In Business Magazine - September 2011

SEPT. 2011

Americans with Disabilities Act: Are you still in compliance?

inbusinessmag.com

If Education Fails, Will Business Follow?

Jobs and Economic Growth are in the Balance

power Lunch by the numbers business Calendar This Issue Tempe Chamber of Commerce Arizona Technology Council

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“We must view education as an investment, not an expense.”

SHELLEY ESQUE Vice President, Intel

The education we provide for Arizona’s children will determine the kind of future we all enjoy. Arizona employers need a highly skilled, talented workforce to diversify our economy, increase job opportunities and stay competitive.That requires a stronger education system that begins at birth and continues through career.

By investing time, talent and money to improve education today, we better position Arizona for long-term success. In the end, we all benefit. Education is everyone’s business. Make it your priority.

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September 2011

www.inbusinessmag.com 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

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Donna Davis, CEO Arizona Small Business Association Central Office (602) 306-4000 Southern Arizona (520) 327-0222 www.asba.com

Steven G. Zylstra, President & CEO Arizona Technology Council One Renaissance Square (602) 343-8324 • www.aztechcouncil.org

Kristine Kassel, President NAWBO Phoenix Metro Chapter (602) 772-4985 • www.nawbophx.org

Rick Kidder, President & CEO Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce (480) 355-2700 • www.scottsdalechamber.com

Mary Ann Miller, 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 www.ahwatukeechamber.com Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry www.azchamber.com Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce www.azhcc.com Chandler Chamber of Commerce www.chandlerchamber.com Economic Club of Phoenix www.econclubphx.org Glendale Chamber of Commerce www.glendaleazchamber.org

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Greater Phoenix Black Chamber of Commerce www.phoenixblackchamber.com Greater Phoenix Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce www.gpglcc.org Mesa Chamber of Commerce www.mesachamber.org North Phoenix Chamber of Commerce www.northphoenixchamber.com

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North Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce www.northscottsdalechamber.org Peoria Chamber of Commerce www.peoriachamber.com Westmarc www.westmarc.org

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S e p t e m b e r 2011

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Contents

September 2011

28

If Education Fails, Will Business Follow?

“By many different measurements, we are near the bottom of the 50 States,” observes Michael Bidwill, president of the Arizona Cardinals and immediate past chairman of Greater Phoenix Economic Council. Leaders in the business community, education and our state legislature discuss with RaeAnne Marsh why the business community cares and how its leaders are contributing to improving education in Arizona.

Departments

11 Guest Editor

Features

20 Restaurants Find

Economic Entrée

Valley restaurateurs pepper the market with eateries, and Gremlyn Bradley-Waddell speaks with some who have found the economic slump has had a silver lining.

24 Building a Culture of Trust

Empowers Your Company

Cultivating this trust isn’t just a moral issue, it’s a practical one. John Hamm discusses why and how to build trust, the currency leaders will need when the time comes to make unreasonable performance demands on their teams.

20

34

John Huppenthal, Superintendent of Public Instruction, introduces the “Education” issue.

A recent court case foretells increased enforcement of the 2008 amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act. Alison Bailin Batz discusses the Amendments Act’s implications and suggests measures business owners can implement.

Education Series

40 From Business to Brand

Branding is today’s buzzword. Marketing and communications coach Kathy Heasley discusses how branding can truly help your business and shares a proven method of shaping businesses into brands.

Gabriel’s Angels Southwest Chapter of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International

12 Feedback

Noted business leaders Richard Boals, Grady Gammage Jr. and William C. Harris respond to IBM’s burning business question of the month.

14 Briefs

“New DOL-Timesheet App May Not Sync with Employer Records,” “Cells to Sales,” “Urgent Care Opens Under Franchise Model,” “Concentration of Nonprofits Attracts Grant-Writing Firm” “Property Manager Leads a Green Chain Reaction” and “Fresh Start Women’s Foundation Offers College-Credit Entrepreneurial Program”

18 By the Numbers 34 Expanded Americans with Disabilities Act Ripples into Business

36 Nonprofit

The tax rate factor in employment and economic growth. Plus: Key economic indicators provide a sense of the health of the local economy.

26 Trickle Up

View from the top looks at how Doug Eaton has steered Vantage Mobility International to success with mobility options for the disabled.

35 Books

New releases about the economy share insights into where we are, how we got here and how to capitalize on opportunities.

42 Assets

“Power to Accel: Fisker’s Finest Luxury Karma EVer” and “MiFi® Mobile Hot Spots: The Web in Your Pocket”

43 Power Lunch

Fashion Forward is Fred’s at Barneys New York. Plus: “Ethnic Eateries”

66 Roundtable

It’s the CEOs who can lead the economy to recovery.

Networking

37 On the Agenda

September’s calendar of business events presented by our partners Partner Sections “CancerT reatment of Ame Centers rica® that stood gave me a team was read beside me and y restored to fight. They my hope .” ~Beth

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September 2011 • Vol. 2, No. 8

Publisher Rick McCartney

Editor RaeAnne Marsh Art Director Benjamin Little Contributing Writers Alison Bailin Batz Gremlyn Bradley-Waddell Mark Faust John Hamm Mike Hunter Alison Stanton Photographer-at-large Dan Vermillion

Editorial Intern Brett Maxwell

Advertising

Operations Louise Ferrari

lferrari@inmediacompany.com

Account Executives Louise Ferrari

lferrari@inmediacompany.com

Cami Shore

cshore@inmediacompany.com

René Tello

rené@inmediacompany.com More: Visit your one-stop resource for everything business at www.inbusinessmag.com. For a full monthly calendar of business-related events, please visit our website.

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

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S e p t e m b e r 2011

President & CEO Financial Manager Editorial Director Senior Art Director

Corporate Offices

Rick McCartney Christopher Mahon RaeAnne Marsh Benjamin Little 6360 E. Thomas Road, Suite 210 Scottsdale, AZ 85251 T: (480) 588-9505 F: (480) 584-3751 info@inmediacompany.com www.inmediacompany.com

Vol. 2, No.8 . In Business Magazine is published 12 times per year by InMedia Company. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to InMedia Company, 6360 E. Thomas Road, Suite 210, Scottsdale, AZ 85251. To subscribe to In Business Magazine, please send check or money order for one-year subscription of $24.95 to InMedia Company, 6360 E. Thomas Road, Suite 210, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 or visit inbusinessmag.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. © 2011 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 the publisher.

i n b u s i n e ss m a g . c o m

John Huppenthal, Arizona Department of Education

Guest Editor

Education: The Building Block for Our Future

Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal began his career in public service 26 years ago as a Chandler city councilman. He served 18 years in the state legislature, consistently either on or chairing education committees, and authored and passed more than 200 bills, many of them focused on education. Huppenthal holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Northern Arizona University and a Master of Business Administration degree from Arizona State University.

Education is the foundation for our future in so many ways. Sadly, Arizona has not been a leader in years past. Yet, how well our work force is educated greatly impacts the economic picture of business and industry for the future of our State.

Since becoming Superintendent of Public Instruction in January, I have focused the mission at the Arizona Department of Education on ensuring all students have access to a quality education that prepares them to be college- and career-ready.

According to a Gallup poll, only 50 percent of our students are engaged in the classroom. Unfortunately, they are not finding their education relevant. ADE is working with business, industry and higher education on developing education and career paths for our students that are relevant to real-world applications, tying the academic and theoretical to practical career paths. Through an aggressive STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) initiative, a P21 skills initiative, “move on when ready” implementation providing alternative diplomas, enhanced career and technical education programs, and an E-Cap initiative requiring students in middle schools to begin mapping their career objectives, we are confident students will begin thinking in terms of their future career goals and will develop the skills to accomplish them.

Career- and college-ready context for all our students in their formative years is key to the successful development of a future skilled work force. We are focused on infusing Arizona’s education system with education relevance that, in turn, infuses our work force with professional and skilled labor.

In this issue, In Business Magazine editor RaeAnne Marsh interviews several outspoken Valley business people, scholars and economic leaders to discuss the status of education in Arizona and what business leaders are doing to support education. In other pages, John Hamm shares how building a culture of trust can empower a company and heighten employees’ job performance. In the Sector feature, Gremlyn BradleyWaddell writes about her conversations with some of the Valley’s best-known restaurateurs who are taking our market and turning it into one of the country’s best culinary hot spots.

In Business Magazine introduces its educational series of subjects with the September issue. The “Education” features begin with Kathy Heasley’s Heart & Mind Branding series. Ms. Heasley, a marketing and communications professional, focuses business owners on what their passions bring to their business and presents five steps they can implement to consciously address improvements to their company’s success through these best practices. This six-part series is just the beginning. Upcoming issues of In Business Magazine will bring educational series on other components of business.

I am pleased to be the guest editor of the “Education” issue of In Business Magazine. Bringing the subject of education and how it will shape our economic future to the forefront will improve business for Arizona. Enjoy this issue.

Sincerely,

John Huppenthal Superintendent of Public Instruction • State of Arizona

Education is Opportunity We asked Mr. Huppenthal to be our Guest Editor of this issue because of his position within the state government and because he has been involved in education issues in Arizona for 26 years. We thank him for his leadership and input on this issue’s cover story.

Educated kids, exposure to knowledge and opportunity, and economic drivers will create a very strong foundation for our future in Arizona to bring further opportunity, industry and job growth. RaeAnne Marsh has spoken with business leaders and those

i n b u s i n e ss m a g . c o m

vested in learning here, and found a consensus among them that how well we support and encourage this effort correlates directly to how strong a future we can create for Arizona. With all of these proponents, it is evident that we are poised to change efforts and attract the best educators and innovators to improve our system of education and ultimately our standings. I hope that you’ll become involved in this issue by contacting many of the agencies that we spoke to on the subject. See our cover story on page 28.

—Rick McCartney, Publisher

Connect with us: Story Ideas/PR: editorial@inbusinessmag.com Business Events/Connections: businessevents@inbusinessmag.com Marketing/Exposure: advertiser@inbusinessmag.com Or visit us online at www.inbusinessmag.com

I n B u s i n e ss M a g a z i n e

11

Feedback

Valley Leaders Sound Off

The general consensus among business leaders seems to be that Arizona’s successful Executives of a healthy and diverse economy needs a strong education infrastructure.

Q: Answer development What can business do to help strengthen Arizona’s competitiveness educationally?

Richard L. Boals Grady Gammage Jr. President and Chief Executive Officer Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona Sector: Insurance Businesses in Arizona have a vested interest in the educational system in the state — after all, it is those students who will feed into the university system and later into our economy through workplace employment, along with starting their own companies and working in government.

To be more competitive on a business front, Arizona must first ensure that our youth are educated and prepared to enter the workforce. The business community should support high expectations for both students and everyone else involved in the educational system. In doing so, we’ll raise the bar in terms of the quality of our future workforce. We can help students be most effective by holding them to a high standard.

To ensure the high standards are met, business owners should become involved in the educational system. Years ago, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona recognized that healthier kids are more successful in school, so we continue to work with teachers and students to encourage physical activity and healthy eating. Local companies might offer interesting science education or technology training, or whatever their area of expertise might be.

Partner Gammage & Burnham, Attorneys at Law Sector: Law In this era of reexamination of the purpose of government, we should reaffirm the status of education as one of the highest priorities for increasingly scarce public funding.

In 1979, about 70 percent of the state budget went to education. By 2010, that percentage is about 55 percent. This decline represents a collective decision that prisons and the AHCCCS program are more important than education. This is short-sighted prioritization.

First, business should make clear that the highest priority for state and local government is education because it does the most to improve and stabilize the economy. Second, the business community should decide on a consistent metric by which to measure that commitment, and then relentlessly advocate to improve that metric. Too often our policies have flitted from one new idea after another. What should that metric be? There are a lot of alternatives. If competitiveness is the goal, here’s a thought: Seek to be always in the top 20 states for per capita funding of education.

As president and chief executive officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, Richard L. Boals provides his strategic vision and expertise to the state’s leading health insurer.

Boals is active in the community, and chooses to be aligned with organizations that focus on youth and education; health, wellness and human services; economic and civic development; and arts and culture.

In addition to practicing law as partner at Gammage and Burnham, Grady Gammage Jr. is a Senior Fellow at ASU’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy, where his work focuses on urban growth and development, quality of life, and local economic issues. He has been continuously recognized as a Best Lawyers in America for Land Use & Zoning Law and Real Estate Law since 1991.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona azblue.com

Gammage & Burnham, Attorneys at Law gblaw.com

William C. Harris

culture so that the next Google or Intel or Microsoft emerges from Arizona.

We need to accept responsibility for outcomes focused on performance.

And we need to ensure that today’s schoolchildren get the tools they need to prosper.

That’s why Science Foundation Arizona leads the Arizona STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) Network — to focus on handson learning, to build partnerships and learning opportunities between our schools and businesses, to enhance the content knowledge of teachers, and to encourage business to take part in shaping an Arizona work force that is passionate about learning and capable of applying knowledge.

President and Chief Executive Officer Science Foundation Arizona Sector: Nonprofit The 21st-century economy is driven by brains and agility. It demands well-educated people who can think, learn and adapt to global competition and performance expectations.

Sadly, some have accepted mediocrity.

We have not achieved outcomes in Arizona education that successfully compete against the best in the world — and even in comparison with U.S. states, Arizona ranks in the bottom 10 percent. We will not retain and attract high-tech companies without a smart and educated work force. We must focus on excellence and diversify our

12

S e p t e m b e r 2011

William Harris has led major government and university institutions in both the U.S. and overseas, strategically developing research and educational enterprises to enhance economic success. He currently serves as President and CEO of Science Foundation Arizona, a public-private partnership focused on research and STEM education. Harris is the co-author of a new book, ADRIFT— Charting Our Course Back to a Great Nation.

Science Foundation Arizona sfaz.org

i n b u s i n e ss m a g . c o m

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Briefs

Quick and To the Point

New DOL-Timesheet App May Not Sync with Employer Records The iPhone and iPod Touch application recently rolled out by the U.S. Department of Labor — with additional platforms being developed — for employees to keep track of their hours worked has the potential to create conflict between an employer’s payroll records and an employee’s. Designed to capture the time punched by the employee to record times of arrival, start, stop, departure and breaks, the DOL-Timesheet does not provide for any training in its use. As labor attorney Pavneet Singh Uppal, regional managing partner of the Phoenix office of Lewis & Phillips LLP, points out, employers are legally responsible for knowing the requirements of the law, but employees are being given this iPhone app without any similar requirement. “This isn’t quite as simple as, ‘I know when to clock in and when to clock out’; the realities of the modern work place are not that simple.”

Among the shortcomings Uppal sees is the software’s lack of programming to account for time-rounding systems — although such rounding is legal under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Also, it has no mechanism to verify that an employee is accurately clocking in or out, leading to potential misuse of the app, innocent or otherwise. An employee may forget to use the app to record a break, and have no recollection of that break two or more weeks later when the paycheck is issued, Uppal notes. Another issue has to do with compensable time, as the app includes no system to address whether or not the employee understands and is properly recording hours of non-compensable time.

A question yet to be answered is what the DOL’s position will be when there is a discrepancy between an employer’s records and those generated by the so-far imperfect app used by untrained employees. Uppal cautions employers to not forbid an employee to use the app as such action might be construed as interfering with an employee’s rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act. However, employers can limit what software employees may install on company-provided equipment as long as there is a written — and enforced — policy on that in place.

—RaeAnne Marsh

Stem Cells to Sales Marketing their breakthrough skincare product from Phoenix has the twofold advantage of connecting it to a city that has developed a cosmopolitan cachet and whose climate, arguably, reinforces the need for such a product, says NOVO Solutions MD co-owner Mark Engelman, M.D. The revolutionary regenerative is the first to tap into stem cells, using a complex derived from umbilical cord serum. The serum is "incredibly rich in growth factors," says Engelman, explaining that led to his interest in developing a skincare that could use it to stimulate dormant stem cells that are naturally in human skin to become active and produce the matrix and collagen in levels characteristic of youthful skin.

He emphasizes the skincare serum is completely free of genetic material and contains only proteins, amino acids and peptides. Patents are pending on specific ingredients as well as the process by which the serum is harvested.

Engelman, whose 23 years as medical director of the emergency department of St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix saw zero malpractice suits or formal patient complaints, notes that, regarding safety concerns, NOVO Solutions MD derives considerable value from a business standpoint from operating under United States guidelines and working with FDAapproved labs.

Privately funded by partners Engelman, Al Needleman and Dick Johnes and several friends, the venture launched in May with $1 million, retail, in product. Engelman shares that social marketing, including sending one-month samples to "influential people who have a lot of friends," is a big part of the initial marketing.

—RaeAnne Marsh

Fisher & Phillips LLP laborlawyers.com United States Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division dol.gov/whd

NOVO Solutions MD novosolutionsmd.com

Urgent Care Opens Under Franchise Model Doctors Express, the first national urgent care franchise, has established a presence in Phoenix with the opening last month of an office in the Arcadia area. Franchise owner Jeromy Sjolseth brings to the enterprise a small-business philosophy that encompasses more than strictly medical care: “We want customers to have a good experience. It’s important we get repeat customers.” Having developed a familiarity with the urgent care concept over the past nine years as owner of a construction company specializing in urgent care centers and specialty doctors’ offices, he is excited by the growth of urgent care as “a good alternative to the emergency room or primary care physicians.”

Making a point of not competing with primary care or specialty doctors — and carefully choosing his franchise’s location to not directly compete with any urgent care center he built — Sjolseth describes the

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S e p t e m b e r 2011

Doctors Express concept as offering a convenient one-stop shop and, significantly, a fully licensed physician on staff at all times.

Doctors Express, founded in 2005, differentiates itself from other walk-in medical clinics by offering a broad range of treatment and services on the spot. Under one roof, experienced physicians diagnose and treat illnesses, dispense medication from an on-site pharmacy and have the capabilities to X-ray and set broken bones. The center also includes a lab that can give quick test results for ailments such as mononucleosis and strep throat. As a franchisee, Sjolseth also benefits from the sharing of best practices across all centers and from Doctors Express leveraging its size to keep prices lower for local consumers.

—RaeAnne Marsh Doctors Express doctorsexpress.com

i n b u s i n e ss m a g . c o m

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Briefs

Quick and To the Point

Concentration of Nonprofits Attracts Grant-Writing Firm Opening a western branch was a combination of planning and serendipity for Iowa-based grant-writing firm Cari Campbell & Associates. Market studies showed owner Cari Campbell that the Phoenix area had a “larger than average concentration of nonprofits,” she says, adding that many seemed to be struggling for funds.

“It’s a bigger issue in this area than other areas.” Already planning the business’s expansion west to follow the May opening of an eastern office in Florida, Campbell’s interest aligned with opportunity when employee Joy Stratman decided earlier this year to relocate to Phoenix.

Stratman established the company presence here in July.

Stratman explains the company’s approach is to plan with the nonprofit its needs and wishes over a several-year period and then, because funders may be more likely to give to those nonprofits with whom they are more familiar, develop a relationship with appropriate funders. But the process starts with getting to know the nonprofit. “Every area of the country has different types of people and needs, and by being in three different regions we can learn from many different types of people,” says Stratman. “The need for multiple offices is to help us build better relationships with clients in our area. You can only get to know someone so well over the phone and e-mail,” says Stratman.

— RaeAnne Marsh

Property Manager Leads a Green Chain Reaction Inspired to earn a LEED certification, CB Richard Ellis real estate manager Michelle Bachand, LEED AP, followed up that accreditation by implementing programs that earned her building, Phoenix’s Central Park Square, a high Energy Star rating. While tenants reaped a financial gain from lowered operating expenses, the rating pulled in a significant new tenant — KEMA, a worldwide leader in energy industry consulting — that was looking to relocate its Phoenix operations to a site that would allow it to build a LEED Gold space.

“Their first question was, ‘Do you have an energy star?’” Bachand relates. Her programs, including new energy management and lighting systems, had increased the building’s Energy Star rating from 40 to 85 out of a possible 100. Although the building itself is not LEED-certified, it has enough features — including a green cleaning program and a recycling program, which diverts approximately 60 percent of the building’s trash from landfills — to allow KEMA to achieve LEED Gold on its build-out.

With the build-out completed, KEMA took occupancy in early July of its 11,000 square feet — 70 percent of one floor of the 12-story building — and has applied for its LEED Gold certification.

—RaeAnne Marsh CB Richard Ellis cbre.com KEMA kema.com

Cari Campbell & Associates caricampbellassociates.com

Start-up Business Certificate from Fresh Start Women's Foundation Management, marketing, finance, technology and general business — the entrepreneurial basics comprise the Small Business Start-up Certificate program being launched this year by Fresh Start Women’s Foundation.

“Arizona is the number one state in the country for the number of women-owned businesses, and Fresh Start sees a number of women who are interested in taking the next steps to starting their own business,” says Amy Michalenko, career services manager of the nonprofit organization committed to helping women gain economic self-sufficiency and selfesteem and further lifelong learning to transform their lives. “We felt the program would be an excellent next step and would align with the current services and support that we already offer to entrepreneurs.”

Offered exclusively through Fresh Start, the nine-month, collegeaccredited course will be taught by Paradise Valley Community College professors from the school’s business department, and those enrolled in

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S e p t e m b e r 2011

the course will earn 12 college credits as PVCC students. The program has been designed to meet the needs of individuals who wish to become entrepreneurs, and structured with the flexibility to accommodate the schedules of prospective small business owners and working adults. “The opportunity will provide students with usable skills and support that will help them assess their business idea and learn the operational end of the business as well as create their business plan,” says Michalenko.

Follow-up mentoring programs will be available upon completion of the course through Fresh Start’s Entrepreneur Support Group, which is an ongoing opportunity, and the Mentoring Program. “Mentors are women from the larger community who volunteer for us and give 18 months to their mentees,” says Michalenko, explaining the mentoring program focuses specifically on education, career or entrepreneurship.

—RaeAnne Marsh Fresh Start Women’s Foundation phoenix.wehelpwomen.com

i n b u s i n e ss m a g . c o m

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17

By the numbers

Metrics & Measurements

The Tax Rate Factor in Employment and Economic Growth Business wants its share of help in this struggling economy, and tax breaks and incentives are widely promoted as that helping hand. But small businesses are unable to get loans from banks that say they have no money to lend, and unemployment stubbornly persists in record figures. Economic development remains stagnant into this 11th year of tax cuts that put federal corporate taxes at the lowest rate they have ever been in the history of our country.

Taxes, obviously, is not the only factor affecting the health of the economy. In fact, the consumer accounts for 70 percent of the overall economy, says Research Professor Lee McPheters, director of the JPMorgan Chase Economic Outlook Center at the W. P. Carey School of Business and editor of the Western Blue Chip Economic Forecast newsletter. “According to the main body of economists, the main problem in the economy today affecting weak growth and jobs is the weak demand for goods and services,” he says. Another factor is the government sector. “You usually look to government for stability, and, in a recession, for stimulus.” History bears this out — during the Great Depression, parallels to which have been drawn from our current situation, federally funded Citizen Conservation Corps projects put people into employment and helped stimulate the economy, but the nation's economic recovery went into a downturn after Roosevelt also implemented tax cuts in 1937.

There are different forces at play at the state level. Tax rates render greater impact there, although Nevada’s continued decline in jobs despite its zero income tax demonstrates that even the lowest tax rates do not necessarily translate to economic growth. “In the world of economic development, if you have the lowest tax rate, you’re not making any revenue. But having the highest makes you look non-competitive,” McPheters explains. “The economic objective for most states is to have a tax rate that is similar to what its competitors have.”

Midyear job-growth numbers for each state are out, and McPheters offers his insight on the trends. The fastest-growing states, in terms of job growth, are North Dakota (with a tax rate of 6.4 percent) and Wyoming (which has no corporate tax but relies for revenue on a mining severance tax). However, California (at 8.84 percent) remains the number one state for manufacturing in spite of its not being a low-tax state; in manufacturing, McPheters notes, taxes account for less than 1 percent of the cost of doing business. “The main thing that drives business location is a labor force capable of doing the job.”

—RaeAnne Marsh

Key Indicators Key indicators for the Metro Phoenix economy are provided in each issue to identify those key numbers that give readers a sense of the health of our local economy.

Economic Indicators (Metro Phoenix) Unemployment (May 2011)

-10.3

1,714.2

0.4

647

-0.6

Consumer Confidence (Q2 2011)

51.9%

4.6

Consumer Price Index* (US) (May 2011)

226.0

3.6

Job Growth (May 2011) in thousands No. of Housing Permits (May 2011)

Eller Business Research

Retail Sales (Metro Phoenix) Retail Sales (in thousands)

April 2011

Total Sales

Unemployment rates have fluctuated since 2003 although the Arizona state and Federal corporate tax rates have remained the same

$4,624,933

7.9

2,832,689

12.6

Food

670,772

11.1

Restaurants & Bars

601,275

13.3

Gasoline

520,197

14.8

Contracting

528,052

10.5

Eller Business Research

Real Estate

Arizona

Federal Tax Rates since 2003 U.S.

Taxable Income ($)

June 2011

9.3

9.2

0 to 50,000

June 2010

10.0

9.5

50,000 to 75,000

15% $7,500 + 25% Of the amount over 50,000

June 2009

9.8

9.5

75,000 to 100,000

$13,750 + 34% Of the amount over 75,000

June 2008

5.7

5.6

100,000 to 335,000

$22,250 + 39% Of the amount over 100,000

June 2007

3.6

4.6

335,000 to 10,000,000

June 2006

4.2

4.6

10,000,000 to 15,000,000

June 2005

4.8

5.0

15,000,000 to 18,333,333

June 2004

5.1

5.6

18,333,333 and up

June 2003

5.9

6.3

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor

$113,900 + 34% Of the amount over 335,000 $3,400,000 + 35% Of the amount over 10,000,000 $5,150,000 + 38% Of the amount over 15,000,000 35%

Arizona Tax Rate 0 and up

6.968%

39.5% - Combined rate adjusted for federal deduction of state tax. Iowa and Louisiana are also adjusted for federal deductibility Source: Tax Foundation • www.taxfoundation.org

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S e p t e m b e r 2011

Q2 2010 27.6%

Net Absorption (in SF)

260,444

183,187

Rental Rates (Class A)

$24.43

$25.57

Commercial: Indust.*** Net Absorption (in SF)

Tax Rate

Q2 2011 28%

Vacancy Rate

Unemploymet Rates

YOY % Change

Retail

Vacancy Rate

Rate to Rate

YOY % Change

8.4%

Commercial: Office***

W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University wpcarey.asu.edu

Number

Rental Rates (General Industrial)

Residential: Total Sales Volume

Q2 2011

Q2 2010

13.7%

15.2%

772,613

1,360,315

$0.51

$0.54

July 2011

July 2010

7,902

6,839

Total Median Sale Price

$120,000

$134,000

New Build Sales Volume

417

401

New Median Sale Price

$220,329

$235,042

7,485

6,438

$115,000

$129,600

Resale Sales Volume Resale Median Sale Price

* Consumer Price Index refers to the increase or decrease of certain consumer goods priced month over month. ** Sales Tax refers to Arizona Transaction Privilege, Severance and Use Taxes. *** Cassidy Turley/BRE Latest data at time of press.

i n b u s i n e ss m a g . c o m

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I n B u s i n e ss M a g a z i n e

19

Sector

Industry at Its Best

Restaurants Find Economic Entrée Valley restaurateurs pepper the market with eateries

by Gremlyn Bradley-Waddell with) say the downturn is the ideal time to do so for several reasons. Other area restaurateurs say they are getting by but, nevertheless, also anticipate a more fruitful future.

In the meantime, while everyone agrees things could be better — “We’re still not at the levels we’ve seen in the past,” admits Sam Fox of Fox Restaurant Concepts, “but, overall, it’s good” — those in the know are catering to customers’ every comfort, connecting with

Beckett’s Table

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S e p t e m b e r 2011

guests both in person and via social media and providing worthy fare at wallet-friendly prices.

“The economy has made people hunger for better value,” says Lauren Bailey, who, with husband Wyatt Bailey and their husbandand-wife business partners Kris and Craig DeMarco, owns Upward Projects and its family of gathering places: Postino Winecafé (Postino Arcadia, Postino Central and the latest, Postino East, slated to open this coming January), Windsor and Churn.

The Upside to a Downturn For some, the economic slump has had a silver lining. While Phoenix chef Christopher Gross says the traffic at his Christopher’s & Crush Lounge has remained pretty much the same, something else has changed. “We’ve become more profitable.”

He credits business partner and sommelier Paola Embry for the uptick and says she “really did the number crunching” and ended up retooling some of the approach and putting controls on controllable expenses. They tightened up labor costs, began a co-op effort with another company Embry manages and started shopping around for just about every kind of purchase, from equipment to insurance needs. “It’s just like you’d do in your own home – you turn the air conditioning up, you fix that

i n b u s i n e ss m a g . c o m

Photos: Beckett's Table (bottom)

They may be more cautious with their dollars nowadays, but Valley residents still crave a good meal out on the town. This happy truth is being proved by the local chefs who have opened unique new eateries in these economically challenging times and are managing to keep them solvent. Indeed, while some entrepreneurs view the current climate as too risky to expand or start a new venture, numerous restaurateurs (a game bunch to begin

Photo: Citizen Public House

leaky faucet,” said Gross, just descended from the 17-foot ladder he was using to change light bulbs at the restaurant because no one else there will do the task and he isn’t about to pay someone to come in and do it.

A few blocks away, Chef Justin Beckett is also satisfied and very thankful with just how strong business has been. “I feel confident that we’ll be here tomorrow,” says the co-owner of Beckett’s Table, a homey Arcadia hangout with a communal table. “I’m less scared and more focused on ‘How do we do that? ’” The former Canal chef was prepared for tough times; after all, he opened the doors just short of one year ago. But he also knew the downturn could improve his choices of real estate and, sure enough, he and his wife and co-owner, Michelle, and their friends and co-owners Katie and Scott Stephens found a suitable former restaurant space in the kind of leafy neighborhood setting that locals can walk or bike to, and convenient for their Phoenix, Scottsdale and Paradise Valley clientele. He also scored used fixtures — a convection oven, table bases, chairs and patio furniture — from shuttered restaurants.

Indeed, there have been plenty of those in the past few years. According to figures provided by the Arizona Restaurant Association, roughly 425 restaurants have recently closed their doors. In 2008, the number of places to eat and drink in Arizona numbered 8,917. By 2009, however, that number had fallen to 8,489 and stayed constant in 2010 with 8,490.

So although he’d eventually like to upgrade some of his furniture and fittings, recycling works for Beckett for now. “This is a budgetconscious project,” he says.

Of course, even those who aren’t as concerned about day-to-day fiduciary issues still appreciate a good find. John N. Kapoor, Ph.D., an entrepreneur in the pharmaceutical business with an equal passion for dining, is behind JNK Concepts, which includes Roka Akor and Bombay Spice, and has partnerships with Puro Gelato, Nobuo at Teeter House and Los Taquitos Mexican Grill. Seeking to expand on the success of Roka Akor, his Japanese sushi bar and steakhouse in Scottsdale, and build a second location in Chicago, he was fortunate to find a prime 6,800-square-foot location as well as a next-door site of 2,200 square feet. The latter was perfect for a second location of his pet project, Bombay Spice. The Windy City additions opened in July. “You

i n b u s i n e ss m a g . c o m

Citizen Public House

see opportunities that aren’t going to show up at other times,” Kapoor says of the recession’s silver lining.

Chef and co-owner Bernie Kantak of Citizen Public House, which he opened in January with business partners and former Cowboy Ciao colleagues Richie Moe and Andrew Fritz, has also witnessed almost-too-good-to-be-true opportunities pop up during the recession.

“Construction companies are more willing to work with you,” he says, noting it was actually the patio space at his restaurant — a ’60s-era A-frame structure with exposed beams, once home to a nightclub as well as Old Town Scottsdale’s original Trader Vic’s — that initially attracted him. “I loved it,” says Kantak, who was blessed with “surprisingly decent” traffic in July.

“I built the concept more around the space.”

Along with seeing golden opportunities and silver linings, many restaurateurs say they also see better times ahead. Robert Morris, co-owner of Cork with his pastry chef wife Danielle and executive chef Brian Peterson, says the recent opening of the super-casual BLD (an acronym for breakfast, lunch and dinner) is proof positive that the trio, formerly of Lon’s at the Hermosa, really believes the markets will regain their footing. “I wouldn’t open a new restaurant in this economy if I didn’t think that it would turn around,” he

says, adding he’s been buoyed by the success of Cork, which is a foodie favorite and has “always done well” even though he estimates revenue gets cut in half during June and July. Cork has done well enough, in fact, that the owners recently invested $80,000 into a spacious patio for al fresco meals.

That’s an important addition, too, because the tiny, 13-table restaurant simply cannot accommodate crowds and frequently must turn diners away at the door, much to the owners’ chagrin.

Of course, like others in the industry, Morris would prefer folks patronize his stores several times a month, not just once every couple months. After all, what’s more lucrative for a restaurant: a $25 bill twice a month or a $75 bill every three months? BLD, then, has alleviated some of those issues with its more relaxed attitude and prices. BLD’s traffic in its first two weeks indicated that Morris and his colleagues were on to something — diners flocked to the place by the thousands.

“We got killed,” Morris says, sounding both appreciative and amazed by the response, which he believes is due to Cork’s devoted fan base and the previous lack of a good local breakfast place. “That’s what we wanted to grow to. I think the fall is going to be incredible for us.”

I n B u s i n e ss M a g a z i n e

21

Sector

Destination: Restaurants A key element from airports to shopping centers

HMSHost Corp. hmshost.com Macerich westcor.com Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport skyharbor.com

22

S e p t e m b e r 2011

The bar at Roka Akor

Customers Come First How much do Americans love their bars, bistros, steakhouses and pizzerias? Well, consider this: According to the National Restaurant Association’s 2011 Restaurant Industry Forecast, for every $1 spent on food by consumers, 49 percent went to a restaurant. In contrast, that same figure in 1955 was just 25 percent. What’s more, the state’s retail food industry (of which the restaurant industry is part) pulled in $9.3 billion in 2010 and is expected this year to surpass that by at least 3.5 percent, getting to at least $9.6 billion.

“Restaurants have their seat at the dinner table,” says Sherry Gillespie, government relations manager for the Arizona Restaurant Association in Scottsdale. “People want restaurants to be in their lives because they make their lives so much easier.”

So it’s no wonder that now, more than ever before, savvy and smart restaurateurs are putting guest satisfaction at the top of their lists. And that relates to what’s on the menu, prices, staff, ambience and the physical menu itself. Because it’s as simple as this: If diners aren’t comfortable, they won’t return.

Kantak took that to heart when considering Citizen Public House’s particulars. “I wanted something where you could literally go every day, not too pretentious or stuffy — something comfortable,” he says.

Kapoor — who was first introduced to Roka Akor at the initial London version, Roka, owned by a friend — says tweaking was necessary to suit American preferences. “The Valley is a tough market, but it’s a good market to test your product,” he says. Although noting the Phoenix market has to deal each summer with the exodus of seasonal visitors getting out of the Valley’s heat, he cites two advantages it offers as a test market: Valley diners are selective — and, therefore, a restaurant must be really good to succeed here — and the influx of tourists allows restaurant owners to get a reading on what the rest of the nation likes. When Kapoor developed Roka Akor, Japanese words were deleted from stateside menus, a happy hour was added and portion sizes were increased.

When Beckett envisioned his place, he says there was never a doubt that the menu had to be affordable and laden with value. He’s held fast to that notion and, as a result, has no entrées more than $15 and no wines more than $49 on the menu. He admits margins are not as good as they could be, but he’s OK with the tradeoff. It means he can stay true to his mantra: “Kill ’em with kindness and kill ’em with quality.” Because the truth, he says, is that those $100-per-meal steakhouses aren’t on the top of most folks’ lists these days, nor is any kind of frou-frou fare. So along with making sure his customers are taken care of in every way, Beckett makes it a point to focus on his products: produce and protein.

i n b u s i n e ss m a g . c o m

Photo: Roka Akor

Fox and other restaurant groups such as LGO Hospitality will debut a payload’s worth of some of their finest eateries at Sky Harbor Airport’s Terminal 4 next year as part of the airport’s new contract with HMSHost that will increase the local presence in dining options. Along with being able to choose from plenty of well-known national brands — such as McDonalds, La Madeleine French Bakery and Starbucks Coffee — hungry travelers will be able to indulge in Sauce, Blanco Tacos & Tequila, Olive & Ivy Marketplace and Modern Burger, some of Fox’s most popular establishments, as well as other area favorites such as Dilly’s Deli and Barrio Cafe. “The traffic and exposure is tremendous,” says Sam Fox, CEO of Fox Restraunts Concepts, whose Barfly concept at Sky Harbor has already proven a hit with frequent fliers. And what’s in it for the airport, besides being known as a good community partner that also helps support local purveyors? Happy travelers, many of them Phoenicians, who are sure be drawn to restaurants they see — and may even frequent — in their own neighborhoods.

Restaurants continue to be a vital part of the retail mix for destination shopping centers. Guy Mercurio, vice president of leasing and director of restaurant leasing for all of the Macerich properties nationwide — of which local properties include Kierland Commons, Biltmore Fashion Park and Scottsdale Fashion Square — says Macerich has long operated on the belief that adding restaurants to shopping centers creates a dynamic mix, extends shopping hours and increases the draw of the destination. “Across the country, restaurants have always been key for us,” he says. “Studies show that, in shopping centers with restaurants, people come to dine, and stay longer and spend more.”

And that means he scours around for the best items available, getting to know the vendors at the farmers markets, the farms and anywhere else he needs to make a purchase.

Morris operates in the same manner, and notes that ingredients have to be first-rate or, otherwise, what’s the point of going out? “It has to taste better than you can make on your own,” he says.

Connecting with Customers As for connecting with diners, all agree the best way to do that is by being in their store, day in and day out. That welcoming approach builds not only a following but also a sense of community. And if anything has been learned from the recession, it’s that community building is important. “People,” says Craig DeMarco, “need to make connections.”

Another tactic to touch base with customers is to use social media, ranging from discounters such as Groupon to review and marketing sites like Yelp. Kantak says advertising with Yelp increased one week’s business in July by 30 percent, and Gross says some summertime deals that he participated in “seemed to work very well.”

“Everyone likes a bargain,” says Gross, adding that he’s also continuing to offer wine dinners and extended happy hours seven days a week. He’s even taking the discount approach to the next level, thinking outside the box and wondering if there’s a way for all the Valley’s restaurants to band together, choose a discounter to work with and then donate all earnings to either a children’s or community charity.

While DeMarco says Upward Projects has opted to not participate in discounting endeavors yet, he and his partners do put a lot of stock in sites containing customer feedback. “Lauren and I are a little obsessive,” he says, laughing. “We get up in the morning and read our Yelp reviews.”

Beckett notes that e-mails are a great way to just connect with guests on another level. He doesn’t bombard folks with messages, but encourages them to return and offer their comments. That’s another thing the economy has changed, he says. Guest fulfillment wasn’t always of utmost concern, but it is now. “You really have to value each guest,” he says.

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23

Leadership

A Path to Follow

Building a Culture of Trust Empowers Your Company Boost employee performance — and maybe even save your company

by John Hamm

Do your employees trust you? The brutal truth is probably not. It may not be fair, and you may not want to hear it, but chances are that previous leaders have poisoned the ground on which you’re trying to grow a successful business. Make no mistake: Unless you and all the leaders in your organization can gain the trust of your employees, performance will suffer. And considering how tough it is to survive in today’s business environment, that’s very bad news for your company.

Why is trust so pivotal? It’s a matter of human nature: When employees don’t trust their leaders, they don’t feel safe. And when they don’t feel safe, they don’t take risks — and where there is no risk taken, there is less innovation, less “going the extra mile” and, therefore, very little unexpected upside. Feeling safe is a primal human need. Our attention on whatever scares us increases until we either fight or run in the other direction, or until the threat diminishes on its own. Without trust, people respond with distraction, fear and, at the extreme, paralysis. That response is hidden inside “business” behaviors — sandbagging quotas, hedging on stretch goals and avoiding accountability or commitment.

If your employees don’t trust leaders, they won’t feel safe — and when they don’t feel safe, they spend all their creative energy covering their butts. (Hint: This is terrible for business!)

Trustworthiness is the most noble and powerful of all the attributes of leadership. Leaders become trustworthy by building a track record of honesty, fairness and integrity. Cultivating this trust isn’t just a moral issue, it’s a practical one. Trust is the currency leaders will need when the time comes to make unreasonable performance demands on their teams. And when they’re in that tight spot, it’s quite possible that the level of willingness the employees have to meet those demands could make or break the company. Most employees have been hurt or disappointed, at some point in their careers, by the hand of power in an organization. That’s why nine times out of ten leaders are in “negative trust territory” before they make their first request of an employee to do something. Before a team can reach its full potential, leaders must act in ways that transcend employees’ fears of organizational power.

Trustworthiness is never entirely pure. Everyone fails to achieve perfection. So the goal for a leader is to make those wrong choices as rarely as possible; admit them quickly, completely, and with humility; and fix them as quickly as you can and make full recompense when you cannot. Trust is the most powerful, and most fragile, asset in an organization, and it is almost exclusively created, or hampered, by the actions of the senior leader on the team.

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A working environment of trust is a place where teams stay focused, give their utmost effort and, in the end, do their best work. It’s a place where we can trust ourselves, trust others, trust our surroundings or — best of all — trust all three.

As a leader, you must “go first” — and model trustworthiness for everyone else. Yes, being trustworthy creates trust. But beyond that, there are very specific things you can do to provide trust-building leadership at your organization.

First, realize that being trustworthy doesn’t mean you have to be a Boy Scout.

You don’t even have to be a warm or kind person. On the contrary, history teaches us that some of the most trustworthy people can be harsh, tough or socially awkward — but their promises must be inviolate and their decisions fair.

As anachronistic as it may sound in the twenty-first century, men and women whose word is their honor and who can be absolutely trusted to be fair, honest, and forthright are more likely to command the respect of others than, say, the nicest guy in the room. You can be tough. You can be demanding. You can be authentically whoever you really are. But as long as you are fair, as long as you do what you say consistently, you will still be trusted.

Look for chances to reveal some vulnerability.

We trust people we believe are real and also human (imperfect and flawed) — just like us. And that usually means allowing others to get a glimpse of our personal vulnerability — some authentic (not fabricated) weakness or fear or raw emotion that allows others to see us as like them and, therefore, relate to us at the human level.

No matter how tempted you are, don’t bullsh*t your employees.

Tell the truth, match your actions with your words, and match those words with the truth we all see in the world: no spin, no BS, no fancy justifications or revisionist history — just tell the truth.

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Telling the truth when it is not convenient or popular, or when it will make you look bad, can be tough. Yet it’s essential to your reputation. Your task as a leader is to be as forthright and transparent as is realistically possible. Strive to disclose the maximum amount of information appropriate to the situation.

When you feel yourself starting to bend what you know is the truth or withhold the bare facts, find a way to stop, reformat your communication and tell the truth.

Never, ever, make the “adulterer’s guarantee.”

This happens when you say to an employee, in effect, “I just lied to (someone else), but you can trust me because I’d never lie to you.”

When an employee sees you committing any act of dishonesty or two-facedness, they’ll assume that you’ll do the same to them. They’ll start thinking back through all of their conversations with you, wondering what was real and what was disingenuous.

Don’t punish “good failures.”

This is one of the stupidest things an organization can do — yet it happens all the time. A “good failure” is a term used in Silicon Valley to describe a new business start-up or mature company initiative that, by most measures, is well planned, well run, and well organized — yet for reasons beyond its control (an unexpected competitive product, a change in the market or economy) it fails. In other words, “good failures” occur when you play well but still lose. When they’re punished, you instill a fear of risk-taking in your employees, and, with that, you stifle creativity and innovation.

Instead, you should strive to create a “digital camera” culture.

There is no expense associated with an imperfect digital photograph — financial or otherwise. You just hit the “delete” button and it disappears. No wasted film, slides or prints. Because we know failure is free, we take chances, and in that effort we often get that one amazing picture that we wouldn’t have if we were paying a price for all the mistakes.

Don’t squelch the flow of “bad” news.

Do you (or others under you) shoot the messenger when he or she brings you bad news? If so, you can be certain that the messenger’s priority is not bringing you the information you need; it’s protecting his or her own hide. That’s why in most organizations good news zooms to the top of the organization, while bad news — data that reveals goals missed, problems lurking or feedback that challenges or defeats your strategy — flows uphill like molasses in January.

We must install a confidence and a trust that leaders in the organization value the facts, the truth and the speed of delivery, not the judgments or interpretations of “good” or “bad,” and that messengers are valued, not shot. Make it crystal clear to your employees that you expect the truth and nothing but the truth from them. And always, always hold up your end of that deal.

Don’t ever shoot the messenger and don’t ever dole out some irrational consequence.

Unusually excellent leaders build a primary and insatiable demand for the unvarnished facts, the raw data, the actual measurements, the honest feedback, the real information. Very few efforts will yield the payback associated with improving the speed and accuracy of the information you need most to make difficult or complex decisions.

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Constantly tap into your “fairness conscience.”

Precise agreements about what is fair are hard to negotiate because each of us has our own sense of fairness. But at the level of general principle, there is seldom any confusion about what fair looks like. Just ask yourself: Would most people see this as fair or unfair? You’ll know the answer (indeed, as a leader, you’re paid to know it). If you treat your followers fairly, and do so consistently, you will set a pattern of behavior for the entire organization. This sense of fairness, critical to the creation of a safe environment, can be reinforced not only by complimenting fair practices but also by privately speaking to — or, if necessary, censuring — subordinates who behave unfairly to others in the organization.

Don’t take shortcuts.

Every organization wants to succeed. That’s why, inevitably, there is a constant pressure to let the end justify the means. This pressure becomes especially acute when either victory or failure is in immediate sight. That’s when the usual ethical and moral constraints are sometimes abandoned — always for good reasons, and always “just this once” — in the name of expediency.

Sometimes this strategy even works. But it sets the precedent for repeatedly using these tactics at critical moments — not to mention a kind of “mission creep” by which corner-cutting begins to invade operations even when they aren’t at a critical crossroads. Plus, when employees see you breaking your own rules — by lying to clients or “spinning” the numbers to get out of trouble — they see you as less trustworthy. After all, if the client or the company’s executive suite can’t trust you, why should they?

Separate the bad apples from the apples who just need a little direction.

The cost of untruths to an organization can be huge in terms of time, money, trust and reputation. As a leader, you have to recognize that you are not going to be able to “fix” a thief, a pathological liar or a professional con artist; all of these must go, immediately.

Chronic selfishness — manipulating outcomes for individual gain at the expense of the larger opportunity — and lack of integrity or commitment are character traits, not matters of skill, practice, knowledge or experience. That said, one huge mistake leaders make is to doubt or distrust someone because their work or performance disappoints them. Performance problems should be managed fairly and with little judgment of the person’s underlying character — unless that is the issue at the root of the trouble. Ultimately, improving performance is often merely a matter of feedback, course correction and some coaching.

Unusually Excellent unusuallyexcellent.com

John Hamm, author of back-to-basics reference book Unusually Excellent: The Necessary Nine Skills Required for the Practice of Great Leadership, is one of the top leadership experts in Silicon Valley. He was named one of the country’s Top 100 venture capitalists in 2009 by AlwaysOn; has been a CEO, a board member at more than 30 companies, and a CEO adviser and executive coach to senior leaders at major companies. Hamm teaches leadership at the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University.

I n B u s i n e ss M a g a z i n e

25

Trickle Up

A View from the Top

Eaton Drives Success with Mobility Options for the Disabled

Vantage Mobility International builds on strong dealership network

Enabling the Disabled ■■ VMI manufactures approximately 3,000 conversions per year.

■■ Each conversion takes four days.

■■ Developing a conversion takes about one year.

■■ VMI looks five to seven years ahead in the ■■

auto industry to keep up with changes in car design.

VMI experienced 17 percent growth in 2010 over 2009.

2011 Honda Odyssey conversion includes lowered floor for 60 inches head room and a low-incline ramp that can accommodate even those pushing a manual wheelchair

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With the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 newly passed, a business manufacturing ADA-compliant vehicles seemed like a good investment, explains Doug Eaton, president of Phoenixbased Vantage Mobility International, which manufactures and distributes wheelchair-accessible full-size and minivan conversions. He and his brother David purchased five-year-old VMI in 1992, excited about the increased awareness of social issues fostered by the law that, among other provisions, requires entities in public transportation to have 20 percent of their fleet wheelchair accessible.

“We saw an opportunity to bring wheelchair-accessible product to government and transportation agencies,” says Eaton. But distribution decisions and family tradition led them instead to the personal use market — selling to the physically challenged enduser — which has, in fact, turned out to be the stronger of the two markets.

“We thought the best way to grow the business was to find a channel to distribute the product — lower the overhead of inventory and carry the responsibility in the local market of meeting with the consumer.

It gave us the footprint to grow a lot faster.”

The company deals with practically every major mobility equipment dealer in the U.S., according to Eaton. VMI also works with the Veterans Administration and vocational rehabilitation practices, but Eaton notes these are third-party sponsors. “We do not receive any Medicare assistance. These are all private pay.” For the Eaton brothers, an additional plus to this business model is that it is more relationship-based whereas government contracts are more price-based.

Relationship-based was the style of business they had grown up with, Eaton explains, in a family that was “always in real estate and real estate development.”

With no knowledge of manufacturing at the outset, Eaton admits the learning curve was steep. But he and his brother were eager to invest sweat equity along with capital.

David learned the competencies required of the electromechanical and metal fabrication operation and became the technical expert.

Taking the sales side, Doug became the sales and growth expert. “The roles fit our personalities well,” he says.

Customer service remains a cornerstone of the company.

With a belief that their product transforms people’s lives, Eaton says, “We are the industryleading customer service.” The Eatons also empower their 240 employees by actively involving them in company decisions. Explains Eaton, “We have a town hall meeting every two weeks. We open our books

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Photos: Vantage Mobility International

by RaeAnne Marsh

to the ever-increasing challenge of rising health care costs is one of the most important things we can do to affect your company.

That’s why we take the time to get to know your company’s challenges and consult with you to provide the highest-quality, lowest-cost solutions — tailored especially for your business.

If you are looking for an advisor who understands the complexities of Employee Benefits and a partner who helps you develop the right financial solutions, call Holmes Murphy — the nation’s 22ndlargest* broker.

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to our employees, and they share in the company’s profit and loss.” The Eatons also regularly recognize deserving employees with a plaque, a picture on the wall, and an opportunity to speak to the company and, as Eaton puts it, “share the ‘secret sauce’” they brought to their work.

The company continues to evolve its product to meet the needs of the physically challenged. Product managers run focus groups and surveys with the customers to keep abreast of their needs. And, says Eaton, “The Internet has led to massive awareness; customers recognize all the choices.” Every conversion includes what Eaton calls “necessities,” “nice-to-haves” and “delighters.” Although focused on quality throughout, Eaton says it’s the delighters — viewed as a value although expensive and not necessary — that “drive the behavior of customers to the dealer showrooms.”

While 70 percent of customers purchase from dealer stock, 30 percent will place an order to customize the options or color on either of the car makes that VMI works with.

“We carry Honda and Chrysler because both have very good reputations in the minivan industry.” VMI purposely carries one foreign and one domestic, Eaton explains, so there is back-up in case of supply chain issues — such as the 50 percent reduction in the United States’ Honda allocation that resulted from this year’s tsunami in Japan.

Each conversion takes about four days.

“It used to be six,” says Eaton. But that was before VMI implemented Lean Six Sigma — a combination of Lean Manufacturing, a program directed toward eliminating waste in the manufacturing process, and Six Sigma, a program directed toward reducing variance. The switch in first quarter 2008 from a philosophy of “continuous improvement” to Lean Six Sigma — studying problems to find root causes and, therefore, developing real solutions rather than a “Band Aid” fix — has produced breakthrough results in defects, profits, manufacturing rates and employee morale, according to Eaton.

From the 60 to 70 conversions per year when the Eatons started with the company, VMI now produces nearly 3,000 per year and, relates Eaton, is the second largest in the industry.

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I n B u s i n e ss M a g a z i n e

27

If Education Fails, Will Business Follow?

Business says yes; jobs and economic growth are in the balance

by RaeAnne Marsh

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“Because politics operates on cycles of getting elected, and everything changes so much, schools are subject to the whims of those political cycles.

We hope business — especially the CEO business community we represent — can be the group that says we have to stay the course and get this done.”

—Jim Zaharis, Greater Phoenix Leadership

ducation is seen by many as a core element in Arizona’s long-term economic health. The strength or weakness of education critically impacts our ability to attract and grow business. But, while we need to build business to boost the economy — to improve quality of life elements that include education — we need to have high-quality education to create the work force that will bring and keep businesses here. A classic chicken-and-egg conundrum, exacerbated by current budget realities. Among those who are committed to improving this vital infrastructure in Arizona are many leaders of the business community, contributing their expertise in identifying now and future needs of a strong knowledge-based economy and lending their influential voices to recognizing the issue in the first place.

A few metrics offer a glimpse as to the depth of the problem.

Nationally, Arizona is near the top in student/teacher ratio and near the bottom in per-pupil expense. Arizona consistently ranks among the states with the highest dropout rate. The Valley is home to a

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highly regarded university yet less than 10 percent of its population hold a graduate or professional degree.

“By many different measurements, we are near the bottom of the 50 States,” observes Michael Bidwill, president of the Arizona Cardinals and immediate past chairman of Greater Phoenix Economic Council. “From a branding standpoint, that’s a bad position for us to be in. We need to be moving ourselves up the chart and comparing much more favorably.”

Craig Barrett, co-founder and former CEO of Intel Corporation, asserts, “In the 21st century, the businesses which will make the U.S. successful will be those businesses that add value to what they do or whose employee base adds value to what they do.” It takes educated, skilled employees to produce that added value. “An educated work force is key to success.”

Producing that educated work force is, however, only part of the role education plays in establishing a successful business environment. “People are not going to come and locate businesses and try to attract [employees] into an education backwater,” says Barrett, emphasizing they want good universities and good school districts — a good education for their kids.

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Many of Arizona’s most prominent businesspeople lend their expertise and influence to activities and organizations to enhance the state’s educational standing. And Arizona Senator Rich Crandall (R, Distr. 19), chairman of the Senate Education Committee, observes, “Education was important enough that GPL [Greater Phoenix Leadership] and GPEC [Greater Phoenix Economic Council] started weighing in on education issues.” And, he adds, “Business has the money and the clout for campaigns.”

Business Commits Words and Action “We’ve got to develop a culture where we value education and we value educational performance,” says Bidwill, whose support Senator Crandall credits for the successful passage in early 2010 of an innovative educational program — the Grand Canyon Diploma.

Created to combat the prevalence of students dropping out of school due to boredom, the Grand Canyon Diploma program allows them to move along through the coursework at their own pace and actually graduate early from high school. “But we didn’t want 15-year-olds on a university campus,” explains Senator Crandall. Rather, they would begin college while still physically attending high school. But graduating students before they had put in the requisite number of days in the classroom necessitated a change in the legislation governing education. “It was revolutionary, and I wasn’t sure I had the votes,” Senator Crandall says. He feels Bidwill’s involvement made the difference, and notes that “it had never happened in Arizona before”

to have a businessperson of that stature testify about education.

Business leaders have also been stepping up to the plate in discussions of programs and curriculum. “The business community sees a connection between a strong education system and an economic development pipeline they’ve got to invest in,” says Nicole Magnuson, executive director of Expect More Arizona, a publicprivate partnership created as a result of the Governor’s P-20 Council on education. “More and more, [business] leaders are trying to shape and influence what’s prioritized in education.”

Observing that “kids are not graduating college- and career-ready,” Magnuson names Intel, Avnet, Raytheon and PetSmart as among the companies helping to raise the bar in education. “They say [to educators], ‘This is what we need and we’re not getting it. We’ll work with you to get you there.” Raytheon, for instance, developed a teacher training program through which teachers work at Raytheon (when school is out of session) and are taught how what they’re teaching in the classroom applies in the real world — and they take that back to the classroom. And PetSmart conducted an analysis of struggling schools in areas where its employees live, and funded Rodel Foundation’s MAC-Ro program to improve students’ math competency.

Avnet developed its Tech Games in response to a query from the Maricopa Community Colleges district office as to how to raise the employable skills of the colleges’ graduates.

Now six years old, the popular competition requires students to develop a real-world application to knowledge they gained in the classroom. Avnet’s vendors now also participate, and each game is developed to test specific skills that are important to these potential employers — and has resulted in uncovering curriculum gaps such as lack of attention to a product’s quality and out-of-date engineering curriculum.”It’s the difference

between the classroom and real-world application, where you’ve put your skills on the line and taken some risks,” said Todd Bankofier, then Ensynch general manager, watching students at this year’s Games attempt to use their solar-powered lift to move 13 pounds of water. Such a design, he pointed out, has marketplace potential in arid areas of third-world countries where a village’s water source is a well 20 minutes from the village.

(The Games also provide participants the benefit of networking opportunities with the captains of industry in their chosen fields.)

Magnuson notes that some organizations create structure and policies that encourage employees to get involved in mentoring.

Additionally, she says, CEOs can use their influence serving on boards of organizations such as Teach for America and the Governor’s Council.

Policy, Power and Partnership While the goal of Expect More Arizona is to raise public awareness to make education a priority in the state, influencing public policy is the goal of another prominent organization, Arizona Business and Education Coalition.

Members of the statewide nonprofit include educators and school districts, and businesses and chambers of commerce. “Our goal is to bring these people together to find the things we agree on and to educate others around complex issues, and then act together around influencing public policy,” explains Executive Director Susan Carlson. “Too often,” she observes, “when [the discussion] moves from staff to school boards, it moves away from ‘what’s best for children’ to ‘what’s best for the special interest that elected me.’” Or, in the case of political leadership, to “what’s best for the party.”

One successful intervention is the requirement now that Arizona students take four years of math to graduate from high school. “Not long ago,” says Carlson, “Arizona [kids] could graduate with only

“By many different measurements, we are near the bottom of the 50 States. From a branding standpoint, that’s a bad position for us to be in. We need to be moving ourselves up the chart and comparing much more favorably.”

—Michael Bidwill, president of the Arizona Cardinals and immediate past chairman of Greater Phoenix Economic Council

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two years of math. The business community and ABEC said that was not nearly enough.”

Intel, Wells Fargo and the Arizona Chamber of Commerce were among those that helped ABEC carry that message.

Carlson emphasizes the importance of a company’s willingness to set aside time and make the commitment to learn and understand the issues and participate as a partner. Among the contributions businesses can make is providing volunteers to help in the classroom, providing job-shadowing opportunities for teachers and middleschoolers, and business leaders visiting to speak in the classroom. Business leaders could also partner with school district superintendents to provide leadership development and staff training in specific areas, such as communications. And in-kind donations can allow schools to reallocate the funds budgeted for those items. “At the school board level, business leaders need to learn about the issues of education, be on the board and [serve] on district-level committees on curriculum and strategic plans.” Policy affects education, she points out, and business can contribute an important voice in shaping policy to support public schools.

“There are people who have the desire to accomplish things, and there are people who have the power to do things — they have the authority by the constitution or by the laws. There are people like us in the community trying to influence that,” says Jim Zaharis, Greater Phoenix Leadership’s VP of education, pointing to the increased math requirement for graduation as an example of the collaboration necessary to get the work done. “It’s very important to find the collaborators, the people who will cooperate toward a common vision, a common goal, of raising the education achievement in our state.”

It’s a goal that must meet the needs of all the students in Arizona, he says, noting the demographics of our state — including a diversity of languages and a high poverty rate — make that challenging. “As they come to the starting line, we have to overcome [those challenges],” he says. “We can’t lower the bar, because that hurts everybody.” GPL helped with the passage of First Things First “so literacy occurs for many more children,” Zaharis explains, because it is critical they be able to compete in the first three grades.

Another focus is reducing the gap between high school graduation and entry into college; remediation to the degree we have now, he

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“Education was important enough that GPL [Greater Phoenix Leadership] and GPEC [Greater Phoenix Economic Council] started weighing in on education issues. … Business has the money and the clout for campaigns.”

—Arizona Senator Rich Crandall (R, Distr. 19), chairman of the Senate Education Committee

notes, is a significant waste of time and money.

GPL authored the concept of P-20, which was adopted by Governor Brewer in the education part of her Four Cornerstones of Reform, to view education as one system — creating better links between education at ages 0 to 5, grades K through 12, higher education and ongoing workforce training. Explains Zaharis, “In 2002, when we began looking at the linking, we found too much slippage in terms of progress of students and communication.” Effort now is going into developing an information system so that students’ academic records can follow them, and allow the teachers to target interventions earlier.

“For all these structural things, we had to bring together the various people interested in education,” Zaharis says, naming the State Department of Education, the governor’s office, the legislature and philanthropy — in the form of angel investors — among those interested.

But he feels the participation of business is crucial. “Because politics operates on cycles of getting elected, and everything changes so much, schools are subject to the whims of those political cycles. We hope business — especially the CEO business community we represent — can be the group that says we have to stay the course and get this done.”

A Matter of Degree Among the goals of GPL is doubling the number of degrees awarded to students by 2020. The degree must continue, however, to truly represent a certain level of achievement.

“Employers want a work force skilled enough that can advance the organization,” observes Rick Shangraw, vice president of knowledge enterprise at Arizona State University, whose

responsibilities span research, economic development, technology transfer and innovation entrepreneurship – in other words, the concerns of “how do we get the research out there and have it be useful to the community and the economy,” he explains.

University research has historically yielded many independent businesses that strengthen the economy. Craig Barrett refers to the university as a “wealth creation center.” But what goes in is as important as what comes out.

Notes Shangraw, “We really focus on the issue of accessibility, making sure [higher education] is accessible to the citizens of Arizona.” Leaving behind students who are qualified but don’t have the means or opportunity to go on is a big concern because it “reduces the overall pool of higher-skilled workers.”

Says Bill Pepicello, Ph.D., chairman of Greater Phoenix Economic Council and president of University of Phoenix, “It’s incumbent upon us as we rebuild the economy to not just bring business to the Valley and support the development of the businesses that are already here, but we need to prepare our population in those businesses.”

There are, however, other aspects of “welltrained work force” that also require attention.

Points out Bidwill, “Sixty-five percent of jobs do not require a college degree, but they do require some sort of specialized training. … We’ve got to take steps on that technical education infrastructure.”

“It’s a larger issue in American education in general,” says Pepicello, who sees it from both the education and business sides. “We have not paid sufficient attention to what we have traditionally called vocational education — for instance, car repair, some healthcare,

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heating and air conditioning.” Additionally, he says, “There are a number of professions where having the immediate higher-education credential may not be as important as getting into the work force and then developing yourself as you go along.” While business values the skills of collaboration and critical thinking that are enhanced in a well-rounded college degree such as from a baccalaureate program, so, too, does it value the professional content of a specific field.

A current focus of GPEC is bringing solar and high-tech businesses to the Valley, and Pepicello notes, “One of the things we have to look at is who’s going to take those jobs.”

Adjusting Education to a Shifting Marketplace Arizona’s economic base has traditionally been in construction, real estate, retail and tourism, observes Pepicello, crediting GPEC President and CEO Barry Broome and former chairman Bidwill for their efforts to diversify and strengthen the economy by promoting solar, high-tech and foreign investment. Stating, “ Educating the populace to fill those positions that we know will be there is absolutely vital,” he notes the importance of education “having business as partners, working closely with the education system — both K-12 and postsecondary — to talk about the essential sets of skills and knowledge for students to have when they come out [of school].”

“We have a strong relationship with advisory boards of local business leaders,” says Amy Hillman, executive dean at ASU’s W.

P. Carey School of Business. “We meet with them regularly, and they give us input on our curriculum.” Job recruiters are another source “we’re constantly polling,” she says. Keeping curriculum relevant in a changing marketplace also, of course, relies on the faculty. “Our faculty are research-active; they’re embedded [in business]; they’re doing consulting work.

They’re generating new ideas and new tools to answer the problems they’re seeing in the business community.” While developing a new degree program — which needs a whole collection of courses — could take a year, Hillman says changing content in a given course could happen much more quickly.

Recent changes range from beefing up the components on project management, in response to feedback from PetSmart Executive Chairman Philip Francis, to embedding leadership in the MBA program thanks to input from the Dean’s Council of 100 (composed of prominent business executives from around the country who contribute to shaping the future of the W. P. Carey School of Business), and ultimately changing the requirements of the management major to a management and leadership approach.

Shangraw also credits business with providing connectivity to students at earlier stages in their education by offering internships or practicums. “Or a business will sponsor a project in a course so that the students will work on a project that’s specific to a local industry” — also visiting the class to provide necessary background.

Business’ input at the University of Phoenix is equally direct, coming from its 30,000

“It’s incumbent upon us as we rebuild the economy to not just bring business to the Valley and support the development of the businesses that are already here, but we need to prepare our population in those businesses.”

—Bill Pepicello, Ph.D., chairman of Greater Phoenix Economic Council and president of University of Phoenix

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practitioner faculty, who work in the field they teach, as well as employers, who are queried as to their satisfaction with the graduates’ readiness for their jobs. Additionally, “We [at the University of Phoenix] do a constant environmental scan. We look at where projected job gaps are and projections for jobs in the future,” Pepicello says. “”Even though at the moment, there might not be a high IT demand in Arizona, what we want is to build to that, tie it into the curriculum.”

Says Shangraw, “Universities are … good at adjusting to marketplace demands and making sure we’re generating the right skill and fundamental knowledge that’s important to impart.” But there’s a balance that must be struck to provide students with fundamental skills they can use throughout their career as well as sufficient specific skills so they can be successful in their first job. “We need to prepare students who emerge for their first job — and for their last job.”

Lasting Resources “Students are focused on, ‘What’s the job I’m going to get when I’m finished?’” observes Hillman. But, as Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry senior VP of public policy Suzanne Taylor points out, technology and the work force change so rapidly that specific skills can be outdated in a year. “Business requires workers with a good education, problem-solving skills and the ability to be lifelong learners.” Taylor, who represents the Chamber on ABEC, affirms, “Education is the key to long-term growth and development strategies as we look to what Arizona’s economy will be in the near and longer term future.” It’s important, she says, that business “be very involved in discussions with the state budget to make sure schools get the funding they need.” At the same time, she says that “business and the Arizona Chamber feel it is time to take a more comprehensive look at how schools are funded.”

Senator Crandall believes innovative thinking and technology will “help move the ball forward,” but says it will take an investment to make it happen and admits, “With budget cuts, it becomes increasingly difficult.” Some see some budget gains in combining the myriad of small school districts into larger ones and eliminating administrative redundancy — a centralization that, interestingly, in other realms of government is vigorously opposed — and others look to

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technology to provide greater efficiencies and cost savings.

Carlson points to another element in the school funding issue. “Arizona is competing with every other state in the U.S. to attract teachers. When we look at a revenue base that doesn’t allow us to compete for those teachers, then we are shortchanging our children.”

And, of course, impacting the quality of the emerging work force.

The varied views and priorities underscore the importance of the dialog ABEC fosters among the medley of stakeholders in this arena. On the value of education itself, however, there seems to be consensus.

“You can’t have thriving businesses with a weak work force,” affirms Arizona Senator Leah Landrum Taylor (D, Distr. 16). She says one of the reasons she got on the Senate Economic Development and Jobs Creation Committee after serving many years on the Education Committee is “I’d like to see education infrastructure considerations in the Economic Development and Jobs Creation Committee.” In addition to the expense businesses incur in training and retraining the Arizona work force, she notes the importance of business owners being able to offer a great school system for employees’ families or an employee’s own further education. “That’s where I have a big concern — there are a lot of people attached to these companies, and our state may lose out to another state that has a great education system.”

“Education is a critical part of rebuilding any economy,” says Bidwill. “Certainly we have a lot of room to grow here in Arizona, and we’ve got to make it a focus because it’s an integral part of our economic development strategy.”

Arizona Business and Education Coalition

azchamber.com Arizona State University asu.edu Avnet, Inc. avnet.com Senator Rich Crandall azleg.gov Ensynch Inc. ensynch.com Expect More Arizona expectmorearizona.org

Subscribe To In Business Magazine Our Valleywide Magazine to Business Success

Greater Phoenix Economic Council gpec.org Greater Phoenix Leadership gplinc.org Intel Corp. intel.com Senator Leah Landrum Taylor azleg.gov University of Phoenix phoenix.edu

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HR

People Are Key

Expanded Americans with Disabilities Act Ripples into Business Repercussions of the 2008 Amendment continue to grow

by Alison Bailin Batz When McBride v. The City of Detroit was settled last year, it not only cost the city the $100,000 it had to pay Susan McBride but required the city post its new scent policy throughout its work sites. McBride, a city planner, had complained for several years of heavy perfumes and deodorants around the office and requested accommodations as the scents significantly impaired her breathing. Because the employer did not consider McBride’s sensitivity a disability, the matter was never resolved. After court expenses and a payout to the plaintiff, the employer ended up enacting a strict “no scent” policy, including even hair spray and lotion, throughout the workplace.

Cases such as this suggest that employers who now come under fire for non-compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act shift their argument from whether or not the employee has, in fact, a disability to how many reasonable accommodations the employer offered.

Understanding the Law The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was enacted in 1990 to provide greater protection to persons with disabilities in the United States as well as to readjust the balance between employer and employee interests.

Originally, it focused on the individual’s disability and contained a specific definition of disability. Over the years, court decisions had the effect of tightening the definition of what qualified as a protected disability.

Twenty-one years later, expanded provisions put greater onus on employers to comply with the law’s requirements. The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 instructs courts and employers to adopt a broad standard when determining whether an individual is considered disabled, says Pavneet Uppal, office managing partner with Fisher & Phillips, LLP in Phoenix, which specializes in labor relations. Although the Amendments Act has been in effect since January 2009, businesses on the whole have been slow to acknowledge it. As with many expansions, there is generally a leeway time in between the effective date and when employers can start getting into trouble for not following the

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new rules — the learning curve, so to speak — but McBride v. The City of Detroit is ample evidence that period has ended.

While the 1990 ADA offered protection against discrimination by an employer on the basis of disability, previous federal court interpretation required ADA plaintiffs to prove the employer regarded them as being substantially limited in a major life activity. “This was a difficult standard to meet,” Uppal observes. The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 broadens the scope of what is considered a major life activity to run the gamut from caring for oneself to concentrating and even to sleeping, and Uppal notes, “The expanded provisions reverse course from more than a decade of conservative federal court opinions.”

“Moreover, [the Act] also expressly states that the operation of any major bodily function is considered a major life activity — including

Where the ADA Applies — and Where It Doesn’t The ADA’s employment discrimination rules apply to private and government employers with 15 or more employees as well as to employment agencies and labor unions. This figure refers to a company’s combined work force among all its locations and facilities, no matter how few employees may work at any single site.

There are, however, several categories of individuals who are explicitly not protected by even the ADA’s expanded provisions, according to Pavneet Uppal, office managing partner with Fisher & Phillips, LLP in Phoenix. Outside the scope of the ADA are persons who currently illegally use drugs; persons with sexual conditions or disorders; persons with compulsive behaviors such as kleptomania or pyromania; and persons with different personality traits due to outside influences such as prison or lack of education.

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Books functions of the immune system, cell growth, digestive functions and reproductive functions,” says Sherri Collins, executive director of Arizona Commission for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing. Even episodic issues such as bipolar disorder and multiple sclerosis may be covered.

Effect and Response The impact is just beginning to be felt among employers nationwide.

While the number of new federal workplace discrimination lawsuits held steady in the second quarter of 2010, the number of of those brought under the ADA have continued to rise on the heels of congressional amendments to the law. And it just keeps going up.

“Lawsuits brought under the ADA now comprise the highest percentage of claims filed by former employees,” says Phil Pangrazio, president and CEO of Arizona Bridge to Independent Living.

Pangrazio identifies three key factors that can help employers determine the degree of the issue: whether the employee seems to have certain issues seasonally or on an everyday basis, whether there are signs of mental distress due to the issue and whether the issue has limited the employee’s work production or the production of others.

Given the ADA expansion and enforcement, it is also key to proactively reevaluate all job descriptions and to update employee handbooks and other written materials detailing all of the methods in which the business is committed to accommodating the employee should a major life activity occur. And once the company policies have been re-worked, it is also worth putting together an office-wide meeting to review the updates with everyone at the same time and answer any questions they may have.

Additional steps to take include bringing in a third party to asses whether or not facilities are accessible to people with disabilities, and, when needed, offering modified work schedules and obtaining adaptive equipment or devices.

Collins, who has worked in a wide variety of employment settings to assist in the resolution of employment challenges, shares effective solutions to several common issues the deaf and hard-of-hearing face in the employment arena. Where a hard-of-hearing employee had difficulty hearing in a noisy environment, the supervisor relocated that employee’s work station to a quiet corner of the work site — at a cost that was minimal to none. For a hard-of-hearing employee who had difficulty hearing on the company-supplied cell phone he used on business trips, the employer added text messaging to the voice plan and instructed co-workers to text the employee when he was on the road — another minimal-cost solution. Another employer provided an FM system that works with a user’s hearing aids — at a cost of less than $1,000 — for a hard-of-hearing employee who had difficulty hearing in large staff meetings and trainings.

“Because the law now covers more people, litigation under the ADA is going to continue to increase exponentially — we are already seeing it,” says Uppal. “Astute employers should act now and revise their procedures for interacting with employees and offer accommodations to a wider percentage of persons who request them.”

Americans with Disabilities Act ada.gov Arizona Bridge to Independent Living abil.org Arizona Commission for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing acdhh.org Fisher & Phillip LLP laborlawyers.com

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Economic Insights

Aftershock: Protect Yourself and Profit in the Next Global Financial Meltdown While the “experts” want us to believe that all is well (or will be soon), nothing could be further from the truth. The worldwide financial crisis of 2008 and 2009 was just a sneak preview of what is to come. For those who act quickly and correctly, there is still time to protect yourself, your family and your business in the next global money meltdown.

Updated and fully revised.

David Wiedemer, Robert A. Wiedemer and Cindy S. Spitzer $27.95 Wiley, 2nd Edition On shelves and online

This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly This Time Is Different presents a comprehensive look at the varieties of financial crises, and guides us through eight astonishing centuries of government defaults, banking panics and inflationary spikes — from medieval currency debasements to today’s subprime catastrophe. Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff, leading economists whose work has been influential in the policy debate concerning the current financial crisis, provocatively argue that financial combustions are universal rites of passage for emerging and established market nations.

Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff $19.95 Princeton University Press September 2011

Keynes Hayek: The Clash that Defined Modern Economics As the stock market crash of 1929 plunged the world into turmoil, two men emerged with competing claims on how to restore balance to economies gone awry. John Maynard Keynes, the mercurial Cambridge economist, believed that government had a duty to spend when others would not. He met his opposite in a little-known Austrian economics professor, Friedrich Hayek, who considered attempts to intervene both pointless and potentially dangerous. The battle lines thus drawn, Keynesian economics would dominate for decades and coincide with an era of unprecedented prosperity, but conservative economists and political leaders would eventually embrace and execute Hayek’s contrary vision.

Nicholas Wapshott $28.95 W. W. Norton & Company October 2011

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NonProfit

Investing in Community

by Alison Stanton

Gabriel’s Angels: Breaking the Cycle of Violence, One Child and Dog at a Time

■■ EVENT: Salud! 2011, a Signature Wine

Event, Friday, Oct. 14 at 6 p.m. at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix.

■■ Gabriel’s Angels hopes to add 170 pet therapy ■■ ■■

teams that will reach 10,000 more children a year in Arizona.

Each dog must undergo a certification process and each volunteer must pass standard security screening required by state law.

Gabriel passed away in May 2010 after 10 years of service.

Every year, Gabriel’s Angels assists 13,000 abused, neglected and at-risk children throughout Arizona with the help of pet therapy — nurturing them to love and trust others and thus break the cycle of violence.

The nonprofit organization began in 1999 when Chief Executive Officer Pam Gaber took her Weimaraner puppy, Gabriel, to a holiday party hosted by the Crisis Nursery.

Gaber, then a volunteer at the nursery, as well as others at the party, marveled at how Gabriel brought out the best behaviors in the children in attendance.

Almost 150 “Therapy Teams,” which typically consist of a dog and his or her owner, now work with children in crisis nurseries, domestic violence and homeless shelters, group homes, residential treatment centers and self-contained classrooms in Phoenix and southern Arizona. “Kids

who have been abused lack behaviors that normal kids have, such as compassion, empathy, trust and the ability to affiliate with others and join in,” says Gaber. “They also tend to have very low self-esteem.

The animals connect with the kids, who are taught to do things like bring the dogs water, brush them and form healthy attachments.”

There is no charge to the participating agency. Most of the nonprofit’s annual budget of $850,000, generated by the philanthropy of individuals and corporations, grants and special events, goes toward program expenses like training and supporting the Therapy Teams; currently, the annual cost for supporting one Therapy Team is about $2,500.

Gabriel’s Angels gabrielsangels.org

Since it was founded in 1970 by parents of children with type 1 diabetes, the Desert Southwest Chapter of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International (JDRF) has awarded more than $1.5 billion to diabetes research. This speaks to the organization’s mission, which executive director Ken Brissa says is to find a cure for type 1 diabetes and its complications through the support of research. “JDRF is the number one global funder of type 1 diabetes research,” he says. The foundation supports everyone living with type 1 diabetes — children, teenagers and adults, as well as family members.

The nonprofit organization has an annual budget of $4 million, which Brissa said is raised primarily through fundraisers. “We’re primarily an event-driven organization, with our Walk to Cure Diabetes held in November and our Promise Ball in January,” he says. “Our major source of revenue comes from those sources, but then we do also get donations from corporate partners and individual foundations.” More than 80 percent of all monies JDRF receives, he says, go directly toward supporting research, as well as education and outreach programs.

Desert Southwest Chapter of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International jdrfdsw.org

■■ EVENT: Walk to Cure Diabetes. Tucson: Saturday, Oct. 29, Rillito Park, ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■

6:30 a.m. – 11 a.m. Phoenix: Nov. 5, Tempe Town Lake and Wet n’ Wild Phoenix, 6:30 a.m. – 11 a.m.

The Desert Southwest Chapter of JDRF serves both Arizona and New Mexico, with 16 staff members among the offices in Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz., and Albuquerque, N.M. About 2,000 volunteers chapter-wide help the nonprofit organization; approximately 1,400 serve in the Phoenix metropolitan area.

Eighty-five percent of all people with type 1 diabetes are adults. The majority were diagnosed as children or teenagers.

In fiscal year 2010, the foundation awarded $107 million to diabetes research projects in 19 countries, including more than 40 human clinical trials.

In business to do good for the community, nonprofits enrich the lives of those who contribute as well as those who receive. In Business Magazine showcases two nonprofits in each issue, focusing on their business organization and spotlighting an upcoming fundraising event.

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Photos: Gabriel's Angels (top), Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (bottom)

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation: Committed to Finding a Cure

www.inbusinessmag.com

September 2011

O n t h e Ag e n D a

A listing of Greater Phoenix business organizations and their events. Visit www.inbusinessmag.com for an expanded monthly calendar of educational, networking and special business events.

Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce

Scottsdale Forward Wed., Sept. 14 — 7:00a – 10:00a

economic club of phoenix Kickoff Event Economic Club of Phoenix

Tues., Sept. 20 — 5:30p – 7:00p The Economic Club of Phoenix will celebrate its history and honor current members during its “Kickoff Event” on Tuesday, Sept. 20, at the offices of Snell and Wilmer in Phoenix. Speaking at this event will be two prominent members of the local business community: Russell Owens, president and COO of Fox Restaurant Concepts, and Dan Harkins, scion of the Harkins family who now, as owner and CEO of Harkins Theatres, runs the business his father began in 1933.

The evening event, like the Club’s regular monthly luncheons, will also provide members and local business leaders a chance to network.

Founded in 1985 by the Dean’s Council of 100 along with Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School of Business, the Economic Club of Phoenix was created to foster discussion of economic issues amongst academic, business, labor and public sectors in the Phoenix area. Its monthly luncheons have become pivotal in the ongoing dialogue for the Southwest region’s economy. The organization has welcomed renowned industry leaders such as Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Magazine Steve Forbes, CEO and Chairman of Marriott Hotels J.W. Marriott, former president and CEO of eBay Meg Whitman and founder and CEO of Dell Inc. Michael Dell.

The Economic Club of Phoenix encourages attendees to bring colleagues, business associates and friends to learn more about the club.

The Kickoff Event is free to the business community but advance registration is required. Beverages and appetizers will be provided.

—Brett Maxwell

Committed to supporting business and fostering a strong economy for its community and the region, the Chamber presents Scottsdale Forward on Sept. 14 at the Scottsdale Community College Performing Arts Center. The forum will address issues businesses are facing in these recessionary times. Representatives from city, regional and state offices will join leaders in the business community to discuss how far Scottsdale’s economic vitality has slipped in the current economy and strategies to revive economic growth in Scottsdale and the greater region. Event participants will have an opportunity to provide their input regarding economic development priorities, and will leave with a clear view of the roles and responsibilities of the organizations that form a cohesive economic team in working to rebuild our economic base.

Presenters include Jim Rounds, senior vice president with Elliott D. Pollack & Company, who will give an economic overview of the area’s strengths and challenges, and Scottsdale Mayor Jim Lane, who will speak on “Economic Development Vision and Execution in Scottsdale.” On the panel presentation that follows, Mayor Lane will be joined by Hank Marshall, senior vice president of business development of the Arizona Commerce Authority; Barry Broome, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council; Jim Mullin, director of the City of Scottsdale Office of Economic Vitality; Tom Sadvary, president and CEO of Scottsdale Healthcare; and Rick Kidder, president and CEO of the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce. $20 registration includes a continental breakfast.

—RaeAnne Marsh Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce scottsdalechamber.com

Notable Dates This Month Sept. 5

Labor Day

Sept. 23

Autumnal Equinox

Agenda events are submitted by the organizations and are subject to change. Please check with the organization to ensure accuracy. www.inbusinessmag.com.

Economic Club of Phoenix econclubphx.org

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Ag e n d a

September 2011

Association for Corporate Growth ARIZONA September Breakfast featuring Michael Zimmerman Tues., Sept. 13 7:00a – 9:00a

Speaker is John Siefert, CEO of Virgo Publishing.

Members and sponsors: $49 (at the door: $59); non-members: $69 (at the door: $79); students: $35 Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa 2400 E. Missouri Ave., Phoenix acg.org/arizona/events

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Ahwatukee Financial & Executive Resources Group Tuesdays throughout the month 8:00a – 9:00a

Networking Leads Group Free Ahwatukee Foothills Chamber 3840 E. Ray Rd., Phoenix ahwatukeechamber.com

Toastmasters

Wednesdays throughout the month Noon – 1:00p

$20 one-time fee, and $27 every six months.

Ahwatukee Foothills Chamber 3840 E. Ray Rd., Phoenix ahwatukeechamber.com

SCORE

Thurs., Sept. 8 9:00a – 10:00a

Free one-on-one business counseling.

Ahwatukee Foothills Chamber 3840 E. Ray Rd, Phoenix (480) 753-7676

SCORE

Thurs., Sept. 22 9:00a – 10:00a

Free one-on-one business counseling.

Ahwatukee Foothills Chamber 3840 E. Ray Rd., Phoenix (480) 753-7676

ARIZONA HISPANIC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Buenos Dias Networking Breakfast Tues., Sept. 13 8:00a – 10:00a

Members: free; non-members: $5 Hospice of the Valley 1510 E. Flower St., Phoenix azhcc.com

Business Empowerment Series / Hispanic Women’s Alliance The Power of the Purse Wed., Sept. 28 10:30a – 1:30p

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Members: $10; non-members: $20; students: $5 Cancer Treatment Centers of America 14200 W. Fillmore St., Goodyear azhcc.com

ARIZONA SMALL BUSINESS ASSOCIATION Tools to Create a Killer Sales Team Tues., Sept. 13 and Wed., Sept. 14 8:00a – 12:30p

Identify the KILLER tools for your sales reps to reach sales goals faster and reduce expenses. You will understand better who to hire, who to light a fire under and how. $99 ASBA’s Business Education Center 4600 E. Washington St., Phoenix asba.com/events.

ATHENA Awards of Southern Arizona Luncheon Thurs., Sept. 22 11:00a – 1:30p

The ATHENA award is bestowed on an exceptional woman who has achieved excellence in her business or profession; has served the community in a meaningful way; and has assisted and mentored women in their attainment of professional goals and leadership skills.

Members: $50; non-members: $55 Westin La Paloma 3800 E. Sunrise Dr., Tucson asba.com/events

New Member Orientation + Mini Expo Thurs., Sept. 29 8:30a – 10:00a

Learn how you can take advantage of all that an ASBA membership has to offer.

Free ASBA’s Business Education Center 4600 E. Washington St., Phoenix asba.com/events

ARIZONA TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL Lunch and Learn: Close More B2B Sales, presented by Loop Demand Gen Tue., Sept. 13 11:30a – 1:00p

Ramp up your revenue with many more leads and supercharged sales reps.

Members: free; non-members: $15 ASU SkySong 1475 N. Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale aztechcouncil.org

BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS Business Professionals Breakfast Thurs., Sept. 8 8:30a – 10:00a

Come prepared with your questions, as this will be an open format for you to get the answers pertaining to your

business or industry. Starbucks coffee and a continental breakfast will be served.

Free Microsoft Store Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall 480-308-0800

GREATER PHOENIX CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

CENTRAL PHOENIX WOMEN

If you strive to be a leader in your community, then be sure to join VYP in partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona for a mixer and presentation by Tom Ambrose, executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona.

Members: free; non-members: $20 Majerle’s Sports Grill 24 N. 2nd St., Phoenix phoenixchamber.com

Meet the Media Dinner Mon., Sept. 12 5:30p – 7:00p

Meet members of the media at our September dinner. $75 The Ritz-Carlton 2401 E. Camelback Rd., Phoenix centralphoenixwomen.org

CHANDLER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Chandler Chamber Golf Challenge Tues., Sept. 13 7:30a shotgun start

Breakfast, awards luncheon, goodie bag, range balls, team photos and raffle ticket. $150 Ocotillo Golf Resort 3751 S. Clubhouse Dr., Chandler Karen Hall, (480) 963-4571

ECONOMIC CLUB OF PHOENIX Economic Club of Phoenix Kickoff Event 2011 Tues., Sept. 20 5:30p – 7:00p

Free; advance registration required Snell & Wilmer One Arizona Center 400 E. Van Buren St., Suite 1900, Phoenix wpcarey.ecp@asu.edu

GLENDALE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Charity Golf Event Fri., Sept. 23 7:30a – 1:15p

Benefitting ASU West Campus. $100 Legend at Arrowhead 21027 N. 67th Ave., Glendale glendaleazchamber.org

GREATER PHOENIX BLACK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Monthly Networking — Finance & Real Estate Thurs., Sept. 8 7:00a – 9:00a

Members: free; non-members: $15 Kincaid’s 2 S. 3rd St., Phoenix RSVP at info@phoenixblackchamber.com

Valley Young Professionals: Leadership in the Community Tues., Sept. 13 5:30p – 7:00p

Economic Outlook 2012 Fri., Sept. 30 7:00a – 10:00a

Economic Outlook 2012 will present the latest research and analysis on real estate and economic trends from industry insiders Dr. Angel Cabrera from Thunderbird School of Global Management, Dr. Beckie Holmes of Cox Communications and Elliott Pollack of Elliott D. Pollack & Company.

Members: $65; non-members: $75 Location TBD phoenixchamber.com

MESA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Good Morning East Valley Fri., Sept. 9 6:30a – 8:30a

Many2One Facilitator Dennis Skinner will lead the group through an interactive morning in discussing strategic planning and business objectives.

Members: $20; non-members: $30 Mesa Country Club 660 W. Fairway, Mesa mesachamber.org

Grow Your Business Tues., Sept. 13 11:30a – 1:00p

Members: $15; non-members: $25 Carrabba’s Italian Grill 1740 S. Clearview, Mesa mesachamber.org

Taste of Mesa

Tues., Sept. 20 5:30p – 7:30p

Members: $15; non-members: $25 Hilton Phoenix East/Mesa 1011 W. Holmes Ave., Mesa mesachamber.org

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN BUSINESS OWNERS NAWBO U

Wed., Sept. 14 9:30a – 11:00a

Members: $15; non-members: $30; RSVP

by Sept. 9

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Phoenix Country Club 2901 N. 7th St., Phoenix nawbophx.org

NORTH PHOENIX CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

All this and networking at its finest.

Members: free; non-members: $10; Networking Phoenix Passport member: Chamber member price Rock Bottom Brewery 21001 N. Tatum Blvd., Phoenix Edward Gomillion, (602) 482-3344

Industry Specific Networking Group

NORTH SCOTTSDALE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Relationship networking with elite professionals in a variety of industries.

Lunch sponsor: Judge Clancy Jayne.

Members: free; non-members: $10; Networking Phoenix Passport member: Chamber member price Rock Bottom Brewery 21001 N. Tatum Blvd., Phoenix Edward Gomillion, (602) 482-3344

Annual NSCC Golf Tournament

Business for Breakfast. Explosive Growth Now-Creating Cash Cows

PEORIA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Mondays throughout the month Noon – 1:00p

Wednesdays throughout the month 7:30a – 8:30a

Share marketing strategies, network, and have a great breakfast.

Members: free; non-members: $10; Networking Phoenix Passport member: Chamber member price Rustic Cafe 20811 N. Cave Creek Rd., Phoenix 7:30 am - 8:30 am Edward Gomillion, (602) 482-3344

Industry Specific Business 2 Business Networking Group

Wednesdays throughout the month Noon – 1:00p

Serious Professionals Only Networking Group. Lunch Sponsor: Keller Graduate School.

Members: free; non-members: $10; Networking Phoenix Passport member: Chamber member price Catch 22 Sports Grill 18725 N. 32nd St., Phoenix Edward Gomillion, (602) 482-3344

Fri., Sept. 23 1:00p – 7:00p

Join us for our 4th Annual North Scottsdale Chamber Golf Tournament Individual: $175; foursomes: $600 Troon North Golf Club 10320 E. Dynamite Blvd., Scottsdale troonnorthgolf.com

Membership Luncheon Wed., Sept. 14 11:00a – 1:00p

Sponsored by Peoria North Rotary.

Speaker is Chuck Fitzgerald. $20 Arizona Broadway Theatre 7701 W. Paradise, Peoria (623) 979-3601

Rock Bottom brewery will be serving up great food and giving tours of their brewery. If you have never seen how beer is made and mimicked from brews around the globe, this will be a real treat.

WEST VALLEY WOMEN

Tues., Sept. 13 8:30a – 11:30a

Join us for coffee and pastries as we kick-off our Silver Surfers Computer Club / Workshop. These workshops will focus on technology for Active Adults 55+. Learn safe and secure methods for protecting your PC and personal information. Additional workshops will cover e-mail and attachments, photography and more.

Free Microsoft Store Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall 480-308-0800

Join us for this great networking opportunity and hear from one of the influential Women in Business in the Valley. Speaker to vendor tables are available through registration.

Members: $15 ($5 discount for early registration); non-members: $20 SKYE Restaurant 16844 N. Arrowhead Fountain Center Dr., Peoria surpriseregionalchamber.com

Wed., Sept. 14 7:00a – 10:00a

In addition to the Chamber, who are the “Players” responsible for reviving the economic growth of this community and region? How do the various entities charged with improving our economic climate coordinate their efforts? Representatives from the city, the region, the state and the business community will address these issues. $20 Scottsdale Community College Performing Arts Center 9000 E. Chaparral Rd., Scottsdale Courtney Gilbert, (480) 355-2704.

Wed., Sept. 21 11:30a – 7:00p

Silver Surfers Computer Club

Enjoy fresh Starbucks coffee and breakfast goodies while mixing and sharing ideas and leads with other real estate professionals.

Free Microsoft Store Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall 480-308-0800

Scottsdale Forward

Tempe Links Classic

SILVER SURFERS COMPUTER CLUB

POWER Women in Business Luncheon

Mon., Sept. 26 8:30a – 10:00a

TEMPE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Participants will enjoy a full round of golf with cart, beverages, prizes, a silent auction and dinner. A box lunch is provided. Post-event fun includes a live auction and awards ceremony.

Members: $125 single; $400 foursome General Public: $150 single; $500 foursome ASU Karsten Golf Course 1125 E. Rio Salado Pkwy., Tempe tempechamber.org

The Technical Edge: Networking for Real Estate Professionals

Serious Professionals Only Networking Group. Luncheon sponsor: Minniti CPA, LLC. Members: free; non-members: $10; Networking Phoenix Passport member: Chamber member price Catch 22 Sports Grill 18725 N. 32nd St., Phoenix Edward Gomillion, (602) 482-3344

Thurs., Sept. 15 5:30p – 7:00p

Each year, Scottsdale’s annual business-tobusiness tradeshow has a fun and unique theme, fantastic food and drinks, lots of giveaways, a booth decorating contest and more. Free and open to the public Chaparral Suites Resort Scottsdale 5001 N. Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale scottsdalechamber.com

REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS

SCOTTSDALE AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Networking Mixer at Rock Bottom Brewery Desert Ridge

Tues., Sept. 27 3:00p – 7:00p

SURPRISE REGIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Business 2 Business Networking Group

Fridays throughout the month Noon – 1:00p

Scottsdale Business Showcase Fall Tradeshow

Ag e n d a

Wed., Sept. 21 11:00a – 2:00p

“Spotlight Our Members” Luncheon Tues., Sept. 6 11:30a – 1:00p

Attend and meet the members of West Valley Women. $35 SKYE Restaurant 16844 Arrowhead Fountain Center Dr., Peoria westvalleywomen.org

WOMEN IN BUSINESS Women in Business Breakfast Social Tues., Sept. 27 8:30a – 10:00a

Please join us for a cup of Starbucks Coffee, continental breakfast treats and a valuable opportunity to mingle and connect with local female business professionals.

Free Microsoft Store Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall 480-308-0800

WOMEN OF SCOTTSDALE Annual Gentlemen’s Lunch Fri., Sept. 16 11:30a – 1:00p

Our annual “Bring a Gentlemen to Lunch” meeting. $35 The Westin Kierland Resort and Spa 6902 E. Greenway Pkwy., Scottsdale womenofscottsdale.org

in business mag dot com Please confirm, as dates & times are subject to change.

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Education

Series on Branding

That’s the difference between your business being a commodity and it being a brand.

When you’re a commodity, you compete on price. When you’re a brand, price is seldom an issue. Which would you rather be?

Another reason to brand is brands deliver value, not only to your customers but also to your company. John Stuart, the former chief executive officer of Quaker Oats Company, said, “If this company were to split up, I would give you the property, plant and equipment and I would take the brands and the trademarks, and I would fare far better than you.” He said that in 1900. Brand value isn’t a new concept, but for many it is unknown or forgotten. Brand value may not matter now, but if you sell your company one day, it will matter then. Brands are worth more than commodities.

From Business to Brand

by Kathy Heasley

Branding. It’s the buzzword of business right now. There are even TV shows about it.

HBO’s “Making It in America” is about two would-be New York entrepreneurs who seek fame and fortune by launching their own clothing line.

If their brand “Crisp” hits, they’ll strike it rich.

Branding is becoming mainstream, and conversations that used to be about marketing a business have now shifted to conversations about how to brand it. Is there a difference? Is branding just the latest in a long line of lingo that, like words of the past, will fall out of fashion? The business landscape is littered with words like “synergy” and “paradigm shift,” and how can we forget that wonderful term “headcount” that was made so popular during the days of “rightsizing”? Those last two, combined, reduced employees to cattle and turned CEOs into modern-day Machiavellis.

Thankfully, the term “branding” doesn’t pack such ill will, but it does deliver plenty of confusion. A quick Google search returns utter chaos. Thousands of branding experts flinging branding tips, tricks and more. Countless articles promise to impart the de facto methods for branding your company but, instead, confuse you more than you were to begin with.

You’re not alone. Branding and how to make it work confound most people. In this article and the five others that will follow monthly in In Business Magazine, we’ll clear up the

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confusion once and for all. You’ll discover how branding can truly help your business and you’ll learn a proven method of shaping businesses into brands. But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s answer an even more basic question: Why brand at all?

Why Bother with Branding?

The obvious reason to brand your business, your products and yourself is branding provides you with leverage. Too often, you fight too hard to win every sale. You fight to get noticed, to get in the door, to gain credibility, to win a bidding war. If you’re lucky, you might win the business. Wouldn’t it be great if, instead, the buyer sought you out without all the rigmarole?

What Is a Brand, Anyway?

Accept that business leverage and asset value are two powerful reasons to brand, and the question becomes, “What is a brand and how do I get one?” Everyone has a different definition, and most of them are impossible to put any solid business action against — which can be frustrating. Another view, developed over fifteen-plus years’ experience, leads to a simple definition that is understandable, actionable and measurable.

A brand is two simple words: “promise” and “experience.” The promise is what most people think of as branding. It’s the communications, the images, the commercials, et cetera, that you telegraph to the world to gain awareness. But by our definition, it’s also you, your employees, your attitudes, your language, your website, your proposals, your product packaging, your store — anything that makes an impression.

And let’s face it, that’s everything — good, bad or neutral; right or wrong.

Heart & Mind Branding — the Education Series The “Heart & Mind Branding” series takes business owners through the steps to consciously address improvements to their company’s success by implementing an integrated approach to branding. In Business Magazine presents the six-part series:

Intro Sept. 2011

Heart

Message

Image

Actions

Systems

Oct. 2011

Nov. 2011

Dec. 2011

Jan. 2012

Feb. 2012

To reference published segments, please access the archived issue on the In Business Magazine website, www.inbusinessmag.com.

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Kathy Heasley is founder and principal of HEASLEY&PARTNERS, Inc., a branding company that helps organizations grow and prosper. She’s the creator of Heart & Mind® Branding — the cornerstone of her business — a Rich Dad Advisor, an author of multiple books and CDs, and an international marketing and communications coach.

Heasley speaks to people around the world on the power of branding, marketing and communications.

For more than two decades, she has been shaping businesses into Heart & Mind brands worldwide.

The experience is the follow-through on your promise and it’s something few consider when developing and building a brand. It’s the product, the service customers receive, the way they interact with your packaging, the meal they have in your restaurant, the ease of navigating your website, your tweets and posts, their relationship with your employees — in essence, it’s the work and the business of your company.

That’s why we deem building a business from the brand up a best practice. Too many companies build a business and add a brand, usually a logo, like they do frosting on a cake. Pretty, maybe, but that magic doesn’t go very deep.

The Promise + the Experience = the Brand The best brands are ones in which the promise and the experience are equal, meaning customers get what they expect. This definition of branding goes beyond logos, graphic design and advertising. This brand of branding activates every aspect of your business and places as much of the brand-building responsibilities on operations as it does on marketing.

Isn’t the rule to under-promise and overdeliver? Yes, within limits. Succeeding articles

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will discuss appropriate ways to accomplish that. Mostly, what we see in our daily work is the wrong way to under-promise and overdeliver. We often hear from our branding clients that their customers have told them they were surprised at the quality of the work and products. Sometimes our clients want it that way, but when their customers’ verbatim quotes sound like these, they think again: “I wish I would have known how good the company was. I would have hired them sooner.”

“They really need to present themselves more professionally because their service is ’way better than they look.”

“I’d seen the product posters and peeked inside the store, but the place just didn’t look appetizing. Then a friend dragged me in, and I found out what I’d been missing all these years.”

Years! Can a company afford to wait years for prospective customers to give it a chance?

Of course not. That’s why aligning the promise and the experience is so important.

Sometimes we find a company that is overpromising and under-delivering. With them, we focus our branding effort on business operations, with the goal of bringing the experience into alignment with the promise.

By developing a brand that incorporates both promise and experience, branding success is fully measurable. Not just when your brand gets valued at $70 billion like Coca-Cola, but all along the way. The philosophy that defines a brand this concretely is called Heart & Mind® Branding. It recognizes that every company and every person within the companies has a heart side and a mind side. The mind side is what we ordinarily think of when we think business. It’s the spreadsheets, the budgets, the goals, the quotas. It’s the necessary stuff that makes work feel like work. The heart side is the creativity, the passion, the purpose that makes work feel like a mission.

Our most successful branding projects are for companies that allow us to discover their heart and use it to envelop all the mind aspects of their promises and their experiences. In this series’ next five articles, we’ll cover the stages of this branding method so you can apply it to yourself, your business and your products, starting with the first stage: Heart. Then we’ll move through Message, Image, Actions and Systems. Through this, you’ll discover how business plans become brand plans and what it takes to truly break through.

Heasley&Partners, Inc. heasleyandpartners.com

Top Ten Brands in 2010 and the Estimated Value of the Brand as a Corporate Asset 1.

Coca-Cola $70,452 million 2.

IBM $64,727 million 3.

Microsoft $60,895million 4.

Google $43,557 million 5.

GE $42,808 million

6.

McDonald's $33,578 million

7.

Intel $32,015 million

8.

Nokia $29,495 million 9.

Disney $28,731 million 10.

Hewlett-Packard $26,867 million

The top ten most valuable brands in the world according to InterBrand’s most recent survey

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ASSETS

We Value What We Own

by Mike Hunter

Power to Accel: Fisker’s Finest Luxury Karma EVer

MSRP: $93,000 • Fisker Automotive

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MiFi Mobile Hot Spots: The Web in Your Pocket Relying on the Web at all times is becoming key to success for businesspeople. A mobile connection to multiple devices with the certain reliability of a network brings a new (and beneficial) meaning to 24/7. Sharing a signal and connecting quickly and safely at high speeds is the prerequisite. Here are our picks that will keep you connected.

1. Sprint MiFi 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot 4082 — This device by Novatel is our pick because of good battery life and true ease of use and options. $79.99 • sprint.com

2. Verizon MiFi 4G LTE — The 4G network is not available everywhere, so this device is 3G compatible. Fast and easy to use, it is about the size of a man’s wallet. $99.99 • verizon.com

3. AT&T MiFi Hotspot 2372 — This one’s a slower option but with good battery life. $50 with contract • att.com

fiskerautomotive.com

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Photos: Fisker Automotive (left)

Combining the eco-edge and refined design with the luxury auto market, Fisker Automotive comes up with the Karma EV, the world’s first ultra-luxury electric sports sedan with extended range. Electric Vehicle extended range (EVer™) powertrain is the technology behind this latest offering from the new car company founded four years ago by former BMW and Aston Martin designer Henrik Fisker.

Karma EV is equipped with a 20-kWh lithium-ion battery that spans nearly the entire distance between the axles, has a life of approximately 10 years or 100,000 miles and is charged by either the Fisker at-home charging station (110 or 220 volts) or the on-board turbocharged two-liter direct injection generator/engine. A nine-gallon fuel tank getting an average of 67 miles to the gallon is the “extended range” in the EV and will give a range of 250 miles (Sports mode — 0 to 60mph in 5.9 seconds). Under battery power only, the range is 50 miles (Stealth mode — 0 to 60mph in 7.9 seconds).

Although so new that delivery can be six months away from order, the Karma EV is worth the wait. It is a luxury sedan that is a real client pleaser. With styling that could be described as Aston Martin meets BMW meets Corvette, and inspired by a “conscious decision to create striking forms that capture the power of motion,” the look of this vehicle will more than turn heads and impress. Certified rescued (retrieved from the 2007 fire storm in Orange County, Calif.), sunken and fallen woods are used to appoint this eco-friendly interior. Other materials deliver on the promise of excellence through environmental responsibility and engineering.

Intuitive touch-screen interface controls the EV’s auto, climate, navigation, audio/ infotainment, phone and additional systems.

Fisker has delivered two vehicles so far, with many orders placed. The drive is smooth and sporty, but it may take some time to get used to the quiet “electric” experience as the acceleration is linear and pushes the rear wheels using a single gear. Eco-inspired styling is the most impressive element of his new vehicle, but it may be just the asset you require as you pull up to the valet with your top client.

Meals that Matter

Power Lunch

Ethnic Eateries Getting away for the lunch hour can be a trip around the world. Here are some tasty eateries that will take you away.

Bombay Spice Grill & Wine — Indian

Indian and Pakistani food is served in a quaint, modern atmosphere. The tempting selection will give you a true taste of this region.

10810 N. Tatum Blvd., Phoenix (602) 795-0020 bombayspice.com

The Breadfruit — Jamaican

Straight from the Caribbean, this small “indie” downtown Phoenix restaurant serves up fresh flavors and spices that bring Jamaica to your table.

108 E. Pierce St., Phoenix (602) 267-1266 thebreadfruit.com

Greekfest — Greek

by Mike Hunter

As close to a metropolitan “celebrity hot spot” as is possible in Phoenix, Fred’s at Barneys New York department store at Fashion Square in Scottsdale has all the attributes. An exclusive second-floor location tucked away among the elite designer fashions, this surprise modern bistro is a lunch spot for any occasion.

Fred Pressman, the son of Barneys New York founder Barney Pressman, created this quaint bistro concept with the idea that “we should have a dish for everyone.”

Food to perfection is made up of local farm-fresh ingredients, created to please the palates of those who travel the world. The Baltimore Crab Cakes are a wonder and will make lunch a welcome habit for you and your party. The famed Mark’s Madison Avenue Salad, which is described as “the ultimate chopped salad,” is topped with Italian tuna. Neapolitan-style pizzas and fresh pasta dishes are among the great options for your midday meal.

Modern luxury is the theme, with simple and plush elements that make guests feel important and comfortable. The dining room is bright and airy with a very urban feel. The service meets Manhattan standards and the staff will treat you like you are a member of an exclusive club.

Open for lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch.

Jade Palace — Chinese

Authentic, flavorful and the highest quality Chinese, is what diners are saying. Make lunch a trip to China with this intensely flavored cuisine in an upscale Chinese dining room.

9160 E. Shea Blvd., Scottsdale (480) 391-0607 Two other Scottsdale locations. jadepalaceaz.com Bombay Spice Grill & Wine

Photos: Barneys New York (left), Bombay Spice Grill & Wine (right)

Fashion Forward is Fred’s at Barneys New York

Voted the best Greek restaurant in Phoenix time and time again, Greekfest is as authentic as it gets foodwise and ambience-wise. This place will transport you to Greece.

1940 E. Camelback Rd., Phoenix (602) 265-2990 thegreekfest.com

Fred’s at Barneys New York 4500 N. Scottsdale Road (602) 337-6111 barneys.com

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YO U R M E E T I N G B U D G E T H A S R O O M F O R

A FEW PLEASANT SURPRISES.

192-seat Lecture Hall

Executive Board Room

“IBM held its Smarter Cities Phoenix event at the Executive Conference Center – Downtown Phoenix. The customers and attendees were very impressed with the state-of-the-art facility, the customer service and the attention to detail. Every aspect of a major conference was anticipated — and addressed well ahead of time.”

Joseph (Jay) Ennesser, Jr. — IBM Sales & Distribution, Industrial Sector, Vice President Global Alliances Solutions, Phoenix Location

If one-stop planning service, an all-inclusive meeting package and high-end amenities sound pretty good on your budget, then the Executive Conference Center – Downtown Phoenix is the perfect choice. The ECC offers more than 21,000 square feet of IACC-certified meeting space, featuring a 192-seat lecture hall, sophisticated furnishings and leading-edge technology for groups as large as 300 attendees. So start looking beyond the same old meeting experience — and enjoy a few pleasant surprises with your next event.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR A TOUR, CONTACT KEVIN HILL. 602-262-6225 | PHXECC.COM FA M I LY O F V E N U E S Phoenix Convention Center | Executive Conference Center | Symphony Hall | Orpheum Theatre

TEMPE CHAMBER

Meeting the needs of our membership

By Renee Lopata, Senior Vice President, Tempe Chamber of Commerce The Tempe Chamber is always looking for programs, events and opportunities that provide value to its membership. After a comprehensive survey of our members, a need was apparent to connect business owners with each other; the outcome was the monthly Business Owners Forum. This meeting/ committee provides a confidential, open dialog that allows business owners to share ideas, solve problems and gather opinions from other decision makers. Meeting the fourth Thursday of each month at local businesses, this is free for our members and all participants must be the business owner.

The success of the Business Owners Forum is in part due to the leadership of Committee Chair Kelly Lorenzen of Morrison Vein Institute, who facilitates the discussion and makes sure all participants have an opportunity to share their ideas, questions and business challenges. Lorenzen also attributes its success to “business owners Continued on T.C.A. 5

Renee Lopata, Senior Vice President, Tempe Chamber of Commerce

Te m p e C h a m b e r. o r g

Advantage Sept. – Dec. 2O11 • tempechamber.org

Creating Chamber Connections

By Connor McBride On Saturday, July 2, Tempe Chamber member quickly diagnosed the problem as a bad power Boulders on Broadway experienced extended supply on the server and left to get replacement power outages as they approached one of their parts. “I would consider this an emergency, and busiest times of the week – Saturday night and in those situations, we do whatever it takes to team trivia. It was vital that they get their pointget the systems back online again,” Douglas of-sales systems back up and running as soon said. He returned with a new power supply as as power was restored.

As luck would have it, two other Chamber members happened to be conducting a meeting at Boulders on that particular day.

Robert Douglas of Red Key Solutions, a technology, web and marketing firm that provides custom technology and web solutions for clients, was looking to purchase a Photo cap: From left: Robert Douglas, Red Key Solutions; Jeff Christian, home with the assistance of Courtney Valleywide Properties; and Erick Geryol, Boulders on Broadway Jeff Christian of Courtney Valleywide Properties. After a long day of house hunting, they decided to go well as a battery back-up device to help prevent to Boulders for a cold drink and to begin the such an incident from recurring. “From the time paperwork. Upon their arrival, they ran into Rob I diagnosed the problem, I had the Boulders’ Knutsen, head of marketing and catering at system up and running again within two hours.”

Boulders, and Erick Geryol, owner of Boulders, The new battery back-up system was put to who informed them that their power was out, the test again the following Tuesday, which led meaning the kitchen was down but that they to four power outages at Boulders. The system, could still get that cold drink. however, remained up and running during these As they were finishing up the paperwork, additional outages.

Geryol approached Douglas and mentioned In the end, all of these members were able that their server was down and asked if to benefit from the transaction. Christian was he could take a look at it. It was crucial for able to assist Douglas in finding a new home.

Boulders to get their computer systems up Meanwhile, deciding to have drinks at Boulders and running quickly, as they were expecting proved to be fortuitous. Not only were the a large group that night. Christian felt that two members supporting another member’s Geryol approaching Douglas for help was the business, but Boulders was able to benefit from only natural thing to do. “Being part of the Douglas’ expertise.

Chamber sort of feels like a family of sorts,” To learn more about Boulders on Broadway, Christian said. “I would expect another member Red Key Solutions or Courtney Valleywide to ask for my help if needed, and I would feel Properties, please visit the Tempe Chamber comfortable asking as well.” of Commerce membership directory at www.

Douglas immediately jumped into action, tempechamber.org.

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Algebra Academy helps struggling students succeed With increased science and math acumen in high demand, the Algebra Academy was designed to improve algebra skills in struggling eighth-grade graduates and motivate students to persevere in their math education by exposing them to “realworld” applications of their learning. The Algebra Academy is a program of the Tempe Chamber of Commerce, which will be funding the majority of the program, in partnership with the Tempe Elementary School District and the Tempe Union High School District (TUHSD). The TUHSD has the tools to track the students as they progress through high school so that we can verify that the program is having the intended results.

“This is a wonderful community program that gets to the heart of showing students why STEM education (science, technology, engineering and math) is critical to their future success. The Tempe Chamber had been looking for a program that would bring businesses and schools together without adding work to an already-crowded school day. When I heard about a similar program in California, I knew we had to bring it to Tempe,” said Mary Ann Miller, president and CEO of the Tempe Chamber of Commerce.

The program kicked off with one class of 15 students last month. The invited students are those whose seventh-grade test scores indicate

Te m p e C h a m b e r. o r g

a high risk for obtaining a C or D in Algebra 1-2.

Currently, the TUHSD has identified 233 such students. It is the Chamber’s desire to grow the program each year so that all identified students have the opportunity to participate.

Kevin Thompson, Administrator/Corporate Public Affairs at Southwest Gas Corporation, one of the participating businesses, said, “What a great opportunity Southwest Gas had to host this group of future leaders. We applaud these kids for dedicating themselves to becoming better students and taking time out of their summer break to strengthen their math skills. Congratulations to all!”

The program ran for four weeks, concluding on June 30. The students spent their mornings in a classroom setting at Connolly Middle School reviewing algebra. After lunch, they were transported to participating businesses where representatives showed the students just how the general math objectives taught in the morning are used in the “real world.” Different types and sizes of businesses participated ranging from graphics and utility companies to construction and automotive companies. Students had the chance to see how important mathematics are to problem solving in the workplace.

“The students were interested and engaged,” said Roger Melcher, Process Technology Manager

at Microchip Technology Inc. “We enjoyed their visits to Microchip, and we look forward to participating in this program again in the future.”

By making the program fun and interesting, we hope the students will learn that math is nothing to fear. As an added motivation, the TUHSD will grant each student completing the program half of a high school math credit, as well as a calculator that will be required in high school.

“The Algebra Academy has given me an opportunity as a teacher to really show students the mathematics in a meaningful way. Students learn and review with me in the morning, then every afternoon they see a practical use of the knowledge they’ve just acquired. Students are engaged and interacting with the mathematics in ways that are interesting and unique. This experience has been one of the best adventures I’ve been a part of as a teacher. I’m happy to have been given the chance to support this venture, and I hope that the students realize how lucky they are to have this opportunity as well,” said Alexandria Wiltjer, an eighth-grade math teacher.

If your business is interested in participating in next year’s Algebra Academy, please contact Tempe Chamber President and CEO Mary Ann Miller at (480) 736-4280 or maryann@ tempechamber.org.

T e m p e C h a m b e r Ad va n ta g e

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As members of the Tempe Chamber of Commerce, you and your employees have access to exclusive discounts and programs. Through a variety of partnerships and affiliations, we are able to provide our members with discounts on legal services, identity theft protection, workers’ compensation, e-mail marketing and more, as well as provide access to educational programs and services.

Visit www.tempechamber.org to take advantage of these great benefits.

East Valley Business Expo Profits Businesses

By Sean Donovan Companies looking for a proven, cost-effective and fun way to promote their products and services have the ideal opportunity at the Oct. 5, 2011, East Valley Business Expo. As the largest annual event of its kind in the East Valley, the expo provides a dynamic setting for both business-to-business and business-to-consumer outreach and sales.

Hosted by the Tempe, Chandler, Mesa and Gilbert chambers of commerce, the Expo is set to welcome more than 1,000 attendees who meet and network with exhibitors from every business category imaginable. While your business will benefit greatly from simply attending (at no cost!), the best way to capitalize on all the potential profits is to become an exhibitor.

“For us, the return on our costs has been dramatic, with orders directly from Expo contacts covering our booth costs for the next 30 years,” said Craig Henry with Express Employment Professionals. “I think it is also reassuring to our prospective customers to come to an event with such a positive business message for those of us doing business here.”

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T e m p e C h a m b e r Ad v a n ta g e

The East Valley Business Expo offers an organized, efficient way to connect with potential customers and clients in a short amount of time in one location. In fact, more than 1,400 people – each representing untapped revenue – walked through its doors last year.

And those people are ready to do business.

By their presence alone, they have already shown that they’re serious about making connections, buying and selling and engaging your company in a businesslike fashion. Expo-based contacts, leads and sales outweigh those of other forms of marketing, something any business likes to see.

Plus, with four chambers of commerce engaging in a powerful combined marketing strategy, exhibitors get an incredible amount of bang for their investment.

“Not only was it well organized, but it gave us such a great opportunity to network with other businesses in the Valley,” said Souan Thannao, career services director at Brookline College.

“We met so many different types of businesses that we didn’t know existed. What a great way to market your business!”

Door prizes, an emcee, complimentary food from onsite restaurants and a cash bar keep the event exciting and engaging for exhibitors and attendees alike.

The mayors of Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert and Mesa will appear and give presentations during the event. Professional trainer and motivator Stacy Stack also will offer free workshops on managing conflict and change at work and on leadership’s role in creating a fulfilling workplace.

Continued FROM T.C.A. 1

being able to discuss successes, hardships and ideas with other owners without feeling like they are going to be judged or sold something.” She continued, “It’s a great peer-to-peer group.”

Coffee Connection is the Chamber’s leads group. Now filling its second group in south Tempe, Coffee Connection was specially designed by the Tempe Chamber and its Business Resource Advantage Committee to develop groups that will advocate and promote the businesses of members by passing qualified business leads to other members. Coffee Connection is open to any member of the Tempe Chamber, and membership in each group is limited to one person or business in any category.

Networking is still the most requested benefit of membership. With free Business Before Hours and Business After Hours mixers each month, the Chamber continues to provide a forum that best suits our members. Morning mixers are fast, effective and allow each participant to give a 30-second commercial of their business while still having time to connect after the introductions. Business After Hours is less structured and provides a fun atmosphere while showcasing local member restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues. This is a great opportunity to bring your staff and team build while promoting your company. The Networking @ Noon Luncheon is speed networking at its best! Meet 40 to 50 Chamber members on one afternoon while learning something interesting about them and their business. Members are also given tips on connecting with new leads and contacts after the luncheon.

To learn more about the Tempe Chamber, visit www.tempechamber.org.

The East Valley Business Expo takes place Oct. 5 from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Mesa Convention Center, 201 N. Center St. Online registration is open at www.eastvalleybusinessexpo.com, and booths are on a first-come, first-served basis. Admission for attendees is free with a business card.

“Turning Obstacles Into Opportunities Together” Banking and Credit Relationships Establishing complete banking and loan relationships for small to mid-size business clients.

Financial Acumen Assist businesses to properly produce accurate financial information for their company and to understand what the financials tell them.

Expense Reduction Review and recommendations to reduce operating expenses.

Accounting/Bookkeeping Services Our accounting service provides businesses with accurate and timely financial accounting and bookkeeping services tailored to the individual client’s needs.

Stoney-Wilson Business Consulting, LLC www.stoneywilson.com Julie Stoney

6501 E. Greenway Pkwy #103-583 Scottsdale, AZ 85254

(602) 370-1776 juliestoney@stoneywilson.com

Te m p e C h a m b e r. o r g

Robert S. Wilson

(602) 696-1060 robertwilson@stoneywilson.com

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Annual Luncheon Ushers in New Year, New Leadership

Photos by Jay Mark

Thank you to all of our members who attended our Annual Luncheon at the Fiesta Resort Conference Center. Board Chairman Dave Long of Edward Jones was unable to attend but shared his vision for the future of the Chamber in a prerecorded message.

The Chamber was also happy to honor those who have worked with us over the past year and introduce the incoming Board of Directors and committee chairs.

The event concluded with a presentation by Andrew Walter, former ASU quarterback.

Thanks again to our generous sponsors: Silver sponsors - Cox Communications, Edward Jones and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport; Copper sponsors - SRP, State Farm and US Airways; Print sponsor - AlphaGraphics; and AV Partner - Sonoran Studios.

Keynote speaker Andrew Walter addressed a crowd of over 200 attendees.

Tempe Chamber members were recognized for their anniversaries. From left, with plaques: 40-year members Tempe St. Luke’s Hospital, State Farm and CenturyLink and 25-year members Apartment Hunters, Jack’s Ticket Agency and Henry & Horne

Connect with the Tempe Chamber!

Chairman of the Tempe Chamber Board of Directors Dave Long, Edward Jones, addressed the audience via a pre-recorded video message.

Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/ tempe-chamber/1762132500

Check out our blog: http://bit.ly/tccblog

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tempechamber

Join the Tempe Chamber http://linkd.in/tempechamber

Read our monthly e-newsletter: http://bit.ly/tccnews

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T e m p e C h a m b e r Ad v a n ta g e

Tempe Chamber President/CEO Mary Ann Miller with Immediate Past Chair Steve Bauer, The Kinetic Companies

Board of Directors Chairman of the Board: Dave Long Chair-Elect: Jack Pisano Treasurer: Phil Howard

Mary Ann Miller, President and CEO, maryann@tempechamber.org

Vice-Chairs: Margaret Hunnicutt, Kristine Kassel, Jeff Mirasola

Sean Donovan, Vice President, Media and Program Development, sean@tempechamber.org Liz Garlieb, Membership Development, liz@tempechamber.org Renee Lopata, CAE, Senior Vice President, renee@tempechamber.org Sachiyo Ragsdale, Communications Director, sachiyo@tempechamber.org Heidi Santos, Bookkeeper, heidi@tempechamber.org

Immediate Past Chair: Steve Bauer Directors: Todd Christy, Steve Eberhart, Margaret Hunnicutt, Kristine Kassel, Sharon Kausal, Mark Masten, Jeff Mirasola, R.J. Orr, Laura Robertson, Tim Ronan, Jackie Thompson, Mark Thompson, Stephanie Whyte Ex-Officios: Chad Ackerley, Jayson Matthews, Charlie Meyer, Stephanie Nowack, Virgil Renzulli Committee Chairs: Kjell Andreassen, Steve Bauer, Neil Chitel, Mark Duplissis, Linda Kalaf, Sharon Kausal, Vicki Kringen, Kelly Lorenzen, Truman D. Plainer Tempe Chamber of Commerce 909 E. Apache Blvd. Tempe, AZ 85281 • (480) 967-7891

Magdalena Warecka, Director of Operations, magdalena@tempechamber.org

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i n b u s i n e ss m a g . c o m

Arizona Technology Report

Sept. – Dec. 2O11 aztechcouncil.org

Arizona Technology Council: The Voice of the Technology Industry

President’s Message

In This Issue Arizona SciTech Festival ... Page 2 Governor's Celebration ... Page 4 Journey to China ... Page 6

Who We Are The Arizona Technology Council is a private, not-for-profit trade association with a mission to CONNECT, REPRESENT, and SUPPORT the state’s expanding technology industry.

Phoenix Office One Renaissance Square 2 N. Central Ave., Suite 750 Phoenix, Arizona 85004 Phone: 602-343-8324 Fax: 602-343-8330 info@aztechcouncil.org

Tucson Office The University of Arizona Science and Technology Park 9040 S. Rita Road, Suite 1150 (near I-10 and Rita Road) Tucson, Arizona 85747 Phone: 520-829-3440 Fax: 520-829-3441 tucson@aztechcouncil.org

Meltdown.

Yes, it’s the end of summer and you’ve no doubt heard that word a lot lately. But instead of it being a oneword response to that annual question on how you’re handling the heat, the context has shifted to Wall Street.

Granted, who didn’t gulp hard when the Dow dropped more than 600 points in one session following a week of triple-digit losses and the historic downgrade of the U.S. credit rating by Standard & Poor’s.

It’s enough to make anyone start to wonder whether the future can only get worse.

Need some good news? Look to the technology industry. It traditionally has been the sector to pull the U.S. economy up from the doldrums and this time is no exception.

Some of my most recent examples came at a few events hosted by the Arizona Technology Council. At the VIP reception following our Board of Directors meeting, I talked with a number of guests who shared how their businesses are on the upswing. At our annual Partnering Conference held in conjunction with AZBio, the room was filled with representatives from businesses sharing opportunities for others to work with them to create needed products and services.

Speaking of new markets, we have generated a great deal of interest in our upcoming trade missions to China—our second time there—and India that offer Steven G. Zylstra, President and CEO, the chance to do business far beyond Arizona. This recovery combined with the Arizona Technology Council Internet gives Arizona companies the chance to market to the world. (Look in this section for more information on how to join us on the trips.)

The prospects are not just limited to Arizona. The nation’s technology community feels just as positive. I recently returned from the annual meeting of the Technology Councils of North America where my colleagues from sister organizations reported their own members are thriving and growing.

None of this can happen without partnerships. I’m happy to report that a long-time ally of the Council will have an even greater influence on our successes. The Arizona Commerce Authority is the new name of the quasi-agency charged with statewide business attraction. The Authority is focusing its efforts on aerospace and defense, science and technology, solar and renewable energy, and small business and entrepreneurship.

Sound familiar? It should. These sectors already have a strong presence in our membership. So it makes sense the Authority has evolved into a key strategic partner.

So, take heart. As I said, the technology community has been the leader of past economic recoveries and this time is no exception. Soon all of Arizona will be hot. And I’m definitely not talking about the weather!

Management and Staff Steven G. Zylstra

Leigh Goldstein

Justin Williams

Phillip Huebner

President and CEO

Director, Programs and Events

Executive Emeritus, Tucson Office

Director, Arizona Science and Engineering Fair

Deborah Zack

Don Rodriguez

Don Ruedy

Director, Membership Services

Editor, TechConnect

Executive Emeritus, Tucson Office

Merry Lake Merrell

Ron Schott

George Land

Director, Marketing and Communication

Executive Emeritus

Director, Arizona Innovation Institute

Jamy Battle

Jim Harris

Joe Tidwell

Director, Finance and Administration

Director, Tucson Office

Project Manager, GetSTEM-AZ, and State Director, Project Lead the Way

aztechcouncil.org

Jeremy Babendure, Ph.D. Director, Arizona SciTech Festival

Lianne Miller Intern, Phoenix

Jerry Burger Intern, Tucson

Arizona Technology Report

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Arizona SciTech Festival Statewide event will celebrate what Arizona has to offer A remembrance of our past will also be a reason to celebrate our future.

The first Arizona SciTech Festival will be launched in conjunction with the state’s 2012 centennial celebration in February.

Coordinated by the Arizona Technology Council Foundation, the festival will offer a series of hands-on activities and workshops, stunning exhibitions, concerts, guided walks and tours.

A collaborative effort involving more than 150 public and private organizations from industry, business, education, arts and culture, philanthropy and the community will stage the event. Working together, the festival is expected to get the public excited about the scientific and technological innovations occurring throughout Arizona; ensure students are excited about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) opportunities; and offer a powerful means of attracting industry and opportunity to Arizona with a platform that builds community and innovative collaborations among its stakeholders.

Once launched in 2012, the festival will become an annual event to serve as

a continuing, highly visible platform for academia, business, and the K-12 system as it highlights how science, technology and educational advances are key to

Arizona’s expanding workforce and economic future.

The goals for the Arizona SciTech Festival include showcasing the state’s research

Coming Together The Arizona SciTech Festival’s director Jeremy Babendure is already at work. Most recently, he has served as the BioBridge director at the University of California at San Diego.

Besides the Arizona Technology Council, organizations expressing interest in participating include the Arizona Aerospace & Defense Commission, Arizona Business & Education Coalition, Arizona Center for Afterschool Excellence, Arizona Charter Schools Association, Arizona Department of Education, Arizona Game and Fish, Arizona Geological Survey, Arizona K-12 Center, Arizona Nanotechnology Cluster, Arizona PTA, Arizona School Administrators, Arizona Science and Technology Fair, Arizona Science Center, Arizona Science Teachers Association, Arizona State University, Audubon Arizona, Arizona Commerce Authority, Barrow Neurological Institute, Biosphere 2, Boeing, Covance, Cox Communications, Discover Science 4 Kids, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Flagstaff Festival of Science, Flinn Helios Education Foundation, Integrum Technologies, Intel, International Council of Systems Engineers, Maricopa Community Colleges, Maricopa County Education Service Agency, Mesa Biotech Academy, Mesa Historical Museum, MicroChip, Northern Arizona

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Arizona Technology Report

Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, Northern Arizona University, Orbital, Raytheon, SRP, Science Foundation Arizona, and The University of Arizona.

The model for the festival is San Diego’s Science Festival, which draws over 60,000 participants annually. In Arizona more than 300 activities are expected to occur in diverse neighborhoods throughout the state with: • Signature events highlighting the innovative character of each region (e.g. aerospace, technology, bioscience) with high energy exhibitions and shows • Neighborhood science hubs providing workshop and discussion opportunities at locations such as schools, libraries, community centers and cafes • In-field experiences at science and technology facilities throughout the state.

Also, the Arizona SciTech Festival will serve as an annual focal point in schools with projects, workshops and competitions feeding into the February festival and sign-up opportunities for science and technology activities in spring and summer.

and technology strengths to create a local and national image of Arizona as a place where opportunities exist, innovations regularly occur, and intellectual ideas are shared and cultivated.

Another goal is to interest people of all ages and cultures in STEM opportunities that exist in Arizona, expand activities into locations not typically served, and inspire a diverse STEMoriented future workforce.

State and local leaders support this initiative as a powerful vehicle for leveraging productive synergy in the scientific, educational, and business communities. This could lead to increased output of future innovators in STEM, resulting in more jobs and increased economic stability for Arizona.

Given the confluence of events and potential scale of the overall initiative, an action committee has been established to facilitate collaboration among events, coordinate communication with sister organizations and leverage a grassroots cross-promotional effort to reach a larger audience through networks that include schools, businesses, and community centers.

A Sample Signature Event for Arizona SciTech Festival EX-STATIC Feb. 25 EX-STATIC is part of a new dynamic: an Arizona State Universitybased challenge to students, faculty, staff, and community partners alike to showcase the very best examples of innovative research and practice in scientific, technological and artistic endeavor. Hosted by ASU’s highly energized New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the West Campus, EX-STATIC will be celebrated during a daylong festival of entrepreneurial enterprise. It is anticipated that teams will coalesce around projects stemming from faculty and student research, academic course curricula, professional and commercial innovation, and creative initiatives.

Live demonstrations, presentations, and expositions will be enhanced via digital photography, videography, streaming Web material, gaming, and techinspired or tech-driven performance.

Tech firms can benefit from new fund Arizona technology companies looking for the funds that can lead to even more success are invited to apply for money available through a Credit Opportunity Fund.

The fund will provide capital to small, growing companies in Arizona that are looking to achieve a higher level of performance.

Targeted are high-quality businesses that are market leaders with competitive advantages and provide have strong potential for growth. Sun Mountain Capital of New Mexico is the fund manager.

Typically, Sun Mountain Capital has backed management buyouts, acquisition financing, ownership succession, and growth capital. Investment sizes are generally $3 to $10 million.

For financial performance, the companies have an EBITDA of $2 million to $10 million with attractive operating margins, stable cash flows, and a positive outlook for growth. The companies receiving the funds tend to have high quality management teams with significant investment or ownership in the company and aligned incentives.

The fund is supported through a partnership with Los Alamos National Bank in New Mexico For more information, contact David Kocon at david. kocon@sunmountaincapital.com or Brian Birk at brian.birk@ sunmountaincapital.com.

aztechcouncil.org

Arizona Technology Report

3

Best of the Best

Governor’s Celebration of Innovation pays tribute to winning ways The state’s technology community is getting ready to honor its own as the Arizona Technology Council puts finishing touches on its annual Governor’s Celebration of Innovation.

The awards ceremony and dinner will be Nov. 17 from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Phoenix Convention Center, North Building, 100 Level, 100 N. Third St. This year’s theme, Arizona Rising, is fitting as the technology industry already is the bright spot of the recovering economy.

The event attracts more than 1,000 attendees each year for a night of networking, food and entertainment. The awards portion of the event will be a theater-style presentation followed by a sitdown dinner with live music.

The high point definitely is the awards ceremony. The top prize, the 2011 OneNeck IT Services Lifetime Achievement Award, will be given to Roy Vallee, Executive Chairman of the Avnet Board of Directors.

“Winners of the Lifetime Achievement Award are mentors and motivators who inspire others and exhibit exceptional creativity, ingenuity and leadership to change the fabric of the technology industry and the state,” said Steven G. Zylstra, president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council. “As an organization that supports and promotes the benefits of science and technology, we are proud to acknowledge and recognize them.”

The other finalists were Robert Gillette, chief executive officer of First Solar, and entrepreneur Pat Sullivan, former CEO of Flypaper Studio.

Variety of Awards The awards to be presented the night of the Governor’s Celebration of Innovation are:

Pioneering Award Presented to an outstanding company that has gone above and beyond the call of duty in contributing to Arizona’s technology industry through sustained business presence, corporate citizenship, community involvement, and business success.

Green Innovator of the Year Award Presented to a company or business unit in a technology industry that has demonstrated extraordinary performance related to sustainable environmental practices. The company should have achieved significant business success, and technical innovation or scientific achievement in the past year, and either the company’s product, business solution, or the innovation itself should be environmentally supportive and sustainable.

Sandra Watson of the Arizona Commerce Authority receives the 2010 Chairman's Award from Steve Phillips, the Council's chairman of the board.

2011 OneNeck IT Services Lifetime Achievement Award winner

William F. McWhorter Community Service Award Presented to an individual or organization (including not-forprofit) that contributes to Arizona’s technology industry through relentless community involvement, leadership, visibility and excellence in economic development activity.

Ed Denison Business Leader of the Year Award

Photos by Mark Goldstein

Presented to an individual who contributes to Arizona’s technology industry through sustained growth of their business or company.

Participants in the 2010 Technology Showcase.

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Arizona Technology Report

Roy Vallee Executive Chairman of the Board, Avnet Inc. Roy Vallee joined Avnet in 1977 and served as the company’s chairman and CEO from July 1998 until July 2011. During his tenure, he accelerated Avnet’s success as an industry consolidator and was instrumental in Avnet’s acquisition of 47 companies to increase geographic coverage, scale and scope, and shareholder value.

Vallee served as a founding member of the Governor’s Council on Innovation and Technology and was later asked by current Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer to join the Executive Committee of The Arizona Commerce Authority. He also participates in Greater Phoenix Leadership.

He is a member of the boards of directors of two other publicly held companies: Teradyne, a leading automated testing company for the semiconductor industry, and Synopsys, Inc., the leading supplier of electronic design automation software.

Innovator of the Year – Start-Up Company Award Presented to a company or business unit in a technology industry that has achieved significant business success, and technical innovation or scientific achievement in the past calendar year.

Innovator of the Year – Small Company Award: Presented to a company or business unit in a technology industry that has achieved significant business success (including profitability), and technical innovation or scientific achievement in the past calendar year.

Innovator of the Year – Large Company Award Presented to a company or business unit in a technology industry (no limit on the duration of the project) that has achieved significant business success (including profitability), and technical innovation or scientific achievement in the past calendar year.

Innovator of the Year – Academia Award

Photo by Mark Goldstein

Presented to a department or office within an accredited higher education institution that has achieved success through innovation in the past calendar year.

2011 Governor’s Celebration of Innovation: Arizona Rising 3 to 5:30 PM – Technology Showcase/ Networking 5:30 to 7 PM – Award Presentations 7 to 9 PM – Dinner/Networking/Live Band Tickets AZTC Member: $150 Non-AZTC Member: $200 Table of Ten, AZTC Member: $1,250 Table of Ten, Non-AZTC Member: $1,750 To get your tickets, go to www.aztechcouncil.org.

For questions about sponsorship opportunities, please contact Leigh Goldstein at lgoldstein@aztechcouncil.org or Merry Lake Merrell at mmerrell@aztechcouncil.org

Participants in the 2010 Technology Showcase.

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Arizona Technology Report

5

Chinese Connection

Second tour to China offers new options for doing business To stay competitive, companies need to reach out, even if that means going to the other side of the globe. With this mindset, the Arizona Technology Council has created a trade mission program to connect with what many consider one of the most vibrant and dynamic economies on earth: China.

The Council will help lead a group to China for 10 days starting Sept. 14. The itinerary the cities of Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen and Chendgu.

Beside Shanghai, the inaugural tour last fall included the cities of Beijing, Xi’an, Zhangjiagan, Suzhou, and Hangzhou.

On this trip, the Council has teamed with the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry to make it possible. The first trip was led by the Council alone.

The Council recognized that success cannot be measured with just one trip.

The dialogues have to be ongoing and a corridor needs to remain open between Arizona and China. With that in mind, planning for the next trade mission began almost as soon as the first delegation returned to the United States.

Arizona Technology Council's 2010 delegation in China

According to Steven G. Zylstra, president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council, “We received such positive feedback and generated so much interest from our first trip that it naturally led to many discussions with our business partners.

When we sat down with the chamber, it was clear we had a common set of objectives

Next Stop: India Interest has also been shown into tapping into that other Asian nation that offers additional promise for Arizona.

That is why planning also is underway for a delegation to travel to India in February 2012. This delegation will and travel to Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai before returning to Phoenix.

This trip will include meetings with American companies operating in India as well as its academic and economic development leaders. The Arizona Technology Council also is working with the U.S. Commercial Service, which is allowing businesses to arrange meetings with potential partners under its Gold Key Matching service.

The trip is open to Council members and non-members interested in learning about doing business in India and opportunities to export to India or utilize Indian services to strengthen their Arizona-based businesses.

To learn more, Contact Merry Lake Merrell at 480.467.8251 or mmerrell@aztechcouncil.org.

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Arizona Technology Report

for helping Arizona’s businesses capitalize on the market growth in China, and that we should join forces for the second trip.”

Face-to-face The intent of the program is to give members the rare opportunity to meet face-to-face with government officials, industrial park leaders, peer companies, and consumers—all with the intent of opening the doors to new opportunities.

From factory visits to formal dinners, members of the delegation have unprecedented access to company representatives and government officials that allow them to directly ask questions and get answers about one another’s needs. Topics to be covered in China include: manufacturing, technology, academia, law and a general overview of international business. In addition, participants will learn firsthand about China’s political and economic systems, traditions, and history.

This tour is open to Arizona Technology Council and Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry members and nonmembers. The trip is being coordinated

by China Direct Consulting Group and China International Trade Services, and sponsored by Snell & Wilmer law firm.

To learn more, Contact Merry Lake Merrell at 480.467.8251 or mmerrell@ aztechcouncil.org

Tomahawk cruise missile produced by Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems.

Creating A New Community Conference will help unite state’s aerospace and defense industry As Arizona continues to be a key part of the nation’s aerospace and defense industry, it’s only natural all parties involved in its success find a way to come together to share their needs and plans.

That’s the key reason behind the first Arizona Aerospace, Aviation and Defense (AAD) Requirements Conference, which is scheduled to be held in late January.

The Arizona Commerce Authority recently named the Arizona Technology Council as host for the historic event.

The purpose of the conference is to catalyze industry growth in Arizona by creating a forum for: ▶▶ Arizona AAD primes and suppliers network to identify future requirements to meet the needs of customers ▶▶ Collaboration between Arizona industry stakeholders ▶▶ Arizona AAD small business owners to learn about Small Business Innovation Research/ Small Business Technology Transfer opportunities The 2010 annual report of the Arizona Aerospace & Defense Commission highlighted strategies needed to retain, attract and grow the aerospace, aviation and defense business in the state. A top recommendation to improve the business environment was to stage the conference.

As host, the Council, which holds more than 100 events annually, will be in charge of such logistics as securing speakers, sponsors and registrants. Plans should also include networking events as well as coordinating

aztechcouncil.org

volunteers. The dates and location of the conference will be announced later.

Arizona’s A&D industry designs and produces essential weapons and technology to help the nation’s military achieve national security objectives.

Attendees at the conference are expected to include key research and development personnel from The University of Arizona and Arizona State University, leadership from Science Foundation Arizona, and, of course, Council members who are

setting the pace in A&D research and development. This conference builds on the annual bipartisan Congressional Arizona Aerospace and Defense events Rep. Gabrielle Giffords co-hosts with Rep. Trent Franks and the Arizona Chamber of Commerce to highlight the state’s defense and aerospace industry.

To become a conference sponsor or get other information, contact Leigh Goldstein at lgoldstein@aztechcouncil.org.

Training, job placement for energy workers A newly formed consortium will use a $6 million federal grant to train nearly 16,500 workers and place them in jobs within the state’s energy sector.

The focus of the Arizona Energy Consortium is to establish a skills pipeline that meets and sustains the workforce demands of expanding green energy industries.

City of Phoenix staff met with industry partners from utility, renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors who agreed the consortium should be created with the goal of collaborating on the growth and retention of energy companies in the state.

The Arizona Department of Economic Security submitted the grant proposal to the U.S. Department of Labor under the Recovery Act. The consortium will operate under the umbrella of the Arizona Technology Council and be chaired by Michelle De Blasi, a partner at Quarles and Brady who heads the firm’s solar energy law team.

For more information or to become a consortium member company, contact De Blasi at michelle.deblasi@quarles.com or the Council’s staff liaison Leigh Goldstein at lgoldstein@aztechcouncil.org. Non-Council members can join the committee in its first year, but after that everyone serving on the committee must be a Council member.

Arizona Technology Report

7

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Arizona Technology Report

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I n B u s i n e ss M a g a z i n e

63

INDE X Donovan, Sean, 48

Kapoor, John N., Ph.D., 20

Reinhart, Carmen M., 33

Douglas, Robert, 45

Kidder, Rick, 37

Rogoff, Kenneth, 33

Babendure, Jeremy, 56

Eaton, Doug, 26

Knutsen, Bob, 45

Rounds, Jim, 37

Bachand, Michelle, 16

Engelman, Mark, M.D., 14

Lane, Jim, Mayor, 37

Sadvary, Tom, 37

Bailey, Lauren, 20

Faust, Mark, 66

Lopata, Renee, 45

Shangraw, Rick, 28

Bankofier, Todd, 28

Fox, Sam, 20, 22

Magnuson, Nicole, 28

Sjolseth, Jeromy, 14

Barrett, Craig, 28

Gaber, Pam, 36

Marshall, Hank, 37

Spitzer, Cindy S. , 33

Beckett, Justin, 20

Gammage, Grady Jr., 12

McBride, Connor, 45

Stratman, Joy, 16

Bidwill, Michael, 28

Geryol, Erick, 45

McPheters, Lee, Ph.D., 18

Taylor, Leah Landrum, Senator, 28

Boals, Richard, 12

Gillespie, Sherry, 20

Melcher, Roger, 47

Taylor, Suzanne, 28

Brissa, Ken, 36

Gross, Christopher, 20

Mercurio, Guy, 20

Thannao, Souan, 48

Broome, Barry, 37

Hamm, John, 24

Michalenko, Amy, 16

Thompson, Kevin, 47

Campbell, Cari, 16

Harkins, Dan, 37

Miller, Mary Ann, 47

Uppal, Pavneet Singh, 14, 34

Carlson, Susan, 28

Harris, William C., 12

Morris, Robert, 20

Vallee, Roy, 58

Christian, Jeff, 45

Heasley, Kathy, 40

Mullin, Jim, 37

Wapshott, Nicholas, 33

Collins, Sherri, 34

Henry, Craig, 48

Owens, Russell, 37

Wiedemer, David, 33

Crandall, Rich, Senator, 28

Hillman, Amy, 28

Pangrazio, Phil, 34

Wiedemer, Robert A., 33

De Blasi, Michelle, 61

Huppenthal, John, 11

Pepicello, Bill, Ph.D., 28

Wiltjer, Alexandria, 47

DeMarco, Craig, 20

Kantak, Bernie, 20

Pressman, Fred, 43

Zaharis, Jim, 28

Index By Name

Zylstra, Steven G., 55, 58, 60

Index by Company

Cancer Treatment Centers of America, 53

Greekfest, 43

Puro Gelato, 20

Harkins Theatres, 37

Quarles & Brady, 61

A. T. Still University, 63

Cari Campbell & Associates, 16

Heasley&Partners, Inc., 40

Red Key Solutions, 45

Ahwatukee Foothills

Cassidy Turley BRE Commercial, 10

HMSHost, 22

Roka Akor, 20

CB Richard Ellis, 16

Holmes Murphy, 27

Sauce, 22

AirSprint Private Aviation, 9

Center for Services Leadership, 15

Ikea Business, 65

SCF Arizona, 2

Alerus Bank, 19

Central Arizona Women, 38

Intel Corp., 28

Science Foundation Arizona, 12

Arizona Bridge to Independent Living, 34

Chandler Chamber of Commerce, 38

Jade Palace, 43

Scottsdale Area

Arizona Business and

Children's Museum of Phoenix, 27

JNK Concepts, 20

Christopher’s, 20

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, 36

Scottsdale Fashion Square, 22

Arizona Cardinals, 28

Churn, 20

Kierland Commons, 22

Scottsdale Healthcare, 4, 37

Arizona Chamber of Commerce, 28

Citizen Public House, 20

La Madeleine French Bakery, 22

Southwest Gas Corporation, 47

Arizona Commerce Authority, 37

City of Scottsdale, 37

Lewis & Phillips LLP, 14

Sprint, 42

Arizona Commission for the

Conquest Training Systems, 10

LGO Hospitality, 22

SRP, 5

Cork, 20

Los Alamos National Bank, 57

Starbucks Coffee, 22

Arizona Department of Education, 11

Courtney Valleywide Properties, 45

Los Taquitos Mexican Grill, 20

Stoney Wilson, 49

Arizona Hispanic

Crush Lounge, 20

Macerich, 22

Sun Mountain Capital of New Mexico, 57

Dilly’s Deli, 22

MAK Construction, 28

Surprise Regional

Arizona Restaurant Association, 20

Doctors Express, 14

Maricopa Workforce Connections, 17

Arizona Small

Economic Club of Phoenix, 37, 38

Mayo Clinic, 68

Target Commercial Interiors, 6

Chamber of Commerce, 38

Education Coalition, 28

Deaf and the Hard of Hearing, 34

Chamber of Commerce, 38

Chamber of Commerce, 37, 39

Chamber of Commerce, 39

Eller College of Management, 33

McDonalds, 22

Tempe Chamber of Commerce, 39, 45

Arizona State Senate, 28

Elliott D. Pollack & Company, 37

Mesa Chamber of Commerce, 38

Tempe Elementary School District, 47

Arizona State University, 28, 57

Ensynch Inc., 28

Microchip Technology Inc., 47

Tempe Union High School District, 47

Arizona Technology Council, 38, 55

Expect More Arizona, 3, 28

Modern Burger, 22

U.S. Department of Labor, 14

Arizona Technology

Express Employment Professionals, 48

Musical Instrument Museum, 67

University of Phoenix, 28

Fisher & Phillips, LLP, 14, 34

National Association of

Upward Projects, 20

Business Association, 38, 54

Council Foundation, 56 Association for

Fisker Automotive, 42

Women Business Owners, 39

Vantage Mobility International, 26

Fox Restaurant Concepts, 20, 22, 37

National Bank of Arizona, 13

Verizon, 42

AT&T, 42

Fred’s at Barneys New York, 43

National Restaurant Association, 20

Vermillion Photography, 54

Avnet, Inc., 28

Fresh Start Women’s Foundation, 16

Nobuo at Teeter House, 20

W. P. Carey

Bario Cafe, 22

Gabriel’s Angels, 36

North Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, 39

Beckett’s Table, 20

Gammage & Burnham,

North Scottsdale

Corporate Growth Arizona, 38

Biltmore Fashion Park, 22

Attorneys at Law, 12

Chamber of Commerce, 39

School of Business, 15, 18, 28 Waste Management, 7 Wells Fargo, 59

Blanco Tacos & Tequila, 22

Glendale Chamber of Commerce, 38

NOVO, 14

Wells Fargo Advisors, 23

BLD, 20

Grand Canyon University, 19

Olive & Ivy Marketplace, 22

West Valley Women, 39

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, 12

Greater Phoenix Black

Peoria Chamber of Commerce, 39

Windsor, 20

Phoenix Convention Center, 44

Women of Scottsdale, 39

Bombay Spice Grill & Wine, 20, 43

Chamber of Commerce, 38

Boulders on Broadway, 45

Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, 38

Breadfruit, The, 43

Greater Phoenix Economic Council, 28, 37

Brookline College, 48

Greater Phoenix Leadership, 28

64

S e p t e m b e r 2011

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, 22 Postino Winecafé, 20

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Roundtable

A Candid Forum

Who Can Lead the Economy to Recovery?

It’s not the GOP or the Dems — it’s CEOs

by Mark Faust It’s time we stop the cycle of complaining — politicians complaining about President Obama, Obama complaining about Congress and Congress complaining about taxes — when it comes to the stuttering economic recovery.

The truth is, none of these people have that much to do with the growth of our economy. Tax and monetary policy can influence growth, but the onus is on business leadership to take steps now. It’s the leaders in business whose shoulders prop up the economy, and, while they tend to be even more demonized than politicians these days, they are the ones who hold our economic salvation in their hands. The leaders of companies are on the front lines of an international economic war. Their chief strategy to fight this war must begin to encompass a mindset that includes a turnaround mentality to put every facet of American business into an accelerated growth mode. As in war, failure is not an option, and there is only one mission for business leadership at this time — growth.

Based on my consulting experience with such major blue-chip corporations as Proctor & Gamble, IBM, Monsanto, Apple, Syngenta, Bayer and John Deere, I believe that business leaders have a far greater responsibility to Americans than any elected official, and now is the time to own up to that responsibility.

The fate of the jobless, families and children is literally in the hands of business leadership. To not accelerate growth and innovation is to abandon those in dire need. Our C-level executives must begin to adopt the attitude that tolerating mediocrity in their leadership and growth is a sin. In a free market, the recession is a burden on the people but a blessing to business, because it eradicates complacency, which is the

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S e p t e m b e r 2011

opposite of innovation and true growth. It also destroys the enemy of growth and innovation — hubris and pride. It gleans the herd in business, which can sometimes have short-term ramifications for everyone but, in the long run, it creates jobs, opens opportunity and strengthens the economy as a whole.

CEOs should be held responsible for their roles as leaders, more so even than politicians. CEOs and company presidents need to be held to the same type of productivity yardsticks that production and others are held to. However, rather than productivity, the yardstick boards of directors must use with top leadership is the rate of innovation being facilitated throughout a company. Cost-cutting as the only means of growing profits is the tool of inept, derelict and uncreative leadership.

When there is a consistent level of mediocre performance in the innovation of a company, the board has only one option with the CEO/ President: to allow him or her to leave the position the same way he or she came into the position — fired with enthusiasm.

Growth or Bust! Proven Turnaround Strategies to Grow Your Business echelonmanagement.com

Since founding Echelon Management in 1990, Mark Faust has worked with Fortune 500 CEOs as well as many turnaround CEOs — from P&G, IBM, Monsanto, Apple, Syngenta, Bayer and John Deere to smaller, closely held organizations, government agencies and nonprofits — on growth and turnaround projects. He has been an adjunct COO, VP of sales, board member/advisor and an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati and Ohio University.

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