s.

General description and size of the firm’s industrial real estate portfolio in Arizona

Prologis’s Phoenix portfolio is comprised of 70-plus buildings totaling more than 11 million square feet and more than 150 customers in Tolleson, Goodyear, Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa and Chandler.

In 2021, Prologis will continue a customer-centric strategy; acquire land for new development; continue being forward-looking in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) areas; and invest in energy-efficient innovative building designs, including constructing to LEED specifications. All of these are tied to Prologis’s business strategy of creating greater value for its customers.

AT-A-GLANCE Company Name: Prologis Office Address: 2525 E. Camelback Rd., Suite 400, Phoenix, AZ 85016 Phone: (602) 474-8350 Website: www.prologis.com Number of Offices in Metro Phoenix: 1 Number of Commercial Agents: 15 local employees, with six (6) employees having an Arizona Real Estate License City Nationally Headquartered: San Francisco CEO/Managing Director: Jeff Foster |, VP, Market Officer No. of Years with Firm: 18 Year Established Locally: Prologis (NYSE:PLD) was founded in 1983 and is now the world’s largest industrial REIT, with 38 years in the Arizona market.

Specialties: Logistics Real Estate

Prologis continues to make big moves in key Phoenix submarkets. 2020 was a particularly meaningful year for Prologis, as the firm’s impact in the commercial real estate industry and greater Phoenix community continues to grow.

Phoenix Leases & Renewals • 1,641,242 square feet of projects completed or under construction • 25 new leases — total square feet: 1,832,904 • 23 renewals — total square feet: 367,736

Some of the most notable aquations in 2020 include: • IPT Portfolio: 883,547 square feet — 11 buildings with 92% occupancy • Sky Harbor Business Center: 127,013 square feet — 3 buildings with 95% occupancy • A total of 1,010,560 square feet

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MAY 2021

61

West Valley Freeways Pave Way For More Economic Growth

By Ilana Lowery

The West Valley has become a driving force for economic growth in Arizona, and the region is staying in the fast lane with development along five hot business corridors.

Its proximity to California ports and strategic connections to Mexico and the CANAMEX Corridor historically have provided the West Valley with the ability to attract companies and workforce talent — but now, those opportunities are booming as significant freeway development and advanced industry corridors circle the western suburbs.

According to Sintra Hoffman, president and CEO of WESTMARC, there is more than 11 million square feet of approved square footage for office, entertainment, health care and retail and other advanced industries along freeway frontage in the West Valley.

These key commerce corridors highlight diverse and industryspecific uses, and the region serves as a major transportation hub and access point via roughly 200 miles of freeway frontage along the Loops 101, 202 and 303 and Interstates 10 and 17.

Loop 202 Technology Corridor

The South Mountain Freeway has long been part of the region’s transportation plans. It was funded in part by Proposition 400, a dedicated sales tax approved by Maricopa County voters in 2004.

The state’s largest freeway construction project, at 1.7 billion, took three years to construct and added 22 miles of freeway to the existing Phoenix metro transportation system. The freeway connects the East and West Valley, while providing much-needed relief to existing freeway corridors and local streets. The new portion of the 202 also provides improved access to Tucson and southern Arizona’s trade opportunities.

Most commercial development along the 202 corridor is industrial with some retail inventory. Economic development leaders in both Phoenix and the West Valley eventually want to see a diverse development mix built along the corridor with a focus on employment opportunities. Over 9 million square feet of retail, office and light industrial is planned in the West Valley along Loop 202.

“The new 202 Freeway offers a rare opportunity in a vast new employment corridor,” said Christine Mackay, director, Phoenix Community and Economic Development. “We created the South Mountain Technology Corridor as an area of modern business campuses for advanced manufacturing, business services and emerging industries.”

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Loop 303

Although planned commercial uses for Loop 303 focus on industrial, advanced manufacturing, distribution, retail, and logistics, the 303 Corridor — specifically in Glendale and Goodyear — is one of the hottest areas for large-scale industrial development.

The industrial logistics space in the 303 Corridor in Glendale and Goodyear is expected to grow by more than 200%, from 15 million square feet to 50 million square feet in the next five to six years as the two cities add manufacturing and logistics companies, capitalizing on their location.

The most recent and active West Valley development area is along the 34-mile Loop 303. Recent wins for the area include Ball Metal Beverage Container Corp., Red Bull, Arizona Isotopes Corp., Daimler Trucks North America, XPO Logistics, SubZero, REI, Dicks Sporting Goods, 83 Marketplace, Prasada and Auto Show.

The cities of Surprise and Peoria have targeted residential development need-driven uses such as a retail/commercial corridor, health care and technology park employment opportunities.

A joint venture between CRG, the real estate development arm of Chicago-based Clayco, and Phoenix-based Bird Dog Industrial, is planning a 335-acre industrial park that will eventually total 5.5 million square feet of space near Loop 303 in Glendale.

Just north of the Clayco project at the Woolf Logistics Center, both Red Bull and Mark Anthony Brewing have developed manufacturing facilities. That site is northeast of where a Canadian REIT bought 108 acres and plans to build a 2.25-million-square-foot industrial park called Sarival Logistics Center.

Also coming online is the first phase of the 115 million Park 303 industrial park, which includes 1.2 million square feet of Class A industrial space in Glendale, near Loop 303 and Glendale Avenue. The first phase is part of a larger master plan that will include 4.5 million square feet of new industrial space and cost an estimated 430 million.

Loop 101

With developments such as Desert Diamond Casino, Westgate Entertainment District, Topgolf, Arrowhead Mall and a newly refreshed Park West, if you’re looking for a place to play, eat or shop, you will find a variety of options along Loop 101 in the West Valley.

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The entertainment and employment corridor has been in development for nearly 20 years with the opening of Westgate in 2004. Westgate is home to both the Arizona Cardinals NFL and Arizona Coyotes NHL teams, as well as restaurants, retail and entertainment venues.

Spring Training also has been a big draw in the area with Major League baseball teams all play along the corridor in Phoenix and Peoria.

Additional office employment, retail and entertainment are also on the drawing board along Loop 101, including a new family entertainment center called Crystal Lagoon.

Interstate 10

Because 36% of health care workforce live in the West Valley, a well-planned medical corridor has been developed along I-10 that stretches from Goodyear to Avondale to Phoenix with major health care facilities and Fortune 500 companies. The corridor houses Cancer Treatment Centers of America, the Abrazo West Campus, Adelante Healthcare, Akos Medical Group, Iora Health, Copper Springs Hospital and Integrated Medical Services.

I-10, which is one of only three transcontinental routes connecting both the East and West coasts of the U.S. providing access to international ports of entry, runs right through the West Valley.

Because it connects to other freeways, development along the interstate has been key to strategic growth in the region.

The 303 Empire is taking shape one Big Box at a time BTS & leasing opportunities 10,000 - 1.2 MSF INBUSINESSPHX.COM

According to Lisa Lantz, economic development analyst for the city of Avondale, there are more than 3 million square feet of industrial product under construction within the Fairway 10 project fronting the freeway corridor in Avondale.

There also is speculation that Samsung is eyeing a 1,100-acre site in Goodyear just off the I-10 that the city recently designated a foreign trade zone for a 17 billion semiconductor plant.

In the city of Buckeye, investments along I-10 and State Route 85 include new businesses such as Five Below, Parker Fasteners and Arizona Public Service. LGE Design Build also is constructing an 862,000- square-foot speculative industrial building at I-10 and Miller Road.

Interstate 17

The I-17 corridor is another main trade connector for Arizona, linking the Phoenix metro area to commerce in northern Arizona and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

In the West Valley, this economic corridor is home to several finance and insurance employers. That may be because 32% of those industry employees in Maricopa County live in the West Valley.

Advanced business services in the area include USAA, Blue Cross/ Blue Shield, Farmers Insurance and Wells Fargo.

Grand Canyon University and several other private colleges and public universities also are part of the I-17 corridor.

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Anable, Susan, 34

Elliot, Doc, 47

Marconi, Andrea, 45

Sheppard, Patrick, 16

Arambula, Nick, 14

Hansen, Mark, 14

Mora, David, 54

Sherman, Tova, 49

Berg, David, 10

Harter, Jim, 35

Mulhern, Bob, 24

Stallings, Wendi, 15

Butler, Tyler, 46

Hughes, Stephanie, 18

Nahra, Maya, 20

Sulimko, Aleksandra, 50

Carlton, Eric, 15

Kawamori, Kentaro, 22

Orr, Mike, 24

Sylva, Deb, 12

Citrin, James M., 35

Kelly, Carrie, 24

Osmani, Bassel, 12

Taleikis, Karolis, 22

Clifton, Jim, 35

Kotter, Dave, 24

Padelford, Rick, 24

Teeter, Carrie, 24

Coppola, Craig, 24

Kremer, Curt, 24

Quinn, Mark, 53

Vargas Jasa, Carla, 52

Crutchfield, Walter, 9

Lamberth, Nathan, 20

Ramsthel, Doug, 51

Wakefield, Melynn K., 10

D’Andrea, Michael, 24

Leadley, Lauri, 10

Romero, Jason, 44

Weber, Bruce, 48

Davis, Andrea, 24

LeMaster, Justin, 24

Rosenthal, Adam R., 35

Wright, Ricky, 11

DeRosa, Darleen, 35

Maderazzo, Christopher, 18

Schaffer, Carl, 12

Yaverbaum, Eric, 66

Ebert, Mike, 24

Maderazzo, Steve, 18

Schwarz, Steven, 24

11Eleven Consulting, 46

Fired Pie, 12

Raymond James, 17

TheSoul Publishing, 50

A Su Salud, 12

First Bank, 8

reachAbility, 49

UnitedHealthcare, 3

Alanté, 14

George Oliver Companies, 24

RED Development, 24

Valley of the Sun United Way, 52

Alkaline Water Company, The, 11

Ghost Ranch, 54

Redirect Health, 10

Valley Sleep Center, 10

Andrea Davis CRE, 24

Handwrytten, 12

Related Group, 24

Verizon, 12

Arizona Association for Economic Development, 24

Hopewell Development, 24

Revel Surf Parks, 16

ViaWest Group, 24

Ideation Design Group, 12

Snell & Wilmer, 67

Vintage Partners, 9

Integrity Capital, 24

SunCap Property Group, 24

Wakeman Integrity, LLC, 10

IPRoyal, 22

Super Electric, 18

Weber Group, 48

Jive, 8

Terros Health, 20

WESTMARC, 55

JLL, 63

Tesla, 53

Willmeng Construction, 15

Arizona Association of REALTORS®, 24 Arizona Commerce Authority, 2 Arizona Community Foundation, 7 Arizona Manufacturing Partnership, 68 Arizona State University, 19

Kiterocket, 21

Bashas’, 46

Larry H. Miller Dealerships, 12

Burnham Benefits, 51

Lee & Associates Arizona, 24

Canyon State Electric, 18

Merit Partners, 56

CBRE, 24

Neighbor, 14

CHASSE Building Team, 16

Nuuaria, 20

Colliers, 15, 24

OptumCare, 5

Comunale Properties, 15

Pendergast Elementary School District, 64

Cox Communications, 34 Desert Financial Wealth Management, 17

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Persefoni, 22 Phoenix Training Group, 47

Desert Financial, 44

Pita Jungle, 12

Divvy, 6

Private Label International, 15

Ericho Communications, 66

Prologis, 61

Eyelinez, 53

PROShred Arizona, 12

Fennemore, 45

Quarles & Brady, 19

In each issue of In Business Magazine, we list both companies and indivuduals for quick reference. See the stories for links to more.

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A CANDID FORUM

BY

Branding and Politics Why so many companies are taking a stand now

by Eric Yaverbaum

Eric Yaverbaum, CEO of Ericho Communications, is a communications, media and public relations expert with more than 40 years in the industry, having co-founded Jericho Communications and served as president from 1985 until its successful sale in 2006. Yaverbaum has worked with a wide range of top-of-theirindustry clients, including Sony, IKEA and fitness guru Jack LaLanne.

Yaverbaum is also a bestselling author who literally wrote the book on public relations — the industry-standard bestseller Public Relations for Dummies — as well as six other titles.

He will be recounting his lifelong ability to look toward the bright side for his upcoming book The Audacity of Silver Linings, set to release in 2022. He is a regular TV pundit, and his expert commentary has been featured in Forbes, The New York Times, MSNBC and Fox Business, Inc., among others. erichopr.com

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INBUSINESSPHX.COM

The corporate furor over new restrictive voting laws currently being advanced across the country is the latest example of corporations rewriting how they are engaging with social and political issues. In the past, companies tended to remain publicly neutral on even potentially divisive topics.

However, over the last decade, more corporate entities and business leaders have pledged millions, vowed to change their company policies, and thrown their support behind a host of pressing social and political causes (from environmentalism to racial justice). This shift accelerated in the last year after the murder of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin and the subsequent global protests against systemic racism and police brutality. At the urging of employees and consumers, empowered by the organizational power of social media, many companies published statements explicitly denouncing racism, systemic bias, and the historic (and ongoing) abuse and disenfranchisement of Black and Brown communities in the United States.

These efforts are indicative of a seismic shift in corporate culture, which increasingly ties public perception and brand reputation to internal policy decisions and external public relations plays. No company wants to be the subject of a social media-based “cancellation” campaign, or otherwise appear to fall on the wrong side of a popular public opinion. The power of activist groups to organize large-scale boycotts, command media attention and exposure for these causes, and sway public opinion has made companies more aware of where they place support — both explicitly and implicitly.

Young Americans make up a majority of both the workforce and buying power in the country and tend to be more socially and politically conscious than their older counterparts. They perceive silence as compliance and expect the companies they invest in to reflect values that they, themselves, hold.

Corporate culture is a strong determinant for younger generations on their economic choices: from where they spend their money to where they work. Additionally, younger Americans are more willing and able, through social media, to speak out and put pressure on companies to use their clout and resources to do some good in the world.

One of the factors contributing to this increased expectation of vocal corporate social responsibility is the failure of the government to adequately address systemic injustice. The political polarization of the country within the last 15 years

has created a sort of power vacuum. Whereas in the past, politicians could unite to solve issues along bipartisan lines, increasing political tribalism has made this nearly impossible.

As such, corporations, often regarded as the most influential players in the economic and political structure, are increasingly expected to fill this void by their audiences. Increasingly, the public view is that power demands responsibility.

As with any cultural shift, there are pros and cons to increased corporate participation in activist spaces. One of the obvious benefits is the increased flow of resources (whether it be cash, attention or opportunities) to historically underrepresented and underserved communities. The power for brands to do good is very real. Philanthropy has always been a go-to tactic for improving public perception and, today, it’s leveraged to help reinforce brand statements in support of social justice movements by lending credence to these words through action (literally putting their money where their mouth is).

The positive press garnered from these types of actions can be a huge benefit to brands. They connect the brand to a popular news topic in a positive way, creating a narrative that emphasizes how the brand is supporting the communities it relies on to prosper. However, these positive stories can backfire if this sentiment isn’t felt internally by employees — that is, if there is a disconnect from the image the brand is presenting publicly with what’s being felt internally.

Companies must be ready to hold themselves accountable to address and correct their own shortcomings to avoid accusations of pandering or dishonesty.

Integrity should be central to any corporate culture, and it is best displayed through the genuine support and internal follow-through of the values championed by the communities companies rely on. Companies that say they are dedicated to fighting racism must do more than tokenize employees of color. Support and empower them through fair compensation and placement in a variety of roles. Give them the space to express their experiences as a person of color in the company, listen to them and make the changes they are asking for. The same goes for companies taking vocal stands against climate change, sexism, ageism, classism, ableism or any of the -isms that make it harder for minorities to succeed in a corporate space. There is no shame in acknowledging shortcomings in leadership and an organization; it is a refusal to do better that is the most damaging.

The power of activist groups to organize large-scale boycotts, command media attention and exposure for their causes, and sway public opinion has made companies more aware of where they place support — both explicitly and implicitly.

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With decades of leadership, manufacturing and business expertise, the Arizona Commerce Authority’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (Arizona MEP) helps small- and medium-sized manufacturers achieve their goals. This past year, Arizona MEP provided critical expertise to FABRIC in response to the impacts of COVID-19. The program enabled Tempe-based FABRIC to set up four socially distanced production lines, recruit more than 60 team members and pivot operations to produce more than 200,000 FDA-approved, reusable hospital gowns statewide.

Arizona’s manufacturers can leverage Arizona MEP’s programs to continue recovering. From responding to workforce and supply chain disruptions to making operational shifts to support the manufacturing of PPE and critical supplies, the Arizona MEP Emergency Assistance Program provides subsidized services to help manufacturers return stronger for the future. Applications for this one-time, CARES Act-supported program are open until late Spring 2021 and offered on a first come, first served basis.

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