June 2020 Issue of In Business Magazine

JUNE 2020

COVID-19 Forces New Training Methodology for 'Distributed Teams'

The

Rebuilding of Our Economy

Industry leaders speak out on COVID-19

Business’s Response Serves

Employees, Community

Pandemic Underscores Value of Domestic

Manufacturing Study Quantifies the

‘Monday Effect’ $7.95 INBUSINESSPHX.COM

THIS ISSUE Arizona Small Business Association

Stay Healthy.

Return Smarter.

Return Stronger.

With public health top of mind, Arizona is moving forward safely and responsibly together.

Since the start, the state of Arizona has worked hard to keep Arizonans safe and healthy while slowing the spread of COVID-19. By continuing to follow the data and recommendations of public health officials, we can safely move forward with the next steps of Arizona’s economic recovery. And as our state’s businesses gradually reopen their operations, the Arizona Commerce Authority is here to continue offering tools and resources for families, workers and businesses to return stronger.

www.azcommerce.com/covid-19/reenergizing-arizonas-economy

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Albuquerque | Boise | Denver | Las Vegas | Los Angeles | Los Cabos Orange County | Phoenix | Reno | Salt Lake City | Tucson | Washington, D.C.

JUNE 2020

COVER STORY

24

The Rebuilding of Our Economy

Leaders of industry organizations share with In Business Magazine how their industry is faring and possibly changing due to COVID-19.

FEATURE

34

Problem-Based Learning – Thriving during the Crisis

Dr. Jim Guilkey discusses what faces corporations in being forced for the first time to totally redesign their training to focus solely on virtual distribution.

39

Connection in the Workplace: It’s Worth the Risk

Eileen Rogers’ series explores the strength of risk in leaders’ calculations of risk and return in business.

41

No Ageism in Entrepreneurialism

Joe Mullings’ message to those 50-plus and just laid off: Embrace your inner “interim.”

DEPARTMENTS

9 PARTNER SECTION Returning Employees to Work during a Pandemic: What’s So Hard about That?

About ASBA

The Arizona Small Business Association (ASBA) fosters and empowers a thriving smallbusiness community by working diligently to advocate for legislation and regulation that supports a pro-business environment while eliminating legislation that threatens small business. ASBA brings relevant and dynamic education and mentoring opportunities to business owners to improve their business knowledge, solve problems and, ultimately, become more successful. We accomplish this by offering our members valuable programs, undying commitment to their success, and the convenience and efficiency of our products and services.

ASBA is on the cutting edge of what is happening RIGHT NOW in the business community.

From education and advocacy to resources, mentoring and meaningful partnerships, we engage our members with relevant interactions at every touchpoint.

By staying on top of current trends, we ensure the tools we offer, as well as the extensive breadth of insights delivered, are valuable to the businesses we represent while significantly boosting the organic growth of our membership base.

Find ASBA on Facebook: www.facebook.com/AZSmallBIZ

by Eric Knott, MBA, PHR, CLRL, FinePoint HR

After managing the devastating impact the

climate. Rather, a better practice seems to

COVID-19 response has had on business,

be to follow your typical process of sending

including the labyrinth of forgivable and nonforgivable government loans, businesses are

Leave guidelines in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).

comes the perilous task of returning employees

The CDC has also issued guidance for

from furloughs, posting jobs, and changing the

essential businesses that interact with the

job functions for those currently working.

public (e.g., food service, healthcare, utilities,

Here’s an overview of a few key items to

etc.) regarding how they should handle

consider as your business heats up and you

potentially ill employees. Make sure to follow

begin returning your workforce.

CDC and your county health department guidance regarding best practices.

Who Comes Back from the Furlough Most employers will not be able to return all to determine a method for selecting which

Making Significant Changes to an Employee’s Job There’s significant complexity when

employees to return first. This is, perhaps,

changing an employee’s job as he or she

the riskiest aspect of returning furloughed

returns from a furlough. As long as the

employees — selection. While some employers will be tempted to return employees who have

employee is at-will (e.g., is not a contractual employee), you have greater freedom to

a family to support or who have specific health

change the employee’s role, but be prepared

or other financial circumstances, realize these

to defend why that job was changed versus

criteria are rooted in prohibited characteristics

other employees’ roles. Additionally, be very

(i.e., socio-economic circumstances, family

careful with cutting only some employees’

status, etc.).

compensation as they return from a furlough.

Employers must establish an objective

Following the principles discussed earlier,

method for determining which employees to

changes to the job should be done based

return and document how they’re applying

entirely on the needs of the business. The

that method to each employee. An employee’s performance, seniority and documented

employees are impacted and should guard against this facially neutral methodology particular protected category (i.e., race, gender, disability, etc.).

versus who you keep out: Are you returning a

11

disproportionately impacting employees of a

safer approach. Additionally, be aware of demographic trends regarding who you return

Eric Knott is a professor of business at

disproportionate percentage of your employees

Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School

from a specific age, gender or race? Of course,

of Business and is the principal at FinePoint

this is problematic.

HR consulting firm. Knott is the three-term president of the Society for Human Resource

Central Arizona 11811 N. Tatum Blvd., Suite P-195 Phoenix, AZ 85028 p. 602.306.4000 © 2020 ASBA. A publication of the Arizona Small Business Association. For more information or to join ASBA, please contact us at www.asba.com. Section designed by the Arizona Small Business Association.

Testing Employees for COVID-19 While it may be tempting to want employees

Management of Greater Phoenix, has sat on the board for various business entities across

to get tested for COVID-19 prior to returning,

the state, and is the vice-chair of ASBA. He can

this is not feasible under the current testing

be reached at finepointhr.com.

This material was prepared for informational/educational purposes only and should not be construed as advice. If you would like advice regarding your specific situation, consult with a qualified HR consultant or an employment attorney.

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47 Arizona Small Business Association

SPECIAL SECTION A BUSINESS OWNER’S RESOURCE TO LEGAL SERVICES

2020

A comprehensive guide to local firms & their areas of specialty for business

See more online inbusinessphx.com/legalguide

Law firms are working to help business amid this pandemic. We bring you this guide to help business with legal needs during this time.

53 2020 Legal Guide

JUNE 2020

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INBUSINESSPHX.COM

10

Feedback

organization should be prepared to defend the methodology applied in selecting which

misconduct are selection criteria that are relatively objective and are rooted in the employee’s ability to perform — a significantly

Doug Ducey, Governor of the State of Arizona, introduces the “Rebuilding Post-COVID-19” issue.

James Goodnow, Erik Hoyer and Lauri Leadley respond to In Business Magazine’s burning business question of the month.

employees home who appear ill and managing them using the new Emergency Paid Sick

now tasked with formulating a strategy for restarting the bulk of their operations. With that

furloughed employees at once, so they’ll need

Guest Editor

Briefs

“Safety Training Is a Priority for Organizations,” “Car Dealing without the Handshake,” “Connecting Distributed Teams,” “AI for HR Assistance,” “Futures Execution Algorithm,” “New App-Based Car Insurance,” “Aerosolized and Surface Testing for COVID-19” and “Fastsites – Aptly Named”

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From the Top

Lectric eBikes founders Levi Conlow and Robby Deziel pedal their way through challenges.

14

Human Resources

“Managing Remote Workers” and “To Hire or Not to Hire”

16

By the Numbers

Survey explores views of millennials and baby boomers toward each other in the workplace.

17

CRE

“Warehouse/Distribution Space Expected to Be Hot,” “ShortTerm Rentals: Key to Phoenix Rental Crisis?” and “TruGold: Hybrid Rental Product Planned for Loop 303 Corridor,” plus many more stories on commercial real estate projects

20

Healthcare

“Loneliness Solutions during COVID-19: Healthcare Orgs Turn to AZ Startup” and “HR Pros Should Be Investing in Sleep”

22

Technology

“Harness the Power of AI”

35

Books

New releases give fresh insights on business thinking.

36

Economy

Dr. Jim White examines what the coronavirus pandemic teaches about the value of domestic manufacturing.

38

Legal

Attorney explores questions to always ask when negotiating a commercial lease.

40

Social Impact

Focusing this month on Sands Chevrolet, Tyler Butler’s series explores the myriad ways businesses give back and the positive ways their programs impact our community.

42

Nonprofit

There are lessons to be learned on best communications and fundraising practices during COVID-19.

44

Assets

2020 Lincoln Aviator Black Label Plus: Company redesigns its fashions for the telecommuting workforce.

46

Power Lunch

Square One Concepts: What’s on the Plate Is Serving Customers

62

Roundtable

Study shows the “Monday Effect” on worker productivity is an actual phenomenon.

Arizona rates sixth in the nation, overall, as best state for working at home, according to a May report from personal finance website WalletHub. In notable individual categories, Arizona rates 7th in share of population working from home (pre-COVID-19), 14th in average home square footage, 21st in average retail price of electricity, and 28th in both cybersecurity and households’ internet access. wallethub.com/edu/best-states-for-working-from-home/72801

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June 2020 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 Steven G. Zylstra, President & CEO Arizona Technology Council One Renaissance Square (602) 343-8324 www.aztechcouncil.org Doug Bruhnke, Founder & President Global ChamberÂŽ (480) 595-5000 www.globalchamber.org Angela Garmon, 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 Gay & Lesbian 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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AZGIVES.ORG BROUGHT TO YOU BY ALLIANCE OF ARIZONA NONPROFITS & ARIZONA GRANTMAKERS FORUM

June 2020

Hi Phoenix, Let’s spend smarter.

VOL. 11, NO. 5

Publisher Rick McCartney Editor RaeAnne Marsh Graphic Design Benjamin Little ontributing Writers C

Learn more at getdivvy.com/phx1

Tyler Butler Nick Calvi Kathleen Duffy Seth Earley J. Philip Glasscock Dr. Jim Guilkey Mike Hunter John Letter Kassidy McDonald Joe Mullings Milan Patel Christina Rice S. Barrett Rinzler Eileen Rogers Moe Vela Dr. Jim White Richard Tollefson Oliver Yao Matt Zajechowski

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Business Development Louise Ferrari Erik Laudenschlager Cami Shore

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Corporate Office InMedia Company 45 W. Jefferson Street 7th Floor Phoenix, AZ 85003 T: (480) 588-9505

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www.inmediacompany.com Vol. 11, 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, 7th Floor, 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, 7th Floor, 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. ©2020 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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DOUG DUCEY, GOVERNOR, THE STATE OF ARIZONA

Return Stronger

Doug Ducey is the 23rd governor of Arizona. He previously served as state treasurer and was the chief executive officer of Cold Stone Creamery, growing the company from a few local Arizona stores into a worldwide brand.

Necessity is the mother of invention. And the COVID-19 pandemic pushed necessity demands in myriad directions all at once. Our inventiveness of response is credit to our resilience, as we’ve seen in report after report from businesses. Time will tell, however, as to what innovations will become the standards when business rebounds.

Our quick response and understanding of what is necessary to getting business back has always been our top priority. We were early to respond because the health and well-being of Arizonans is imperative. Arizona is poised to protect our citizens, and getting our economy back on track is what will sustain us through this pandemic. Businesses and resources have come together to make our return stronger and more prosperous. Businesses pivoting, making training and job creation more prevalent and continuing prioritize the health of our workers will bring Arizona back to the vibrant economy we had prior to the coronavirus.

Many businesses have leant a helping hand within their industry or across the economy. The cover story this month takes a look at COVID-19’s impact on some of our core industries — what changes have been put in place and what is anticipated going forward. Leaders of industry organizations for banking, real estate, biotech and more speak openly to In Business Magazine editor RaeAnne Marsh about our great future.

Operational changes at any point in business necessarily involve training. Which raises a whole new issue to address: how to provide training. This is the topic Dr. Jim Guilkey discusses in the feature article “Problem-Based Learning – Thriving during the Crisis,” in which he points out that it takes careful planning to transform a classroom-based training program to one that can be effective through virtual presentation.

On other pages, this edition of In Business Magazine offers articles on such topics as businesses’ need to prioritize hiring, short-term rentals in real estate, and testing of surfaces at places of work. However, while COVID-19 seems to dominate our attention, from business to lifestyle news, there is a wider realm of information to interest the businessperson. This month’s Roundtable offers a studied take on the anecdotally accepted “Monday Morning Blues” by decision and technology analytics professor Oliver Yao; By the Numbers zeroes in on workplace relationships between millennials and baby boomers; a Healthcare mini-feature examines the importance of sleep in employees’ job performance; and Eileen Rogers continues her series on the value of risk in leadership.

Providing fresh, relevant and informative content to business decision makers, In Business Magazine continues to be a resource to help strengthen the business community.

I’m pleased to once again be part of bringing the magazine to you. Please enjoy this June edition of In Business Magazine.

Sincerely,

Doug Ducey Governor The State of Arizona

Story Ideas/PR: editor@ inbusinessphx.com we can do to provide information to you

advice I have been given. However, we know that pivoting business

conveniently and without clutter. We are

practices (and even services) and taking care of our people is the

listening and have already made many

best we can do. In Business Magazine is dedicated, more than ever,

changes that we believe are streamlining efforts to grow your

to informing readers and users everything they need to know to

businesses — for-profit and nonprofit alike. Please email me at

grow their business using local resources and global information in

tellme@inbusinessphx.com as much as you’d like on any subject

reacting to COVID-19 and the day-to-day business.

you feel we need to know or improve upon. Our team is doing a

We want to know more about what you want now. We will be

great job of keeping you informed, and I can say we are all eager

delivering more surveys and opportunities for you to tell us what

to work hard for you — especially as we rebuild business.

you need, what you are doing to make business better, and what

—Rick McCartney, Publisher

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YOUR HEALTH. YOUR BUSINESS

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SPEAKING OUT

Describe the most profound change the pandemic has caused you to make in your business operations in planning next steps for your business.

YOUR HEALTH. YOUR BUSINESS Get alerts and all the information to benefot your business during this time by following our RSS Feeds and Social Media. Visit www.inbusinessphx.com to sign up.

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.

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JAMES GOODNOW

ERIK HOYER

LAURI LEADLEY

CEO and Managing Partner Fennemore Craig Sector: Law

Chief Executive Officer EJ’s Auction & Appraisal Sector: Auction Houses

Founder and President Valley Sleep Center Sector: Healthcare

As a law firm that’s been serving Arizona and the Mountain West for 135 years, Fennemore Craig has withstood the tests of both World Wars, the Great Depression and the Great Recession.

The COVID-19 pandemic, however, could reshape our firm and the industry more than any previous crisis.

In my mind, the greatest lesson of the COVID-19 pandemic is that relationships are bigger than buildings. Across the legal services industry, there’s been a general skepticism about whether client and team connections could endure without face-to-face meetings. Our firm, however, has thrived utilizing leadingedge communication technologies for more than a decade. Now, we’re being even more intentional, strategic and creative in the way we connect with each other and our clients to build for the next 135 years.

This doesn’t mean we’re going to abandon in-person get-togethers anytime soon. These human interactions will continue to be crucial. But smart businesses are going to take the lessons from the pandemic to alter space planning, technological investment and management practices forever.

Prior to the pandemic, our full-service auction house would attract 300 to 600 bidders to our live weekly Saturday auctions, which were also online. We moved all auctions to online-only in late March, but when Governor Ducey issued the “Stay at Home” order, we temporarily closed for a month.

Since reopening on May 1, we have been conducting all auctions on our new online auction platform, which also features our new EJ’s Auction & Appraisal app. This move has, surprisingly, increased our online auction attendance by 30 percent, and we’ve seen strong results with final prices realized.

We’re hoping to bring back our live auction crowd within the next 30 to 60 days, and we will keep our standardized social distancing guidelines in place as well as enhanced sanitization of our 30,000-square-foot facility. In addition, we created a new online scheduling platform for buyers who wish to pick up assets purchased at auction. For customers who prefer not to enter our facility, we provide a contactless shipping option to their homes.

Fennemore Craig fclaw.com

Erik Hoyer, CEO of EJ’s Auction & Appraisal in Glendale, has been an auctioneer since 2008.

He holds several certificates: Graduate Personal Property Appraiser (GPPA), Certified Auctioneers Institute (CAI), Certified Estate Specialists (CES) and Professional Ringmen’s Institute (PRI). A history buff, he enjoys presenting to groups of fiduciaries and attorneys, and he also donates his time as an emcee and auctioneer at several charity fundraisers.

Having cancer twice really prepared me for the pandemic. With adversity comes opportunity. As soon as the government announced the stay-athome order, I began to question, “What if this chaos was our chance?”

My desire was to create a culture where people felt safe, seen, heard and respected. I offered a money course to our team so they could have the tools to properly plan for their futures. As an essential business in healthcare, there was a need to stay open. We immediately implemented telemedicine so our providers could continue to diagnose and treat sleep disorders. We also made available disposable at-home sleep tests so patients could get their diagnosis and treatment without leaving their homes. Some services still needed to be in-person, so we heightened our infection control process, implemented social distancing and checked patients’ temperatures prior to entering each clinic.

Our team planned daily online Community Health Talks and partnered with other providers and vendors to help educate people about various sleep disorders. Lastly, we purchased American-made cotton masks with smiling sleep emojis for our referral sources and patients.

James Goodnow is CEO and Managing Partner of Fennemore Craig, which was founded in 1885 and is one of the largest law firms in Arizona and the western United States. The Harvard Law graduate took the reins of the firm at age 36, which made him the youngest known lawyer elevated to the top position of a large law firm in U.S. history.

EJ’s Auction & Appraisal ejsauction.com

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

Valley Sleep Center valleysleepcenter.com 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 quickly outgrew her home base.

QUICK AND TO THE POINT

BYTES

Car Dealing without the Handshake DriveItAway is the first national car dealer-focused mobility platform that enables car dealers to enter the business of Mobility-as-a-Service.

DriveItAway provides a comprehensive turnkey solutions-driven program with proprietary mobile technology and driver app, insurance coverages and training to get automotive retailers up and running quickly and profitably in emerging mobility and Rent-

Photo courtesy of Taskade (right)

Safety Training Is a Priority for Organizations To minimize the occurrence of physical and digital harm in the workplace, 90 percent of organizations are training employees on safety procedures, including compliance training and programs on other topics.

Of those, 95 percent provide training for employee safety, 96 percent for workplace safety, 48 percent for customer safety, and 84 percent for digital and information safety, according to the Association for Talent Development’s recently released research report “Safety Training: Protecting Employees and Organizations,” which is sponsored by Safety Skills.

More organizations provided safety training to employees during onboarding than at any other time (92 percent). Substantial majorities also covered safety on a regular schedule for refresher training (82 percent), in response to new government regulations (73 percent), or due to safety incidents (72 percent).

Organizations should look to the safety training required by law as the “bare minimum,” according to Elizabeth Beckham, a learning and development manager at Turner Industries, a heavy industrial construction company with more than 10,000 employees. She advises that, “Once you start doing more training than the minimum, you’re really doing more to protect your workforce and have employees buy into the culture of safety you’re building within your organization.”

Some key findings of this report are: • A majority of organizations (71 percent) have organizational cultures that encourage safe behaviors to a high or very high extent.

• The top benefits of safety training are reducing safety incidents, cited by 88 percent of respondents, and reducing the legal liability, fines, and sanctions that occur as a result of safety incidents, cited by 56 percent of respondents.

• Some of the best practices associated with being a highly safe organization — one that has a culture that encourages safety and performs better on safety than other organizations in its industry — include providing more safety training than the law requires, incorporating simulations into safety training, holding daily safety meetings, and training all managers on safety-related topics.

Three in four organizations (75 percent) delivered safety training using simulations.

Of those, 73 percent used non-tech-based simulations (such as fire drills or role playing), 70 percent used computer-based simulations (for example, simulated phishing attacks), and 27 percent used virtual or augmented reality simulations.

United Parcel Service (UPS) incorporates virtual reality simulations into its safety training for delivery drivers. At training centers in the United States and Europe, its future delivery drivers wear headsets that immerse them in digitally recreated streets, rife with road hazards. The drivers must prove that they can verbally identify hazards in the simulation before they can begin more intensive onroad training.

—Association for Talent Development (www.td.org) Safety Skills safetyskills.com

More organizations provided safety training to employees during onboarding than at any other time (92 percent).

to-Buy opportunities. The DriveItAway app allows for fully remote “touchless” rental contracting, payment, renewal, etc. driveitaway.com

Connecting Distributed Teams Taskade recently launched a realtime, user-friendly platform that lets fully distributed teams organize work, communicate via chat and video, share documents, manage tasks and collaborate in real-time, without the need for extensive training or high-level technical support. Taskade will be offering a limited-time free upgrade to its Pro version to support businesses and individuals adopting remote work amidst the COVID-19 situation. taskade.com

AI for HR Assistance MeBeBot is an AI-powered chatbot that can assist human resources departments working even harder during this pandemic to stay in touch with employees, providing employees with immediate answers to questions about HR, benefits, payroll, facilities and more. The program, which is basically “Siri” for HR, is available 24/7 and is easily accessible through Microsoft Teams via mobile or desktop, or through Epicor’s company intranet. mebebot.com

Futures Execution Algorithm Striker — recently launched by Quantitative Brokers, an independent provider of advanced execution algorithms and data-driven analytics for futures and U.S. Cash Treasury markets — is the first dynamic agency algorithm for options on futures markets that incorporates both real-time cointegration and implied pricing calculations to determine fair value. Striker transactions are also seamlessly displayed in QB’s complementary Transaction Cost Analysis platform, another industry first. quantitativebrokers.com

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QUICK AND TO THE POINT

Aerosolized and Surface Testing for COVID-19 Rapid-testing technology

Fewer people driving has led to insurance companies granting customers rebates on their auto policies, but a new company launching in Arizona can help people who don’t drive very often save money on a regular basis — not just under unique circumstances.

Just Auto Insurance is entirely app based.

“From the point of view of the consumer, this is all about convenience. You download the app, give a few simple details - your age, sex, zip code, car - and then you have a per-mile price,” says CEO Robert Smithson.

“We currently sell direct to consumers.

But we are developing partnerships with insurance agencies in the Phoenix area. This is an innovative product, unlike anything else on the market, and insurance partners will benefit from having this unique coverage option for consumers,” Smithson says, noting the corporation is actively looking for local partners.

Just Auto Insurance sees Phoenix as a good market for its product because it has a large number of occasional drivers, Smithson explains — both snowbirds who come to Arizona during the winter months and students at the local universities. “Many of these groups don’t drive that often, and don’t want — or need — insurance for the times that cars are sitting in garages or parking lots.”

Smithson also sees Arizona as a great state in which to launch a new auto insurance product. “The regulatory environment is very business and innovation friendly; if you can prove to the Department of Insurance that what you are doing is going to be good for the people of Arizona, then they will look favorably on you.”

—RaeAnne Marsh Just Auto Insurance just.insure

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INBUSINESSPHX.COM

and long-term care facilities. Instead, healthcare leaders must do their part, implementing a careful and measured “search and destroy” policy for COVID-19 in the facilities housing our patients and the people caring for them.

The good news is that this technology exists today. In less than six hours, aerosol and surface swabs can test for COVID-19, Influenza A & B, MERS and Norovirus. These rapid tests are 12 times faster than older qPCR tests that took two to three days to detect viruses and were more expensive. Bioaerosol devices can sample air and rapidly test for the presence of infectious microbes, allowing health facilities to isolate and decontaminate positive areas.

Without guidance from the CDC, healthcare leaders must ensure the places that treat and house our loved ones remain places where people get better — not facilities that further threaten public safety. Advanced surface and environmental testing technology used in tandem with PPE can help everyone breathe easier and safer. —Milan Patel, CEO and co-founder of PathogenDx, which has developed the new standard in DNA-based testing with its advanced microarray testing platform for the human diagnostics, health, food and agricultural industries

Fastsites – Aptly Named Fasturtle is a full-service website design and digital marketing agency that focuses and supports small-business owners, nonprofits and entrepreneurs. It is also the creator of a turn-key option to help businesses with a minimal budget to get online. In fact, Fasturtle initially created its Fastsites product back in 2011, when the recession had seemingly caused many businesses to feel marketing was an unaffordable luxury, but more or less dissolved that temporary program as the economy improved and demand for custom sites ticked up.

But it’s been resurged. Fastsites is a semiDIY, lower-cost solution that can get a website launched in as short a time as a week. Using user-friendly templates, businesses enter their details, choose a design and give the Fastsites team the content to include. Each business will

Scottsdale-based PathogenDx has developed aerosol and surface swabs that can test for COVID-19, Influenza A & B, MERS and Norovirus in less than six hours.

have access to edit its website after launching, but can call on Fasturtle’s support team for help, says Eric Olsen, Fasturtle founder and owner.

“The Fasturtle Fastsite solution is built to grow as a business grows,” says Olsen. “There are close to 100 third-party add-ons to our platform.

If a customer wants a more custom solution or a WordPress website after the Fastsite, we will apply the initial payment toward a custom WordPress website.”

Olsen points out that open-source and other options really put the non-technical person in a difficult spot. “If you have not been trained to develop websites, you could really become frustrated — or even break the site that was already built. Remember, your website is your first impression to a lot of people. —RaeAnne Marsh Fastsites fasturtle.com/fastsites

Photos courtesy of Just Auto Insurance (left), PathogenDx (right)

New AppBased Car Insurance

For all the focus on personal protection equipment, it isn’t the only weapon in the fight to keep healthcare workers safe. COVID-19 can remain stable for several hours to days in aerosols and on surfaces. To fully protect workers, environmental screening needs to be employed to detect COVID-19 in the air and on surfaces. If detected, rapid remediation technologies need to be used to remove the virus.

Screening is a powerful strategy that can reduce transmission and infection — yet it is seldom performed. More disturbing, hospitals, nursing homes and long-term care facilities themselves have no oversight or standard for monitoring their environments. At one time, hospitals did test surfaces, but in 1970 the CDC and the American Hospital Association advised against it, stating it was unnecessary and not cost effective. Since then, MRSA infections have increased 32-fold, and numerous studies have linked unclean hospital equipment and rooms to infections. The findings were presented before Congress, but the CDC defended itself by stating it relies on the State to create guidelines. Few states have, and those with policies often don’t enforce the rules.

With COVID-19, we cannot wait for government to mandate cleaner hospitals, nursing homes

MINDING THEIR BUSINESS

Lectric eBikes Founders Pedal Their Way through Challenges Old friends blend business skills for new enterprise

Photo courtesy of Lectric eBikes

by Kassidy McDonald

Lectric eBikes founders Levi Conlow and Robby Deziel, both 24, met in in middle school playing video games. Fast forward 12 years: Their electric bike company is barely a year old and already has more than 12,000 purchases, earning Electric Bike Review’s Top Choice Award for Best Folding Electric Fat Tire Bike of 2020.

The company is expected to hit more than $13 million in sales by its first anniversary on May 30, 2020. With 90 percent of startups expected to fail, the duo’s seemingly overnight success has not come without a few hiccups along the way.

Between career pivots, failed bike models and lack of capitol, the young founders have persevered with a customer-first business model.

When Conlow and Deziel went off to college, Conlow settled in Arizona, obtaining his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business entrepreneurship and leadership, while Deziel stayed in their hometown of Minnesota, earning a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering. The pair recognized that their unique set of skills positioned them to become great business partners. In 2018, the two were brainstorming business ideas to launch their first startup together. They soon recognized a market gap for high-quality e-bikes at an affordable price.

“Our first bike model was not a success,” Conlow says.

“We didn’t request a sample first, which was a big mistake.

We suddenly had 100-plus bikes on our hands that were not selling, and we were running out of money.”

The two started trying to sell the bikes on Craigslist and farmers markets at steeply reduced prices. Instead of giving up on their electric bike company dream, they decided to learn from their mistakes and took the time to design a new model with unbeatable product highlights, such as folding to less than half its size, arriving fully assembled, reaching up to 28 mph, all-terrain fat tires, a 25- to 50-mile range and an LCD computer display.

“We finally had the perfect bike, and all we needed was capitol to create the new sample,” Deziel says. “Luckily, Levi’s dad stepped in to invest in our company and ended up giving us another $10,000 to have 10 new models made.”

When the bikes arrived at the home garage they had been working out of, the pair took a huge risk in gifting all 10 bikes to influencers and bloggers who were heavy hitters in the electric bike world.

“We could have lost all of our money if the influencers and YouTube stars didn’t like our product, but we were so confident in what we had created,” Conlow says. “It ultimately paid off and resulted in the launch of our business.”

Once the reviews started rolling in from the influencers, the LectricXP bike started going on pre-order for months in advance. The company now has more than 150 video reviews

Robby Deziel (left) and Levi Conlow (right)

and more than three million views on YouTube. Suddenly, Lectric eBikes had a new problem on its hands — being able to accommodate the influx of orders they were receiving.

Conlow and Deziel were then able to expand their business outside of a home garage and bought a warehouse in Phoenix to accommodate their large orders and growing staff. The company has a commitment to customer service and offers free shipping on all e-bikes to the lower 48 states, ability to contact the team seven days a week and sourcing parts from only the most trusted names in the industry.

“From day one, we wanted to continue to push the limits,” Deziel says. “Whether it’s finding a way to reach higher top speeds or optimizing user friendliness, our customers’ needs drive our design process.”

Lectric eBikes’ team also worked to have their bike offered at an industry-shattering price without sacrificing quality or design.

“We don’t understand how other electric bike companies charge so much, and that’s a big part of why our customers believe in us,” Conlow says. “We truly believe that building a community of riders is more important than maximizing profits.”

Lectric eBikes lectricebikes.com

A study from Deloitte predicted that between 2020 and 2023, there will be 130 million electric bikes sold around the world. Amid concerns about public transportation becoming a hotspot for contracting coronavirus and changes in how the public gets around, Lectric eBikes reports at end-of-April press time that it has seen a 140-percent increase in sales since the week of March 15. deloitte.com

FOR THE GOOD OF COMMUNITY • To give back to a community increasingly devastated by COVID-19, Lectric eBikes donated 8,000 KN95 masks to healthcare workers in Arizona.

• Additionally, the team has partnered with the Homes on Wheels Alliance to sponsor two buildouts.

Homes on Wheels Alliance is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that strives to help build safe and secure homes on wheels for those who are facing financial difficulties.

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PEOPLE ARE KEY

OF THE PEOPLE

To Hire or Not to Hire Managing Remote Workers With 4 billion people working from home, it can be a difficult undertaking for new and experienced managers to effectively manage, coordinate with their employees remotely, and ensure productivity is consistent online. Traditionally, managers are used to seeing their workforce and meeting with them in person. A remote workforce model creates an “out of sight, out of mind, out of control” fear and reticence in even the most experienced managers.

Remote work models tend to elevate and enhance concerns by management about productivity, efficiency and corporate culture. With 74 percent of CFOs, postpandemic, intending on moving some percentage of their workforce remotely on a permanent basis, companies of all sizes need an effective way to manage people remotely.

5 Tips to Managing Workers Productively • Establish priorities at the beginning of the week and establish weekly goals.

• Trust but verify — most workers are honest but some may yield to the temptation to do a Netflix marathon instead of work. Occasionally ask for updates on progress on projects if there’s a change in work progress.

• Utilize video conferencing to have facetime with employees and give them an opportunity to discuss progress and roadblocks, and allow faceto-face mentorship time.

• Utilize non-intrusive platforms, which allows team members to see each other’s work progress if collaboration is essential for completing the project.

• Focus on the positive and celebrate employees’ wins when they hit their milestones.

—Moe Vela, chief transparency officer of TransparentBusiness (transparentbusiness.com), a remote workforce management and coordination software company that helps companies of all sizes increase and ensure accountability while increasing productivity, enhancing efficiency and respecting employee privacy

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The Effects of the COVID-19 Crisis Week after week, the numbers continued to rise.

I’m talking about unemployment claims, which in March and April eclipsed the number of people out of work during the Great Depression.

It’s hard to believe that our nation’s economy was humming along, with unemployment hovering at a 50-year low of 3.5 percent just six months ago.

As companies begin to dig out of the COVID-19 crisis and find ways to operate in a new normal, hiring managers are faced with a conundrum — whether or not to fill open positions.

Determining the right course of action depends on a few key factors. For starters, they should examine the state of the business and industry. While some companies are feeling the pain of these unprecedented times, other companies are generating record profits.

E-commerce, video conferencing and digital payment firms, along with grocery stores and medical device companies, are among those that are benefitting financially from the recent events.

Another hiring consideration is whether or not the open positions are “essential.” In such cases, essential positions are just what their name implies. As such, they should be filled in short order to return the company to a peak operating level.

Such was the case after 9/11 when the American Red Cross was in dire need of people in roles ranging from blood banking and biomedical services to pharmaceuticals, quality assurance and safety. Within a matter of days, our firm worked with the Red Cross team to identify, assess and contact more than 6,000 potential candidates. We also maintained internal records and applicant tracking logs; coordinated interviews, extended job offers and negotiated salaries; and assimilated employees into their new positions. All told, we made 100

One result of COVID-19 on the economy is, workers in highly specialized roles may be available, along with those in the gig economy who may not previously have considered returning to a full-time position at a company.

offers and hired 88 people in five months, and the additional staff made an immediate impact on the organization.

But what about jobs that are considered nonessential but are mission-critical?

In these cases — and I’m referring to positions in sales, business development, philanthropy and other areas — hiring managers would be wise to prioritize filling these jobs, since they contribute to the company bottom line. What’s more, when left unfilled, such positions can cost companies much-needed revenue. For example, open technology jobs in the United States can add up to a value of $20.1 billion, according to projections by Glassdoor.

Understandably, many companies — from small businesses to Fortune 100 firms — may be cautious in rebuilding their workforce during what remains an uncertain time. But, depending on the company’s fiscal status, hiring now could be a strategic advantage.

Look at it this way: The talent pool has not been this good in months, if not years. Job losses translate to more qualified workers who can hit the ground running on Day 1. The result of COVID-19 on the economy is, also, that workers in highly specialized roles may be available, along with those in the gig economy who may not previously have considered returning to a full-time position at a company.

At the very least, it doesn’t hurt to put some feelers out, as it may result in finding the perfect candidate. Remember, too, that hiring offers don’t necessarily have to happen immediately. Rather, hiring managers can ramp up their efforts and extend offers for the next 30, 60 or 90 days when their companies are prepared for the road ahead.

—Kathleen Duffy, president & CEO of Phoenix-based Duffy Group, Inc., which sources and recruits candidates in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America, Europe and Asia

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.

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METRICS & MEASUREMENTS

Workplace Relationships: Millennials vs.

Baby Boomers Views on workplace and each other

by Matt Zajechowski

Regardless of which side of the generational divide you fall, you have probably noticed a difference in how younger and older colleagues act in the workplace. A recent study authored by Olivet Nazarene University analyzed workplace relationships between millennials and baby boomers with the goal to learn more about how they interact and conduct business together. The analysis asked both 1,000 boomers and 1,000 millennials about company loyalty, career plans, satisfaction with current pay rate, communication style and what they like most and least about working with one another.

while on the job. Boomers were also far more worried that millennials could take their job from them because of their ability to adapt more quickly and being more tech savvy.

SATISFACTION WITH COMPENSATION

When asked about satisfaction with their current rate of pay, 71 percent of boomers said they were satisfied compared to only 53 percent of millennials. Even with that rate of satisfaction, 51 percent of boomers said they have asked for a raise in the last year compared to only 39 percent of millennials. Millennials and boomers were both highly likely to leave their current job if offered one for more money.

HOW MILLENNIALS FEEL ABOUT BOOMERS

We asked millennials if they’d ever quit a job because of a boomer colleague. One in four millennials said they had actually quit their job because of a boomer colleague. When asked about what annoys millennials the most about working with a boomer, millennials cited boomers’ “know-it-all” personalities. Millennials also said that boomers not being open to new ideas was the hardest aspect about working with them. Despite the differences between millennials and boomers, only 30 percent of millennials said they felt a boomer colleague was preventing them from advancing in their career.

GENERATIONAL WORKPLACE PREFERENCES

We asked both generations about preferences regarding communication, workplace schedules and paid time off (PTO).

When it came to office communication, baby boomers preferred face-to-face communication while millennials preferred to communicate over email. Both generations ranked chatting over the phone at or near the bottom of their list. Boomers and millennials were both pretty closely aligned on wanting to work a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. workday as well as wanting to have unlimited PTO if offered.

HOW BOOMERS FEEL ABOUT MILLENNIALS

When asked the same questions as above about millennials, one in three boomers said they had quit their job because of a millennial colleague. Boomers said the thing that annoyed them most about working with millennials was their phone usage.

Boomers also became frustrated with the lack of experience and the lack of responsibility their younger colleagues displayed

Olivet Nazarene University online.olivet.edu

Generational Differences How do you prefer to communicate with your co-workers?

Matt Zajechowski is a content strategist with Digital Third Coast who was commissioned to help author the survey questions for the Olivet Nazarene University survey on millennial and baby boomer relationships in the workplace. digitalthirdcoast.com

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Do you feel a boomer colleague is preventing you from advancing?

Are you worried that a millennial colleague could take your job?

46%

Yes

30%

Yes

51%

70%

No

49%

Millennials

Boomers

Email

43%

34%

Face-to-face

35%

Texting

10%

9%

No

Instant messaging (e.g., Slack)

7%

3%

Why?

Over the phone

5%

8%

Taking credit for millennials’ work

36%

Ability to adapt more quickly

34%

9–5

30%

30% 26%

More technology savvy

30%

24%

Unfairly placing blame on millennials

35%

Four-day week Flex scheduling

21%

21%

Stealing millennials’ ideas

32%

Ambition

22%

Remote work

17%

19%

31%

5%

Cost-cutting reasons

12%

8%

Competitive in an unproductive way Not listening to millennials’ ideas

31%

Other

Which type of workday do you most prefer?

Other

Do office perks like happy hour or unlimited PTO make you want to work for a company?

Yes No

71%

62%

29%

38%

Why?

2%

Source: Olivet 2020 Employee Survey (online.olivet.edu/news/study-boomers-millennials-working-together)

Workplace perspectives and preferences differ, but boomers and millennials were both pretty closely aligned on wanting to work a 9 a.m.-to-5 p.m. workday.

PROPERTY, GROWTH AND LOCATION

Short-Term Rentals: Key to Phoenix Rental Crisis?

The rental housing industry has been hit hard like any other industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Phoenix homeowners utilizing Airbnb and VBRO are experiencing a wave of cancellations due to stay-at-home orders, creating a significant loss of revenue during the busiest tourism months of the year. While vacation-home renters may be feeling the crunch, there is an alternative that could position them for long-term success despite market issues.

A recent report from Bloomberg says Phoenix is the fastestgrowing city with year-over-year resident influx in the country.

With so many incoming residents and limited housing options, people oftentimes rent an apartment until they can purchase a home. Short-term rentals provide new residents, individuals waiting out construction or renovations, and people in other in-between circumstances with a simple solution, and homeowners with a reliable income each month.

One important distinction is in the terms “vacation rental” and “short-term residential rental.” A vacation rental is considered less than 30 days and a short-term residential rental is more than 30 days and less than 12 months. The rental agreement is one key difference between the two options. With vacation rentals, the owner grants a license to a guest to use the property and can revoke the license if a guest is causing issues. With short-term residential rentals, the guest becomes a tenant and the host becomes a landlord.

The Residential Landlord and Tenant Act governs landlord

tenant issues, so if the tenant breaks the written lease certain procedures must be followed before a tenant can be evicted.

Rather than letting them sit vacant, utilizing second and seasonal homes could be what stabilizes the rental market during and after the coronavirus pandemic. Vacancy has a direct effect on rental income, so the longer the property is empty the less valuable it becomes. Homeowners can even utilize a real estate brokerage that can provide lease agreement contracts, vet tenants and even serve evictions if needed. This provides a hands-off solution for seasonal homeowners while they are out of town. Pivoting from vacation rentals to short-term residential rentals is a simple transition that could make a huge difference in the Phoenix rental market.

—Nick Calvi, founder and CEO of Tweener Homes, the first technology-based real estate brokerage dedicated to people searching for a comfortable, fully furnished home that can be rented on a monthly basis.

Photos courtesy Fulton Homes, Hines and Kidder Mathews (bottom, left to right)

GET REAL

by Mike Hunter

New Construction in San Tan Valley

Apartment Development Planned for NW Valley

Repurposed for Healthcare Tenants

Lifestyle, location, access to services and homes that are quickly gaining value are all among the contributing factors behind the success of Fulton Homes’ Promenade neighborhood, along with sweeping views of the San Tan Mountains, resortinspired amenities, walking trails, parks and quick move-in options.

“Homebuyers were signing contracts before the models ever opened at Promenade,” says Doug Fulton, CEO of Fulton Homes. “The demand for new homes and sales continue to be strong even now, despite the challenging circumstances.” fultonhomes.com

Houston-based Hines plans to develop a 325-unit luxury multi-family community that will total 318,000 square feet on approximately 11 acres near the northwest corner of Happy Valley Road and 35th Avenue.

The parcel was purchased for $6,725,000 from locally based shopping center development company The Pederson Group, which acquired the full 23-acre site from the Arizona State Land Trust and now, represented by Chaz Smith, John Finnegan and Ramey Peru with Colliers International in Arizona, has sold the back 11 acres to Hines. colliers.com

Cornerstone Medical Center, with approximately 20,235 rentable square feet, is being repurposed for a medical use from a retail use. Exterior renovations include “reskinning” the building and a new window package. The former Maytag store sat empty for 18 months before local, family-owned Whiteboard Development purchased and partnered with the City of Goodyear to reconfigure it to accommodate healthcare use. The Phoenix Kidder Mathews healthcare team fully leased the building just 14 months after its purchase, to Cigna, ResCare, Valley Sleep Center and the Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD). kidder.com/office-locations/phoenix

With vacation rentals, the owner grants a license to a guest to use the property and can revoke the license if a guest is causing issues. With short-term residential rentals, the guest becomes a tenant and the host becomes a landlord.

WAREHOUSE/ DISTRIBUTION SPACE EXPECTED TO BE HOT The Greater Phoenix Industrial market could be poised for a surge in demand for warehouse/ distribution space, according to the Q1 Industrial Market Report

by Colliers International in Arizona. The “stay at home” orders resulting from the Coronavirus Pandemic have forced more people to shop online and those lasting habits will increase online retailer demand for distribution space in the city.

Net absorption in the industrial sector rose to more than one million square feet in first quarter, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of posting those levels. And construction activity reached a highpoint during first quarter of 14.3 million square feet — the largest amount of new industrial space under construction ever in the Valley. colliers.com

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PROPERTY, GROWTH AND LOCATION

BY MIKE HUNTER

Senderos at South Mountain: Apartment Community with Upscale Amenities

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Units recently completed: Q1 2020 MULTIFAMILY CONSTRUCTION PIPELINE Phoenix, 258; Tempe, 259; Mesa, 356; Glendale, 53 FOR PHOENIX MSA

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On a 22.99-acre site in Surprise, Ariz., that it purchased for $3.65 million, NPC Trugold LLC plans to develop a hybrid product, which is single-family residences used as rentals. The sale of this parcel located at Cotton Lane and Sweetwater Avenue is significant as it is one of the first multi-family acquisitions on the west side of the Loop 303 in the emerging Loop 303 corridor.

The sale was arranged on behalf of the seller by Mike Schwab, Bret Rinehart, Ryan Semro and Ben Heglie of Land Advisors Organization Scottsdale who specialize in home builder developments and master planned communities throughout Arizona.

“The project, TruGold, will bring the hybrid rental product that has been successful across the Valley to the Loop 303 corridor in Surprise,” Rinehart says. “We expect the success of this project to match that of several existing communities located east of the Loop 303 in Surprise. This site is strategically located with easy freeway access, it is in close proximity to retail and major employers as well as regional amenities including the White Tank Mountain Regional Park.”

Land Advisors continues to advise clients on this product type and is working on several additional complementary projects in the area.

ld

JUNE 2020

TruGold: Hybrid Rental Product Planned for Loop 303 Corridor Go

In partnership with Rently, a self-touring application, people looking for a new home within an Avilla neighborhood can register for a self-guided tour online and then receive a secure code that will give them access to the community and the Avilla model home. The app also provides potential residents with a map and directions around the community, giving them the freedom to view as many amenities as they would like. nexmetro.com • use.rently.com

MEB Management Services mebapts.com

u Tr

NexMetro Communities, a pioneer of single-level luxury leased-home neighborhoods, has launched an innovative self-guided touring option.

Potential renters will now be able to visit Avilla models on their own time and without the need for in-person appointments with rental agents.

The 156,888-square-foot project is a two-story apartment community complete with brick accents and large windows to take advantage of the spectacular mountain views afforded by the property’s location. The property is being developed by Leon Endres and Nick Conzemius from Minnesota along with Ron Cuttler, project manager, from Phoenix. “We are excited to offer this beautiful property with spectacular views in the best kept secret in the Phoenix market,” Endres says. “It will be a fantastic addition to the transformation that is already happening in the South Mountain area.”

According to Hancock Communities, which handled all the predevelopment, site plan and zoning work on this project, TruGold will consist of 245 luxury, one- and two-bedroom rentals. With Tuscan and Santa Barbara flair, this community will include a gorgeous pool, spa and covered ramada with linear fireplace and outdoor TV viewing – along with large open green spaces with shaded picnic areas.

The project broke ground early last month and will be completed in September 2022.

Land Advisors landadvisors.com

Units under construction: Phoenix, 7,094; Tempe, 3,070; Scottsdale, 1,964; Mesa, 1,140; Glendale, 553

Units planned: Phoenix, 11,065; Scottsdale, 2,765; Tempe, 2,322; Mesa, 1,916; Glendale, 759 —ABI Multifamily (abimf.com)

Photos courtesy MEB Management Services (top), Land Advisors Organization Scottsdale (bottom) and Avilla Homes (far left)

SELF-GUIDED HOME TOURS AT AVILLA

Now open for tours and expecting to be move-in ready within weeks as we go to press, the gated community of Senderos at South Mountain features a number of unique amenities.

Senderos is one of the first apartment communities in Metro Phoenix to offer personal electric car-charging stations in the apartment’s attached garages. The developers took into consideration future needs of residents who will be purchasing hybrid or electric cars and their desire to use smart technology. Other amenities include pool, spa and fire pit; fitness center-yoga studio; package lockers; clubhouse with Wi-Fi access; barbeque grills; pet wash stations and backyard pet runs, and a lot of green space.

There are spacious one-, two- and three-bedroom options, with one- or two-deck/patios for each unit. The high-end condo-quality units feature gourmet kitchens, attached garages and smart technology that includes thermostats, keyless door locks and light switches.

Notes Susan Kauffman, director of Strategic Relationships for MEB Management Services, which has been selected as the property management firm for Senderos, “It is minutes from downtown Phoenix and sits adjacent to South Mountain Park, the largest municipal park in the USA. Its residents will have the best of two worlds – an active lifestyle, along with any events, recreation, or night life in downtown Phoenix.”

At JLL, we know smart real estate strategy is simply good business. We bring together the right combination of skills and match them with valuable data, powerful connections and a deep understanding of real estate. The result is one-of-a-kind advice and solutions. Buildings that operate at peak performance. Workplaces where employees can thrive.

Our JLL Phoenix real estate experts in all property types look forward to helping you achieve your business ambitions with our local services: • • • • •

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YOUR BENEFIT IN BUSINESS

Loneliness Solutions during COVID-19:

Healthcare Orgs Turn to AZ Startup We are all now familiar with the loneliness that results from social distancing. But for many on Medicare and Medicaid, loneliness isn’t anything new.

Arizona-based startup Pyx Health aims to solve that problem by improving loneliness and the negative effects it has on a person’s social determinants of health (SDOH), from having shelter to buying groceries. The company has raised $3.5 million in funding since its founding in 2017, including the financial backing of former LifeLock CEO Todd Davis.

Pyx Health is a first-to-market scalable loneliness and social isolation solution combining Artificial Intelligence and human interventions.

Consisting of two parts, a mobile app and compassionate call center, Pyx Health has been proven by an independent study to reduce inpatient hospitalizations by 46 percent for its users.

Providing 24/7 interaction with Pyxir, a funny and empathetic chatbot, while also engaging a patient’s family and friends, the app conducts health screenings and provides links to urgent resources. When a score in the app indicates a need for SDOH support, the call center reaches out to help. Contracted by health plans, all services are offered at no cost to the patient.

Since the pandemic, Pyx Health has seen an increase in patients downloading and interacting with the app as well as increases in patient decline measured by the UCLA Loneliness Scale survey administered in the app. As a result, the call center is busy helping patients fulfill their needs and providing relief from loneliness.

One healthcare partner in southern Arizona added 200,000 Medicare Advantage patients to its program and new health plans are fast-tracking their long decision cycles to bring on Pyx Health to meet the growing needs of their members. The demand leaves Pyx Health on track to more than double new client contracts in the first quarter over all of 2019.

—Christina Rice, MBA, chief operations officer of Pyx Health (www.pyxhealth.com)

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In today’s business climate, HR professionals are responsible for much more than hiring candidates, managing conflicts and enforcing labor laws; they are the lifeblood of an organization, often helping to define its culture, improve its efficiencies and foster a healthy workplace environment. As such, HR professionals are also responsible for the often nebulous task of employee engagement. As anyone in the field can attest, engagement goes far beyond creating a “fun” culture. It involves everything from evaluating job fit and increasing productivity to promoting mental health and supporting physical wellness, even outside the office.

Is there a silver-bullet solution to employee engagement? Of course not. But there is a single element that, when prioritized, can help to address a myriad of engagement and productivity issues, not to mention drastically reduce healthcare costs. That fundamental element is: sleep. That’s right — it’s time to take a closer look at employee sleep health.

It’s easy to make the connection between sleep and productivity and safety. But there’s more: Research has proven that sleep impacts everything from diabetes and heart disease to mental health and happiness.

Think of a car. When regularly maintained, a car can last up to 200,000 miles. When that same car is cared for improperly and inconsistently, it is bound to present major issues, incur costly repairs and expire long before the 200,000 mile mark.

No, we’re not cars, but the principle is the same.

Our cognitive, physical and emotional abilities are directly related to the amount, quality and timing of our sleep. Waking up “refreshed” from a good night’s sleep is more than a feeling; it is a signal from our central nervous system. During sleep, we restore our cognitive function by repackaging neurochemicals, repairing our organ systems, eliminating waste products that accumulate in the brain and body, and resetting our circadian rhythm for wakefulness. All these activities are dependent on healthy sleep.

Over time, a lack of sleep takes a toll on health, resilience, productivity and longevity. In fact, healthcare costs for people with poor sleep are nearly three times higher than their counterparts due to the increased likelihood for chronic disease.

Not only do these individuals cost employers more in healthcare, they also accrue more than double the amount of lost workdays than other employees. Physical effects aside, long-term sleep issues have also been connected with impairments in decision-making, moral judgement and quality of life, all of which affect workplace culture.

Benefits programs have come a long way over the last decade, and it is not uncommon for organizations to prioritize wellness in some form.

For example, many of today’s employers offer lifestyle programs to promote regular exercise, educate on nutrition, support stress management or help employees quit smoking — all designed to reduce, prevent or improve chronic conditions like diabetes, asthma, heart disease, depression and cancer (and, in turn, lower healthcare costs).

A simple shift of focus from wellness to well-being can change the mindset from preventing future disease to sustaining current health. The term “wellbeing” encompasses more than physical health; it also includes mental, emotional, social and financial health, which together create one’s quality of life.

Sleep is an important factor to each of these facets of well-being. Supplementing existing programs with sleep treatment can generate tangible gains in productivity and engagement, while also reducing healthcare costs and absenteeism.

But as HR and Benefits professionals know all too well, access to resources is nothing without engagement. If no one participates, no one wins. It is important to find a program that not only addresses the whole gamut of sleep health issues beyond just sleep apnea, but also provides robust data that lets employees see the whole picture, with a support structure that focuses on treatment success and corresponding outcomes.

Only then will employers see the maximum return on investment in terms of costs and — yes — even employee engagement.

It’s time to sleep easy knowing one’s employees are doing the same.

—John Letter, president and chief operating officer of SleepCharge, a platform by Nox Health (www.noxhealth.com) that connects individuals with the right treatment, testing, diagnosis and physicians to address their specific sleep issues, as well as ongoing support for long-term treatment

The American Health Care Association and National Center of Assisted Living reports that testing every U.S. nursing home resident and staff just once would cost $440 million (this does not include assisted living or other long-term care facilities). For Arizona’s 146 facilities, serving 11,965 residents as of the last census, the cost of tests for residents and staff comes to $4,221,750. bit.ly/cover-nursing-home-test-cost

Photo courtesy of Pyx Health (left)

HR Pros Should Be Investing in Sleep

WELL WELL WELL

Let’s talk.

INNOVATIONS FOR BUSINESS

Harness the Power of AI

TECH NOTES

Ontology Is . . .

[Necessary in harnessing the power of artificial intelligence], an ontology is a consistent representation of data and data relationships that can inform and power AI technologies.

In different contexts, it can include or become expressed as any of the following: a data model, a content model, an information model, a data/ content/information architecture, master data, or metadata. But an ontology is more than each of these things in themselves. However you describe it, the ontology is essential to and at the heart of AI-driven technologies. To be clear, an ontology is not a single, static thing; it is never complete, and it changes as the organization changes and as it is applied throughout the enterprise.

The ontology is the master knowledge scaffolding of the organization. Multiple data and architectural components are created from that scaffolding, so without a thoughtful and consistent approach to developing, applying, and evolving the ontology, progress in moving toward AI-driven transformation will be slow, costly, and less effective. The components of the ontology are the ones we have mentioned: metadata structures, reference data, taxonomies, controlled vocabularies, thesaurus structures, lexicons, dictionaries, and master data correctly designed into the information technology ecosystem. The ontology is at the heart of the information design of the AI-powered enterprise and it becomes an asset of ever-increasing value.

While it is true that some algorithms can operate on data without an external structure, they still operate based on the features programmed into the underlying system. Even if there is no structure to the raw data, the algorithm will perform better if more of that structure is provided as an input — as an element of the ontology. —Seth Earley

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Any big company is likely to have an abundance of technology. It has systems for customers, inventory, and products, along with websites and mobile apps. These systems are spitting out data all day long. Within that data is exactly the information needed to make a business more responsive. The problem is, the data is often not used as it could (and should) be.

Even after multiple generations of investments and billions of dollars of digital transformations, organizations are still struggling with information overload, with providing excellent customer service, with reducing costs and improving efficiencies, with speeding the core processes that provide a competitive advantage. Why is this happening? Because key foundational principles are ignored, given short shrift, deprived of resources, or considered an afterthought. The elements that are required to make the shiny new technologies live up to their promise require hard work that is not sexy and shiny. There are new tools and approaches that make these efforts more efficient, and ways to embed new approaches to dealing with information and data, but they still require discipline, focus, attention, and resources.

Perhaps your organization has experimented with AI. An executive at a major life insurance company recently told me, “Every one of our competitors and most of the organizations of our size in other industries have spent at least a few million dollars on failed AI initiatives.” In some cases, technology vendors have sold “aspirational capabilities” — functionality that was not yet in the current software. But in most cases, the cause of the failure was overestimation of what was truly “out-of-the-box” functionality, overly ambitious “moonshot” programs that were central to major digital transformation efforts but unattainable in practice, or existing organizational processes incompatible with new AI approaches. Leadership may have bought into the promise of AI without adequate support from the front lines of the business. Technology organizations may not have been adequately prepared to take on new tools and significant process changes. In many cases, the technology may have been potentially capable of functionality, but the data, locked in siloed systems, was inaccessible, poorly structured, or improperly curated.

Many AI programs attempt to deal with unstructured information and replicate how humans perform certain tasks, such as answering support questions or personalizing a customer experience. That may require pulling information from multiple systems and weaving together

multiple processes, including some that have historically been done manually. To deliver on its promise, AI needs the correct “training data,” including content, metadata (descriptions of data), and operational knowledge. If that data and corresponding outcomes are not available in a way that the system can process, then the AI will fail.

How do you make those data and outcomes accessible to power the AI? That’s where the ontology comes in.

THE CENTRAL ROLE OF THE ONTOLOGY

AI cannot start with a blank page. It leverages information structures and architecture. Artificial intelligence begins with information architecture.

In other words, there is no AI without IA. AI works only when it understands the soul of your business. It needs the key that unlocks that understanding. That’s the science behind the magic of AI. The key that unlocks that understanding is an ontology: a representation of what matters within the company and makes it unique, including products and services, solutions and processes, organizational structures, protocols, customer characteristics, manufacturing methods, knowledge, content and data of all types. It’s a concept that, correctly built, managed, and applied, makes the difference between the promise of AI and delivering sustainably on that promise.

Simply put, an ontology reveals what is going on inside your business — it’s the DNA of the enterprise.

Ontology is also referred to as a “knowledge graph” and technology organizations are realizing that so-called “graph databases” offer tremendous advantages over traditional database structures.

[Ontology is explained further in Tech Notes sidebar.]

Ontologies are a complex topic. For now, just know that the ontology is what makes the difference in whether AI drives your enterprise forward or just adds to the incompatible welter of technology that is slowing you down.

—Seth Earley Excerpted with permission from THE AI-POWERED ENTERPRISE: Harness the Power of Ontologies to Make Your Business Smarter, Faster, and More Profitable by Seth Earley. Published by LifeTree Media. Copyright (c) 2020. All rights reserved.

Simply put, an ontology reveals what is going on inside your business — it’s the DNA of the enterprise.

Ontology is also referred to as a “knowledge graph” and technology organizations are realizing that so-called “graph databases” offer tremendous advantages over traditional database structures.

The

Rebuilding of Our Economy How the industries that support us hold up to COVID-19

by RaeAnne Marsh Businesses of every size and in every economic sector have been restructuring their operations, their business model and, in many instances, their products and services. On our website and through our In Business Dailies, we’ve shared the stories of individual companies that have put new focus on helping their community — businesses as well as individuals — better survive the unprecedented disruption caused by the pandemic.

For this month’s cover story, we are looking broader, to some of the sectors as a whole. Leaders of industry organizations share how their industry is faring and possibly changing due to COVID-19.

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SECTOR: BANKING & FINANCE

Paul Hickman President and CEO of Arizona Bankers Association

Banks Are Banking on Innovation Bankers are generally retail front-office people or in office environments throughout all of our communities. They were deemed “essential” under the governor’s executive stay-athome order. Therefore, many have been in the bank as usual throughout this entire ordeal. That said, the banks have had to make some significant configuration changes in order to keep their customers and employees safe.

They have taken measures to move as much of their workforce to work-at-home environments as possible, while still remaining open for their customers. Some have closed lobbies and fully utilized their drive-thru facilities. Others have limited lobby hours and occupancy consistent with the CDC’s social distancing guidelines. And most have pivoted as much as possible to utilizing telephonic and digital channels to handle routine banking business. Now, bankers can finally relate to the vast majority of our millennials.

In remaining open, we have been impacted by the same supply chain issue as many retail office environments: lack of hand sanitizer, and cleaning supplies. Most of our other office supplies have not been impacted.

We have largely been able to continue serving our customers. And in many ways our tempo of operations has greatly increased. We are busy working on forbearance agreements and loan modifications for our residential and

commercial real estate borrowers who have been negatively impacted by the economic consequences of the pandemic.

We have been working literally around the clock to implement the various components of the recently passed CARES Act, making loans to small businesses under the Paycheck Protection Program; and working to deposit, cash and otherwise protect Economic Impact Payments being issued by the millions by the IRS. We are also working to implement the Federal Reserve’s $600B Main Street Lending Program for our medium- and larger-sized businesses.

One issue that several business sectors will have to collaborate on for a long-lasting solution will be how to do appraisals in a pandemic. This is something we are working through with mortgage bankers, real estate developers and brokers. Currently, some of the appraisals are being delayed without stopping consummation of the contract. This is not a perfect solution and risks resulting in litigation. In the long term, we are going to need a statutory change that adapts appraisal standards and requirements in a way that prevents economic activity and safety reactions to pandemics from becoming mutually exclusive.

To the extent that we had not already moved entirely to a legal environment where digital signatures are valid and acceptable, the reaction to this event will push us there.

SECTOR: BIOINDUSTRIES

Demands on Life Sciences

Joan KoerberWalker President and CEO of Arizona Bioindustry Association, Inc. Chairman of Opportunity Through Entrepreneurship Foundation

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On January 13 of this year, I was in San Francisco with thousands of life science entrepreneurs and investors for J.P. Morgan Healthcare Week. Companies were making their pitches, investors were scoping out investment opportunities and the sidewalks were filled with people moving from in-person meeting to meeting. One week later, the first U.S. case of COVID-19 was reported in Washington State. Today, the U.S. and the world are in the midst of a global pandemic. In response, the life science industry, in Arizona and across the world, is working across the health innovation spectrum to develop new tests, treatments and vaccines as well as to deliver the medical devices that our healthcare teams are using to help infected patients. Investor meetings are now virtual, but the work is continuing in labs, on factory floors and within our hospitals.

Many companies have shifted their activities to meet an ever-growing need. The FDA is approving emergency use authorizations (EUAs) to speed the development of diagnostic tests that help care teams determine how best to treat a patient and antibody tests that will help public health officials and government leaders determine when and how to ease social distancing guidelines without creating new waves of disease outbreaks. Still others have ceased normal operations to refocus on producing personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers and first responders

Paul Keim, Ph.D., a Regents’ Professor of Biological Sciences, executive director of The Pathogen and Microbiome Institute at NAU and the Cowden Endowed Chair in Microbiology; photo courtesy of Northern Arizona University

or desperately needed medicines and ventilators. Across Arizona’s life science community, educators, researchers and companies are answering the call for “all hands on deck.”

Arizona’s life science sector spans a continuum from discovery to development to delivery. This means that we are actively engaged in a wide range of activities during the current health emergency. In many ways, the healthcare value chain is unique. In many industries, there is a clear line of sight across a B2B or B2C relationship. In healthcare, a medical professional prescribes, a pharmacy or healthcare facility provides the product to the patient, and a network of

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SECTOR: BIOINDUSTRIES

supply chain providers acquire the products on behalf of the government or private insurers who have the responsibility for managing the financial end of the transaction for the people they insure. It’s a complex system at best, and even more complicated today as governments and hospitals are also competing for precious supplies as demand is rising to unanticipated levels in “hot spots” across the country.

Innovations for heath are in demand globally, and manufactured here in Arizona and around the world. Global hot spots during the pandemic have played a significant role in the shortages we read about in the news. For instance, China and Italy are major producers of the special swabs that are needed for diagnostic tests. When they locked down, a major source of supply was cut off, making it harder for test kits to be deployed. This is just one example. There are many more, including drugs and medical devices that are needed to treat critically ill patients.

We are also seeing rapid rates of adoption of medical technologies that enable remote patient care. Hospitals were some of the first to adopt telemedicine, but adoption was slower in many physician practices due to spotty and low reimbursement rates for the providers. In today’s socially distanced world, these challenges are being addressed. The solutions are

not yet where they need to be, but after Arizona and the world emerges from this current state of “business unusual,” we will likely see telemedicine play a much bigger role in medicine’s “new normal.”

Here’s an interesting fact to contemplate as we look to the future. In September of 2019, the three the lowest rankings out of the 25 industries ranked in Gallup’s public opinion poll were the Healthcare industry, the Federal Government, and worst of all, the Pharmaceutical industry. I wonder what these rankings will look like in September 2020.

FABRIC in Tempe pivots from being a fashion design incubator to a designer and supplier of PPE; photo by Xposed Capture, courtesy of FABRIC

SECTOR: BUSINESS MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS

Todd Sanders President and CEO of Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce

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Business Will Need a Hand As a chamber of commerce with a broad and diverse membership base, we’ve seen the full range of how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the Greater Phoenix region’s businesses, nonprofits and community-based organizations. For us, we’ve completely shifted our operations from emphasizing connections at events and programs to virtual offerings that still serve our members while practicing social distancing. Our entire team is working remotely, but committed to delivering top-notch services to our members.

While it has been a challenge, we are committed to staying home in the short-term to protect our community’s long-term health.

I’ve heard from many businesses and leaders. Some of our members in the restaurant and hospitality industry are struggling.

Businesses like these are unsure about what their future looks like after this crisis. And, yet, we also have other members in the healthcare and retail sectors that are grappling to secure critical supplies and the very real need for stronger talent pipelines.

Each chamber of commerce is experiencing this public health crisis differently. Still, I know from my conversations with other chamber leaders that we are all focused on transitioning our work — both our tangible services and our advocacy efforts — to meet the immediate needs of our members and unique business communities. For the Greater Phoenix Chamber, this looks like daily calls with the Governor’s Office, working collaboratively with the Arizona Chamber Executives, to ensure all chambers are able to communicate

the most recent and relevant information to their members.

We have also launched digital resources and webinars to connect our members with subject matter experts.

Through our Foundation, we formed a partnership with Data Doctors, AzSTRUT, School Connect AZ and Cox Communications to start a laptop drive to provide more students with access to the technology they need to continue learning while schools are closed.

While the physical chamber office doors are temporarily closed, our work is more important than ever. My colleagues across the industry remain steadfast in their commitment to helping businesses. While we been fortunate and not experienced any supply chain issues, several of our members are experiencing this hurdle. At this step, we are leaning into our role as a community convener and connector to help our essential businesses close their supply gaps.

As our community emerges from this crisis, I think we will see a renewed focus on collaboration and connection to build a better, brighter Arizona. For my organization, we’ve learned a lot about being nimble and responsive to our members and community; when this is all over, I know that we will carry this mindset with us in future work and initiatives.

As this situation has continued, I think we’ve all seen how work can look different. As we emerge from this crisis, I think our community will see a focus on flexible workspaces — where and when appropriate — that emphasize wellness, innovation, and taking care of business.

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SECTOR: COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

Suzanne Kinney President and CEO of the Arizona Chapter of NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association

What’s Developing in Our CRE Market Building owners are focused on two issues right now: making rent payment arrangements with tenants whose operations have been impacted by COVID-19 and ensuring that their buildings provide a safe and healthy space for essential workers who must continuing coming into the office.

Regarding rent payments, building owners had to rapidly put protocols in place to determine which tenants have been directly and severely impacted by COVID-19 to the point they are unable to pay their rent. These typically include tenants that have been required to temporarily close their operations or have suffered dramatic decreases in revenue and do not have sufficient savings to weather the shutdown. Many other tenants have been able to continue operating, albeit in a virtual manner, with minimal disruption to their finances.

Building owners are working with tenants to help them apply for federal Paycheck Protection Program loans and other sources of emergency funding from the government that can be used in part to pay rent. Each tenant’s situation is different, so building owners are working to find customized solutions that will enable their tenants to get through this difficult time and reopen in their same location once the pandemic has subsided.

Building owners must continue to pay mortgages on their buildings despite experiencing a dramatic reduction in rental income. For buildings that are primarily retail or hospitality, this is incredibly difficult. The owners may be receiving nearly zero rental income. Therefore, owners are reaching out to their lenders to request forbearance on their mortgages in order to avoid foreclosure.

For offices, warehouses and manufacturing facilities that serve businesses deemed essential, owners have put rigorous cleaning and disinfecting protocols in place.

This often involves a thorough cleaning several times per day. They are working with tenants to assist with social distancing among the workers who remain. In addition, they have instituted procedures to fully disinfect any building where a worker has been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Lobby of 2700 Tower on Central Avenue in Phoenix; courtesy of NAIOP

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Ascend at Chandler Airport Center leased by Ascend Northrop, LLC; courtesy of NAIOP

Construction companies, which have been deemed essential businesses (which means the construction of new buildings can move forward), have modified their practices to ensure workers maintain a safe distance from each other. Fortunately, the construction industry is accustomed to rigorous safety standards, so modifying these to accommodate new health considerations has been relatively straightforward. These companies are also helping healthcare workers on the front lines. NAIOP member Willmeng Construction recently donated all of its surgicalgrade face masks to doctors at Honor Health who are treating coronavirus patients.

Other challenges in our industry have come from many sides: During the pandemic, it has been difficult to complete certain real estate transactions. Investors need to be able to physically inspect any building they are considering buying.

Travel restrictions have made physical tours impossible.

Virtual tours help but are not a complete substitute for inspecting a property in person.

In addition, many services providers that are involved in the real estate process are operating remotely or with limited staff. This may include title companies, law firms, environment consultants and appraisers. This has caused delays in some case.

For new construction, some city-level permits and approvals have been delayed. This is due in part to public participation requirements that cannot legally be met with technologies such as video conferencing.

The financial fallout from COVID-19 has resulted in tighter lending practices. This is making it more difficult for investors to access the capital they need for major real estate projects.

Moving forward, certain changes to the internal layout of offices may become a new standard, at least in the short term. This could include new design standards that space desks farther apart or that reimagine building entry and exit procedures to facilitate social distancing. In some cases, it may involve workers coming in on different shifts to prevent too many people from being in the office at the same time.

More extensive cleaning will become the norm. This will likely involve more frequent cleanings and deeper cleanings that fully disinfect all surfaces.

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SECTOR: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Chris Camacho President and CEO of Greater Phoenix Economic Council

Advancing Economic Development From a business development standpoint, the biggest challenge is determining which companies are planning to “re-shore” operations and jobs as a result of global supply chains being severely impacted by the pandemic. COVID-19 exposed massive vulnerabilities for companies in this realm, but it also presents Greater Phoenix’s biggest opportunity.

The region is well-positioned for this sector shift due to our proximity to California and Mexico; our strong and growing labor force, which is solidified by Arizona State University’s supply chain program; and we offer a modern city where people want to live and work.

In fact, with respect to supply chain access or distribution, Greater Phoenix is better positioned than any region in the Mountain West. We typically have 1,200 daily domestic and international flights from Sky Harbor International Airport, more than 33 million consumers can be served within a single day’s truck haul, and shipping costs from Greater Phoenix to California are up to 75% cheaper than other Mountain West markets. Global supply chains are forever going to change because of COVID-19, and North America, especially Mexico, with Sonora and Baja being major bedrocks for goods and transport, will be critical to our success.

Ease of congestion and lack of natural disasters also provide Greater Phoenix with optimal position because run times stay high. We don’t encounter blackouts or brownouts like California, tornadoes like you see in Texas, or flooding that’s prevalent in gulf states. Natural disasters have huge impacts on supply chains, and Greater Phoenix is absent of these catastrophes.

There has also been a major divergence in enterprise companies (those with 500 or more employees), with cost

containment and optimization taking precedent through our conversations. Massive real estate portfolio contraction amongst these firms will lead to an increase in mega facilities, which bodes well for Greater Phoenix, but at the detriment of smaller markets. On the opposite end of the spectrum, substantial uncertainty exists for “main street” businesses in terms of their recovery. We estimate 10-20 percent of small businesses in Arizona will not survive the recession. Tech companies fall in the middle of this scale and are facing similar pressures to SMBs, with recovery dependent on the demand curve changing, which equates to consumer confidence and spending.

COVID-19 has disrupted different industries in different ways and to different degrees. Three distinct industries come to mind as the strongest at this time: E-commerce and e-commerce platforms allow consumers to purchase everything online. The upswing e-commerce companies are experiencing will further shape the retail sector moving forward.

Cybersecurity is strong, with data protection being a priority as we begin to blend in-person office norms with fulltime digital workers, which will become the new normal.

The Industrial sector overall — particularly distribution, logistics, e-commerce, technology and food production — is strong and will remain strong. This is evident through April numbers [the most recent at the time of this writing] that around 90 percent of industrial tenants made rent payments on-time.

We anticipate that, of changes made due to COVID-19, the blend of physical office and distance workers within the technology and financial services industries will remain as a new standard.

GPEC hosts economic development event; courtesy Greater Phoenix Economic Council

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SECTOR: RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE

Mary Roberts, REALTOR President of Arizona Association of REALTORS®

Trends Are Showing As part of Governor Ducey’s Executive Order “Stay Home, Stay Healthy, Stay Connected” issued in early March, real estate services were deemed an essential service, so REALTORS® in Arizona were allowed to continue to practice.

However, most REALTORS are now working from home and those who are still in the office have their offices locked to the public.

Because real estate requires the listing and selling of homes, we have seen some changes. Some sellers have decided to wait to list their homes because they do not feel comfortable with strangers coming into their home, and some buyers are wary of entering occupied homes. However, there are going to be those who still need to sell and those who still need to buy, even in the midst of COVID. Real estate sales have slowed a bit, but predictions are that sales will boom again once the Stay in Place order is lifted. Because we went into the crisis with low inventory and we will come out of it with low inventory, prices are not predicted to drop.

As far as the impact of supply chain business, the effect is mainly felt by those agents who do vacation rentals and need to supply the homes with paper products Looking ahead: The use of 360 virtual tours has become very popular, and forward-thinking agents are now using these in their businesses. This is definitely one thing that will change in the future! Sellers will expect it on their listing and buyers will be accustomed to “shopping” for their homes via a virtual tour.

A virtual tour; courtesy Arizona Association of REALTORS®

SECTOR: RESTAURANTS

Restaurants Pick Up Takeout

Steve Chucri President of Arizona Restaurant Association

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No matter where you are in our industry, from quick service to fine dining, we’ve never seen something like this. It’s challenging in so many ways.

The reality is, 80 percent (maybe 75 percent) of our business is in-dining, not takeout, and this has been the inverse of that.

Everyone’s pivoting. With our ArizonaTakeoutWeeks.com, we were very fortunate to be able to set that up so quickly, taking the energy from our Arizona Restaurant Weeks and channeling that into Takeout Weeks; within 48 hours, to have so many restaurants joining on, having it up and operating.

We now have a Takeout Week website with over 750 menus on it that people are utilizing. But the realities of just relying solely on takeout is challenging for our industry because each restaurant is not necessarily equipped to do it — there’s still overhead costs and everything associated with running a restaurant. Restaurateurs are some of the most entrepreneurial and innovative people I’ve come to know, and they’re putting that to work right now. But it certainly doesn’t make it any easier.

Part of the issue stems from what menu items are good to travel. Not all are. How do you have a hot fudge sundae go home? And it comes down to packaging — packaging that’s

safe, that can’t be opened by someone who’s delivering the product. So it’s multi-faceted in that nature.

And the temperature for something to be consumed: It’s oftentimes more presentable and applicable to enjoyment inside a restaurant than having to have it brought home and then the French fries are soggy, for instance. This is problematic for egg dishes as a broad category. That’s why some of the breakfast places have said, “Look, we’ve tried it and it’s not working. We’re going to wait and come back when we can reopen.” Because breakfast is just a hard part of the food service industry to master in a takeout fashion.

So it’s really made restaurateurs focus on: How can we keep things fresh? How can we utilize packaging that carries better, that brings the food home in a way that will still be not nearly as perfect as inside the restaurant but pretty close? And that’s what we’ve worked with our restaurants to try and do.

Also, restaurants don’t have the same capacity by way of staff and others to help get the food prepared and out the door as if the dining room was fully open and they’re going from the kitchen to the table in the dining room.

Delivery has become another staple option. Restaurants now are utilizing some of their own crew members to do

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SECTOR: RESTAURANTS

deliveries. Third-party delivery services can be very expensive. I certainly understand that they have their own costs, but margins are pretty thin as they are, in restaurants, and even more so today in trying to fight this virus as well as keep our doors open. And so restaurateurs are saying, “Look, we can’t keep passing what little profit we have on to other people; we need to try to keep as much of that as we can.” So, while some are using third-party delivery companies — and some third-party delivery companies are offering some great value by way of discounting and aren’t charging their usual fees, which is really helpful — other restaurateurs are doing it themselves with their teams. They’re making sure they’re being careful, and they know what food lasts better and how long it can take to get it to someone.

And with customers — they’re regulars, so they like to see their favorite server or their favorite chef and favorite restaurant owner, so it kind of works out in a good way on all fronts.

The ripple effect of this has been quite large. We work with our broadliners in the food industry, the food delivery companies that serve our restaurants each and every day, and they’ve done a wonderful job of trying to make sure they get what they need to get. But just watch the nightly news to hear about the pandemic’s impact on supply and distribution: Tyson Foods was on the news recently, and Smithfield, with some of the challenges they’re having. You hear about cows needing to be milked, and the milk is just being thrown away because there isn’t enough utilization. All those factors definitely play in to how they affect a restaurant.

For a restaurant to be able to flip a switch and start to operate again is very challenging. There are systems that are involved in getting something like that going, and the difficulty now — and what we’re working on with our members — is: Whatever you’re doing on the takeout front, continue to do it, and make sure it’s working. But let’s also try to come up with a strategy on how we can get restaurants reopened and what our dining rooms will look like post-COVID-19. I believe we’ll see the two co-existing. We’ll see

restaurants that typically didn’t do much takeout service continue to do it, just to keep things going, because the public is the market, and the market’s going to dictate how quickly or how we come back.

There are multiple moving parts when it comes to this side of reopening.

There’s a likelihood of facing a tepid public who’s not sure if they want to come back to dining rooms. And restaurateurs face a lot of unknowns in trying to get their workforce back; for instance, some may have moved out of state to go “back home.” There may be a question as to whether all the equipment shut down correctly, and concerns about having to start from scratch in reordering food and not being sure they can get the types of items they’ll need to mirror what they need to present in their menu and the food they put on the table. Plus they would need to start with some operating cash flow to ensure they can get things ordered and pay for things, and alcohol, and all the things that come with that.

Restaurants are governed by good hygiene as it is, through health inspections and restaurant inspections, and of course that will continue.

But I believe there will be a heightened awareness in the back-of-the-house operations in our kitchens, where most restaurants will probably be utilizing masks, and of course they already have to utilize gloves. Protecting our customer base is Job One. I’d like to share something we’re doing to help our displaced workers.

We employ 230,000 people in the restaurant industry, and we’ve had to unfortunately let off 80 percent of them. So we created Arizona Restaurant Strong, a campaign through Arizona Restaurant Association’s 501c3 Education Foundation, giving $500 grants to those displaced workers who meet certain criteria. It’s been open about a week as of this writing, and having great success, and we’re getting money to people very quickly — in some cases, 48 hours or so right after they’ve applied. We’re excited to be able to do that, and we’re hopeful that we can continue to support our displaced workers and get them back to work when it’s safe and possible.

Takeout dining; courtesy Arizona Restaurant Association

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SECTOR: TECHNOLOGY

Count on Tech

Steven G. Zylstra President and CEO of Arizona Technology Council

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COVID-19 has created a volatile market and will continue to negatively impact every business sector until we have a clearer picture surrounding the length and depth of this pandemic. In the technology industry, businesses are dealing with a dramatic strain on their supply chains all around the world. Companies are limiting travel, cancelling meetings outside of office walls and temporarily banning non-essential visitors. Most organizations are also sending employees home to work, and we’ve seen a few companies that have been forced to lay workers off.

Day-to-day operations for most companies have also changed drastically. We’re seeing more and more businesses invest in virtual tools and technology platforms to alleviate the challenges of social distancing. The use of online meeting platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams is surging.

The efforts of IT firms and in-house IT teams have ramped up as companies work to facilitate an efficient online work environment. Laptops and webcams around the world are also sold out as companies place hundreds of thousands of orders to ensure their employees can work from home.

Fortunately, advancements in technology have significantly mitigated the impact of COVID-19. There are various technology platforms and companies that are facilitating a smoother transition into a virtual work environment. Acronis, a member of the Arizona Technology Council and a Scottsdale-based leader in cybersecurity, is offering its enterprise-grade file sync and share solution free to all service providers at no charge to support remote workers through July. This is helping companies retain strong security measures in this new work environment.

Everyone is feeling the impact of COVID-19, but businesses are adapting to survive, and many will come out stronger in the end.

As mentioned above, one of the most significant things we’re seeing is a larger investment in webinar platforms and social media tools, which are providing new ways for companies to engage with their audiences. Council board member Rebecca Clyde and her company Botco.ai are providing their AI-powered, automated chat service free of charge throughout the course of the COVID-19 closures to franchisors in the beauty and wellness industries. These types of tools help companies connect with their audience, share information, conduct transactions virtually and continue to keep business going. In fact, we’re probably seeing more customer engagement now than before the outbreak as companies work hard to keep everyone updated on operations and the impact of COVID-19 on their businesses.

In addition to moving engagements, events and meetings to a virtual environment, we are also seeing businesses make significant operational changes or pivots to better serve customers in this time of crisis. In the engineering and manufacturing sector, there are several companies here in the Valley that have shifted production to help serve healthcare customers.

Benchmark is supporting medical customers focused on developing solutions to prevent, test and treat COVID-19.

The design, engineering, testing and manufacturing provider has ramped up production on or helped redesign key devices, such as ventilators, portable X-ray units, chest scanning devices, nitric oxide treatment systems, diagnostic equipment and infusion pumps for temporary hospitals.

Benchmark is also working on two transformational polymerase chain reaction testing products — one for COVID-19 and another for sepsis, a common condition in COVID-19 patients — that will yield results within an hour.

Tucson-based Universal Avionics and Honeywell have also joined the fight by shifting some areas of production to help produce medical face masks and shields. Honeywell has even committed to hiring 500 new workers to help meet the healthcare industry’s demand.

Phoenix-based Prorenata and Tucson-based Paradigm have reconfigured production to the development of testing kits. The Biodesign Institute at ASU is working on developing innovative robotics platforms to handle larger volumes of COVID-19 tests. The Translational Genomics Research Institute is working with government bodies at every level to expand testing across Arizona. PADT is using its product design, simulation and 3D printing expertise to help design and build ventilators for The University of Arizona Medical Center.

Whether they are directly serving the healthcare industry with technology and safety equipment to fight COVID-19 or investing in virtual platforms to engage with customers, Arizona businesses are becoming more innovative to serve customers in this time of crisis.

At this time, supply chains are certainly constrained. Nonessential businesses in the technology industry that rely on national and international supply chains are having a tough time. However, just as production remains steady or, in some cases, is increasing in essential industries, the supply chains for these industries haven’t been affected as significantly.

In some instances, such as in the medical sector, companies around the world have worked hard to improve and accelerate their supply chains to ensure devices and equipment critical to the healthcare industry are abundantly available.

The threat of COVID-19 has certainly made many companies wary of international supply chains as well.

However, we’ve come together around the globe to ensure components and materials necessary to maintain a somewhat normal life, as well as those needed to prevent, test and treat the outbreak, remain available. Large companies such as Phoenix-based Avnet and Intel have seen their supply chains come back online quickly as suppliers in China, South Korea, Japan and others reopen and restart their economies.

I believe we will see more companies leverage virtual tools to engage with customers and partners more frequently than ever before. With the increased investment in webinar platforms, social media tools and online meetings, we’ve all

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SECTOR: TECHNOLOGY

become more adept with technology, and companies have quickly learned to utilize virtual tools to conduct daily business.

I also anticipate that as we return to what resembles normalcy, more companies in technology will utilize a remote workforce. The infrastructure and technology are now set up to allow employees to work from home. Many

businesses, especially small ones operating online, also will take advantage of the cost savings available with a full or partially remote workforce.

But to be human is to connect and collaborate with others. Given what we have all been through together, relationships have been enhanced and the face-to-face human connection will be ever more vital to our future.

SECTOR: TOURISM

Site-Seeing in Sight

Rachel Sacco President and CEO of Experience Scottsdale

Scottsdale’s entire tourism industry has been impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak, with many hotels and resorts either closing their doors or operating at single-digit occupancy levels. Because Experience Scottsdale’s primary funding comes from transient lodging taxes, our organization reflects the health of the tourism industry — in good times and in bad.

Like many tourism businesses throughout Scottsdale, our organization has seen budget cuts, layoffs and furloughs.

For the safety of our staff, our operations have temporarily gone remote. As a destination marketing organization during a time when there is no appetite for travel, our tone has shifted. Our message to potential visitors has been to stay home, stay safe and know that Scottsdale will be waiting with a welcome as warm as our sunshine when the time is right. We hope to keep that inspiration alive, so that people, though stuck at home, can still dream about future travels to Scottsdale. Experience Scottsdale has worked closely with government, business and hospitality partners to protect our community’s economic future, support those in the industry directly impacted, and ensure Scottsdale remains top of mind when the public is ready to travel again.

This crisis began during the local tourism industry’s peak season, meaning our businesses have missed out on critical revenue, and our community has lost important visitor-paid tax revenue. Many hospitality businesses have shut their doors or transitioned to entirely new business models, such as restaurants shifting to take-out only. Restaurants, golf courses and hotels were deemed essential, so some continue to operate, though with far less capacity — to encourage safe, physical distancing. Due to federal guidelines advising against gatherings of 10 or more, many events and meetings planned

Insuring Our Future

Clockwise from upper left: Pool at Hotel Valley Ho, courtesy Christine Johnson; Palm Court Lawn at Hotel Valley Ho, courtesy Hotel Valley Ho; Troon North Golf Club, by Myles McGuinness courtesy Experience Scottsdale; "HeartHug" by Izobrulo Polylight at Canal Convergence 2019, courtesy Scottsdale Arts

for March and April have been cancelled or postponed as well.

When hotels or restaurants close, the impact isn’t felt only by their business and employees. There is a multiplier effect. Their closure impacts local farmers, linen services, beverage companies and beyond. When meetings and events are cancelled, all companies involved in the planning and coordination of that event — security, rental companies, ticket collectors, florists and more — also are affected.

Tourism is a truly resilient industry, and analysts predict the industry will rebound once we overcome this crisis.

However, travel will look different at the outset. Though there is pent-up demand for travel, travelers will likely stick to road trips initially, choosing destinations with wide, open spaces that allow for continued physical distancing. When the time is right, Experience Scottsdale will be ready to target potential visitors in drive markets, and we’ll share the beauty and adventure that awaits them in Scottsdale’s Sonoran Desert.

Of course, nothing happens any more without insurance. For an in-depth view of the insurance industry, read “In-Depth: A Look at All Types of Insurance during Pandemic” on www.inbusinessphx.com.

Arizona Bankers Association azbankers.org

Arizona Association of Realtors® aaronline.com

Experience Scottsdale experiencescottsdale.com

Arizona Bioindustry Association, Inc. azbio.org

Arizona Restaurant Association azrestaurant.org

Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce phoenixchamber.com

Arizona Chapter of NAIOP naiopaz.org

Arizona Technology Council aztechcouncil.org

Greater Phoenix Economic Council gpec.org

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PEOPLE ARE KEY

Problem-Based Learning – Thriving during the Crisis Transformation vs. conversion

by Dr. Jim Guilkey

If there is one thing the coronavirus has taught us all is that training, as we know it, is neither resilient nor flexible.

Classroom training that requires facilitators and participants to fly to various locations and pack arm-to-arm in a classroom is no longer an option. But as organizations consider replacing their current programs with virtual training, do they understand that simply converting existing materials is neither effective nor efficient? Do companies realize that virtual distribution of learning requires a much different instructional design methodology — a transformation? Probably not.

Corporations have never been forced to totally redesign their training to focus solely on virtual distribution.

CONVERSION

Jim Guilkey, Ph.D., is the author of M-Pact Learning: The New Competitive Advantage — What All Executives Need To Know. He is president and co-founder of S4 NetQuest and a nationally recognized expert in instructional design and learning strategy, with extensive experience in leading the design, development and implementation of innovative, highly effective learning solutions. Under his leadership, S4 NetQuest has transformed the learning programs for corporations that include Johnson & Johnson, Chase Bank and Kaiser Permanente. Guilkey received a B.S. in aviation and an M.A. and Ph.D. in instructional design and technology from Ohio State. jimguilkey.com

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So, what exactly is a training conversion and why is it not the answer to our current challenges? Conversion, simply put, means trying to duplicate everything as it was previously done in the classroom. If slides were used in the classroom, convert those for use in a WebEx. If facilitators used lecture, have them lecture virtually or record them and have learners watch those.

Companies tend to utilize conversion because it is fast and efficient. There is also an assumption that if it worked in the classroom, it should work in the virtual classroom. But instructorled classroom training is a much different learning environment.

Participants are a “captive” audience. The facilitator can see participants’ faces and reactions. Group activities are simple to conduct. Converting classroom-based training by attempting to duplicate it fails to consider all the differences and challenges associate with virtual distribution. Classroom training cannot simply be converted. It must be transformed.

TRANSFORMATION

Transformation means duplicating and improving the learning outcomes from previous classroom programs. The traditional classroom cannot be directly converted for virtual distribution. Instead, the classroom must be transformed for maximum learning effectiveness. Transformation takes the existing content and incorporates a blended approach that utilizes problem-based learning as its foundation. Problembased learning produces highly effective training programs.

Problem-based learning is one of the instructional design techniques underlying M-Pact Learning, which produces innovative, highly effective learning solutions.

Step one in the transformation process is to determine which parts of the current content can be transformed into digital, self-paced learning modules. This is normally foundational knowledge such as introduction to processes, overview of products, etc. But these self-paced modules can’t be traditional “page turners” in which learners read page after page and then take a quiz. Instead, it must include engaging,

Replacing organizations’ traditional in-class programs with virtual training requires a much different instructional design methodology.

problem-based modules that result in application of skills and knowledge rather than simple memorization of facts.

Step two is to identify which content can be utilized for interactive virtual classroom. Again, this is not the lecture format utilized in most traditional classroom training. Rather than focusing on the facilitator, the interactive virtual classroom puts the impetus for learning on the learners. Using the problembased approach, the learners are given exercises to complete, problems to solve, etc. Then, rather than lecturing, the facilitator can facilitate these activities and add his or her experiences, provide guidance, aid in the problem-solving process, etc. This M-Pact Learning approach results in higher levels of learning and is much more engaging for the participants.

The third step is to identify content that can be transformed into performance support tools. For example, under the current environment, many sales associates cannot conduct face-to-face sales presentations. So, the business can create tools (e.g., a tool that helps sales associates conduct sales presentations via phone, Skype, etc.) that support their performance from home. This blending of digital self-paced modules, interactive virtual classroom and performance support tools will allow former in-person classroom programs to be transformed into innovative, highly effective virtual learning solutions.

VIRTUAL LEARNING – HOW TO TRANSFORM TRAINING FOR MAXIMUM EFFECTIVENESS Companies must utilize problem-based learning and the associated blended approach to transform their training for virtual distribution. But how should organizations incorporate problem-based learning? Is it as simple as teaching the facilitators to use virtual technologies and techniques? No, it’s about incorporating problem-based learning into the instructional design methodology.

IT ISN’T ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY OR TECHNIQUES

In a response to the virtualization movement, organizations are focusing on two components: virtual classroom technologies (WebEx, Skype, Zoom, etc.) and virtual facilitation techniques.

STRATEGIES FOR WORKING REMOTELY Companies are beginning to review their technology options for virtual classroom. What features and benefits do each provide? For example, some technologies allow for video, whiteboarding, document sharing and virtual collaboration rooms. Although it is beneficial to have a set of virtual tools, the technology is secondary to how the training is designed. It is the same with virtual facilitation techniques. The web is now full of “tips and tricks” for effective virtual facilitation. But these tips and tricks assume the facilitator is still utilizing a lecture format and showing slides. The foundation of effective learning is always instructional design.

BLENDING FOR EFFECTIVE TRANSFORMATION

M-Pact Learning is a methodology that results in application of knowledge and skills and an associated competitive advantage. So how do we utilize M-Pact Learning to ensure effective virtual training? Existing classroom materials need to be transformed into a blended learning approach utilizing problem-based learning as the foundation — a blend that is specifically designed to be conducted virtually. There are three main components related to this blend.

Self-paced digital modules: The first component is self-paced digital modules. Self-paced digital modules should be short (micro-mods) and contain foundational knowledge. As an example, associates selling medical devices need a number of foundational elements that include anatomy, physiology, disease state, introduction to the product(s), etc. Anatomy is especially tuned to self-paced learning; we, for instance, created an interactive eye model that allowed users to understand refractive disorders like nearsightedness. Learners are asked to diagnose various patients (problem-based learning). The entire micro-mod takes seven minutes to complete.

Virtual classroom: As mentioned previously, the impetus for learning must be transferred to the learners. Continuing the example of training sales associates, for a virtual classroom session, we would break the participants into groups (group A and group B), and have them prepare a presentation where they discuss one product against a competitor’s product. While group A is presenting, group B evaluates that presentation, using an evaluation tool that identifies the key characteristics of a good presentation, including evaluation criteria. Then the teams switch roles: group B presents and group A evaluates. Instead of lecturing, in this model, the facilitator can actually facilitate these exercises and provide additional insights.

Performance support tools: The final component of the blended virtual learning solution involves the creation of performance support tools. Performance support tools help learners apply their knowledge in the field and more rapidly gain expertise. Continuing the example for training sales associates, we would provide a tool that helps sales associates conduct virtual sales presentations. The tool could include a customer-profiling element that allows associates to ask specific questions based on the profile. The tool could also provide ways to overcome objections, etc. Learners can also be provided example problems and use the tools to solve for those problems.

THE FUTURE?

Knowing that the coronavirus crisis will eventually pass, some organizations believe the movement toward virtual training will be temporary. But, when done correctly using a transformation strategy, virtual learning can actually be more effective than in-classroom training.

Organizations that want to thrive and prosper in the future will not only transform their current training for virtual distribution, but will continue this approach to ensure they can withstand any adverse global events.

Existing classroom materials need to be transformed into a blended learning approach utilizing problem-based learning as the foundation — a blend that is specifically designed to be conducted virtually.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (30th Anniversary Edition) One of the most inspiring and impactful books ever written, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has captivated readers for nearly three decades. It has transformed the lives of presidents and CEOs, educators and parents — millions of people of all ages and occupations. Now, this 30th anniversary edition of the timeless classic commemorates the wisdom of the 7 Habits with modern additions from Sean Covey.

The 7 Habits have become famous and are integrated into everyday thinking by millions and millions of people. Why? Because they work! With Sean Covey’s added takeaways on how the habits can be used in our modern age, the wisdom of the 7 Habits will be refreshed for a new generation of leaders.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (30th Anniversary Edition) Stephen R. Covey, Jim Collins and Sean Covey Simon & Schuster

464 pages

On shelves and online

Doing Agile Right Agile has the power to transform work — but only if it’s implemented the right way. For decades, business leaders have been painfully aware of a huge chasm: They aspire to create nimble, flexible enterprises, but their day-to-day reality is silos, sluggish processes and stalled innovation.

Today, agile is hailed as the essential bridge across this chasm, with the potential to transform a company and catapult it to the head of the pack. Not so fast. In this cleareyed, indispensable book, Bain & Company thought leader Darrell Rigby and his colleagues Sarah Elk and Steve Berez provide a much-needed reality check.

They dispel the myths and misconceptions that have accompanied agile’s rise to prominence — the idea that it can reshape an organization all at once, for instance, or that it should be used in every function and for all types of work.

Doing Agile Right: Transformation Without Chaos Darrell Rigby, Sarah Elk and Steve Berez Harvard Business Review Press

256 pages On shelves and online

Accountable Leaders Leadership accountability is a major issue in organizations around the globe. Research has shown that teams and individual employees are overwhelmingly dissatisfied with the degree of accountability demonstrated by their leaders.

Effective teams need responsible and accountable leaders — the solution seems simple. Yet, thousands of businesses are struggling with mediocre performance and widening gaps in leadership. This essential resource provides practical and no-nonsense strategies to transform any organization into a cohesive, highly motivated culture of accountable leaders and fully committed teams. Bestselling author Dr. Vince Molinaro shares his proven methods of optimal leadership accountability, providing a step-by-step blueprint for leaders in any organization.

Accountable Leaders: Inspire a Culture Where Everyone Steps Up, Takes Ownership, and Delivers Results Vince Molinaro Wiley

272 pages Available 6/10/2020

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Economy

DEVELOPING & GROWING BUSINESS DYNAMICS

Coronavirus Teaches the Value of Domestic Manufacturing

Ripple effect on supply chain and our economy

by Jim White, Ph.D.

Jim White, Ph.D., is an Arizona resident and chairman and CEO of Arizona-based Post Harvest Technologies and Growers Ice Company, founder and CEO of PHT Opportunity Fund, and founder and president of JL White International. Dr. White holds a BS in civil engineering, an MBA, and a doctorate in psychology and organizational behavior. He acquires struggling businesses to revive and develop into profitable enterprises. phtopportunityfund.com

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The coronavirus is novel indeed, in that we are learning daily about how it operates: its effect on our bodies, how it is distributed, who it targets and, potentially, how it is prevented.

But the virus also is novel in that it pinpoints what is working in our country and what is not — in terms of healthcare, of course, but also in terms of our economy. Specifically, COVID-19 highlights the precarious situation of a nation that has become overly dependent on foreign goods.

A short supply of N95 masks is just one lesson we’ve learned the hard way, as we wait in line alongside other countries for shipments to arrive from China. Other medical devices, like ventilators, are being doled out, and so are critical pharmaceuticals. Almost two years ago, the Alliance for American Manufacturing noted that China is “quietly becoming the world’s pharmacy.” More than 90 percent of our antibiotics, vitamin C and ibuprofen are made there, along with nearly three quarters of all our acetaminophen. According to the FDA, some 72 percent of facilities manufacturing active ingredients for American drugs are based overseas, the reason being lower electricity coal, and water costs — along with cheap labor and loose environmental regulations.

Punitive tariffs on Chinese goods succeeded only partly as U.S. companies moved to other countries; apparel and footwear manufacturing, for instance, shifted to Egypt, Vietnam and Indonesia, while aerospace components manufacturing opened in Mexico. But more and more, American companies are realizing that the risks may outweigh the cost advantage of foreign manufacturing: unstable supply chains, transportation delays and global trade wars, to name a few, and in the case of aerospace, a dearth of highly skilled workers where needed. We need only to look to the dozens of deaths caused by tainted heparin, a blood thinner made in China, to see the lethal result of poor product quality.

Now imagine if some of this manufacturing were to be re-shored to America. A pandemic’s effect on offshore manufacturing capabilities causing subsequent shortfalls would be less of a concern. Moreover, imagine the effect it could have on our economy.

COVID-19 highlights the precarious situation of a nation that has become overly dependent on foreign goods.

Right now, there are some 8,800 distressed communities across the county, suffering from unemployment, poverty, drugs, crime, failing infrastructure and population decline. These areas have been designated as Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs), that is, neighborhoods which would benefit greatly from an influx of investment dollars and commerce to reinvigorate businesses, rebuild infrastructure and bolster residents.

Imagine if American corporations were to relocate to these distressed communities, by building new facilities or renovating existing properties. New hubs of commerce would be established. There would be new jobs with better salaries.

More people would relocate to these areas, increasing real estate values and breathing new life into local shops and stores. Residents and business owners, succeeding for the first time in decades, would beautify their homes, storefronts, public buildings, streets, parks and monuments. Spending on infrastructure would increase, crime would decrease, and better healthcare resources would become available for citizens. Spread out over many communities, the nation would flourish as a whole.

In fact, not only would the residents of these communities benefit, so would the companies that invest in them. The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act includes a bold initiative for spurring long-term private-sector investments in low-income rural and urban communities: the investment of unused capital gains via Qualified Opportunity Funds (QOFs). It’s a tax break and possible outsized return for investors, and a unique opportunity to drive economic growth and channel funds to distressed communities.

For American corporations, the advantages are plentiful, including a readily available skilled workforce and easily sourced materials that shorten supply chains and result in higher product quality and consistency. Inter-company communications and customer care improve, as does the ability to respond to changing market demands.

As the CEO of several American-based manufacturing companies, I can attest to these benefits and the ripple effect of investing in our backyard. If the coronavirus has taught us anything, it is that we are all in this together and now is the time to look after our families, our neighbors and our nation.

LAW MATTERS TO BUSINESS

Negotiating a Commercial Lease?

Questions to always ask before signing

by J. Phillip Glasscock

A company’s business premises lease may represent its highest monthly expense. It also represents one of the most important commitments a business owner can make . A lack of careful consideration can result in serious financial consequences.

To avoid missteps, consider these due diligence questions to gain clarity and confidence before signing.

THE PARTIES INVOLVED IN THE LEASE

Who owns the property? First, identify the owner of the property. Whether it’s a single-owner property or there are third parties involved, approval for improvements, concessions, tenant improvements, subleases and extensions is needed.

If it’s an ownership group, there may be a managing member able to negotiate on behalf of the co-owners. Occasionally, commercial properties are owned by dozens of owners; this arrangement can make it incredibly difficult to get all owners’ approval of even simple changes in a lease.

Further, ensure the owner of the property is contractually responsible for performance under the lease. Sometimes, the landlord named is a property management company that does not own the property. If the owner fires the leasing company, the tenant might not be able to enforce its lease.

What are the terms of loans against the property?

A foreclosing lender can invalidate a lease. Even if a loan is not invalidated, the terms of the loan may block certain lease provisions, amendments or concessions. So, before committing, find out if there are other lenders or parties who have the power to invalidate a lease or prevent the tenant and/ or the owner from adjusting it.

THE PREMISES

An attorney with Guidant Law Firm, J. Phillip Glasscock has more than 35 years of experience in business transactions, real estate, litigation and estate planning. He has worked with manufacturers, international distributors, professional services firms and family-owned businesses. His mission is simple: help clients make money and keep it. guidant.law

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Do the premises, facilities, amenities and land-use provisions meet the company’s needs? Prior to signing a lease, confirm the property is fit for the company’s business and aligns with all its foreseeable needs.

Review the zoning to make sure the company can operate at the location. Hire an expert to inspect the property for defects. Ensure the property’s mechanical, plumbing, electrical and technology are in working condition before moving in. Failing to do so can result in maintenance repair and structural change issues.

THE LEASE TERMS

What square footage is the company leasing? Verifying the premises’ square footage is correct seems like common sense, but this small detail can be overlooked. At times, landlords will list more square feet than what is usable, which can lead to a company being financially obligated for space it isn’t occupying.

Examples of unusable space range from common areas to elevator space, riser rooms and support columns.

Moreover, if the landlord says share of the common area expenses is a certain percentage, does this include only rented

space, parking spaces, easements and the like? If the company pays a common area charge or percentage of the building expenses, go for a smaller percentage to minimize its space and maximize the total space of the building or complex. Make sure the company pays only its fair share.

What are the CAM charges? Tenants are typically responsible for common area maintenance (CAM). Before committing to a lease, ask the landlord for copies of last year’s charges to estimate what the company could be charged.

Review the types of items that are charged, be aware of any unlisted costs for which the company may be liable and ask if the landlord is collecting reserves for large items. If not, the company may be burdened with a large expense for a new roof or repaving the parking lot.

What does the insurance cost? Business owners should determine their insurance cost before signing a lease. For the most accurate estimate, provide the company’s insurance broker with a copy of the lease.

ADD-ON AND DEFAULT PROVISIONS

What provisions are not boilerplate items? Ask the landlord what provisions are included in the lease. This might include sublease provisions, exclusivity clauses (prohibiting the landlord from leasing space to a direct competitor) and escape clauses (can the company get out of the lease if occupancy falls below a certain level or if an anchor tenant leaves?). These are all critical considerations that play into a business’s future.

What are the lease’s default provisions? What happens if the company has a business reversal? Business owners should understand what circumstances may lead to them being locked out. In that case, what would happen to the office contents? Plus, find out if remaining payments accelerate if the company misses a payment.

Commercial leases are complex and deserve adequate due diligence before making a commitment. Consulting an experienced real estate attorney helps companies identify significant issues to resolve before they are locked into something they regret.

Demand for office space in the Valley is strong; vacancy has declined for seven straight quarters and is at its lowest since 2007. Average Class A space is $35.52 per square foot, and Class B average is $26.28 per square foot, according to CBRE’s Office Market View Q4 2019 report.

DARING TO BE BETTER

Connection in the Workplace: It’s Worth the Risk Empathy is a leadership superpower

by Eileen Rogers

Whether it’s private sector or nonprofit, in communities, schools or government, we are hungry for courageous, empathetic leaders. We want to show up, learn and be inspired by them. We want to be those leaders.

Why does it seem so elusive to us? What gets in the way?

According to Dr. Brené Brown, the answer is shame and our own fear of vulnerability. In her book, Dare to Lead, Brown shares the results of her academic research. She found that many of us believe it’s better and safer to “armor up” and create “shame shields” to protect ourselves from risk, discomfort, shame, uncertainty and emotional exposure.

WOULD MY TEAM DESCRIBE ME AS AN EMPATHETIC LEADER?

Leadership without empathy is not courageous. It happens when a leader is responding rather than experiencing, or when leadership is confused and uses sympathy, giving advice or offering judgment disguised as concern.

By contrast, empathetic leadership is about connecting to the emotions that underpin an experience. Empathy fuels connection and involves experiencing a feeling together.

Dr. Brown also says that empathy is the antidote to shame.

It’s a linchpin for organizational cultures built on connection and trust, and an essential ingredient for any team that must take risks to be successful.

THE FOUR SKILLS OF EMPATHY

Scholar and nurse Teresa Wiseman identified four skills that constitute empathy in leadership.

Empathy Skill #1: Perspective-taking or seeing the world as others see it. Perspective-taking requires us to be a curious learner and not a “knower.” We each look at life through our own personal lens of experience; we can’t see through another person’s lens. But we can listen carefully to another person’s story and honor it as truth — even if it doesn’t fit with our experience of the situation. When we include and value these diverse perspectives, people and teams can achieve at the highest levels.

Empathy Skill #2: Non-judgment. Judgment happens when we’re caught in our own shame. We pick people who we think are “worse” than we are and judge them for it.

Empathetic leadership is about connecting to the emotions that underpin an experience. Empathy fuels connection and involves experiencing a feeling together.

Staying out of judgement requires us to be aware of our own shame struggles. The greater our own self-worth and grounded confidence, the more we can let go of our judgments.

Empathy Skill #3: Understanding another person’s feelings. Most of us learned early that it isn’t okay to bring our emotions to work, and find it uncomfortable to deal with the emotions of others on the job. As Dr. Brown suggests, before we can understand others’ emotions, we need to be in touch with our own.

Empathy Skill #4: Emotional literacy, or communicating our understanding of another person’s feelings. Great leaders go beyond “mad, sad and glad.” Indeed, research suggests there are between 30 and 40 emotions that we can recognize and name.

Courageous leaders are comfortable with this range of emotions. This kind of emotional literacy is the foundation of empathy, self-compassion and shame resilience.

TO SUM IT UP: EMPATHY IS CONNECTION

Empathy in leadership requires staying engaged and curious, feeling with someone to create deep connection. Empathy is not sympathy (enlightened leadership never starts with the words “At least . . .,” as in, “At least you still have a job” or “At least you can transfer to another division”). It never involves trying to fix something or give a perfect response. (Rarely does a response make anything better, and “perfect” never happens, anyway.)

Genuine empathy says, “I may not have had the same experience as you, but I know this struggle, and you are not alone.”

I am fortunate to have had terrific mentors on my leadership journey, people whom I came to trust and who gave me the space to be vulnerable. They empowered me to share challenging experiences without shame. They often listened more than they spoke; gave guidance only when asked; and freely shared their own failures, vulnerability and shame. They felt with me; they didn’t fix me.

Empathy takes practice, and practice involves vulnerability, risk and emotional exposure. Leaders just need to know that when they mess it up, they’ll need to circle back, clean it up and try again.

Nothing worthwhile is achieved without risk. I’ll continue to practice to choose risking an open heart and open mind for deeper connection, growth and more success.

Risk

“Leaders must either invest in a reasonable amount of time attending to fears and feelings or squander an unreasonable amount of time trying to manage ineffective and unproductive behavior.”

—Brené Brown

After 40 years as president of her print and marketing company, Eileen Rogers’ encore career is now as a leadership coach and business advisor through her company One Creative View. She is a seasoned and accomplished entrepreneur and recognized community leader who is fiercely passionate about supporting and growing more vulnerable and courageous leaders.

She is a certified Dare to Lead™ facilitator, Integrative Enneagram practitioner and executive coach. onecreativeview.com

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Social Impact

BUSINESS GIVES BACK

Sands Chevrolet, Cleaning with Care And caring for community

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.

Since 1934, Sands Chevrolet has been serving the Valley of the Sun. The company started as a small fuel station and Chevrolet dealership during World War II. Having been overlooked as a potential partner to build tanks for the war, the company was savvy enough to change course and stayed in business by selling bicycles and trailers. Since its early days, this organization has showcased its ability to pivot in the face of enormous change while helping those it serves.

And throughout the years, under the leadership of owners “Buzz” Sands and Jerry Moore, Sands Chevrolet has made it a priority to take care of the community that has been loyal to it for decades. Each year, Sands Chevrolet supports the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Phoenix. Its annual donation of a car for nonprofit’s silent auction along with vacation packages to Newport Beach continually raises funds for the kids in the communities Sands Chevrolet serves — in many cases helping to raise upwards of $3 million each year for this cause.

Supporting education has also been a priority for Sands Chevrolet. The business awards scholarships for students at Glendale High School, the University of Arizona and Arizona State University’s West Campus. Buzz Sands, a graduate of Glendale High School, has made it a priority to focus support on the West Valley community. Donating a new $49,000 score board to GHS and planning for a $500,000 endowment to Glendale High School to ensure future support of GHS programs, Sands Chevrolet has had a vigilant commitment to aid the community, particularly Glendale.

As COVID-19 began to spread and became of primary concern to the world, Sands’ leaders knew they needed to explore ways they could help prevent the spread of this jarring virus. So, as a free public service to anyone in the Greater Phoenix area, they stepped up in a unique way by offering complimentary car sanitizing services.

A Sands employee will pick up the vehicle and take it back to the dealership, where Sands will steam sanitize the

Sands Chevrolet Glendale sandsglendale.com

11elevenconsulting.com givinginstyle.net

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interior with a commercial, high-pressure steamer at 212-250 degrees. This process reduces the risk of spreading COVID-19 while it simultaneously loosens and removes some stains. The dealership recognized that it had an obligation to not only aid the public but to also keep its 26 front-line employees and administrative staff working.

“When the pandemic hit, we saw the writing on the wall. We knew that unless we did something different, a lot of people would lose their jobs, not to mention the hit the business would take. Our service director came up with the idea of steam sanitizing cars for free and offering that service to help stop the spread. We thought it was the right thing to do for the community. It kept us open. It kept people working. It made us all very proud, and we’ve created nearly 1,000 new friends who, hopefully, will become customers in the future,” share Sands and Moore.

In recent weeks, the initiative has become a focus of healthcare workers. Sands has formed relationships with Arizona’s major health systems: Banner, Abrazo, HonorHealth, Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Dignity and others. And the dealership is now going directly to the hospitals, picking up healthcare workers’ vehicles and taking them back to Sands where they are treated, and then returning them before the workers get off shift — all as a free public service.

These good works are also a cornerstone for the larger Chevrolet brand. The Chevy Cares program is focused on caring for communities, particularly those affected by disaster. The company offers disaster relief assistance to those affected, because its leadership understands that a person’s vehicle can be his or her livelihood. And throughout this epidemic Chevy has been focused on cleaning with care. The company has made cleanliness of the utmost importance, and through its Chevy Clean program it is using enhanced vehicle cleaning measures with the CDC-approved cleansers.

Sands has taken this company-wide commitment to aid the community very seriously and has had a tremendous response from the public regarding this service.

Chevy Cares chevrolet.com/chevy-cares

As COVID-19 began to spread and became of primary concern to the world, Sands’ leaders stepped up in a unique way by offering complimentary car sanitizing services.

Photo courtesy of Chris Loomis(far left), Sands Chevrolet Glendale (right)

by Tyler Butler

OUR SUBJECT IN-DEPTH

No Ageism in Entrepreneurialism 50+ and just laid off? Embrace your inner 'interim.'

by Joe Mullings

As the fog of this war on the U.S. economy begins to clear, it looks as if one class of employees will be among the hardest hit by the pandemic — professionals and executives 50 years and older. And if that sounds familiar, it should. The Great Recession 12 years ago had a similar impact. This time, however, these typically highly trained employees who are at the top of their career game should embrace their new “interim” status.

There’s no question that the times we live in are unprecedented for everyone actively pursuing a career. Those of us 50-plus have to reach back to our parents’ generation when they were teens, just on the cusp of entering the workforce in the Great Depression, to witness this kind of unemployment.

As I write this in April, the latest figures have just been released with the total of the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits just shy of 29 million. By May, we’ll be well past the 30 million mark and counting. The number of jobs lost between March 15 and April 18 of this year wiped out all the jobs after the 2008 Great Recession — 12 years’ worth of job gain gone in a month. (That didn’t happen even during the Great Depression.)

Here’s another way to frame it: Less than half of workingage Americans will be earning a wage next month. These are uncharted waters we’re navigating. However, it’s clear now that the future lies with those who will adapt and even take advantage of the fact that their old jobs won’t be coming back.

THE NEW ‘INTERIM ECONOMY’

Business now has a disproportionate number of high-end performers out of a job because of the pandemic. The over-50year-old category of managers and professionals will likely be hit the hardest. They will have a tougher time re-engaging with their markets due to ageism — which is notoriously hard to prove and, thus, not usually successful to litigate — and, quite frankly, because of their higher salaries. At first, these experienced employees, who are in the second half of their careers, will want to push back, thinking being a contractor or part of the so-called gig economy is a demotion. That would be a mistake.

They would be smart to embrace this new “interim” kind of employment, a category that previously included part-timers, freelance and contract workers, and consultants. Moving forward, the new interim workers might be all of these at various times in their careers. To be clear, this employment will not be a side hustle (which the term “gig economy” implies). This new kind of job will be the worker’s primary source of income.

The early adopters of the Interim Economy will get a competitive jump over those who don’t jump in. And given a chance, these former full-time managers might even enjoy the freedoms afforded by contract work, but also leverage the postpandemic employment landscape to their financial benefit.

ACT NOW

Now, during this quiet period — before the economic engine sputters to a start and then, I predict, kicks back into high gear by the fall — is when the early adopters of the new interim employment reality should make their move.

One of the things baby boomers excel at is research (it might have something to do with spending hours opening little drawers in chest-high cabinets in the sections of libraries once known as card catalogs!). They can use that skill to make a list of 30 or 40 companies they would like to work for – even in business categories in which they don’t have direct experience, and particularly in fields about which they’re passionate.

The next step is to identify the director and VP-level execs in each of those companies and find them on social media, especially LinkedIn but also Facebook and Twitter. Then, begin to follow them and, after a while — say a week — begin to “like” one of their comments or share with them something this research has indicated they would like.

The objective here is to become part of the inner circle of their social media tribe. And the extraordinary circumstances we find ourselves in present a singular opportunity in this regard.

There likely never will be a time again in your career when both you and your target employers have so much time to indulge in social media. Carpe diem, my friend!

The number of Americans age 50-plus who are working or looking for work is expected to continue to increase. In fact, 35 percent of U.S. labor force participants will be age 50-plus in 2022. This compares to just 25 percent in 2002. aarp.org/research/topics/economics/info-2015/business-case-older-workers.html

Joe Mullings has been building companies and careers since 1989. He founded and is chairman and CEO of The Mullings Group, a leading search firm in the medical device industry whose clients include Google, Johnson & Johnson, Abbott and Siemens. He recently was appointed Chief Visionary Officer of MRI (www.mrinetwork.com), a Top 3 executive recruitment firms with 400 offices worldwide. mullingsgroup.com

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INVESTING IN COMMUNITY

Best Communications and Fundraising Practices during COVID-19 Lessons for today and for the future

by Richard Tollefson

Remember to celebrate resiliency and generosity.

American donors are amazingly resilient.

After the 2008-2009 recession, philanthropy rebounded quickly and reached record highs.

People of all means continue to express their generosity in ways beyond philanthropic gifts — by volunteering, helping a neighbor and communicating with a friend in need. Let’s celebrate, recognize and applaud the many ways people give to one another and make their communities better.

Richard Tollefson is founder and president at The Phoenix Philanthropy Group, an Arizona-based international consulting firm serving nonprofit organizations as well as institutional and individual philanthropists. phoenixphilanthropy.com

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The COVID-19 pandemic has understandably left everyone dealing with feelings of uncertainty and fear. This is hard and, for some, scary. Many local nonprofit organizations and their employees are suffering. Offices are shut, budgets are getting tighter by the day, valued staff is being furloughed and programs are at risk of being slashed just when they are needed most.

As board members, volunteers, and donors, it is vital to partner with these nonprofits to help them weather this storm because, while this situation may be unprecedented, periods of crises are not.

The nonprofit community has been pushed to the brink before — the 9/11 attacks of 2001 and the Great Recession of 2008/2009 both pushed the sector to the edge, with uncertain financial markets and geopolitical confusion that unnerved donors, drove down contributions in many sectors, and threw many organizations into financial turmoil. Those that survived and later thrived realized that periods of crisis and upheaval shouldn’t result in a stubborn devotion to business as usual, nor should they force a complete halt to fundraising activity. Instead, a commitment to reflection, renewal and bold action is needed.

The same is true now. Just as the for-profit business sector has realized, the nonprofit community cannot simply sit back and hope for better days. Neither can they bulldoze forward as if it were business as usual. Organizations must survive now by preparing to thrive later.

Be consistent with communications. Keep talking to all constituents — internal and external. Share how the organization is addressing and handling the challenges of COVID-19 and demonstrate sensitivity to the needs and concerns of employees, volunteers, audience and community — as well as prospects and donors.

Be positive. Nonprofit organizations and institutions exist to make life better, and in a time of crisis they can be a respite from fear and anxiety. Sharing positive images and messages of impact reminds people of the good that nonprofits bring to the world, and that they will be there for them when this is over.

Be sensitive to personal issues. Personalize messaging whenever possible. While this is ideal whether in good times or bad, if someone is in a higher risk group or has family members who are, personalized best wishes for their continued good health can be immensely impactful.

Be aware of donors’ concerns. Individual, foundation and corporate donors may be a bit nervous with the volatility in the stock market and may want to delay decisions on gifts,

slow down payments on pledges or structure more complex gifts with multiple assets, including legacy gifts. Some donors will focus their philanthropy on basic human needs, or away from capital investments to direct service or operational sustainability. This requires that volunteer and staff fundraisers are sensitive to donors’ concerns and are patient and amenable to change.

Don’t be opportunistic. Be authentic. Be authentic and genuine in communications and appeals for funds to serve those populations in need. If an organization provides services that are increasingly critical during this time, an appeal to fund those services, with deference to the pandemic and the market, may be appropriate.

Close the loop. If a request for funding solicitation has been made, don’t ignore it. Instead, email or — better still — call the prospective donor and say, “In light of the challenges before us, let’s wait to discuss our proposal for four to six weeks, ideally allowing time for these challenges to pass. In the meantime, if you have questions or would like additional information, please let me know.” Such a message is respectful of the current situation but leaves the door open if they prefer to have that discussion now.

Be disciplined. Internally, use this time to “get your fundraising house in order” so staff can hit the ground running when the pandemic passes and the market calms. This may include updating databases, contact reports and performance reports; refreshing marketing materials; reviewing campaign fundraising and communications plans; and more.

Be innovative. In challenging times, innovation is born.

In the Great Recession of 2008/2009, many nonprofits saw increased partnerships and alliances, new ways of serving the public and alternative ways of communicating with constituents. It’s about survival. Look at creative ways to provide services, run events, use technology and work with staff that are actually better than what’s been done in the past.

Although these recommendations were written in response to a crisis, they represent fundamental best practice in both good times and bad. COVID-19 will end at some point, but these lessons should not. Their rigorous application will help to launch both the inevitable recovery and optimize future fundraising success and organizational impact.

In times like this, information is power. The Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits is working to keep organizations informed and empowered. Visit its COVID-19 Nonprofit Resource Pages at arizonanonprofits.org/page/COVID19.

Additionally, to support our local community, consider giving to The Arizona Community Foundation’s COVID-19 Community Response Fund at azfoundation.org/Giving/ArizonaCOVID-19CommunityResponseFund.aspx.

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BY MIKE HUNTER

WE VALUE WHAT WE OWN

2020 Lincoln Aviator Black Label

MSRP: $51,100 City: 17 mpg Hwy: 24 mpg Transmission: 10-Speed SelectShift® Automatic 0-60 MPH: 5.4 sec

Taking luxury to new heights means doing the same with expectations. The Lincoln Aviator, a seven-passenger, three-row SUV, blends power and thoughtful luxury to create something remarkable. Captivating exterior design lines, interior roominess and ample power give rise to the feeling of flight and a sensation that both soothes and excites.

The Lincoln Aviator Black Label model offers a standard Twin-Turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 engine that creates 400 horsepower and 415 lb-ft of torque. It also gets some help in the form of a permanent-magnet synchronous AC motor, which provides 101 horsepower and 221 lb-ft of torque, for a combined output of 494 horsepower and 630 lb-ft.

Featuring a curated collection of interior designer themes — meticulously brought to life in high-end materials — and a host of membership privileges, Lincoln Black Label not only engages the senses and imagination, but also represents the ultimate in Lincoln luxury, comfort and service. Premium maintenance service with pickup and delivery, complimentary anytime car washes and annual detailing, along with access to the exclusive Culinary Collection — an expertly selected list of notable restaurants providing at-your-service dining — are just some of the privileges of being a Lincoln Black Label owner.

The Lincoln Aviator represents the culmination of many firsts for Lincoln. Features include available pixel LED headlamps, Phone As A Key technology, Active Park Assist Plus, Reverse Brake Assist, adaptive suspension with road preview, an available 28-speaker Revel® Ultima 3D Audio System and Speed Sign Recognition, to name just a few.

Lincoln Connect™, an embedded modem, lets driver and passengers easily access a 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot. Up to 10 devices can be connected at the same time with an operational range of up to 50 feet from the vehicle.

Time is perhaps one of the most valuable luxuries in life.

That is why Lincoln’s gone to great lengths to ensure the time spent in an Aviator is equally as relaxing as it is thrilling.

Lincoln lincoln.com

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A New Uniform for the Nation’s (Female) Telecommuting Workforce A best practice for work-from-home workers is transitioning from “domestic mode” to “work mode,” a meaningful psychological shift that requires changing out of sweats or PJs into something that signals time to go to work.

Online retailer Betabrand recently launched WFH Pants in more than 50 colors and styles. They’re tailor-made for the worker who wants to transition from pajamas into something more professional — but just as comfortable — for her newly remote job.

“We’ve had to refashion our own staff from office employees to at-home workers,” says company founder Chris Lindland, “and now we’ve done the same with our flagship product, Dress Pant Yoga Pants. They’re the most comfortable pants to wear to work, wherever you work, be it a Fortune 500 office or the living room couch.”

Another recommendation for at-home workers: Fitness breaks. And, since WFH Pants are designed with the performance features of activewear, there’s no need to change clothes before a stroll around the neighborhood. betabrand.com

Head’s Up: Create a driving experience to your liking with the available head-up display. Drivers can select the information they’d like to see, including standard driving information, available Adaptive Cruise Control settings, Lane-Keeping System information and more — viewable even when the driver is wearing polarized sunglasses.

Photos courtesy of Lincoln (top and far left), Betabrand (bottom)

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MEALS THAT MATTER

BY RAEANNE MARSH

Square One Concepts: What’s on the Plate Is Serving Customers

The coronavirus pandemic has brought challenges, but the ability to adapt and be creative even when you’re in a corner is the hallmark of small business

by S. Barrett Rinzler (Bourbon & Bones) 12oz. short ribs, mashed potatoes, fire-roasted tomato $40

OPEN PIT BURGER

(Cold Beers & Cheeseburgers)

Cheddar and pepper jack cheeses, sugar-cured bacon, onion ring, BBQ sauce $14.50

CHILI MMMAC

(Cold Beers & Cheeseburger)

Cheese blend, beef chili, toasted bread crumbs $14.50

Square One Concepts, like many in the restaurant business, has run the gamut during the pandemic. We were shut down, then opened with limited-menu curbside takeout at some locations, then opened all locations for takeout and now we’ve opened our dining rooms at limited capacity. It’s been a roller coaster. And I hope it’s something that never happens again.

It’s basically forced us to change our business model overnight.

Takeout-only has gone well, but it’s maybe 10 percent to a high end of 15 percent of our typical income. It’s tough.

Our team has had to adjust quickly, act quickly, then revise, adjust and act again, while double checking health measures to ensure our employees and guests are safe and comfortable, especially now with dine-in services resuming.

Before we reopened our dining rooms, we contacted restaurant friends in Georgia and Texas on what they were already seeing a week or two weeks ahead of us. We’re working hard to stay ahead of this as much as possible, but you don’t really know until you’ve been through it.

We’re excited to have our doors back open. At reduced capacity, we still feel somewhat fortunate because our 12 Cold Beers & Cheeseburgers have large dining rooms and most have large patios where some guests feel more comfortable outdoors. At Bourbon & Bones, we’ve been able to modify seating, and it still feels comfortable, not at all empty or like something is missing.

If there is anything positive here, it’s that it’s given us time to rethink and get creative. We believe the landscape will continue to change. We won’t permanently close any restaurants; instead, we’ll create new concepts or revise services and reopen in September. We’re even considering new, smallscale, neighborhood-driven, less “sports-heavy” spots. We’ve always been aggressive with expansion. Last year, we had five

S. Barrett Rinzler is the founder and CEO of Square One Concepts.

The Scottsdale-based restaurant group’s concepts in Arizona are Cold Beers & Cheeseburgers, Bourbon & Bones, Wasted Grain, The Funky Monk (Tucson) and Famous 48. squareoneconceptsinc.com

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restaurants coming on line at this time. We thank our lucky stars we have only one project on the books now — a second location of Bourbon & Bones at San Tan Village in Gilbert. It was slated to open in September; instead, we’re hoping for October but are prepared for January if necessary.

It’s all about taking the public’s “temperature” to check their comfort level to return to restaurants (no pun intended!).

We’ve prepared our staff to empathize, be patient; there will be highly opinionated guests and then those who simply want to escape their homes for a meal out. We’re all in with a 10-point employee health check before every shift, masks, gloves and disposable menus at all Cold Beers & Cheeseburgers locations and even washable menus at Bourbon & Bones. Safety is our No. 1 priority.

In spite of everything, I think the great thing about being a small business and an independent operator is our ability to read and react quickly to ever-changing forces. Major corporations are challenged to change business on the fly. Small business can react and change a business model overnight. We’ve had to do exactly that! It’s shown us that we can overcome anything that comes our way. Be creative, adapt and that’s how we’ll succeed; and if we don’t succeed, we’ve failed in our ability to do that.

Open for takeout and dine-in services: Bourbon & Bones 4200 N. Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale (480) 629-4922 bourbonandbonesaz.com Cold Beers & Cheeseburgers 12 Valley locations coldbeers.com

24

The restaurant industry’s response to COVID-19 pandemic is also part of our cover story this month, which starts on page 24.

Photos courtesy of Square One Concepts

SHORT RIB

Returning Employees to Work during a Pandemic: What’s So Hard about That?

About ASBA

The Arizona Small Business Association (ASBA) fosters and empowers a thriving smallbusiness community by working diligently to advocate for legislation and regulation that supports a pro-business environment while eliminating legislation that threatens small business. ASBA brings relevant and dynamic education and mentoring opportunities to business owners to improve their business knowledge, solve problems and, ultimately, become more successful. We accomplish this by offering our members valuable programs, undying commitment to their success, and the convenience and efficiency of our products and services.

ASBA is on the cutting edge of what is happening RIGHT NOW in the business community.

From education and advocacy to resources, mentoring and meaningful partnerships, we engage our members with relevant interactions at every touchpoint.

By staying on top of current trends, we ensure the tools we offer, as well as the extensive breadth of insights delivered, are valuable to the businesses we represent while significantly boosting the organic growth of our membership base.

by Eric Knott, MBA, PHR, CLRL, FinePoint HR

After managing the devastating impact the

climate. Rather, a better practice seems to

COVID-19 response has had on business,

be to follow your typical process of sending

including the labyrinth of forgivable and non-

employees home who appear ill and managing

forgivable government loans, businesses are

them using the new Emergency Paid Sick

now tasked with formulating a strategy for

Leave guidelines in the Families First

restarting the bulk of their operations. With that

Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).

comes the perilous task of returning employees

The CDC has also issued guidance for

from furloughs, posting jobs, and changing the

essential businesses that interact with the

job functions for those currently working.

public (e.g., food service, healthcare, utilities,

Here’s an overview of a few key items to

etc.) regarding how they should handle

consider as your business heats up and you

potentially ill employees. Make sure to follow

begin returning your workforce.

CDC and your county health department guidance regarding best practices.

Who Comes Back from the Furlough Most employers will not be able to return all furloughed employees at once, so they’ll need

Making Significant Changes to an Employee’s Job

to determine a method for selecting which

There’s significant complexity when

employees to return first. This is, perhaps,

changing an employee’s job as he or she

the riskiest aspect of returning furloughed

returns from a furlough. As long as the

employees — selection. While some employers

employee is at-will (e.g., is not a contractual

will be tempted to return employees who have

employee), you have greater freedom to

a family to support or who have specific health

change the employee’s role, but be prepared

or other financial circumstances, realize these

to defend why that job was changed versus

criteria are rooted in prohibited characteristics

other employees’ roles. Additionally, be very

(i.e., socio-economic circumstances, family

careful with cutting only some employees’

status, etc.).

compensation as they return from a furlough.

Employers must establish an objective

Following the principles discussed earlier,

method for determining which employees to

changes to the job should be done based

return and document how they’re applying

entirely on the needs of the business. The

that method to each employee. An employee’s

organization should be prepared to defend

performance, seniority and documented

the methodology applied in selecting which

misconduct are selection criteria that are

employees are impacted and should guard

relatively objective and are rooted in the

against this facially neutral methodology

employee’s ability to perform — a significantly

disproportionately impacting employees of a

safer approach. Additionally, be aware of

particular protected category (i.e., race, gender,

demographic trends regarding who you return

disability, etc.).

versus who you keep out: Are you returning a

Eric Knott is a professor of business at

disproportionate percentage of your employees

Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School

Find ASBA on Facebook: www.facebook.com/AZSmallBIZ

from a specific age, gender or race? Of course,

of Business and is the principal at FinePoint

this is problematic.

HR consulting firm. Knott is the three-term

Central Arizona 11811 N. Tatum Blvd., Suite P-195 Phoenix, AZ 85028 p. 602.306.4000

Testing Employees for COVID-19

president of the Society for Human Resource

© 2020 ASBA. A publication of the Arizona Small Business Association. For more information or to join ASBA, please contact us at www.asba.com. Section designed by the Arizona Small Business Association.

While it may be tempting to want employees

Management of Greater Phoenix, has sat on the board for various business entities across

to get tested for COVID-19 prior to returning,

the state, and is the vice-chair of ASBA. He can

this is not feasible under the current testing

be reached at finepointhr.com.

This material was prepared for informational/educational purposes only and should not be construed as advice. If you would like advice regarding your specific situation, consult with a qualified HR consultant or an employment attorney.

1

Zoom – A Great Solution …

If Set Up Properly!

by Carrie Anne Röethler, Client Relations Manager, Accram, Inc.

Many folks, including myself, are utilizing the Zoom platform for

3) Enable “Co-Host” so you can use a moderator within

web conferencing as more and more employers are urging their

the meeting. Accram hosts numerous of meetings and webinars

employees to work from home and minimize leaving their houses to

over Zoom each month, so we have learned the best option for us

come to the office.

is to have two hosts, which allows our CEO to present, and I am

But, as with all things these days, every great solution comes with its challenges and learning curves ... and Zoom is no different.

Many users are sending out alerts on social media pages warning other Zoom participants to use extra caution when setting up virtual

questions in the chat-box as well as welcoming attendees as they come into the meeting.

4) Disable the “File Transfer” Option. Let’s be honest, you can

sessions (whether they be a business meeting or a personal happy

never be too safe whenever you are online, so this is a good habit

hour with friends).

to have. Just like you wouldn’t open an attachment from a stranger

The CEO of Zoom, Eric S. Yuan, spoke out regarding these recent

(I hope), you should not allow participants to send files within your

breaches and was very honest about the fact that “we (Zoom) moved

session. These meetings are built for video conferencing but not

to fast ... and we had some missteps.” His company and team of

really collaborating. If you need to collaborate or work on a file

great collaborators realized a need and worked very hard to make

together, I definitely recommend Microsoft Teams as a better option.

sure that Zoom was available for all of us when we needed it most.

5) Disable “Allow Removed Participants to Rejoin.” This

So instead of bashing him for a mistake, I embrace his honesty and

feature is actually one that I never thought of in the past but in these

will continue to utilize the platform — but also make sure that I help

times of the bad guys having a free-for-all with people using video

my fellow Zoom-ers use it as securely as possible.

conferencing more than ever, it is a good idea to make it so a bad

Here are some tips to help make sure your Zoom sessions are kept private, but are still a great solution for you and your teams: 1) Change the screen share settings to “Host Only.” By

guy cannot go back into your meeting once being asked to leave (or once your lovely moderator kicks them out).

If we all continue to work together and try to make things a

selecting this option when you first set up a meeting, you can make

bit better for everyone, we will make it through this. That is why

sure that only participants authorized by the host can share their

the Accram team and I are committed to keeping you as informed

screen within the meeting.

as possible!

2) Disable “Join before Host” Option. Although this is one of my

Questions? Comments? Or even need help navigating through

favorite tools within Zoom because I am notorious for running late

Zoom? Feel free to contact our team of remote solution experts

for internal meetings, this isn’t always a secure way to let your co-

and we will be happy to help make sure that you and your

workers join. Zoom has a great waiting room option that will let your

company continue to be secure when utilizing our recommended

participants join a meeting but be placed on hold until you officially

third-party solutions!

start the meeting.

2

also there to assist with muting participants as needed, answering

Be Safe and Take Care! www.accram.com

Culture and the New Normal

by Sandra Lueders, Founder & Principal Consultant, CultureForward HR Consulting, LLC

Jimmy Dean of Jimmy Dean Sausage

meet your goals, achieve the results you desire

employees feel to your purpose, the drive

said, “You can’t change the direction of the

and differentiate yourself from your competition

that happens because of alignment to your

wind, but you can adjust the sails to reach

is directly tied to the culture you foster.

values) the wind will be at your back and

your destination.”

If your company’s culture is strong, the

you will continue to move forward in any

unpleasant adjustments and tough decisions

environment. For those who aren’t sure how

not be comfortable nor immediately welcomed

you make during a crisis will be understood

to chart that path, we can help.

by many of us. We have had to adapt to

and accepted by your employees. These are

CultureForward HR Consulting is a

something that we did not see coming, may not

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ability to impact your relationships with current

solutions to their human resources and

A Black Swan. How your leaders behave and

and potential customers. If your culture is

strategic business needs. We work with

how your employees respond in a crisis may

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you to establish and align the HR strategies

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tell you a lot about your culture.

quote David Cummings, co-founder of Pardot,

What is happening during the pandemic may

Our value proposition is quite simple: We

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success you want to achieve as a business

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by making an investment in your culture

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the control of the entrepreneur.” Well said.

maximize the results they want through

Everything your employees do and the

compensation plans and benefit design to

How we conduct business today may

recruiting tools and corporate policies, are most

very well be the new normal. If you are

effective when they are made in alignment with

investing in your culture (the why behind

the culture you wish to sustain. How well you

your company’s existence, the connection

effective human capital strategies grounded by a healthy corporate culture.

For more information, please visit our website, http://cultureforwardhr.com.

3

COVID-19 – The Tsunami that Hit Corporate Leadership Rebuilding in the aftermath of a killer virus

by Karen Pierce, Founder, TKPierce Limited

First comes the ground-shaking tremors. Then, the aftershocks.

In Fukushima, it was the shifting of the tectonic plates, a tsunami, and then a nuclear meltdown. In America right now, and globally, it’s COVID-19.

But the result is the same. Lives lost. Businesses vanquished.

Cities turned into ghost towns.

Having witnessed the earthquake that brought Japan to its knees on March 11, 2011 — living in the midst of its destruction — I couldn’t help but draw comparisons to COVID-19.

Now, while buildings might not have shaken on their foundations across the United States, the economy, personal safety and job security are all deeply unstable.

And, just like in the aftermath of Fukushima, in America reliable information has been scarce and panic has been building as a lack

Late-night talk shows broadcast from home and manufacturing giants pivoted production from cars to ventilators.

Leaders at all levels scrambled to manage and support remote

of transparency of government and business leaders created a

teams while they, too, adapted to a new and ever-changing

distrust that will be difficult to rebuild.

environment.

It seemed COVID-19 did not just test our healthcare system and pandemic readiness, but our leadership as well — which found itself unprepared and failing at all levels.

Most did not do a good job — it wasn’t in their “job description” and there certainly wasn’t any training to prepare them for it.

But for all our mistakes going in, the key to recovery is to

Distrust and fear are high.

embrace thoughtful leadership and to learn from history while

Successfully returning to prosperity is going to require

innovating and envisioning a new leadership landscape.

extraordinary leadership that is anything but the stereotypical, topdown, all-knowing stoic icon.

Lockdown exposed corporate America’s soft underbelly and uncovered flaws, and so rebuilding trust within our ranks should and must be our main priority.

If anything is to be learned from Japan, it’s that many leaders acted as though business was “back to normal.”

That head-in-the-sand approach led only to fearful, anxious, unproductive and unresponsive employees and a workplace teetering on the brink of further collapse; with the country far

Acting as though everything is OK will foster fear and anxiety within the workplace.

Rather, company safeguards need to be shared, precautions put in place, and full disclosure made of the process should a second wave of COVID-19 hit.

Coming out of a crisis, people have conflicting emotions and are likely to be distracted, wary and nervous.

Their anxiety will be a mixture of the competing need to be back to

from healing, some 5,229 aftershocks decimated buildings and

work, the concern for their job and the health of the company, and the

weakened infrastructure.

risk of being in closer spaces than they have been for a long time.

Globally, COVID-19 is no different.

As businesses once again open their doors, fears of a second coronavirus wave abound, but it is not building foundations that are weakened but the hearts and minds of “men.”

Every sniffle, cough or sneeze in the new normal becomes a potential aftershock.

Leaders and their teams have been exposed to a whole new world …

Retail and restaurants moved quickly, reverting to a 1960s drive-in model, complete with curbside carhop service.

4

Care for the Person, Speak to the Concern

Leadership messaging will need to be as inspirational as it is compassionate.

• Before anyone settles into work, take a moment to talk about your employees’ concerns and fears.

• Tell them about the precautions taken and what they should do if they or their co-worker feel sick.

• Be proactive and provide your staff masks to make working in closer conditions again more comfortable. If you don’t have a mask source in-house, check this reliable source (https://coach.karenmpierce.com/restart).

Recognize Your Superheroes

Likewise, those who took a cutback in hours or were furloughed

Heroes always emerge in times of crisis and battle.

may find that part-time work or even not returning to work is a better

Make it your business to find out who stepped up and shone

choice for their families.

through the adversity at every level of your company. Then find a

And it won’t be just women who make this decision.

Provide options for full-time work-from-home, part-time and a

way to reward them — handsomely.

Far from a typical work-from-home situation, many had children to school and spouses to compete with for time and resources yet maintained their productivity. Some even took on additional

combination of work-from-home/in-office positions.

Focus on the benefits and flexibility you can offer while providing clear, workable expectations.

It is no longer a matter of if you offer this option to your

responsibilities.

employees.

These are your “A” players.

You can’t afford to lose them and if you don’t show them how much you value their heroic effort, they will find a company that will.

This is also a time to sort the rest. Create a talent strategy and

COVID-19 has changed the way the world does business.

The traditional 8-to-5 workday micromanagement of employees and outdated productivity measures and benchmarks simply will not cut it.

make the hard decisions now.

Leaders will need to be open to new ways to get the job done

Establish a Work-Life Integration Culture

while integrating life with work; those who don’t risk a third

The shelter-at-home policy has schooled the American economy on a new work style and the conditions under which they are

aftershock: watching their best talent walk out the front door.

Ready to embrace the new leadership landscape and lead a highly productive team post-COVID-19? A free resource

most productive.

is available to you. Grab my free 27-Point Leadership

After successfully working from home under the most trying conditions, expect that many staff may want to continue

Checklist: How to Inspire, Motivate & Unify Teams for

working remotely when children return to school and daycares

Increased Productivity, Purpose & Profits (Post COVID-19)

open, and pocket the time and money saved and productivity

(https://coach.karenmpierce.com/restart-guide-optin).

gained telecommuting.

Get your twice-daily dose of all you need to Grow Your Business.

inbusinessphx.com /inbusinessphx

@inbusinessPHX 5

Submitted Your Loan? What Are Your Next Steps? Here’s the Checklist You Need!

by Arizona Small Business Association (ASBA)

ASBA STAFF LIST & TITLES Jess Roman Chief Executive Officer Debbie Hann, Chief Operating Officer Robin Duncan Vice President, Business Development Emma Lenihan Business Relations Manager Genesis Garcia Marketing Manager

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Jennie King | Chair Salt River Project Eric Knott | Vice Chair Arizona State University, W. P. Carey School of Business; FinePoint HR David Bones | Treasurer The Kenrich Group Kerry Stratford | Secretary The Caliber Group

• If you already applied for the PPP and got approved, here is what you can do: 

Set up a new bank account & keep track

• If you have not applied for small-business relief, here is what to expect: 

of your funds. 

Remember, 75% goes to payroll and 25%

funding before it runs out again. 

on utilities and rent. 

 

Track how you spent it, what you spent it

Still apply! You want to be in line to receive Use Lendio to submit your application for PPP/EIDL.



Gather your documents needed:

on, and when you spent.

Ownership documents, tax filings for two

Apply for forgiveness when the time comes.

years, payroll records, and forms required.

File your 2019 taxes; the deadline has been deferred until July 15, 2020.



Check out your local chamber of commerce and economic development offices for grants, discount programs and

• If you applied and are waiting to hear about your funds, here is what can do: 

Plan for your recovery and create new goals.



If you are self-employed and don’t have employees, make sure to see SBA guidelines to ensure you can qualify for any benefits such as unemployment or small-business relief programs under the CARES Act. (https://des.az.gov/pua)



Complete your application and stay in touch with your bank regularly so you do not lose your spot!

6

educational resources.

Need more information on how to submit a loan? The Arizona Small Business Association (ASBA) and Arizona Chamber of Commerce have joined forces to bring you the CARES Act Readiness Program for Small Businesses.

This program is offered at no cost to you.

Receive free training that helps both novice and experienced borrowers navigate the CARES Act and get access to the capital they need to sustain their business.

For more information, visit caresactaz.com.

Andrew Westle | Past Chair Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing Genia Kehayes | Board Development Experience Scottsdale Mike Leeds | At-Large Pro Sales Coaching, LLC Frank L. Divers Business Development Specialists, Inc. Lisa Hunt BANNER / AETNA Rick Murray Arizona Chapter National Safety Council Otto Shill Jennings, Strouss & Salmon, PLC Daniel Schenck Clark Hill PLC Jason Trujillo Trujillo Private Wealth, LLC Patrick J. Van Zanen Sacks Tierney P.A. Janice Washington Arizona Small Business Development Center Network Valerie Wynia Arizona Public Service

A BUSINESS OWNER’S RESOURCE TO LEGAL SERVICES

2020

A comprehensive guide to local firms & their areas of specialty for business

See more online inbusinessphx.com/legalguide INBUSINESSPHX.COM

Law firms are working to help business amid this pandemic. We bring you this guide to help business with legal needs during this time.

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Huge teams.

Hidden costs.

Everything on the meter.

Sorry, that’s just not us.

Our clients hire us to understand who they are and what they want, whether that’s leaner teams, transparent budgets or alternative fee arrangements.

We continually monitor and evaluate their needs, anticipating the value they demand – delivered the way they want it.

Find out more at swlaw.com.

Albuquerque | Boise | Denver | Las Vegas | Los Angeles | Los Cabos | Orange County Phoenix | Portland | Reno | Salt Lake City | Seattle | Tucson | Washington, D.C.

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Legal Services Guide

Counsel for Business

HOW TO CHOOSE A LAWYER • The State Bar Association of Arizona’s website offers these valuable tips:

Before, during and after the COVID-19 disruption, specialized legal expertise serves our business community

• Get recommendations from friends and family members who have had positive experiences with lawyers.

by RaeAnne Marsh

• Search for lawyers by practice area or location at the State Bar’s online Find a Lawyer feature on its homepage.

Doing things right at the outset can save time and money down the road. This truism is especially relevant in business.

Working with an attorney to ensure a business is on the right track, in compliance and negotiating with protection in mind is why working with an attorney is so beneficial. It is also why In Business Magazine has compiled this Legal Guide to showcase local firms who strongly support the business community and offer their specialized practice areas, to help business owners make decisions on what firm to use locally.

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised many questions and brought to the fore many issues for businesspeople in every sector of the economy. Many law firms have stepped up to this need by posting on their websites updates on regulatory issues and articles to help business leaders navigate the challenges of this crisis.

There are many ways a business could get off on the wrong foot without proper advice. A common problem, alluded to in many of the monthly “Legal” articles in In Business Magazine, is businesses taking a DIY approach thinking it will save them money. This often backfires, making things more complicated — and, thus, more costly — when they later do get an attorney involved.

It’s not just a matter of knowing how to deal with certain matters; there may be requirements or implications of which the business owner is unaware. As the saying goes, “Most new business owners don’t know what they don’t know.”

For instance, perhaps a business has been approached by another regarding a transaction. The owner may try to reach agreement on the business terms before getting an attorney

A BUSINESS

• Visit the lawyer’s website; see if they will answer some basic questions before you commit to meeting with them. Ask about their experience in handling your particular issues, and their availability to take client phone calls and respond to emails. Some lawyers insist that clients make appointments and will not answer client calls and emails. You will want someone who is accessible when you need them.

involved, and then just ask the attorney to write it up. Law relies heavily on precedent, and there may be implications and ramifications to certain terms the business owner may be unaware of — this on top of the potential for missed opportunities for the business.

When exiting a business, as well, there are many factors to be considered that an owner may not have dealt with. These include tax ramifications, transfer of intellectual property rights, and how to structure proceeds to be most beneficial for future income. And there may be regulatory requirements such as getting permission from the Federal Trade Commission if the sale exceeds a certain threshold; if the company is in breach or violation of that law, the transaction could be revoked — or fines and penalties could be assessed.

It should be emphasized that, while law does rely heavily on precedent, change does occur — through new regulations, new court decisions and even through public outcry. The cover story of the June issue that this special section appears in delves into changes in some of the broad areas that apply to businesses across industries. (“The Law and Your Business,” June 2019 issue of In Business Magazine) What an attorney brings to businesses, then, is a view to avoid both pitfalls and missed opportunity. This In Business Magazine 2020 Legal Guide has been created to help businesses connect with the appropriate resources for their needs and to be a reference should a specific expertise be needed.

• Consult a list of Certified Legal Specialists. The State Bar can provide a list of specialists in the areas of Bankruptcy, Criminal, Estate and Trust, Family Law, Injury and Wrongful Death, Real Estate, Tax and Workers’ Compensation.

There are also lawyer referral services, which, for a small fee, will help in finding a lawyer.

State Bar of Arizona azbar.org

State Bar of Arizona azbar.org

SERVICES TO LEGAL RESOURCE OWNER’S

2020

ensive A compreh al guide to loc reas ir a firms & the for of specialty business

About This Section In Business Magazine is proud to connect the legal community with businesses throughout the Valley with this annual Legal Guide. The law firms included in this guide are firms that are familiar to In Business Magazine, have reputable practice areas specific to business and support the business community in several ways. We have included profiles of our supporting firms, providing even more information of their services and top attorneys. Please visit inbusinessphx.com/legalguide to get a more detailed list of attorneys with these firms and to search by practice areas.

online See more com/legalguide inbusinessphx.

INBUSINESSPHX.COM

g to help are workin Law firms ic. We this pandem business amid to help business guide time. bring you this during this with legal needs

JUNE 2020

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Legal Services Guide Ballard Spahr L.L.P.

Burch & Cracchiolo, P.A.

Coppersmith Brockelman P.L.C.

One E. Washington St., Suite 2300 Phoenix, AZ 85004

702 E. Osborn Rd., Suite 200 Phoenix, AZ 85014 (602) 274-7611 bcattorneys.com Asset Protection, Business & Corporate Law, Commercial Litigation, Construction, Creditors’ Rights, Bankruptcy & Reorganization, Equine Law, Estate & Wealth Preservation Planning, Family Law, Government, Indian Law, Labor & Employment, Real Estate, Real Estate Investment, Succession Planning for Business, Taxation & Tax Controversy

2800 N. Central Ave., Suite 1900 Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 224-0999 cblawyers.com Healthcare, Employment, Litigation, Corporate & Real Estate, Governmental Investigations

(602) 798-5400 ballardspahr.com Business & Finance, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Public Finance, Real Estate

Bowman and Brooke L.L.P. 2901 N. Central Ave., Suite 1600 Phoenix, AZ 85012 (602) 643-2300 bowmanandbrooke.com Product Liability, Commercial Litigation, Healthcare & Nursing Home Negligence, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Class Actions

Bryan Cave L.L.P. One Renaissance Square Two N. Central Ave., Suite 2100 Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 364-7000 bryancave.com Bankruptcy, Business & Commercial Litigation, IP, International Trade, Real Estate, Labor

Buchalter Nemer 16435 N. Scottsdale Rd., Suite 440 Scottsdale, AZ 85254 (480) 383-1800 buchalter.com Real Estate, Litigation, Corporate, Tax & Estate Planning, Labor & Employment, Bank & Finance, Healthcare.

For a more detailed listing of our recommended firms and a complete list of their attorneys and Areas

Carpenter, Hazlewood, Delgado & Bolen P.L.C. 1400 E. Southern Ave., Suite 400 Tempe, AZ 85282 (480) 427-2800 carpenterhazlewood.com Community Association Representation, Construction Defect Litigation, Insurance Defense, Churches & Nonprofits, Business, Employment Law, Bankruptcy & Reorganization, Landlord/Tenant, Real Estate, Civil Litigation, Criminal Defense

DLA Piper 2525 E. Camelback Rd., Suite 1000 Phoenix, AZ 85016 (480) 606-5100 dlapiper.com Corporate, Employment, Tax, Litigation, International Arbitration, Real Estate

Davis Miles McGuire Gardner P.L.L.C. 40 E. Rio Salado Pkwy., Suite 425 Tempe, AZ 85281 (480) 733-6800 davismiles.com Commercial Litigation, Real Estate, Tax, Corporate, Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate Bankruptcy

The Cavanagh Law Firm

Greenberg Traurig L.L.P.

1850 N. Central Ave., Suite 2400 Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 322-4000 cavanaghlaw.com Litigation, Family, Real Estate, Insurance Defense, Bankruptcy & Creditors’ Rights, Healthcare, Corporate

2375 E. Camelback Rd., Suite 700 Phoenix, AZ 85016 (602) 445-8000 gtlaw.com Litigation, Tax, Labor, Construction, Corporate, Securities, Intellectual Property

Gust Rosenfeld P.L.C. Clark Hill 14850 N. Scottsdale Rd., Suite 500 Scottsdale, AZ 85254 (480) 684-1100 clarkhill.com Litigation, Corporate, Healthcare, Real Estate, Creditors’ Rights, Bank & Finance, Family, Immigration

One E. Washington St., Suite 1600 Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 257-7422 gustlaw.com Franchise, IP, Bankruptcy, Construction, Corporate, Creditors’ Rights, Employment, Real Estate

of Practice, please visit inbusinessphx.com/legalguide.

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Legal Services Guide Hymson Goldstein & Pantiliat P.L.L.C. 16427 N. Scottsdale Rd., Suite 300 Scottsdale, AZ 85254 (480) 991-9077 scottsdale-lawyer.com General Practice, Litigation, Family Law, Real Estate, Bankruptcy

Dickinson Wright P.L.L.C. 1850 N. Central Ave., Suite 1400 Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 285-5000 dickinson-wright.com Alternative Dispute Resolution, Bankruptcy, Commercial Litigation, Employment, Family Law, Tax, International

Engelman Berger P.C. 3636 N. Central Ave., Suite 700 Phoenix, AZ 85012 (602) 271-9090 eblawyers.com Business Disputes, Real Estate Disputes, Bankruptcy, Reorganization, Creditors’ Rights, Business Transactions, Real Estate Transactions, Water Law, Loan Workouts, Mediation, Public Finance, Bonds, Employment

Jaburg Wilk 3200 N. Central Ave., Suite 2000 Phoenix, AZ 85012 (602) 248-1000 jaburgwilk.com Administrative Law, Appellate, Bankruptcy, Business/Corporate, Business Divorce, Collections, Co nstruction, Defamation, Employment, Estate Planning, Family Law, Foreclosure, Healthcare, Insurance Law, Intellectual Property, Internet Law, Litigation, Probate Litigation, Real Estate

Jackson White Senior Law 40 N. Center St., Suite 200 Mesa, AZ 85201 (480) 464-1111 jacksonwhitelaw.com Commercial Litigation, Construction Law, Criminal Defense, Disability Law, Elder Law, Intellectual Property Law, Labor & Employment Law, Real Estate Law, Tax Law

Gallagher & Kennedy P.A. 2575 E. Camelback Rd., Suite 1100 Phoenix, AZ 85016 (602) 530-8000 gknet.com Business Law & Transactions, Litigation, Real Estate, Tax Law, Environmental, Insurance, Healthcare, Sports Law

Fennemore Craig P.C. 2394 E. Camelback Rd., Suite 600 Phoenix, AZ 85016 (602) 916-5000 fennemorecraig.com Blockchain & Cryptocurrency, Business & Finance, Business Litigation, Emerging Businesses & Technologies, Intellectual Property & IP Litigation, Real Estate, Renewable Energy & Clean Tech, Mining and Environmental, Energy & Natural Resources

Gammage & Burnham P.L.C. Two N. Central Ave., 15th Floor Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 256-0566 gblaw.com Business Organizations & Commercial Transactions, Collections & Bankruptcy, Health Care, Litigation, Real Estate, Zoning & Land Use

Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, L.L.P.

Jennings, Haug & Cunningham, L.L.P. 2800 N. Central Ave., Suite 1800 Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 234-7800 jhc.law Appellate, Business Bankruptcy, Business Law, Commercial Real Estate & Finance, Construction Law, Creditors’ Rights, Employment Law, Environmental Law, Estate Planning, Trusts & Probate, Insurance Defense & Coverage, Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration, Medical Malpractice, Municipal Law, Professional Liability & Lawyer Discipline, Professional Malpractice, Surety & Fidelity Law

Jennings Strouss & Salmon One E. Washington St., Suite 1900 Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 262-5911 jsslaw.com Alternative Dispute Resolution, Antitrust, Appellate, Bankruptcy, Reorganization & Creditors’ Rights, Commercial Litigation, Corporate & Business, Eminent Domain, Energy, Estate Planning & Probate, Executive & Employee Compensation, Fidelity, Government Relations & Public Affairs, Intellectual Property, Labor & Employment, Medical & Professional Liability Defense, Mergers & Acquisitions, Products Liability, Real Estate, Securities & Finance, Securities Litigation & Regulatory Compliance, Surety, Tax, Tort & Insurance

Jones, Skelton & Hochuli P.L.C. 40 N. Central Ave., Suite 2700 Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 263-1700 jshfirm.com Insurance Defense, General Civil Litigation, Appeals, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Transportation, Criminal Defense, Medical Malpractice

»

2 N. Central Ave., Suite 2200 Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 794-2460 grsm.com Civil Appeals, Commercial Litigation, Construction, Employment, Insurance Defense, Privacy & Data Security, Real Estate

INBUSINESSPHX.COM

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Legal Services Guide Koeller, Nebeker, Carlson, Haluck, L.L.P. 1 E. Washington St., Suite 400 Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 256-0000 knchlaw.com Business Litigation, Construction Claims, Construction Litigation, E-discovery & Data Management, Employment Litigation, Environmental, General Legal Defense, Government Tort Liability, Professional Malpractice, Insurance Coverage/Bad Faith Litigation, Workers Compensation, Commercial Trucking & Transportation Defense Litigation

Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith L.L.P. 2929 N. Central Ave., Suite 1700 Phoenix, AZ 85012 (602) 385-1040 lewisbrisbois.com Medical Malpractice, Construction Defect Litigation, Products Liability, General Liability, Professional Liability

Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie, L.L.P. 201 E. Washington St., Suite 1200 Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 262-5311 lrrc.com IP, Bankruptcy, Corporate & Securities, Commercial litigation, Labor & Employment, Real Estate, Regulatory Affairs, Healthcare

May Potenza Baran & Gillespie

Quarles & Brady L.L.P.

201 N. Central Ave., Suite 2210 Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 252-1900 maypotenza.com Administrative Adjudications, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Appeals, Bankruptcy Reorganization, Commercial Creditors & Debtor’s Rights, Employment & Labor

One Renaissance Square Two N. Central Ave., Suite 3 Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 229-5200 quarles.com Commercial Bankruptcy & Restructuring, Business Law, Environmental, Franchise, Healthcare

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart P.C.

Radix Law

2415 E. Camelback Rd., Suite 800 Phoenix, AZ 85016 (602) 778-3700 ogletree.com Employment, Traditional Labor Relations, Litigation, Unfair Competition & Trade Secrets, Immigration

Renaud Cook Drury Mesaros P.A. Osborn Maledon P.A. 2929 N. Central Ave., 21st Floor Phoenix, AZ 85012-2793 (602) 640-9000 omlaw.com Commercial Litigation, Corporate & Securities, IP, Technology, Real Estate, Criminal, Bankruptcy

One N. Central Ave., Suite 900 Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 307-9900 rcdmlaw.com Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice, Product Liability, Insurance Coverage, Appeals, Business & Real Estate

Rose Law Group P.C. Perkins Coie L.L.P. 2901 N. Central Ave., Suite 2000 Phoenix, AZ 85012 (602) 351-8000 perkinscoie.com Business Litigation, Patent & IP, Business & Licensing, Real Estate, Criminal Defense

Littler 2425 E. Camelback Rd., Suite 900 Phoenix, AZ 85016 (602) 474-3600 littler.com Management-side Employment Advice & Counsel, Labor & Management Relations, Employment Litigation, Immigrations & Global Migration, Business & Human Rights, e-Discovery, International Employment & Labor

15205 N. Kierland Blvd., Suite 200 Scottsdale, AZ 85254 (602) 606-9300 radixlaw.com Business Law, Real Estate Law, Commercial Litigation, Bankruptcy Law, Estate Planning

7144 E. Stetson Dr., Suite 300 Scottsdale, AZ 85251 (480) 505-3936 roselawgroup.com Real Estate, Land Use & Zoning, Tax, Family, Estate Planning

Ryley Carlock & Applewhite Polsinelli One E. Washington St., Suite 1200 Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 650-2000 polsinelli.com Business Litigation, Corporate, Financial Services, Health Care, Real Estate, Life Sciences & Technology, Immigration, Tax

One N. Central Ave., Suite 1200 Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 440-4800 rcalaw.com Energy & Environment, Real Estate & Development, Creditors’ Rights & Banking, Estate Planning & Probate, Corporate & Securities, Litigation, Document Control & e-Discovery

Through our In Business Dailies and on our website www.inbusinessphx.com, see articles from attorneys addressing regulatory, operational and liability issues in the workplace raised by challenges of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Legal Services Guide Sacks Tierney P.A.

Sherman & Howard L.L.C.

Tiffany & Bosco P.A.

4250 N. Drinkwater Blvd., Fourth Floor Scottsdale, AZ 85251 (480) 425-2600 sackstierney.com Appeals, Banking, Bankruptcy & Restructuring, Beneficiary Representation, Business & Corporate, Civil Litigation, Commercial & Public Finance, Construction, Dispute Resolution, Employment, Equity & Debt Finance, Estate Planning, Family Law, Guardianship & Conservatorship, Healthcare, Homeowner Association, Indian Law & Tribal Relations, Intellectual Property, Loan Workouts & Problem Asset Resolution, Marijuana Business, Private & Public School, Probate & Trust Administration, Real Estate, Trust & Estate Litigation, Uniform Commercial Code, Water, Environmental & Natural Resources

201 E. Washington St., Suite 800 Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 240-3000 shermanhoward.com Real Estate, Labor & Employment, Estate Planning, Bankruptcy, Mergers & Acquisitions, Litigation, Banking & Finance, Immigration, Tax

2525 E. Camelback Rd., Suite 700 Phoenix, AZ 85016 (602) 255-6000 tblaw.com Banking, Employment, IP, Tax, Real Estate, Commercial Litigation, Construction

Warner Angle Hallam Jackson & Formanek P.L.C. Snell & Wilmer, L.L.P. One Arizona Center 400 E. Van Buren St., Suite 1900 Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 382-6000 swlaw.com Banking & Finance, Litigation, Corporate & Securities, Intellectual Property, Labor Employment & Benefits, Natural Resources, Environmental & Energy, Real Estate & Tax

Salmon, Lewis & Weldon P.L.C. 2850 E. Camelback Rd., Suite 200 Phoenix, AZ 85016 (602) 801–9060 slwplc.com Business & Finance, Commercial Litigation, Commercial Law, Corporate Real Estate, Electric Power & Utilities, Environmental Law

Squire Patton Boggs 1 E. Washington St., Suite 2700 Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 528-4000 squirepattonboggs.com Corporate, Environmental, IP, Litigation, Public Finance, Restructuring, Real Estate

2555 E. Camelback Rd., Suite 800 Phoenix AZ 85016 (602) 264-7101 warnerangle.com Commercial & Business Law, Construction, Real Estate, Commercial Loans, Divorce & Family, Trusts & Estates, Probate

Wilenchik & Bartness P.C. 2810 N. 3rd St. Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 606-2810 wb-law.com Complex Business Disputes, Real Estate Civil Litigation & Appeals, including White Collar Criminal & Construction Litigation & Disputes of All Kinds

Withey Morris P.L.C. Steptoe & Johnson L.L.P. Sanders & Parks, P.C. 3030 N. 3rd St., Suite 1300 Phoenix, AZ 85012 (602) 532-5600 sandersandparks.com Civil Litigation, Corporate, Professional Liability Litigation, Insurance Defense, Public Entity/Municipal Defense, Intellectual Property

201 E. Washington St., Suite 1600 Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 257-5200 steptoe.com Commercial Litigation, Insurance Coverage & Bad Faith, Labor & Employment, Media & Communications, IP Protection & Litigation, Tax

Stinson Leonard Street L.L.P. Schneider & Onofry P.C. 365 E. Coronado Rd. Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 230-8857 soarizonalaw.com Administrative, Business, Employment, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Civil & Commercial, Construction Litigation, Civil Rights, Family

INBUSINESSPHX.COM

1850 N. Central Ave., Suite 2100 Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 279-1600 stinson.com Commercial & Class Action Litigation, Bankruptcy & Creditors’ Rights, Corporate Counseling, Banking & Financial Services, Real Estate

2525 E. Arizona Biltmore Circle, Suite 212 Phoenix, AZ 85016 (602) 230-0600 witheymorris.com Master Plan Developments, Comprehensive Plan Amendments, General Plan Amendments, Zone Changes, Development Agreements, Use Permits, Variances, Building Permits & Entitlements, Abandonments, Easements, Design Reviews, Annexations, Stipulation Modifications, Waivers, Subdivision & Plat Maps, Entitlement & Opinion Letters, Interpretation Issues, Code Enforcement & Property Violations, Zoning Ordinance Text Amendments, Due Diligence, Referendums

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FINANCIAL WELLNESS

FOR A BE T T E R T OMOR ROW.

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Berez, Steve, 35

Elk, Sarah, 35

Lueders, Sandra, 49

Sacco, Rachel, 33

Butler, Tyler, 40

Glasscock, J. Phillip, 38

Molinaro, Vince, 35

Sanders, Todd, 27

Calvi, Nick, 17

Goodnow, James, 10

Moore, Jerry, 40

Sands, “Buzz,” 40

Camacho, Chris, 29

Guilkey, Dr. Jim, 34

Mullings, Joe, 41

Smithson, Robert, 12

Chucri, Steve, 30

Hickman, Paul, 26

Patel, Milan, 12

Tollefson, Richard, 42

Collins, Jim, 35

Hoyer, Erik, 10

Pierce, Karen, 50

Vela, Moe, 14

Conlow, Levi, 13

Kauffman, Susan, 18

Rice, Christina, 20

White, Dr. Jim, 36

Covey, Sean, 35

Kinney, Suzanne, 28

Rigby, Darrell, 35

Yao, Oliver, 62

Covey, Stephen R., 35

Knott, Eric, 47

Rinehart, Bret, 18

Zajechowski, Matt, 16

Deziel, Robby, 13

Koerber-Walker, Joan, 26

Rinzler, S. Barrett, 46

Zylstra, Steve, 32

Ducey, Doug, Governor, 9

Leadley, Lauri, 10

Roberts, Mary, 30

Duffy, Kathleen, 14

Letter, John, 20

Röethler, Carrie Anne, 48

Earley, Seth, 22

Lindland, Chris, 44

Rogers, Eileen, 39

Accram, Inc., 48

Digital Third Coast, 16

Kidder Mathews, 17

Quarles & Brady, 15

Alerus, 60

Divvy, 8

Kiterocket, 63

S4 NetQuest, 34

Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits, 7

DriveItAway, 11

Sands Chevrolet, 40

Arizona, State of, 9

Duffy Group, Inc., 14

Land Advisors Organization Scottsdale, 18

Arizona Association of REALTORS®, 30

EJ’s Auction & Appraisal, 10

Arizona Bankers Association, 26

Equality Health, 5

Arizona Bioindustry Association, Inc., 26

Experience Scottsdale, 33

Arizona Commerce Authority, 2, 64 Arizona Restaurant Association, 30 Arizona Small Business Association, 47 Arizona Technology Council, 32 Association for Talent Development, 11 Betabrand, 44

Lehigh University College of Business, 62 Lincoln, 44

Fasturtle, 12

MEB Management Services, 18

Fennemore Craig, 10

MeBeBot, 11

FinePoint HR, 47

Mullings Group, The, 41

FirstBank, 6

NAIOP, 28

FSW Funding, 5

NexMetro Communities, 18

Fulton Homes, 17

Snell & Wilmer, 3, 54 Square One Concepts, 46 State Bar of Arizona, 55 Taskade, 11 TKPierce Limited, 50 TransparentBusiness, 14 Tweener Homes, 17 UnitedHealthcare, 21 Valley Sleep Center, 10

Nox Health, 20

BMO Harris Bank, 43

Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, 27

BOK Financial, 45

Greater Phoenix Economic Council, 29

Bourbon & Bones, 46

Growers Ice Company, 36

Cake, 23

Guidant Law Firm, 38

Cigna, 37

Hines, 17

Cold Beers & Cheeseburgers, 46

Jive, 6

Colliers International in Arizona, 17

JLL, 19

CultureForward HR Consulting, LLC, 49

Just Auto Insurance, 12

In each issue of In Business Magazine, we list both companies and indivuduals for quick reference. See the stories for links to more.

Lectric eBikes, 13

Olivet Nazarene University, 16 One Creative View, 39

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JUNE 2020

INBUSINESSPHX.COM

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BY

The Monday Blues The effects of the weekend on humans (and can IT-enabled procurement help?)

by Oliver Yao

Oliver Yao is a professor of decision and technology analytics in Lehigh University’s College of Business. He is also a member of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), the largest international association of operations research and analytics professionals.

JUNE 2020

62

INBUSINESSPHX.COM

With the impact of COVID-19, Americans across the country went from wishing for the weekend, to living it daily. To many, it is feeling a bit like the film Groundhog Day. But the current state of the country won’t last forever, and before too long Americans will be back to counting down for the weekend. The typical countdown begins when they arrive to work on Monday.

From there, it’s “hump day” on Wednesday and it continues until Friday finally arrives.

New research in the INFORMS journal Information Systems Research shows there are some undesirable lasting effects from the weekend into the start of the work week. The “Monday Blues” cause negative ripple effects on supply chains because of humans. But it’s not all bad news; for computers and machines, Monday is just another day.

My co-authors — Martin Dresner of the University of Maryland, College Park, and Kevin Zhu of the University of California, San Diego — and I found that the letdown of returning to work after a weekend causes interruption that hurts supply chain performance. That means a longer time between when a purchase order is received and when it is shipped, as well as more errors in order fulfillment.

To put it simply, the “Monday Effect” is real and it’s impacting package delivery.

My colleagues and I used a dataset of more than 800,000 transaction records gathered during a 12-month period from the U.S. General Services Administration to look at changes in operational performance by days of the week. We also analyzed order and fulfillment data from one of the largest supermarket chains in China.

We found time between receipt of a purchase order and shipping is more than 9 percent longer on Mondays than other days of the week. The findings show weekends create

The letdown of returning to work after a weekend causes interruption that hurts supply chain performance.

bottlenecks at distribution centers that are tackled on Mondays as orders are processed, picked, staged and shipped to customers. Humans completing these processing activities are negatively impacting these supply chains because they are readjusting to returning to work on Mondays and are less efficient and more prone to errors.

Supply chain managers can take steps to counteract this problem by increasing staffing on Mondays — or any day returning from a break, including holidays. Also, changes to schedules that include decreasing the number of Monday meetings and nonfulfillment activities can have a positive impact. Management can also put resources toward better training, additional pay, and/or mood-lifters such as free coffee or motivational talks.

But the most effective way to reduce the Monday performance gap is integrating technology solutions. One way to do this is to introduce automated order processing systems.

The research shows that using electronic markets can improve Monday performance by as much as 90 percent.

Technology is proven to reduce the Monday performance gap by 94 percent in order-to-shipping time, 71 percent in complete orders fulfilled, and 80 percent in the portion of shipments that have incorrect numbers of products.

Technology was most useful in orders of specialized, less frequently purchased or high-value products, about which employees might be less knowledgeable.

When humans are more prone to make mistakes, technology has proven to be helpful in substituting labor. So, instead of businesses feeling the heat of the “Monday Blues,” they can now educate themselves on appropriate solutions and use computer-to-computer links to avoid potentially negative human effects resulting from the weekend break.

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