February 2019 Issue of In Business Magazine

FEB. 2019

Social Media: Where It’s Going and How to Keep Up

Tomorrowʼs Leaders How Our Business Schools Are Impacting the C-Suites

Blockchain as Economic Disruptor NAFTA Out; USMCA Coming In

Personal Reputation:

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THIS ISSUE Tempe Chamber of Commerce Arizona Small Business Association

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FEBRUARY 2019

COVER STORY

24

Tomorrow’s Leaders: How our business schools are impacting the C-suites

In Business Magazine explores how leading local business schools are addressing the leadership factor, and they share their philosophy and processes.

FEATURES IN BUSINESS

Social Media: Where It’s Going and How to Keep Up FEB. 2019

MAGAZINE

EDUCATING LEADERSHIP

Tomorro s Leaderwʼ s How Our Busine Impacting ss Schools the C-Suite Are s

Blockchain as Disruptor NAFTA

FEBRUARY

Economic

2019

Out; USMCA Coming In Reputation:

• INBUSINESSPHX.COM

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PARTNER SECTIONS TEMPE CHAMBER

Winter 2O19 • tempechamber.org

Edge certificate program into its requirements. Edge is a high-quality soft skills training program focused on equipping young people with

program intended to tackle barriers to employability for income-eligible youth and help employers create a robust youth talent pipeline.

customer service, leadership and personal development skills. All of which are imperative to their success as future professionals. Career Ready Tempe will also provide one-on-one career and college planning support to enrolled students by linking them to College Connect Tempe,

to keep their fingertips on the pulse of technology and current trends makes them innovative assets to most industries. Yet, simply due to their

a college and career exploration mentoring program housed within the City of Tempe’s Human Services Department.

age, many young workers lack the soft skills and experience needed to address the human factor required for corporate sustainability.

Career Ready Tempe proposes to develop the future workforce of Tempe so that it aligns with industry needs by providing youth with

The program is funded through the City of Tempe’s Innovation Fund and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Career Readiness Lab

internships, increasing the number of young people in Tempe who enter career fields that meet industry demands. Often, companies would

Grant. It has been strategically designed to align with industry needs and the City of Tempe’s TempeAchieves65 initiative, Tempe City Council’s

like to reach new talent pools of young adults — especially in growing industries or those affected by skills gaps — but lack the in-house

goal to reach 65-percent post-secondary-degree attainment for residents by the year 2030, through collective community efforts. Paid eight-week summer internships with Tempe businesses will be offered to eligible

capacity or expertise. Career Ready Tempe can help Tempe businesses think strategically about the future and make sure we are developing the talent pipeline for 10, 20 years from now.

juniors and seniors in the Tempe Union High School District. This year’s internship focus is on advanced business services, one of the largest

Not only will the Career Ready Tempe program offer participating Tempe businesses assistance in selecting and preparing student-

employment sectors in the Tempe economy. Projections show there will be continued employment and advancement opportunities for years to

interns, but program funds will also serve to compensate those who have been granted internship placement.

come, preparing students for our future’s top jobs.

To prepare students for their internships and future employment,

Career Ready Tempe is currently seeking internship host sites. Prospective Businesses are encouraged to apply at

Career Ready Tempe has incorporated Arizona State University’s

tempe.gov/CareerReadyTempe by March 17.

T E M P E C H A M B E R A D V A N TA G E

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

Tempe Chamber of Commerce

About ASBA

(ASBA) fosters and empowers a thriving small-business community by working diligently to advocate for legislation and regulation that supports a probusiness environment while eliminating legislation that threatens small business.

ASBA brings relevant and dynamic

Networking Your Small Business

by Jodi Towns, ASBA Director of Partnership Development, and Founder of Networking for Healthcare & HealthNow Expo Arizona & Texas

You may have the most lucrative product or

opportunity to share in-depth details about

education and mentoring opportunities

service, but how do you move from no one

your business and share what type of

to business owners to improve their

knowing about it to achieving great success

connections you are looking for.

business knowledge, solve problems and, ultimately, become more successful. We

in business? Networking for your small business is an integral part of marketing

The old adage “It’s not what you know, but who you know” is absolutely true when

accomplish this by offering our members

and promoting what you offer. Networking

it comes to building a successful business

valuable programs, undying commitment

is the next step of branching outside of the

through networking. To grow your small

to their success, and the convenience and efficiency of our products and services.

ASBA is on the cutting edge of what is happening RIGHT NOW in the business community. From education and advocacy to resources, mentoring and meaningful partnerships, we engage our members with relevant interactions

office, meeting new people and forming

business quickly, you will need to have a

new relationships. Networking can be

strong source of relevant connections in

a cost-effective way to find meaningful

your network whom you can call on when

connections for you and your business.

Not all networking for your small business is the same. There are varying types of networking events. Some events consist of open networking, which

you need them. Networking can open the door to talk to highly influential people you wouldn’t otherwise be able to easily talk to or find.

Attending a new networking group can be

at every touchpoint. By staying on top of

allows attendees to mingle and have

daunting. When planning out your calendar

current trends, we ensure the tools we

conversations. It is important in open

for networking events, especially ones you

offer, as well as the extensive breadth

networking events that you don’t do all

are trying for the first time, think ahead

of insights delivered, are valuable to

the talking. To learn more about other

of who you are trying to connect with.

the businesses we represent while

attendees’ businesses, ask more questions

Meeting every single member in the room

significantly boosting the organic growth

before you share about yourself. Active

is not manageable, especially at an open

of our membership base.

listening and asking questions tells the

networking event. Walking away with two

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

other person you’re engaged in what they

or three new strong connections is far more

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

when networking.

have to say. Forming a relationship is more valuable than exchanging business cards

© 2018 ASBA. A publication of the Arizona Small Business Association. For more information or to join ASBA, please contact us at www.asba.com. Section designed by the Arizona Small Business Association.

There are more organized networking groups, often called leads or referral

valuable. To continue to grow relationships, plan to follow up with all new connections immediately. Send an email, call them and, potentially, set up another time to continue the conversation. To be successful with

groups. These groups tend to meet often,

networking, connections must be mutually

usually weekly, and are more structured.

beneficial. Be reciprocal by introducing your

These groups include an agenda and introductions of each member’s business.

DEPARTMENTS

Guest Editor

Feedback

Mike Brown, Beth Gross and Leonardo Loo respond to In Business Magazine’s burning business question of the month.

11

Briefs

“How to ICE-Proof Your Business in 2019,” “Facilitating Robotic Process Automation,” “Gamification to Improve Employee Retention,” “Manage Contact Center Volume,” “Local Standouts Recognized for Achievements and Philanthropy,” “Innovative Art Installation Makes Permanent Home at Scottsdale Fashion Square” and “Remote Working Officially vs Unofficially – It Matters”

20

Technology

“Humans Wanted, Robots Need You” and “Remote Tech: Innovative Solution for Legal Document Review”

22

Legal

A local attorney discusses USMCA, the trade agreement that replaces NAFTA, and its potential impact on business in Arizona.

31

Books

New releases give fresh insights on business thinking.

32

From the Top

Pamela Griffin turned her Phoenix-based court reporting firm into a high-tech leader of all things reporting and event captioning.

38

Assets

The All-New Jaguar I-Pace Electric SUV Plus: What’s going on with electronic assistants?

40

Power Lunch

LemonShark Poké: Bowled and Bold Plus: In Business Magazine shines a spotlight on pizza’s foundational element: the crust.

new connection to your network.

Finding the right networking group

Often these groups emphasize active

requires commitment. Start your new

participation by setting requirements for

year right by attending a new networking

all members to continually pass along

Social Media – Where It’s Going and How to Keep Up with It

Rachel Strella describes trends to watch in 2019 and offers how-tos for social media — dos and don’ts for 2019.

10

1

41

The Arizona Small Business Association

36

Jerry Colangelo, business and sports icon, introduces the “Educating Leadership” issue.

Photo by Rawpixel on Unsplash

Career Ready Tempe:

A partnership that fills critical skills gaps for City of Tempe businesses and youth

Teens preparing for today’s workforce have co-existed with the internet for the entirety of their existence. Their “virtually” innate ability

The Future of Blockchain Technology

Brian Marcel presents a wakeup call about what a blockchain is and why businesses should care.

9

ADVANTAGE

This summer, the Tempe Chamber of Commerce and the City of Tempe will launch Career Ready Tempe, a two-year youth workforce pilot

30

group each week for the next month. Allow

business leads. Some networking groups

yourself time to find the networking group

also have a business spotlight, which

that works best for you and your business.

highlights a member’s business for that

Once you find that right network, the growth

week. Utilizing this spotlight, it is a perfect

of your business is sure to come.

1

49 Arizona Small Business Association

13

By the Numbers

CMO Council reports on study on GDPR and trust in today’s data-driven customer engagement.

14

Startups

“Bringing Drones into Field of Financial Analysis” and “Creating a Creatives’ Space”

16

CRE

“Autonomous Vehicles’ Real Estate Impact,” “West Valley Industrial Spec,” “Roosevelt Row Historic Property Renovation” and “Estrella a Top-Selling Master-Planned Community”

18

Healthcare

58

Roundtable

Mike Mooney examines the power and value and need to proactively manage our reputations.

ON THE AGENDA

33

Spotlight

Mayor’s Economic Forecast and Red Carpet Tour — Gilbert Chamber of Commerce ATHENA Awards — ATHENA Valley of the Sun

34

Calendar

Business events throughout the Valley

“Take the Guesswork out of Managing Health Insurance Costs” and “Camaraderie Is Part of 4C Medical Group’s Healthcare Philosophy”

FEB. 2019

4

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In Forbes’ “Best States for Business,” Arizona jumped up six spots to be ranked 17th in 2018. And the report states “Arizona’s economy is expected to expand at the secondfastest rate in the U.S. through 2022.” forbes.com/best-states-for-business/list

Feb. 2019 In Business Magazine is a collaboration of many business organizations and entities throughout the metropolitan Phoenix area and Arizona. Our mission is to inform and energize business in this community by communicating content that will build business and enrich the economic picture for all of us vested in commerce.

PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS Kristen Merrifield, CEO Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits (602) 279-2966 www.arizonanonprofits.org Jess Roman, Interim Chief Executive Officer 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 Doug Bruhnke, Founder & President Global ChamberÂŽ (480) 595-5000 www.globalchamber.org Ronit Urman, President NAWBO Phoenix Metro Chapter (480) 289-5768 www.nawbophx.org Anne Gill, President & CEO Tempe Chamber of Commerce (480) 967-7891 www.tempechamber.org Our Partner Organizations are vested business organizations focused on building and improving business in the Valley or throughout Arizona. As Partners, each will receive three insert publications each year to showcase all that they are doing for business and businesspeople within our community. We encourage you to join these and other organizations to better your business opportunities.

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

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

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© Enterprise 2018

Feb. 2019

NATIONALLY RANKED.

VOL. 10, NO. 2

Publisher Rick McCartney

Editor RaeAnne Marsh

Art Director Benjamin Little

Contributing Writers Mike Hunter

Dan Klier

LOCALLY FOCUSED.

Mary Little Brian Marcel Mike Mooney Mike Patterson Bridget Sharkey Beerud Sheth Rachel Strella Mike Tilton ADVERTISING

Enterprise Bank & Trust was recently ranked number 14 out of 161 nationally-ranked banks1. And while we’re proud of that fact, it’s just part of who we are. Whether your focus is on your business, your family or the quality of life in your community, you’ll find us there. We’re committed to supporting dreams, securing financial futures and delivering on community investment.

Operations Louise Ferrari

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www.inmediacompany.com Vol. 10, No. 2. In Business Magazine is published 12 times per year by InMedia Company. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to InMedia Company, 1 N. 1st Street, Sixth Floor, Phoenix, AZ 85004. To subscribe to In Business Magazine, please send check or money order for one-year subscription of $24.95 to InMedia Company, 1 N. 1st Street, Sixth Floor, Phoenix, AZ 85004 or visit inbusinessphx.com. We appreciate your editorial submissions, news and photos for review by our editorial staff. You July 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. © 2019 InMedia Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

No part of this magazine July be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission by the publisher.

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JERRY COLANGELO, JDM PARTNERS AND USA BASKETBALL

Tomorrow’s Leaders Today

Jerry Colangelo is the managing director of Men’s Basketball for USA Olympic Basketball, chairman of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and a principal in JDM Partners, a major projects real estate and development company that has built arenas to office complexes. His humanitarian and philanthropic endeavors have resulted in well over $100 million going to charities that help children, the elderly, women, homeless and education.

Colangelo’s vision and effort have produced key development in Phoenix’s downtown and central areas, with projects that include the building of Talking Stick Arena, Chase Field and Comerica Theater.

He has brought the same transformation with his partners at the historic Wigwam Resort in Litchfield Park. His name sits proudly on the Jerry Colangelo College of Business at Grand Canyon University.

Whether or not leaders are born, they can (also) be made. And that’s where our business schools enter into the equation that is business.

It’s no secret that business is changing at a breakneck pace. As such, teaching and learning must keep up with these changes, especially at the collegiate level.

The good news is that we live in a nation and state where opportunities abound. Bright ideas lead to good jobs and a growing economy. What’s important, though, is what we do with those opportunities. This is an element that business schools have begun to take to heart, promoting an awareness of ends while teaching the basics of the means. For instance, at Grand Canyon University’s Colangelo College of Business, we prepare students not only to excel in the jobs of today and tomorrow but also to become global citizens. Ours is a values-based curriculum designed to arm the next generation of workers with skills they need to perform on the job but also to impact their communities and society in positive and lasting ways. It’s all part of a concept called conscious capitalism.

The glue holding together all the multitude of specific skills necessary to running a business is leadership. Business schools have syllabuses of their courses; In Business Magazine wanted to explore how leading local business schools are addressing the leadership factor, and asked them to share their philosophy and processes. I add my voice to this cover story with more focused discourse on an aspect of leadership development that is personally meaningful.

Disruption puts an even greater strain on leadership. And disruption is all around us today. Brian Marcel, in the feature article “The Future of Blockchain Technology,” discusses blockchain as one of these disruptive forces, and the kinds of impact it could have on a variety of industries.

Another feature examines the importance of our personal reputation. As Mike Mooney discusses on the Roundtable page, leaders, in particular, are often in the spotlight, making it both harder and more critically imperative they carefully manage their reputations.

Timely articles on other pages include “How to ICE-Proof Your Business in 2019,” prompted by the immigration crackdowns at places of business, and “USMCA: Agreed and Signed but Now What?” in which a local attorney discusses the trade agreement that replaces NAFTA and its potential impact on business in Arizona. How autonomous vehicles will affect the real estate market is the topic explored on the CRE page. And we are introduced to entrepreneurs — on the Startups page and From the Top — who are building their businesses in niches where they identified overlooked opportunity.

Those stories and more comprise the business-relevant content aimed at helping strengthen our business community. I am pleased to have helped bring you this February issue of In Business Magazine and hope you enjoy it.

Sincerely,

usab.com/mens/national-team hoophall.com jdmpartnersllc.com

Jerry Colangelo Managing Director, USA Basketball Principal Partner, JDM Partners

Story Ideas/PR: editor@ inbusinessphx.com

without saying that his leadership and

Experience takes time, but education puts these business leaders on a

business sense has helped to build what

path that will provide expertise and someone else’s experience to set

we know now as our business community.

a strong direction. We are fortunate to have many powerful business

He certainly was instrumental in bringing a

schools here in the Valley that are spitting out leaders of tomorrow with

national and international awareness to what

very credible courses and an eye toward the tech future. Opportunity

it means to do business here. He has been

arises through these impressive programs and RaeAnne provides some

our Guest Editor before, but we were very pleased to have him lead this

insight into that very power.

subject — not because of his namesake business school, but because he

We want to thank Jerry Colangelo for leading this issue. It goes

MAGAZINE

FEB. 2019

IN BUSINESS

Social Media: Where It’s Going and How to Keep Up

EDUCATING LEADERSHIP

Tomorro s Leaderwʼ s How Our Busine Impacting ss Schools the C-Suite Are s

Blockchain as Disruptor NAFTA Out; USMCA

FEBRUARY

Economic

2019 • INBUSINESSPHX.COM

Personal

THIS ISSUE

Tempe Chamber of Commerce Arizona Small Business Association

Coming In Reputation:

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is a true maverick in business.

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

And, while Colangelo was building immensely successful professional sports and business organizations — including branding and starting the Chicago Bulls and creating a Phoenix Suns franchise that sold in 2004 for a then-record price — he reinvented America’s fifth largest city, Phoenix.

He turned vision into leading an effort that has delivered a vibrant, worldclass downtown and, in Central Phoenix, ignited and led its renaissance.

CONNECT WITH US:

Learned Leadership A growing economy is built of leaders with incredible experience.

KNOW COLANGELO Jerry Colangelo is the quintessential American and global success story, having gone from a childhood living in attached boxcars to the national and world stages — architecting and leading the winning of Olympic Gold Basketball three times and winning the coveted MLB World Series, setting an historic first.

—Rick McCartney, Publisher

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

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

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VALLEY LEADERS SOUND OFF

What programs and training does your company offer to move employees into, or advance them in, leadership and management roles?

MAGAZINE

FEB. 2019

IN BUSINESS

Social Media: Where It’s Going and How to Keep Up

EDUCATING LEADERSHIP

Tomorro s Leaderwʼ s How Our Busine Impacting ss Schools the C-Suite Are s

Blockchain as Disruptor NAFTA

FEBRUARY

Economic

2019 • INBUSINESSPHX.COM

Out; USMCA Coming In Reputation:

Personal

THIS ISSUE

Tempe Chamber of Commerce Arizona Small Business Association

Audit Critical

$4.95 INBUSINESSPHX.COM

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

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

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

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MIKE BROWN

BETH GROSS

LEONARDO LOO

Arizona Regional President Washington Federal Sector: Banking

Talent Acquisition Manager Spear Education Sector: Education

Phoenix-Office Managing Partner Quarles & Brady LLP Sector: Law

Washington Federal has an internal motto: Love what you do; make a difference. This motto informs our approach to learning and development.

We start with a thorough onboarding for our new hires where they attend a series of virtual classes. Their training is supported with a trained peer mentor.

Going forward, we are developing evolved training for personal bankers that includes financial literacy and a host of other skills. Within six months, we will offer a program for career pathing in which a colleague can be paired with someone in another line of business to learn more about the opportunities that exist at Washington Federal.

Management training is also evolving.

Currently, we train managers on strengthbased leadership so that our leaders learn how to leverage all the strengths on their team. We have plans to continue to expand our management training to further develop the skills of our team.

Lastly, we’ve created a mentoring program exclusive to Arizona aptly named “Mike’s Young Turks Club,” whereby I identify potential “stars” and closely monitor their actions and results with the intent of promoting them into new roles.

Here at Spear Education, we strive to transform all our employees into a team of talented, engaged individuals who balance care for the people with care for the business. We have developed a Leadership Pathway that leads from the individual contributor level to leadership at the highest levels of the organization.

To build out our program, we’ve defined the qualities we believe the best leaders possess and we train and coach to those — such as leading by example; embracing strategy, metrics and objectives; setting clear expectations and goals; empowering others to make decisions and drive their own development; and really engaging and fostering a positive culture for all team members. The Spear Pathway consists of attendance at Leadership Development Workshops, individual learning through Leadership and Coaching Concepts on LinkedIn Learning and twice-monthly coaching sessions with Human Resources and Executive Leadership to continue to develop active practice and engagement of competencies.

We believe that a structured, rigorous program creates a strong foundation to build on and ensures the success of the individual, the team and of Spear itself.

Growing great people is a pillar of Quarles & Brady’s Strategic Plan. The firm’s commitment to the success of its people is evidenced by the breadth of ongoing training, mentoring and educational opportunities offered. Our attorneys work collaboratively across our 11 offices and within their practice groups, which creates a culture that values professional growth and development.

Every two years, the firm sends 40 partners and staff to an Executive Education program at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Firm leaders are selected annually to attend Harvard Law School’s Leadership in Law training. Partners and senior associates participate in ongoing core and advanced business development training courses. Junior, mid and senior associates participate in Q&B University, which is a training program with curriculum that progresses as associates move through their careers. Additionally, new associates are paired with partners in their focus areas for one-on-one mentoring to help them develop professionally.

The continuum of training offered to our team at all levels of their careers helps make our organization stronger.

Spear Education speareducation.com

Leonardo Loo is Phoenix-office managing partner of Quarles & Brady LLP and a member of the firm’s Business Law, Finance, and International Services Law practice groups. He practices in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, commercial financing, international transactions, securities and general corporate law. Loo currently serves on the board of directors for Chicanos Por La Causa, Inc. and serves as general counsel for both the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Black Chamber of Arizona.

Washington Federal washingtonfederal.com Mike Brown is Arizona Regional President of Washington Federal, a full-service national banking institution that focuses on business-tobusiness banking, commercial and equipment lending, as well as home loan and corporate real estate financing. In his role, Brown oversees 31 branches across Arizona. Brown has worked to significantly expand Washington Federal’s reach in Arizona, notably opening its first-ever Arizona Regional headquarters in 2017 and launching a franchise finance division in 2018.

Beth Gross is the talent acquisition manager at Spear Education. With a recruitment career that spans almost 20 years, she is as wellrounded a recruitment professional as you can find. She has worked in temporary staffing, in-house corporate recruitment and executive search in both Fortune 500 organizations and small entrepreneurial companies, in a variety of industries. She also owned her own boutique search firm for nearly a decade.

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

Quarles & Brady LLP quarles.com

QUICK AND TO THE POINT

BYTES

BY MIKE HUNTER

Facilitating Robotic Process Automation Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is expected to be one of the fastest-growing industries in 2019; to help business understand how to implement that function and more quickly realize the ROI of automation, global RPA solution company Kryon offers organizations full visibility into all business processes through Process Discovery technology. It was recently certified by the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission, the first

How to ICE-Proof Your Business in 2019 President Trump has made global headlines with his tweets which pledging to build a border wall at Mexico’s expense. Meanwhile immigration crackdowns at places of business will no doubt continue to increase during 2019.

In fact, ICE reports a 650 percent surge in workplace arrests since Trump became president, according to a recent article in Newsweek.

“Employment audits are part of President Donald Trump›s commitment to changing the face of immigration policy in this country,” says Rob Wilson, employment trends expert and president of Employco USA. “Businesses need to realize that this administration is taking immigration records very seriously, and if they fail to produce the proper paperwork when questioned, they could face fines or even criminal charges.”

Warning that President Trump is going to start by cracking down in places that are known to have a history of undocumented workers, Wilson says, “He’s going to be tough on employers. Unlike past administrations which focused more on the workers themselves, Thomas Homan, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, promises a significant increase on worksite raids and he says that they will prosecute those who knowingly hire undocumented workers.”

Wilson offers the following suggestion to businesses, to ensure their operations are “ICE-proof”:

RPA vendor to meet their international standards for information asset security.

Kryon bots work simultaneously alongside the people who are actually completing these everyday tasks and decisions in a variability of scenarios. These are the people who control what happens when it happens and when different types of actions should or should not be taken. kryonsystems.com

“The most important step is to ensure that Forms I-9 are properly created when a worker is first hired,” Wilson says, noting that Form I-9 is used to verify the identity and ability of people to work in the United States. “Staff should receive training to learn how to legally complete the form, inspect the person’s documents (e.g., driver’s license), and answer employee questions.”

Employers should also periodically coordinate Form I-9 self-audits to be conducted by a neutral and knowledgeable employee or vendor who are not part of the regular process. “These audits will surface deficiencies with the actual Forms I-9 or the process itself. If problems are discovered, the staff may need additional training,” Wilson explains.

“To complete the preparation, companies should also create inspection and raid day plans.” While noting that, in some circumstances, the company can deny ICE immediate access to their private property and Forms I-9, Wilson advises businesses to prepare everyone, from the receptionist to the HR personnel to the CEO, to be ready for possible scenarios in which ICE presents a criminal search warrant, administrative arrest warrant, or inspection notice.

—Bridget Sharkey Employco USA employco.com

ICE reports a 650 percent surge in workplace arrests since Trump became president, according to a recent article in Newsweek.

Gamification to Improve Employee Retention Recognize app is a technology company that uses gamification to improve employee retention.

According to Recognize’s analytics and projections, 19.2 million people will be working remotely by 2020.

Companies can use Recognize’s gamification theory to strategize employee rewards to keep them engaged on and offsite.

“We continue to learn from our customers what customizations to build,” says Alex Grande, founder of the employee recognition and staff rewards technology solution for businesses. The Recognize team consists of inventors, technologists and psychologists dedicated to motivating the workplace. recognizeapp.com

Manage Contact Center Volume EqConnect, recently launched by Scottsdale-based accounts receivable servicing provider Equiant, offers leading-edge cloud technology to help companies effectively and quickly manage contact center volume.

Fully integrated into the Equiant Platform as a Service (PaaS) platform to simplify contact handling, eqConnect features includes seamless campaign integration, agentless dialing, real time key performance indicators, complete contact recordings, long-term storage, advanced recovery call routing and multi-channel contact handling. equiant.com

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QUICK AND TO THE POINT

LOOKING GOOD

Local Standouts Recognized for Achievements and Philanthropy ACHIEVEMENTS

Small Giants Awarded at International Competition Small Giants, LLC., a rapidly growing creative marketing agency in Phoenix and Denver, was recognized by MarCom last month with 12 awards, including three platinum awards, five Gold awards and four Honorable Mentions. Administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals, MarCom Awards is an international creative competition that recognizes outstanding achievement by marketing and communication professionals. smallgiantsonline.com

Insight Ranked on ‘Best Workplaces’ Insight Enterprises, the global systems integrator helping organizations of all sizes manage and transform their business, was honored last month as the No. 23 company on the 2019 Best Workplaces in Technology list by Fortune and Great Place to Work®.

The Best Workplaces in Technology list is one of a series of rankings of Great Place to Work-Certified™ organizations based on employee feedback to Fortune and Great Place to Work. In December, Insight also was named a 2018 Best Workplace for Diversity. insight.com

PHILANTHROPY

Cigna’s Health Initiative Starts with Food for Kids Cigna and Express Scripts employees at the Cigna Norterra office last month celebrated the recently transacted combination of the two companies by filling 1,500 backpacks with food for children at Nevitt Elementary School in Tempe. This effort, with nonprofit Blessings in a Backpack, which works to provide food on the weekends for elementary school children across America who might otherwise go hungry, is part of Cigna Corporation’s Healthier Kids for Our Future, a $25 million five-year global initiative to improve the health and well-being of children. cigna.com

Barrett-Jackson Set Fundraising Record At Barrett-Jackson’s 48th Annual Scottsdale Auction last month at WestWorld of Scottsdale, the weeklong premier automotive lifestyle event raised $9.6 million.

This includes donations made on the block beyond the hammer prices and is the largest amount raised at one auction in the company’s 48-year history. The energy in the auction arena was tangible as celebrities — including NASCAR legends and Emmy and Golden Globe

Innovative Art Installation Makes Permanent Home at Scottsdale Fashion Square Wonderspaces, the breakthrough concept that partners with artists from around the world to deliver artwork to new audiences, will soon open the company’s first permanent location at Scottsdale Fashion Square.

In its 16,000-square-foot space, Wonderspaces will partner with artists from around the world to present a series of ticketed art shows. As a pop-up that debuted in San Diego in 2017, Wonderspaces shows earned rave reviews from visitors and media and drew more than 60,000 visitors in 2017 and more than 100,000 in 2018. Wonderspaces plans to present three shows a year at Scottsdale Fashion Square starting early this year.

“Scottsdale Fashion Square offers a unique opportunity to make the extraordinary artwork of our partner artists accessible to metro Phoenix.

Through our shows, we aim to create a space where people can connect with art and with each other. Everything about our shows — from the location and pricing to the lineup of art — is designed with accessibility in mind,” says Jason Shin, Wonderspaces president and co-founder,

enthusiastic about the inherent benefits of locating in a vibrant retail property that already attracts millions of visitors each year.

“The first permanent location for Wonderspaces, with its dynamic roster of curated art installations, is a strong fit for Scottsdale Fashion Square and for Macerich,” says Doug Healey, executive vice president of leasing at Macerich, one of the nation’s leading owners, operators and developers of retail properties in top markets. Scottsdale Fashion Square is recognized as a premier shopping and dining destination, its nearly 2 million square feet including its newly renovated luxury presentation that opened this fall that will soon welcome first-to-market Saint Laurent store and Nobu restaurant. “The high-caliber artists and the exceptional setting Wonderspaces is creating to showcase their exciting work will come together as a powerful draw for this sophisticated region and for visitors from around the world.”

—Mike Hunter Wonderspaces wonderspaces.com

Remote Working Officially vs Unofficially – It Matters A survey, commissioned by the inventor of virtual network computing, RealVNC, found that, in a significant number of large U.S. enterprises that do not officially permit remote working, remote working happens unofficially.

This indicates that not permitting remote working is putting data security and privacy at risk by encouraging unofficial access that often involves personal devices and apps. With 49 percent of respondents’ organizations that do not offer remote working identifying security as a major reason for not adopting a policy, there is a clear disconnect between what is a perceived risk and the actual risk of putting policies in place to permit flexible working.

The survey, for which technology research firm Vanson Bourne polled 200 IT decision makers from U.S. enterprises, was conducted

to look at businesses’ use of remote working in developing a diverse workforce. Approximately two-thirds (65 percent) of respondents do, in fact, believe implementing remote working would increase the number of staff they attract with disabilities, while a further 63 percent and 53 percent believe it would help employ more 18- to 35-year-olds and females, respectively. However, while remote access technologies are widely available. 20 percent of organizations do not have an official policy in place that allows for flexibility in work location, and 36 percent of these businesses do not offer remote working due to current company policies restricting its adoption.

—Mike Hunter RealVNC realvnc.com

award-winner Gary Sinise — joined the Barrett-Jackson team to sell some of the most rare and desired cars. barrett-jackson.com

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While 60 percent of U.S. consumers believe there is a risk to personal safety in the sharing economy, that segment is expected to grow to $335 billion by 2025, according to the “Innovation Report 2018” published by Lloyds. onbuy.com

METRICS & MEASUREMENTS

GDPR Is Path to Trust and Improved Customer Experience CMO Council study points to realities of customer data protection and customer engagement in a post-GDPR world

by Mike Hunter

Marketers from organizations who took the lead in preparing to meet and exceed GDPR data standards have noted increased trust and engagement levels with customers, according to data from the CMO Council, collected in partnership with SAP Customer Experience, that it reported in “GDPR: Impact and Opportunity — How Marketing Leaders Addressed GDPR Readiness and Compliance.” While survey respondents agreed that the implementation of GDPR standards reinforced a responsibility to better protect their customer’s data, the issue became whether or not an organization would seize on the responsibility and turn regulation into optimized experiences.

For their part, GDPR leaders — those marketers who had not only established a plan but were also well down the path of execution and compliance by the enforcement deadline of May 25, 2018 — believed GDPR was an opportunity to deliver better customer experiences and to build customer trust and loyalty. Alternatively, GDPR laggards – marketers without a plan in place or far removed from process, having no idea if a

How does your department/organization view GDPR compliance? (Select all that apply.)

plan was in the works — remained happy to see compliance as a burden for other teams to resolve or an issue for only EUbased companies to tackle.

“What marketing leaders have seized upon is the reality that trust is the currency of today’s data-driven customer engagement. Without trust, the customer will walk away from an experience, taking their loyalty and their wallets with them,” notes Liz Miller, SVP of Marketing with the CMO Council. “GDPR and, more specifically, the frenzy of activity surrounding the compliance deadline, was not the end of a security conversation … it was the start of an experience transformation.”

“Savvy businesses already understand that to win customer loyalty they must lead with transparency and consent,” says Patrick Salyer, general manager of Customer Data Cloud and Customer Experience with SAP. “In today’s landscape, companies are realizing that trust is the ultimate currency and it serves as the foundation of all meaningful customer relationships.”

What resources informed the organization’s GDPR compliance plan? (Select all that apply.)

A responsibility to better protect customers’ data

57%

Internal expert from a non-marketing function like legal,

A chance to build customer trust and loyalty

38%

compliance, IT, etc.

An opportunity to provide better customer experiences

37%

We researched GDPR ourselves and assigned a person/ team to manage the plan

47%

27%

An external expert/consultant

37%

25%

External technologies/solutions

16%

A call to action to overhaul organizational perspectives on customer data A burden that we’ve started to get a good handle on An overwhelming burden that we don’t know how to tackle

9%

An EU issue that doesn’t impact our business

8%

A path to cost-cutting by removing programs and processes that fail to engage properly

6%

A problem for another team/department to solve

6%

How have the changes impacted your customer relationships? (Select top three.)

Heightened awareness around data and security issues Increased trust

59%

Existing technology/automation platform compliance plug-ins and resources

16%

Other

5%

In what areas are you planning to (or have you already) implemented changes to the customer experience? (Select all that apply.)

How and where consent is obtained

56%

65%

The tools used to collect customer data

53%

43%

Customer data utilization plans and processes

49%

Frequency of communications/touchpoints

32%

Increased expectations for personalization improvements in exchange for customer data

36%

No changes specific to the experience will be/

More engaged customers

26%

have been made

155

Increased irritation by extra steps and opt-in requirements

24%

Other

4%

Less engaged customers

6%

Source: https://cmocouncil.org/thought-leadership/reports/gdpr-impact-and-opportunity

The Chief Marketing Officer Council’s Insight Center offers marketers real-time global knowledge and intelligence in an easy to navigate portal. cmocouncil.org/insight-center

CMO COUNCIL The Chief Marketing Officer Council is the only global network of executives specifically dedicated to high-level knowledge exchange, thought leadership and personal relationship building among senior corporate marketing leaders and brand decision-makers across a wide range of global industries. The CMO Council’s 10,500-plus members control more than $500 billion in aggregated annual marketing expenditures and run complex, distributed marketing and sales operations worldwide, covering multiple industries, segments and markets. www.cmocouncil.org

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BY RAEANNE MARSH

ENTREPRENEURS & INNOVATORS

Creating a Creatives’ Space Michelle Biely, owner of The Creative Center of Scottsdale, describes the business she founded in 2014 as a co-working space for messy artists. “This is a place where painters, sculptures, clothing designers, hat makers, stained glass window makers and any other artists who make a mess can come and be part of a community,” she says, noting the center’s open and informal arrangement enables artists to bounce ideas off one another, collaborate together and make friendships.

“The company was started by accident during a conversation I was having with a few entrepreneur friends,” she relates. “At the time, I was doing pet photography and needed a place to set my studio up. Another friend of mine was a woodworker and was looking for an open area to create his pieces.

Inspiration hit when I realized there were no businesses in the Valley that catered only to creatives. I resolved to open a space with no walls so we could work in harmony and hang out together. Traditional office spaces can seem stifling and suffocating for those in this field — with certain rules and restrictions around how loud they can be, how much room they can take up and how their materials might ‘ruin’ the office.”

Her first challenge was acceptance for the concept itself, as those closest to her told her it wouldn’t work because of a stigma or stereotype around artists that, they said, makes

MAGAZINE

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IN BUSINESS

Social Media: Where It’s Going and How to Keep Up

EDUCATING LEADERSHIP

Tomorro s Leaderwʼ s How Our Busine Impacting ss Schools the C-Suite Are s

Blockchain as Disruptor NAFTA

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people think they have secrets, methods and pieces they don’t want to share. “I quickly realized if there were artists who fell into this category, they would not be the ones interested in the center.” Another challenge, of course, was getting the word out to fill the spaces. “Since I was a first-time business owner, my connections were somewhat limited outside the community of friends and artists I had created over the years.

Thankfully, being situated on a piece of Scottsdale Road with high traffic allowed me to organically spread the word and garner interest.”

Biely considers the best piece of advice she received, which has kept her motivated in growing the center, is to take the time to invest in the artists themselves. “Seeing new tenants come in get excited about having a dedicated space to explore their creative energy is the thing that keeps me going.” That, and the positive feedback they give her.

She has also begun to help spread their work to the world through different efforts, like a pop-up fair scheduled for March that will be free and open to the public. Initiatives like this will help get their name and pieces out into the world. “I am excited to be helping the local art community expand its reach,” she says.

The Creative Center of Scottsdale creativecenterscottsdale.com

Bringing Drones into Field of Financial Analysis “Starting a business is the most rewarding thing a person can do in their professional life, but it has to be internally rewarding,” shares Scott Roelofs, owner of RCG Valuation & Monetization.

“External rewards don’t come right away, and their effects do not last.”

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Scott Roelofs, CFA, ABV, founded RCG Valuation & Monetization in September 2017 to help small to medium-sized businesses grow and monetize through advanced financial analysis and specialty tax planning. “I found that my opportunities as a financial analyst were limited to either publicly traded companies or private equity. I have always been fascinated by business and I wanted to effect real change. If I could show small business owners how powerful financial planning can be, we could change lives, not just rates of return.” Roelofs implemented drones and 3-D cameras to help produce low-cost yet high-quality reports for business owners, as the cutting-edge technology removes the high cost of engineering in the field. The company focuses on cost-segregation studies, tax-credit reports, business valuations

and business development that will help business owners prepare for transition, whether that is starting, growing or, eventually, a business.

As owner of RCG Valuation, Roelofs has kept in mind an analogy his godfather gave him for starting a business: “When driving a Ferrari, get comfortable in second gear before moving to sixth. Mistakes made in sixth gear can be painful.”

Says Roelofs, “I took this advice and slowed our expansion so that we were comfortable delivering on the promises we were making to our customers. There are two reasons why businesses fail — too little business and too much business.”

RCG Valuation & Monetization rcgvaluation.com

Phoenix ranks number 7 on Chamber of Commerce’s recently announced “Best Cities for Business in the USA,” a ranking created for small business owners and entrepreneurs seeking to find the optimal American city to start building a company. chamberofcommerce.org/best-cities-for-business

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PROPERTY, GROWTH AND LOCATION

BY MIKE HUNTER

Autonomous Vehicles’ Real Estate Impact MAGAZINE

FEB. 2019

IN BUSINESS

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EDUCATING LEADERSHIP

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CBRE recently released results of its research into potential effects of autonomous vehicles that predicts the technology will disrupt more than just transportation. By disrupting the way employees commute to work, autonomous vehicles are expected to fundamentally reshape the U.S. office market by 2030, across nearly all property types and sectors, from retail, industrial, healthcare and hospitality to insurance markets and subsequent capital flows. Most significantly, the primacy of commercial real estate’s traditional decision drivers—geographic location and access to talent—may decrease as the importance placed on the workplace experience and building amenities grows.

“Autonomous vehicles may have the greatest impact on U.S. real estate markets since mass adoption of the car and expansion of the federal highway system,” says David Eisenberg, senior vice president of Digital Enablement & Technology at CBRE. “Ride-sharing services, which currently account for only about two percent of vehicle miles traveled in the U.S., have already had a major impact on transportation patterns, so even the conservative estimate of an 11 percent share of VMT will significantly disrupt employee mobility, and thus impact office markets, by 2030.”

By enabling employees to work, relax or sleep during their commutes, autonomous vehicles could increase the distance they are willing to travel to the office, giving occupiers a wider — and cheaper — range of geographic options when considering office locations. While this could create new investment opportunities for landlords in areas that are not currently accessible via public transportation, it increases the

importance of the building itself. Says Andrea Cross, Americas head of office research with CBRE, “Occupiers already find highly amenitized buildings appealing, and while the exact timing for widespread adoption of autonomous vehicles remains uncertain, property differentiation is one element that landlords can control that will increase their buildings’ attractiveness now and in the future.”

If occupiers have a wider range of location options and employees find autonomous vehicles to make for a more enjoyable commute than public transportation, proximity to commercial centers and public transit could become less critical when it comes to attracting top talent. Conversely, demand for properties in locations that have “live, work, play” walkability will remain strong, particularly as micro-mobility options such as eScooters and bike sharing, which increase the distance someone without a car can cover, continue to be more prevalent.

CBRE cbre.com

GET REAL PREP FOR AN AV FUTURE In preparation for the onset of AVs, CBRE’s report outlines steps for office owners and occupiers to position themselves for the future now. These are: • Focus on creating the most attractive building and work environment possible • Replace parking lots, garages and on-street parking with amenities and urban retail • Target walkable areas • Consider a broader geographic range of opportunities for office locations or investments

West Valley Industrial Spec Lincoln Property Company’s recently

Roosevelt Row Historic Property Renovation

Estrella a Top-Selling MasterPlanned Community

completed Lincoln Logistics 40, an $85

Renovations were recently completed on the

Estrella by Newland Communities was

million project spanning more than 20 acres

“Hardware Store,” on North 1st Avenue in

named as among the top-selling master-

of Class A industrial space under one roof, is

Phoenix. The restoration by Point B leverages

planned communities in the country, earning

Phoenix’s first-ever 40-foot clear height, fully

the historical nature and character of the

spots on annual lists recently released

speculative industrial development, featuring

existing buildings, and includes updated

by John Burns Real Estate Consulting and

dock and grade-level doors, trailer storage

interior and common areas and creative

RCLCO, a real estate advisory firm.

stalls, fiber optic data, and energy-efficient

office space in proximity to Downtown and

clerestory windows in lieu of skylights.

the Roosevelt Row neighborhood.

The 901,770-square-foot building sits

To ensure the exterior reflects

showed a significant rise from its previous

within the Airport Gateway at Goodyear

the character and vibrancy of the

No. 30 spot. Estrella is continuing a path of

business park in Goodyear. Tenants will

neighborhood, Point B worked with local

steady growth and will welcome its newest

benefit from a Foreign Trade Zone Magnet

artists and community arts organizations to

village, Lucero, in April. estrella.com

Site classification. lpc.com • lpcphx.com

paint a colorful, panoramic mural as part of the final renovation touches. pointb.com

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Ranked 17 on both lists of the top 50 communities, the 617-acre development

“Autonomous vehicles may have the greatest impact on U.S. real estate markets since mass adoption of the car and expansion of the federal highway system,” says David Eisenberg, senior vice president of Digital Enablement & Technology at CBRE.

YOUR BENEFIT IN BUSINESS

BY RAEANNE MARSH

WELL, WELL, WELL

Take the Guesswork Out of Managing Health Insurance Costs In today’s economy, providing a health plan for one’s employees is part of doing business, and finding the right plan is critical. In fact, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s 2018 Employer Health Benefits Survey, 56 percent of small firms and 98 percent of large ones offer health benefits to at least a portion of their workers.

Many businesses are discovering a new way to manage their healthcare — by achieving affordability through predictability with a balanced funding health insurance solution. The option allows a business to pay a fixed amount each month.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ recently introduced its own balanced funding solution designed for self-funded businesses with 15 or more enrolled employees. Here are a few reasons for organizations to consider this solution: It’s easier on the organization’s budget.

A fixed monthly cost takes the guesswork out of budgeting. Businesses may find they qualify for a lower fixed monthly cost than what they are currently paying.

Small businesses can save big. A balanced funding plan could save a small business up to 30 percent more than an Affordable Care Act small group plan.

It’s all-inclusive. The monthly payments cover everything — administrative services, stop-loss insurance and claims liability.

There is potential for refunds. Under BCBSAZ’s plan, for instance, if annual claims are lower than expected, renewing businesses will receive 100 percent of the surplus.

There are no surprises. Even if the organization’s annual claims end up being more than what it has paid, it won’t owe additional money.

—Mike Tilton, general manager of Commercial Business at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona azblue.com/BalancedFunding

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Camaraderie Is Part of 4C Medical Group’s Healthcare Philosophy

Arizona used to be known for its “5 C’s.” 4C Medical Group has four “C’s” — one of which is camaraderie.

4C, one of Arizona’s fastest growing physician owned medical groups, recently expanded to the West Valley with the acquisition of West Valley Internal Medicine / West Valley Urgent Care. With West Valley Care’s three locations in Glendale, Surprise and Avondale, combined with 4C Medical Group’s five locations in Phoenix, Chandler, Scottsdale, Fountain Hills and Carefree and eight ambulatory care locations, 4C now offers patients easy access to the practice across the Phoenix Metro area. “Our West Valley expansion is strategically particularly significant for us because it allows us to expand our service area to, essentially, the entire Phoenix Metro,” says Varesh Chaurasia, CEO of 4C Medical Group.

With a total of eight ambulatory care clinics, an acute-care division that provides services at 5 hospitals, a sub-acute care division that provides services at over 35 skilled nursing / acute rehab facilities and a small but growing mobile division, Scottsdale-headquartered 4C Medical Group has grown to more than 70 clinicians and 75 staff, with plans to cross 100 clinicians by the end of 2019.The physicianowned integrated healthcare delivery network is driven by the core values — Communication, Compassion, Competence and Camaraderie — represented in its name. Chaurasia explains their significance to healthcare delivery, starting with camaraderie: “We pride ourselves on our family-style work culture and the camaraderie shared between the

In United Health Foundation’s recently released “America’s Health Rankings® Annual Report” for 2018, Arizona ranks 30th in overall health, which is up one spot from 2017.

members of our team. All our members share a mutual respect and are always willing to help out when there is need. We encourage our physicians to get to know each other outside work and enjoy mutual interests. This not only fosters friendships, but also helps physicians become more effective at providing the highest level of care to the patient.”

On communication, he notes the importance of its ongoing emphasis for effective medicine, beyond that between the doctor and patient to also include the patient’s family, the referring physicians, the hospital staff and the healthcare facilities where patients are cared for.

“Even the most skilled clinician can fall short if they lack compassion. All our physicians share this basic quality that makes a world of difference to the patient and how they feel,” Chaurasia says.

“We take the time to sit down with the patient, share their worries and make them feel that we are cognizant of their discomfort and lack of control when they are in the healthcare system.”

And, of course, competence. “The is no substitute for competency when it comes to practicing medicine,” Chaurasia says. To that end, 4C structures its compensation structure to attract and retain the best physicians, including designing allowances and time off for physicians to continue their medical education and stay informed of the latest developments in their fields. “We also encourage our physicians to recognize when they need guidance and call on consultants when required.”

—Mike Hunter 4C Medical Group 4cmedicalgroup.com

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INNOVATIONS FOR BUSINESS

TECH NOTES

by Mike Hunter

Humans Wanted, Robots Need You Robot workers replacing human jobs — the debate of the decade. In reality, however, the opposite looks true. ManpowerGroup’s report “Humans Wanted: Robots Need You” found that more employers than ever — 87 percent — plan to increase or maintain headcount as a result of automation for the third consecutive year. ManpowerGroup surveyed 19,000 employers in 44 countries on the impact of automation on job growth in the next two years.

Companies that are digitizing are growing, and that growth is producing more and new kinds of jobs. Organizations that are already automating tasks and progressing their digital transformation are most confident of increasing headcount. Global talent shortages are at a 12-year high and new skills are appearing as fast as others disappear. More companies are planning to build talent than ever before, and this trend shows no sign of slowing.

Eighty-four percent of employers plan to upskill their workforce by 2020.

“The focus on robots eliminating jobs is distracting us from the real issue,” says Jonas Prising, ManpowerGroup chairman and CEO. “More and more robots are being added to the workforce, but humans are, too. Tech is here to stay, and it’s our responsibility as leaders to become Chief Learning Officers and work out how we integrate humans with machines.

Learning today cannot be done as it was in the past.”

The “Humans Wanted” report also found that demand for IT skills is growing significantly and with speed; 16 percent of companies expect to increase headcount in IT, five times more than those expecting a decrease. Growth will come in front-line and customer-facing roles, too — all requiring human skills such as communication, negotiation, leadership and adaptability.

The report provides practical recommendations and best practice examples from around the world to help organizations upskill their people and become more agile with the right combination of building, buying, borrowing and bridging talent. manpowergroup.com

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Remote Tech: Innovative Solution for Legal Document Review The traditional legal document review process has long been ripe for change. Just ask any attorney who has spent countless hours examining thousands of emails, memos, letters, PowerPoint presentations, spreadsheets and other electronic documents associated with the litigation of a document-driven case. The task of looking through thousands of records for the “smoking gun” can seem endless.

Exacerbating the process, document review attorneys are paid for their review of documents, not for their commutes each day to and from facilities. It becomes easy to imagine why they would prefer a work place that begins and ends in the home — wherever home might be. Instead of a long commute to a remote austere office building, it’s a short walk with a freshly brewed cup of coffee down a hallway. It becomes even more convenient in the winter or, better yet, from wherever the attorney chooses to be. With seclusion and a highspeed internet, geographic boundaries disappear.

MONITORING A REMOTE WORKFORCE

Once just a dream, the ability to staff and efficiently manage heavy, document-driven legal cases with a high degree of quality control without requiring a large investment, is now possible through the use of technology that exists today. The automated monitoring, software-asa-service solution has been extensively proven in the education sector for proctoring online test taking, and now locally based Bicoastal Legal is the first to offer Verificient™ Technologies’ RemoteDesk™ technology for the legal profession.

Bicoastal Legal’s solution biometrically identifies work-at-home attorneys and proctors their time and work efforts, allowing a remote workforce to be managed reliably and with confidence, while ensuring document confidentiality is maintained.

Users of this technology have the option of implementing the software as a standalone offering for use with their own attorneys or benefiting by pairing it with a highly available pool of experienced document review attorneys from Bicoastal Legal who are continuously monitored while they work.

Bicoastal Legal has tapped into the best document review attorneys from across the country who are no longer limited by their geographic location.

The software application performs a facial scan, ID scan and full system check before access is

granted to a legal document review database. Facial scan biometrics are used to continuously monitor the attorney during the document review to verify identity and track facial and eye movements in view of the camera. Machine vision algorithms are used to process the camera images and detect policy exceptions. Featuring video playback, the policy exceptions are presented in a dashboard so they can be reviewed quickly and easily.

This automated process also serves as a means to track and monitor hours billed for realizing cost predictability and time management. A summary report of each document review session is categorized with the number of events monitored, along with a time-stamp of the number of hours incurred.

REAL WORLD, REAL SUCCESS

Legal service business models can benefit greatly by adopting innovation. Allowing more legal work to be done remotely saves time and cost for the client. It’s also good for attorneys who long to be untethered to a physical location, and ideal for those with physical limitations or who need to work in rural areas or at odd hours. Not least, it reduces the environmental impact of commuting. The result is a true win for everyone, including Mother Earth.

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LAW MATTERS TO BUSINESS

USMCA: Agreed and Signed but Now What?

And what does it mean for Arizona?

by Michael Patterson

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Trade representatives reached a deal just before the selfimposed midnight deadline on September 30, 2018, and the presidents of the United States, Mexico and Canada signed the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement — or USMCA — at the G20 Summit on November 30, 2018. The USMCA essentially replaces the North American Free Trade Agreement, commonly known as NAFTA, but many questions still remain.

Is the deal done? No. It requires ratification by all three countries, and the “old” NAFTA is still the “law of the land” until then. A sampling of the outlook from numerous pundits remains optimistic about USMCA. Approval in Canada and Mexico does not seem to be in question, and United States approval is considered likely but will include significant national discussion before Congress gives the thumbs up.

However, President Donald Trump has asked for approval within six months. Otherwise, he has indicated he will consider pulling out of NAFTA, which would mean no USMCA, no NAFTA, and the United States defaults to the old World Trade Organization backstop.

So this could be a wild ride in the coming months.

Are Arizona Leaders in Favor?

Yes. Despite the national and international noise, Arizona’s leadership (before and after election changes) — from Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey to the state’s congressional delegation on both sides of the aisle, to industry and economic development groups — has demonstrated a pretty consistent and strong pro-trade voice with Canada and Mexico.

The reason is simple: Arizona jobs depend on it.

In 2017, Arizona exported a total of roughly $9.7 million to Canada ($2.2 million) and Mexico ($7.5 million), and Canada is Arizona’s biggest “investor” (foreign direct investment). As a former businessman, Gov. Ducey has been fond of saying, “In business, you take care of your best customer and investor.”

Without a three-country deal, Arizona would stand to lose jobs and trade.

Michael Patterson is a corporate and business law transactions attorney at Spencer Fane LLP in Phoenix. He has substantial international experience, having lived and worked in Latin America for 10 years.

He is on the board or in a leadership council of nine leading international organizations in Arizona. spencerfane.com/office/ phoenix/

FEB. 2019

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Who Is Happy? Unhappy?

USMCA expands new markets for United States producers — especially dairy in Canada. It requires Mexico to improve treatment for its workers and raise trucking standards to meet U.S. safety and environmental standards. Mexico’s new president has already declared preferential wages and lower taxes for investment along the border region to stimulate the border region.

China might not be thrilled with the developments due to pressure from increased North American content requirements for certain products, including automobiles, and new prohibitions on currency manipulation.

Is this just NAFTA 2.0?

No. NAFTA turned 25 years old on Jan. 1, 2019. The deal

Canada is Arizona’s biggest foreign direct investment partner, and Mexico is its largest trading partner. More than 33 states have Mexico as their largest trading partner.

served its purpose but needed modernization. USMCA contains many provisions of the Trans-Pacific partnership, which the U.S. did not enter. USMCA has 34 chapters — 12 more than NAFTA — with new “country of origin rules,” new labor provisions, beefed up intellectual property protections and a sunset clause.

USMCA would be in effect for 16 years and reviewed every six years.

WHAT SHOULD COMPANIES DO NOW?

Any local business should, of course, start by reading the agreement, but Chapter 4 (Rules of Origin) will be important.

• Businesses should look up the specific rule of origin that will apply to a particular product’s Harmonized Tariff Status classification once USMCA is effective.

• Businesses should review Bills of Materials for their products to ensure they meet NAFTA rules of origin now and any higher standard under USMCA, and work with internal purchasing/procurement departments to prepare to satisfy once effective.

• Businesses should check for “de minimus” tax rule compliance. Even if a good contains some non-North American parts or components, the good may still qualify if the value of those non-originating/foreign parts do not exceed the de minimis level as compared to the value of the finished good.

• Businesses should stay up to date on the announcement of new USMCA certification requirements. NAFTA is the only FTA that requires a specified Certificate of Origin form; all others only require a business have in its possession a writing showing all the required elements for compliance. This could go away.

SHOULD THE UNITED STATES/ARIZONA CARE WHETHER USCMCA IS GOOD FOR CANADA/MEXICO?

Consider this: Multiple recent leading international economic studies have predicted that Mexico could become the world’s No. 5 largest economy by GDP by 2050 (from current 15th and moving it behind only the U.S., China, Japan and Germany).

Mexico has been rapidly developing numerous key industries; investing in advanced manufacturing, infrastructure and technology; and churning out cuttingedge engineers in every category at a dizzying pace. If Mexico becomes No. 5, that naturally could resolve or at least dramatically lessen so many of the historic “neighbor complaints” with the U.S. and its southern neighbor and create a U.S.-Mexico-Canada (all top 10) international “powerhouse” super-economic region in North America.

Canada and Mexico will always be our next-door neighbors, and former Arizona Gov. Raúl Héctor Castro once said, “God made us neighbors; let’s be good neighbors.”

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Tomorrow’s

Leaders

How our business schools are impacting the C-suites

by RaeAnne Marsh The health and vitality of a community owes much to the strength of businesses that operate in its environs and to decisions made by those with the responsibility of leading those businesses. This is true in a diversified business community like Phoenix just as for towns whose economy rests on a single, large employer. Business schools recognize that decisions made in the C-suites have an incredibly broad impact, and this factors into their programs as they help prepare the business leaders of tomorrow.

Viewpoint – Jerry Colangelo [Editor’s note: Jerry Colangelo shares his views, written from the standpoint of his association with Grand Canyon University, on a philosophy that successful leadership transcends the traditional “bottom line.”]

Turning Today’s Students into Tomorrow’s ValuesDriven Business Leaders Last month, I was blessed to have my name attached to a new 150,000-square-foot College of Business building at Grand Canyon University. As I watched students file in and out of the state-of-the-art facility, with its classrooms and laboratories that are molding bright minds into workplace-ready graduates and budding entrepreneurs, I couldn’t help but reflect on my own 50-plus-year career. Mostly, I thought about what it took to get there.

When GCU asked me to serve on its board of directors in 2009 and as an adviser to the university’s athletics program and business college a few years later, I eagerly accepted the invitation because I shared its philosophy of doing business the right way. Now, my most fervent hope is to instill these values in the next generation of business leaders.

What students learn in a textbook is important as they develop the skills and knowledge to address the demands of a contemporary business environment. But being a brilliant entrepreneur, skilled accountant or savvy marketer is only part of the recipe for being successful in business.

The other part is serving a higher purpose and giving back to something bigger than yourself.

Values-driven business leaders inspire positive change in their organizations and impact society in unimaginable ways. Their approach is contagious, because they encourage and motivate others along the way.

For them, business transcends how they contribute to their companies to ways they can make their communities better places to live and work.

These are leaders with strong character and integrity. They know the importance of building and nurturing relationships, making their word their bond and operating with the highest ethical standards. Most of all, they have an insatiable desire to use their skills in business as a force for good.

Grand Canyon University not only teaches those principles, it serves as Exhibit A in applying them in the real world. GCU’s growth in the past 10 years has been remarkable, but it has used that growth to make huge investments in its West Phoenix community. Through a $1.6 million safety initiative with the Phoenix Police Department, a free tutoring program that is impacting underserved students at 130 inner-city K-12 schools, a scholarship program that has provided 300 scholarships in the last three years to kids whose families couldn’t afford college, a partnership with Habitat for Humanity to renovate 700 homes in the Canyon Corridor, and the creation of new businesses that employ residents in our neighborhood, GCU is using its position as a major employer in Phoenix to transform the surrounding community.

It’s a concept called conscious capitalism, which involves using free enterprise to not only create jobs and spur the economy, but also better the community in philanthropic ways and serve others. Our students in the Colangelo College of Business are proud to be part of an institution where conscious capitalism is in our DNA. Make no mistake: Servant leadership doesn’t mean taking your eye off the ball or apologizing for energetically delivering on a company’s bottom line. There’s a sense of accomplishment that comes from setting goals, formulating a plan and then bringing that plan to life.

But there’s something to be said for taking a values-driven approach to business that also serves the community around you. As I visit classrooms and impart my knowledge to GCU students, I emphasize that those principles are also a big part of their education.

Jerry Colangelo is an international sports and business icon and the namesake of Grand Canyon University’s Colangelo College of Business.

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Arizona State University – W. P. Carey School of Business John Wisneski • Director, Full-time MBA • W. P. Carey School of Business • Arizona State University • wpcarey.asu.edu How do you promote and nurture students for leadership and management positions?

We have embraced leadership training at the W. P. Carey School by enabling a robust mentoring program that exists both in our graduate as well as undergraduate programs.

Specifically, within the Full-time MBA program, we have a well-established program called Executive Connections, which pairs current students with area business leaders in a direct, one-on-one mentoring relationship. The senior executives who participate in our program assist in the development of leadership competencies by sharing firsthand experiences and offering assistance to our students in their internships and curricular project work. We have well over 70 executives participating in Executive Connections, and we pair our mentors with student mentees based on industry and functional preferences.

At the undergraduate level, we have recently established our Carey Collaborates platform, which pairs these very same graduate students with a cohort of 20–25 undergraduate students. In this “pay it forward” mentoring model, our graduate students invest in the development of our undergraduate students by helping them integrate into the social and civic learning community here on campus, while also guiding them through the practical steps of industry networking, résumé writing and preparing for interviews.

Speaking for the Schools:

What aspects of leadership does your curriculum cover? Is there a philosophy that underlies your leadership courses?

Our philosophical approach to leadership training is focused on providing students with truly interdisciplinary learning opportunities. It is a given that students of the W. P. Carey School will be exposed to the various functions within the enterprise (e.g., finance, marketing and supply chain management). However, what employers have been asking for — and we are committed to deliver — are graduates who possess the skillset to work effectively outside the four walls of the business school to solve real-world challenges in a truly interdisciplinary way. It is our firm belief that the leadership

We have embraced leadership training at the W. P. Carey School by enabling a robust mentoring program that exists both in our graduate as well as undergraduate programs.

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—John Wisneski

W. P. Carey School of Business

training we provide at W. P. Carey should enable students to not only lead within the corporation, but also provide them the skills to be leaders in the communities in which they live.

Recent examples of these learning opportunities include partnering with students from the School of Sustainability and School of Mechanical Engineering to deliver a carbon-neutral roadmap for the City of Tempe, partnering with the School of Design and the School of Sustainable Engineering to develop sustainable home designs for the Gila River Indian Community, and partnering with the School of Education to offer alternative funding allocation models for performance-based K-12 incentives. In each of these examples, our W. P. Carey students learned how to partner effectively with students outside the business school to develop real-world solutions that achieved meaningful outcomes and impact here in Arizona.

Entrepreneurship has become a focus in and of itself in recent years. In what ways do you nurture this?

Entrepreneurship + Innovation at the W. P. Carey School of Business provides opportunities for students, faculty, staff, alumni and the community at large to explore ideas and collaborate on solutions that can drive change locally and globally.

Our benefactor, Wm. Polk Carey, lived by the motto “doing good while doing well.” Our entrepreneurship initiatives reflect that philosophy, focusing on successful ventures and successful communities. But it all begins with successful entrepreneurs. E+I @ W. P. Carey offers undergraduate majors and certificate programs, graduate education and funding competitions to ignite students’ passion and thinking.

Because of the transdisciplinary nature of Arizona State University, E+I @ W. P. Carey partners and collaborates with other schools across campus and Entrepreneurship + Innovation @ ASU, a central hub for resources and knowledge.

Additionally, we work with corporate sponsors and community stakeholders, among other organizations. And we celebrate achievements in entrepreneurship each year with our Spirit of Enterprise Award and the Sun Devil 100, recognizing alumni businesses that are changing the game.

We arm students with the skills to become successful in their chosen field of study, but also to become servant leaders. We nurture a spirit of entrepreneurism and innovation, with the highest ethical standards, in everything we do.

—Randy Gibb

Colangelo College of Business

FEB. 2019

Our curricula emphasize the 4th Industrial Revolution and changing landscape of business, building on core competencies of critical thinking, creativity, complex problem solving, emotional intelligence, service orientation and negotiations.

—Paulo Goes

Snapshot Profile Number of students in the school: Fall 2018, more than 1,500 graduate and 13,000 undergraduate business students Rankings: U.S. News & World Report: No. 29 in the U.S — full-time MBA program U.S. News & World Report: No. 25 in the U.S. — professional flex MBP program U.S. News & World Report: No. 5 in the U.S. — online MBA program The Wall Street Journal: No. 13 in the world — Executive MBA program

Because we know many of our students are coming to us to advance their career or change careers, our curriculum is designed with career outcomes in mind.

—Doris Savron

University of Phoenix

Eller College of Management

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Grand Canyon University – Colangelo College of Business Randy Gibb • Dean • Colangelo College of Business • Grand Canyon University • gcu.edu How do you promote and nurture students for leadership and management positions?

At Grand Canyon University, we arm students with the skills to become successful in their chosen field of study, but also to become servant leaders. We nurture a spirit of entrepreneurism and innovation, with the highest ethical standards, in everything we do. The majority of our freshmen were leaders in high school and we encourage them to continue their involvement as they make the transition to college. In fact, by their sophomore year, we help get our ground students engaged in club leadership roles and encourage all our students to expand their networks and seek internships locally or in their hometown communities.

What aspects of leadership does your curriculum cover?

Our curriculum addresses the demands of today’s contemporary business environment but with a higher purpose.

We believe the higher ethics inspired by our Christian worldview are as integral to the workplace as the proper skillset. Ours is a values-based curriculum centered on Christian principles that encourage our students to make an indelible mark in their industries and a positive impact on society.

Is there a philosophy that underlies your leadership courses?

Our philosophy is rooted in servant leadership. It’s about promoting service before self, knowing that leadership is about serving others and being the steward of the organization. Servant leaders are humble, and the foundation is based on the Bible. A global movement of Conscious Capitalism has seen the rise in a new version of the same concept: truly human leadership and the idea that everybody matters. This is a new narrative of what servant leadership has always been and it serves as the foundation for learning at GCU’s Colangelo College of Business.

Entrepreneurship has become a focus in and of itself in recent years. In what ways do you nurture this?

GCU fosters in its growing student body an entrepreneurial spirit that has been the hallmark of the university’s success.

We propel students’ vision for their entrepreneurial ventures by creating a platform for them to thrive. Our IDEA — Innovation, Development and Entrepreneurship Association — Club serves as an umbrella for nurturing a startup spirit in our students. We also have a team innovation experience class in our Lopes Lab (maker space) that combines engineering, technology and business students taught by a business school faculty member about how not only to be innovative and creative, but, more importantly, to solve a problem and create a business plan. Other initiatives are monthly business pitch practice events, monthly marketplace selling opportunities, Lazarus Lab ideation space and Canyon Angels, our own angel investment organization, with GCU students performing the due diligence on actual startup

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companies. The best example of entrepreneurship is the Canyon Challenge, GCU’s signature business competition.

Patterned after ABC’s Shark Tank, the Canyon Challenge is designed to spark creative thinking with entrepreneurial ideas that fill gaps in the marketplace.

How do students get real-life experience?

GCU’s goal is to instill among its students an entrepreneurial spirit that pervades every corner of our campus. We do this by encouraging students to get engaged in organizations such as our Colangelo College of Business Sports Business Club, which provides high-level volunteer and internship experiences at sporting events nationwide.

We also encourage our students to get firsthand experience by affording them and recent graduates management opportunities while bolstering the economy in GCU’s West Phoenix neighborhood through our university-run ventures. This includes Grand Canyon Beverage Company, a coffeehouse with three locations on the university’s West Phoenix campus, Canyon Promotions that produces T-shirts and other merchandise for internal and external clients, GCU Golf Course and its Lope House restaurant, and GCU Hotel with its Canyon 49 Grill, which serve as a laboratory for hospitality management students. GCU students majoring in marketing and advertising also have an opportunity to work for Grand Canyon Education’s entrepreneurial endeavor, Canyon Advertising, to get hands-on learning while offering affordable advertising and marketing options for GCU and other clients.

What makes yours a top school?

GCU just opened a new 150,000-square-foot Colangelo College of Business, but our point of difference is the people inside who are all about student success. We call it Lopes First. Our team of faculty not only are outstanding teachers, but also successful business owners in their own right. They provide real-life business examples and a vast network in their areas of expertise. GCU’s Colangelo College of Business also has three advisory boards representing 65 companies and organizations in sports, accounting and general business whose members provide feedback on GCU program outcomes and their perspective on the skills needed for students to succeed in a contemporary business environment.

If you track your graduates, can you speak to how well Arizona does in keeping Arizona-educated leadership talent in Arizona?

With top-notch colleges and universities, a diverse economy, friendly regulatory environment and favorable quality of life, Arizona is a desirable place to do business.

About half of GCU’s students come from out of state. And, while we do not track the number who remain in Arizona upon graduation, we constantly hear of students who fall in love with our great state and choose to remain here and contribute to our local economy.

Snapshot Profile Number of students in GCU’s CCOB program: Fall 2018, more than 16,000 traditional and online students Business program specialties: Accounting, Finance Marketing, Business Management, Business Administration, Business Analytics, Business Information Systems, Hospitality, Sports Management, Finance/Economics, Entrepreneurism Average age of students in undergraduate program: not available Average age of students in master’s program: not available Rankings: Largest MBA program in Arizona (via Phoenix Business Journal) but in general GCU does not participate in most rankings because they measure things (how many students are turned away, alumni giving, “reputation” among peer institutions) that are not important to the learning outcomes of students.

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University of Arizona – Eller College of Management Paulo Goes • Dean and Halle Chair in Leadership • Eller College of Management • University of Arizona • eller.arizona.edu How do you promote and nurture students for leadership and management positions?

Our curricula emphasize the 4th Industrial Revolution and changing landscape of business, building on core competencies of critical thinking, creativity, complex problem solving, emotional intelligence, service orientation and negotiations. The intense focus we place on teamwork demands leadership skills. At both grad and undergrad levels, global experiences and case competitions also broaden perspectives so students learn to adapt accordingly to new and different scenarios — and to pivot when needed.

What aspects of leadership does your curriculum cover? Is there a philosophy that underlies your leadership courses?

We are increasingly focused on impact, driving change and future-proofing organizations with an eye toward evolutionary leadership — that is, understanding an individual’s strengths as well as the needs of the organization. With current national conversations, we’re also encouraging exploration of unconscious bias, opening doors for self and others, creating sustainable work cultures and building alliances.

Even outside our formal leadership courses (“Leadership and Teams,” “Leading Through Negotiations,” etc.), our students engage in extra experiences like participating in our 40 student-run organizations, community engagement (Eller Make a Difference Day), professional consulting and the Global Business Experience. We also disseminate personality assessment tests in some courses so students recognize their situational leadership styles and can flex accordingly — because inherent in our approach is that leadership is dependent on context.

We also focus on the behaviors that leaders can engage in to set vision, create culture, affect change, empower employees and manage diversity.

Entrepreneurship has become a focus in and of itself in recent years. In what ways do you nurture this?

For more than 30 years, our McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship has been a pioneer among business schools, focused on instilling entrepreneurial mindsets in students. Our annual New Venture Competition prepares students to launch startups from ideation to commercialization. Combined undergraduate and graduate, 29 percent of students who have gone through the New Venture program have gone on to launch their own startups and, of those, 60 percent are still in business.

How do students get real-life experience?

We have successfully delivered experiential learning for the last 20 years — it is our hallmark in the full-time MBA and

graduate Management Information Systems programs where we offer students opportunities to become real business consultants to real clients. For one semester in their two-year program, students interact directly with company executives and work together to solve their problems. Our portfolio of clients includes companies such as Microsoft, Raytheon, Banner Health, Intel, and many others that have become repeat customers over the years.

In fact, creating custom unique experiences — that is, partnering with industry and intensifying experiential opportunities that equip students with skills that give them a leg up on the job market — will increasingly be a key way we’ll differentiate our programs from general business programs.

Studies have long shown that experiential learning accelerates learning and creates a safe place for students to make mistakes — ones that would be costly in a realworld environment. Experiential learning also increases engagement — thereby impacting retention — and provides university leadership with measurable outcomes that can be applied to strategic decision making.

Lastly — and most importantly — it’s what our students want. Eller students are unique but they are alone in preferring immersive environments where they can apply the innovation they’re reading about in the classroom with creative thinking to find valid solutions to real company or organization problems.

What makes yours a top school?

We are recognized for the quality of research undertaken by our faculty (in our Management Information Systems department alone, we’ve received more than $40 million in federal funding toward artificial intelligence); our innovative programs and the flexibility with which we pivot when needed to respond to changes in business education and the business world; and our focus on student success through career coaches and our Professional Development Center.

Our focus on the students starts day one — for brand-new freshmen, we hold a career-match so they can meet with future employers. For all students, we have more than 100 companies onsite to promote full-time and internship opportunities, and we host career immersion programs — similar to speed-dating events — so students can better understand the breadth of possible careers.

If you track your graduates, can you speak to how well Arizona does in keeping Arizona-educated leadership talent in Arizona?

The State of Arizona could make strides in creating a vibrant business community. The city of Phoenix is rapidly and dramatically improving. There’s opportunity for Tucson, too, especially as it galvanizes around creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Snapshot Profile Number of students in your program: Approximately 7,000 students across all levels and programs Business program specialties: Management Information Systems and Entrepreneurship Average age of students in general program: 29 at the graduate level Rankings: U.S. News & World Report: No. 21 overall — undergraduate program (No. 11 among public institutions) U.S. News & World Report: No. 3 overall — undergraduate MIS program (No. 1 among public institutions) U.S. News & World Report: No. 10 overall — undergraduate Entrepreneurship program (No. 6 among public institutions) U.S. News & World Report: No. 5 overall — MBA MIS program (No. 3 among public institutions) U.S. News & World Report: No. 15 overall — MBA Entrepreneurships program (No. 5 among public institutions) Financial Times: No. 11 overall — Executive Education

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University of Phoenix Doris Savron, MBA • Vice Provost, Colleges • University of Phoenix • phoenix.edu/business How do you promote and nurture students for leadership and management positions?

University of Phoenix has a 40-year history of serving working adults by providing career-relevant higher education. Engaging with working adults requires a different learning model from working with younger adults, as they are in a different phase of life, frequently with full-time jobs and families. Because we know many of our students are coming to us to advance their career or change careers, our curriculum is designed with career outcomes in mind.

Our courses not only include a learning component, they also have practice and application components. Many of our programs are designed to help our students start moving toward their career goals even before they graduate.

What aspects of leadership does your curriculum cover?

While we offer a variety of programs, one consistent component of each of them includes developing and nurturing leadership skills. Our curriculum includes five learning outcomes that all successful leaders should be adept in. These include professional competence and values, critical thinking and problem solving, communication, information utilization and collaboration. Additionally, there are specific leadership courses included in our business curriculum that cover relevant and current leadership theories.

Is there a philosophy that underlies your leadership courses?

As a university, we have a philosophical belief that leaders have a direct impact on organizational and employee success.

To build leadership abilities, our courses are designed to expose students to skills that are needed to succeed as a leader. Leaders not only need knowledge in their field, they need to have core professional competencies that can grow an organization and develop a team. That is why learning outcomes such as critical thinking and collaboration are built into our programs.

Entrepreneurship has become a focus in and of itself in recent years. In what ways do you nurture this?

Many of our students come to us after being in the workforce for a while with dreams of owning their own business or developing a big idea in their current company.

That is why entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship are a big part of our business degree programs. We offer a Bachelor of Science in Business with a Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship Certificate that can equip students to understand the key elements of financial management, planning and strategy for entrepreneurs. Beyond business, we also have programs that include clinical, field experience and practicums that allow for application of learning in a real-world setting.

What makes yours a top school?

University of Phoenix’s learning model is designed to integrate academic theory and practice in a manner that can be

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applied to the student’s work and life experience. This is why the University employs practitioner faculty who continue to practice what they teach through their regular employment.

Our faculty are experienced practitioners who average 23 years of work experience. Our educators include chief executive officers, vice presidents of operations, directors of nursing, clinical directors, district attorneys and more. They are able to share their knowledge and offer their first-hand experience to nurture and promote our students into future leaders.

Many of our students tell us that they manage family and professional responsibilities outside the classroom on top of their day jobs. University of Phoenix develops and delivers our programs specifically with working adults in mind while maintaining alignment with industry exams and skills. We offer courses one at a time, five or six weeks each. With this model, our students are not juggling multiple subjects at a time. There is a lot of work in our programs and it requires a major commitment. This approach makes in manageable for students working full time or raising a family, or both.

Snapshot Profile Number of students in your programs: Current total enrollment (University-wide) is 222,647 Business program specialties: Business and Information Technology, Education, Social and Behavioral

What the state and the business community do well?

As a board member for the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, my view is that the Greater Phoenix business community does a wonderful job of recognizing the needs that exist and doing what they can to ensure these needs are met in partnership with the state leaders, chamber leaders and state agencies. This includes conducting in-depth research about the various industries that exist in Phoenix and partnering together to ensure that a pipeline of talent exists and is nurtured until they are ready to step into a role. A recent example of this includes original research the University of Phoenix did with the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce on the local healthcare industry to best understand in-demand jobs, skills and how the industry may evolve over the next decade (http://bit.ly/phx-forward-hc).

Can you speak to how well Arizona does in keeping Arizona-educated leadership talent in Arizona?

Phoenix must continue to invest in resources and create awareness of the employment opportunities that exist in the Valley. This includes understanding what attracts top talent to tier-one cities like Los Angeles and New York, and offering those same sorts of opportunities here. The Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce has a number of initiatives dedicated to enhancing awareness about jobs in Phoenix. Through my work there as a board member, we focus on investing in local business and promoting the story of why people should live and work in Phoenix. Arizona is a great place to live, and these initiatives may help increase the number of professionals who choose to work and reside here.

However, we still need to grow the regional talent pool in Arizona. Without the availability of top talent, Arizona risks losing companies and high-wage jobs. Education can help by aligning educational preparation to necessary job skills, especially in industries with a growing skills gap.

Sciences, Health Professions and Nursing Average age of students in general program: More than 93 percent are over 22; 65 percent are over 30 University of Phoenix is proud that we have been able to make higher education accessible. Our students come from diverse backgrounds and more than 60 percent are first-generation college students. We have more than a million graduates.

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INNOVATIONS FOR BUSINESS

The Future of Blockchain Technology

And why businesses should care

by Brian Marcel

This article is intended to scare and be a wakeup call for anyone who considers himself a middleman, because he will soon no longer be needed.

But first, let’s examine what a blockchain is, as businessfolk may as well understand the technology that is going to make some jobs redundant.

WHAT IS BLOCKCHAIN/TANGLE?

Brian Marcel, author of Raise the Bar, Change the Game, is the founder and chairman of International Bar Code System Group, known for bringing the game-changing barcode technology to a part of the world in desperate need for change. Since its start in 1988, he has built the IBCS Group into the top enterprise mobility integrator in Central and Eastern Europe. With more than 35 years of hands-on, high-level, senior and corporate entrepreneurial experience, Marcel — known as “Mr. Mentorvator” — has helped multiple entrepreneurs become millionaires. brianmarcel.net

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Not to be confused with Bitcoin, as it so often is, blockchain is the underlying technology that Bitcoin runs on, with Bitcoin being the most widely known crypto currency that has recently made billionaires of people who invested several years ago but is now losing its lustre as it crashes, along with the U.S. stock market. Crypto currencies have no backing like bonds and gold; they are just a string of data whose value is determined by the amount anybody is prepared to pay and so are highly risky.

But blockchain has enormous potential, both in financial services like payments and in enterprise like supply chains, as it can eliminate third-party middlemen like banks, estate agents, shipping agents and insurance middlemen, to name but a few.

It does this by building on a decentralised database (ledger) that is transparent and accessible to anybody and is maintained by a network of peer nodes (miners) who distributively work to achieve consensus in expectation of a given reward. These features make Blockchain a perfect tool in ecosystems where there is a general lack of trust among transacting parties and where different actors can transact peer to peer.

Most important is that a party cannot use the blockchain without his identity being vigorously validated by the peer nodes, and each party to a transaction is given a private and public key to access the blockchain. Each block in the chain is given a hash total, a copy of which appears on every node, so any tampering is immediately apparent as the hashes will not add up.

But blockchains have their limitations inasmuch as transaction time is slow and scalability is problematic, which is why new technologies, like the Tangle from the IOTA Foundation, recently emerged to overcome this issue. To this end, IOTA developed a new data structure and consensus algorithm which are not based on blockchain. Instead of blocks, the IOTA Tangle uses a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) framework, where transactions are concurrently validated by only two nodes in the network. This improves scalability over blockchain-based approaches, where transactions are being concurrently validated by all nodes contending for the same rewards coming from the transaction fees. Moreover, IOTA security features do not require complex validation operations.

Let’s look at some industries that will be disrupted by this technology and how this is happening. I should state, though, that most solutions are at their proof-of-concept stage, so, generally, solutions won’t be enterprise-ready (in other words, mainstream) for another five years or so — but already there are some early adopters. Holding things back at the moment are all the different platforms that are available, raising the question of which one to use. It is hoped that, in the future, blockchains will become interoperable, which will certainly speed up adoption like Wi-Fi did when all providers had accepted the IEEE standard. As yet, there are no recognised new standards bodies spending enough time on creating standards.

BANKING AND FINTECH

As people’s identity on the blockchain is validated by thousands of computer nodes and there is no central control, it creates an eco-system of trust. Within this framework, one can make a transaction without going through a bank, which is why banks are very worried. To counter this, they have been trying to offer financial services, like payments, on the blockchain to speed up transactions and make them transparent.

MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT

There are so many middlemen in the entertainment industry who all take a cut of the artist’s fees and royalties. By putting their services on the blockchain, artists will be able to deal directly with the public. Some will put their live concerts on the blockchain, and ticket holders can sit at home wearing virtual reality glasses, watching from a front row seat and from any country, and the artist will get the revenue without needing a middleman.

HEALTHCARE

There are many potential applications, but one getting traction at the moment is patient records. These can be put on the blockchain and read anywhere in the world. They come from a trusted source and are unable to be altered or forged. Documents can be shared with specialised doctors as well as the patient.

INSURANCE

Some insurance companies can become obsolete, depending on the products they sell. But many insurance companies are starting to look at blockchain to make efficiencies in administration. Through its use of public ledger, blockchain can potentially eliminate suspicious and duplicate transactions by logging each transaction. Through its decentralized digital

IOTA’s distributed ledger does not consist of transactions grouped into blocks and stored in sequential chains (blockchain), but is a stream of individual transactions entangled together. iota.org

BETTERING YOUR BUSINESS

In Great Company

repository, it can verify the authenticity of customers, policies and transactions by providing historical records. This makes it more difficult for hackers to corrupt and steal files.

In Great Company presents a practical approach to ensure that employees perform at their highest possible levels.

It’s not about increasing salaries, offering huge bonuses or

FOOD

One application starting to enter the mainstream is a Walmart and IBM partnership. If there is a problem with food quality, Walmart takes about a week to trace the food back to its provenance. It now has persuaded a number of suppliers and shipping companies in the food ecosystem to put their identities and food provenance on the Blockchain, which reduces search time to three seconds!!

REAL ESTATE

Estate agents need to beware, as all land and buildings can be registered on the blockchain with free access for anyone, and these can be traded peer to peer without any involvement from estate agents. All myriad documents can be securely stored, and smart contracts can be designed so the transaction executes automatically whenever certain conditions are met.

investing in the latest employee engagement tools. The real answer is simpler, deeper and longer-lasting: getting one’s people to love where they work. Founder and CEO of one of today’s top leadership development firms, Best Practices Institute, Louis Carter takes the reader step by step through the process of building a lasting emotional connection between one’s staff and one’s company. Carter’s proven strategy is founded on five key principles: collaboration, optimism, values, respect and performance.

In Great Company: How to Spark Peak Performance By Creating an Emotionally Connected Workplace Louis Carter

ADVERTISING

A company can give customers a reward in terms of a token that can be cashed in for discounts on the next purchase just for clicking through from a barcode to the company’s landing page. It will also authenticate the number of clicks a site definitely gets on Google Adwords, numbers which are often controversial.

AUTOMOTIVE

citizens, consumers and government officials to address urgent social and environmental issues. Although some corporate executives remain deaf to such calls, over the last two centuries, a handful of business leaders in America and Britain have attempted to create business organizations that were both profitable and socially responsible. In The Enlightened Capitalists, James O’Toole tells the largely forgotten stories of men and women who adopted forward-thinking business practices designed to serve the needs of their employees, customers, communities and the natural environment. They wanted to prove that executives didn’t have to make trade-offs between profit and virtue.

The Enlightened Capitalists: Cautionary Tales of Business Pioneers Who Tried to Do Well by Doing Good James O’Toole

Blockchain’s disruptive potential on enterprise includes eliminating such third-party middlemen as banks, estate agents, shipping agents.

592 pages

Harper Business

Available: 2/26/2019

$35

The Right It The Law of Market Failure: Most new products will fail in the market, even if competently executed.

Using his experience at Google, his remarkable success as an entrepreneur and consultant, and insights from his lectures at Stanford University and Google, Alberto Savoia offers an unparalleled approach to beating the beast that

GOVERNMENT

These are just some of the industries where blockchain is already getting a lot of interest, and it takes little imagination to see where this is leading. Like any good entrepreneur, your job is to anticipate what will happen in your market and any disrupters on the horizon, and plan how to meet these new challenges. The blockchain is just such a challenge, and you need to prepare now!

$28

Today’s business leaders are increasingly pressured by

The many applications include charging the electric car using a cryptocurrency, cutting out the electricity provider. Using a smartphone app can enable someone to share his car, which anyone can rent for even an hour by using the app to access and pay for the rental. In fact, the blockchain could be used for renting and sharing almost anything, cutting out the middleman.

We all hear about vote rigging in elections. Rigged votes and “voting irregularities” could be a thing of the past, as could the threat of rival governments or terrorist organizations hacking the vote. Voting systems secured with blockchain technology would be impossible to hack. From voter registrations to verifying identity to tallying votes, the system would be indisputable, thus eliminating the days of recounts.

Available: 2/25/2019

The Enlightened Capitalists

RETAIL SUPPLY CHAIN

Registering products on the blockchain and validating their authenticity should eliminate counterfeit products. As with real estate, there are many transactions requiring paperwork and certificates. Their origin can all be put on the blockchain and accessed by anyone in the ecosystem; knowing they are authentic speeds up the shipping process — as they have been validated by all members who own nodes in the blockchain — and eliminates shipping agents and customs officers, amongst others.

256 pages

McGraw-Hill Education

is market failure. Millions of people around the world are working hard to bring to life new ideas. Some of these ideas will turn out to be stunning successes that will have a major impact on our world and our culture: The next Google, the next Polio vaccine, the next Harry Potter.

Others will be smaller, more personal but no less meaningful, successes: a little restaurant that becomes a neighborhood favorite, a biography that does not make the bestseller list but tells an important story, a local nonprofit to care for abandoned pets.

The Right It: Why So Many Ideas Fail and How to Make Sure Yours Succeed Alberto Savoia HarperOne

272 pages Available: 2/26/2019

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$25.99

FEB. 2019

INBUSINESSPHX.COM

MINDING THEIR BUSINESS

Pamela Griffin: Moving Court Reporting to a Wider World of Business Innovation, reinvention is key to continued business growth

by Mary Little

KEEPING THE FAMILY LEGACY • Griffin Group International remains family-run, headed by fourth-generation Arizonan Pamela Griffin.

• Griffin’s career was born out of her mother’s love for the profession.

With a young family and full-time job working for former Arizona Governor Ernest McFarland, Griffin’s mother went to reporting school and used her machine to report the National Laundry Convention held in Phoenix every year.

• Griffin Group International continues that legacy by continuing to provide pro bono reporting services to Griffin’s college sorority annual convention, as well as the Volunteer Lawyers Program.

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As any business owner knows, it is easy to get stuck in the day-to-day grind of delivering an established menu of goods or services to clients who have come to expect them.

But standing firm with the status quo can be a slippery slope and a surefire way toward decline for any entrepreneur.

Need proof? You can make a call on your smartphone without a switchboard operator, and if you need a gallon of milk, you can head to the supermarket instead of waiting for the milkman.

Being on the lookout for emerging trends, untapped opportunities and the proverbial open doors is critical to ensuring long-term success and prosperity. This was Pamela Griffin’s thinking as she turned her Phoenix-based court reporting firm into a high-tech leader of all things reporting and event captioning.

When Griffin formed Griffin & Associates in 1987, it started as a small court reporting firm that operated out of a living room for the first six months of its existence. Over the past three decades, she has evolved it into the state’s largest court reporting firm. But with court reporting in a decline — counting fewer than 12,000 reporters nationwide — Griffin realized the firm may become a relic if it didn’t keep pace.

“Where some would see a struggling industry, we challenged ourselves to look at continuing to thrive in this rapidly changing world,” Griffin says. “We needed to find waves to ride into the future or be left behind.”

IDENTIFYING TRENDS TO MOVE FORWARD

As someone who likes to push the limits, Griffin analyzed trends and calculated how to take advantage of them to position the firm for the future. Although some in her position might have seen technology as a threat to the business, Griffin’s keen eye saw it as an incredible opportunity.

“Being in the communications field, we looked at areas of our industry that were thriving. Captioning with a live video stream was at the top of the heap,” says Griffin, noting businesses could reach greater numbers and broader audiences by overlaying any video content they were using with captioning. “Captioning isn’t exclusively a tool for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing anymore,” said Griffin. “It can bridge language barriers, bring live and recorded events to remote audiences, and provide written content when listening to audio isn’t feasible.”

TRANSFERRING SKILLS

Ready for naysayers who argue that artificial intelligence

Move over Mavis Beacon. To become a Certified Realtime Captioner (CRC), candidates must transcribe at 180 words per minute of literary material with 96 percent accuracy.

can caption, Griffin asserts that nothing can take the place of a human being. “Artificial intelligence isn’t in a place yet that can handle captioning accurately, but we are,” said Griffin.

“We have reasoning, understand tone and inflection, and can capture the sentiment that a computer cannot.”

Taking a risk, Griffin and her daughter Danielle soft launched their new captioning division in early 2018.

REBRANDING FOR REINVENTION

Griffin’s gamble — albeit one with much research and strategic planning — has been seeing great success. Most recently, Griffin’s team provided captioning services for an event in four different languages that was simulcast to audiences abroad. She also invested in technology that allows captioning any event in the world remotely and then broadcasting a captioned version to anywhere on the planet, all in relative seconds.

“Instead of draining budgets to recreate videos and events, we’ve positioned ourselves as being able to quickly and easily help firms take their existing assets and make them relevant across the board, whether here in the U.S. or abroad, and that’s proving invaluable,” Griffin says.

This newfound success drove Griffin to think bigger about her firm. Its capacity, capability, and reach were becoming limitless. Where others might — legitimately — worry about losing name equity, she challenged leadership to rebrand in a way that’s truer to what the firm was becoming. In December, Griffin & Associates became Griffin Group International.

REDEFINING AN INDUSTRY

As captioning projects have increased, one unexpected problem Griffin faced was recruiting more captioners and those who could deliver quality services in myriad languages.

By searching worldwide, she has recruited 50 percent more professionals to her roster to handle the demand over the past year. This year, she predicts double-digit percentage increases in captioning and bringing on more captioners to service a range of different languages.

Griffin’s gritty determination to see her company into its fourth decade has turned her into a trailblazer for her industry. She’s also a poignant reminder that leaders need to be constantly refining and reinventing to stay in demand and relevant in an evolving world.

Griffin Group International arizonacourtreporters.com

BY MIKE HUNTER

FEBRUARY 2019

ATHENA Valley of the Sun

ATHENA Awards: Ignite Change Thurs., Feb. 28 10:30a – 1:30p

Gilbert Chamber of Commerce

Mayor’s Economic Forecast and Red Carpet Tour Thurs., Feb. 21 | 7:00a – Noon The Town of Gilbert offers an economic development update in a half-day event that starts with Mayor Jenn Daniels presenting her forecast for the area. The breakfast program – guests self-serve from a buffet line – will be held at the University Building in Gilbert’s Heritage District, and will also include a yet-to-befinalized speaker or panel of speakers from the area’s newer tech companies.

Mayor Daniels’ presentation will set the tone for the bus tour that will follow, which will include stops at varied businesses from healthcare to manufacturing.

Gilbert’s Economic Development staff will accompany each bus, sharing updates on the specific areas of development as the buses pass through them.

The event is also coordinated with the Gilbert Leadership program, as the current cohort will participate in the tour.

Members: $25 (forecast only), $40 (forecast and tour); non-members: $75 (forecast and tour) The University Building

ATHENA Valley of the Sun (AVOS) will be celebrating women igniting change in Arizona at this year’s awards luncheon.

Making the special event even more special, AVOS has been selected from international chapters to present the Global Leadership Award. The ATHENA Leadership Award has been presented in Arizona, but this is the first time the Global ATHENA Leadership Award will be presented in the state, and members of the organization’s national board will be in attendance.

The Global ATHENA Leadership Award will be presented to Melani Walton, co-founder of the Rob and Melani Walton Foundation. The award is presented by the ATHENA International Board to an individual who has achieved the highest level of professional excellence, assisted women in reaching their potential, and whose body of work has an international impact.

Past Global ATHENA Award recipients include iconic female leaders such as Dolores Huerta, Marlo Thomas, Condoleezza Rice and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

Six HAIL (Honoring ATHENA Inspired Leaders) Awards will be presented to recipients chosen for their exemplification of the one of the principles in the ATHENA Leadership Model®. Honorees for 2019 are Kim Evans for Live Authentically; Carolyn Szatkowski for Learn Constantly; Sally Downey, Ed.D., for Advocate Fiercely; Heather Dopson for Act Courageously; Carrie Smith for Foster Collaboration; and Shatha Barbour for Build Relationships. In addition, six young women chosen from East Valley high schools will be honored for the work they do in their communities and will be mentored by the HAIL award honorees.

AVOS, an official affiliate to ATHENA International, was launched in 2015 by Kristine Quade, Ed.D., to create new awareness for the guiding ATHENA Leadership principles and to give women of all generations in Arizona an authentic platform to explore and enhance their leadership potential through its mission to “Support, Develop and Honor” women leaders. Luncheon proceeds will help provide leadership programs and other support to area women and young women in East Valley high schools.

SAVE THE DATE

Upcoming and notable 8th Annual Power of the Purse Tues., March 5

Mar

5

Hosted annually by the AZHCC Latina Business Enterprises Group, this event celebrates women in business and highlights the growing economic impact of woman-owned businesses. azhcc.com Scottsdale Forward 2019 Wed., March 13

Mar

13

scottsdalechamber.com 2019 State of the District Mar

22

Fri., March 22

This event welcomes community, educational, political and civic leaders for brunch while the 9th District US Congressman provides updates on federal issues affecting our district, state, and country. tempechamber.org

$125; registration closes Feb. 22 at 5:00p

92 E. Vaughn Ave., Gilbert

The Clayton House

gilbertaz.com

3719 N. 75th St., Scottsdale athenaaz.com

FEBRUARY 2019

S M T W T F S 1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 FEBRUARY 2019 NOTABLE DATES 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Tu., Feb. 14 — Valentine’s Day 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Mon., Feb. 18 — Presidents Day

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FEBRUARY 2019 Tues., Feb. 5

2:00p – 4:00p

Fri., Feb. 8

‘Renovate Your Networking Training’ Workshop

8:00a – 9:30a

2019 Leadership Speaker Series (Part 4)

Phoenix Metro Chamber of Commerce

Tempe Chamber of Commerce – Women in Business Council

Attendees will learn the real purpose of networking, how to classify each contact into one of four key relationship categories, and how to assess the value of each individual within their respective category.

Cost TBD

“Distinguished Communications” presented by Deborah Ostreicher.

Elevate Coworking & Business Networking

Members: $25; non-members: $35

Paradise Valley Mall, above the Food Court

marinalink™ by State Farm

4568 E. Cactus Rd., Phoenix

510 E. Rio Salado Pkwy., Tempe

phoenixmetrochamber.com

tempechamber.org Thurs., Feb. 7

8:30a – 12:15p

‘Smart Cities for Small Business’ MBDA Business Center Phoenix Fri., Feb. 1

Introduction to Smart Cities, with Stephanie Frija, of GPEC, and Jeff Jenq, of MAG, speaking on Smart Region Initiative; Ian Linnsen, of the City of Mesa, and James Smith, of the City of Chandler, speaking on Local City initiatives; and Murali Guntu, of Volteo, speaking on Opportunities for Your Business and how to get plugged in.

8:00a – 9:30a

2019 Leadership Speaker Series (Part 3) Tempe Chamber of Commerce – Women in Business Council “How to find the right talent to build a strong team” presented by Kathleen D. Ybarra.

$20

Members: $25; non-members: $35

OneAZ Credit Union

marinalink™ by State Farm

2355 W. Pinnacle Peak Rd., Phoenix

510 E. Rio Salado Pkwy., Tempe

tempechamber.org

phoenixmbdacenter.com

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5

5 Tues., Feb. 5

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Fri., Feb. 8.

7:00a – 9:00a

Economic Update Series Luncheon

Mesa Chamber of Commerce

Chandler Chamber of Commerce

Join Mayor Giles for his State of the City update on recent, present and future happenings in Mesa. Hear his vision for Mesa’s future and how he sees the impact on both residents and businesses in Mesa.

“Aviation - Fueling Arizona’s Economy” — Aviation as we know it is one of the main catalysts behind globalization, driving the development of the modern world. But what does it mean for the Valley of the Sun? Learn how local air traffic helps to generate economic growth from representatives from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport, Southwest Airlines and Chandler Municipal Airport.

Mesa Convention Center, Main Hall - Building C 201 N. Center St., Mesa mesachamber.org

11:30a – 1:30p

Luncheon

Thurs., Feb. 7

Economic Club of Phoenix Speaker will be Michelle Cirocco, chief social responsibility officer at Televerde.

9:30a – 11:30a

‘Leveraging Diversity – Overcoming What Gets in the Way’ National Organization of Women Business Owners – Phoenix The business case for diversity has never been clearer and thus leveraging diversity should be a part of every successful company’s talent decisions. However, organizations often struggle to address diversity beyond hiring.

$85 Camelback Golf Club 7847 N. Mockingbird Ln., Scottsdale wpcarey.asu.edu/economic-club/events

Free Maricopa Small Business Development Center at Gateway Community College 108 N. 40th St., Phoenix nawbo.org/phoenix

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11:30a – 1:00p

State of the City Breakfast with Mayor John Giles

Members: $50; non-members: $60

Tues., Feb. 5

8

For more events, visit “Business Events” at www.inbusinessphx.com

Please confirm, as dates and times are subject to change.

Members: $25; general admission: $35 Hilton Phoenix Chandler 2929 W. Frye Rd., Chandler chandlerchamber.com

Wed., Feb. 20

8:00a – 10:30a

Economic Development Insider Series Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce Attendees will hear from Maricopa County Board of Supervisors’ new chairman, Bill Gates, as he shares updates on the county’s top economic development projects and learn his vision for the Maricopa County. There will also be discussion with cities and chambers of commerce throughout Maricopa County on key activities that are boosting the vitality of the region.

Members: $25; non-members: $95 Fennemore Craig

2398 E. Camelback Rd., Phoenix

phoenixchamber.com Tues., Feb. 12

5:30p to 7:00p

‘Finding Solutions: How to Turn Your Idea Into Your First Business’

Fri., Feb.15

Wed., Feb. 27

7:30a – 9:00a

Noon – 1:00p

Emerging Issues Forum

Hot Topics & Lunch

WESTMARC

Tempe Chamber of Commerce

Peoria Chamber of Commerce

All great entrepreneurs have one thing in common; they solve problems. This event is an opportunity for attendees to connect with other budding entrepreneurs as presenters discuss how to evolve an idea into a business.

“Workforce Programs for Your Business” with speakers Trevor Stokes, of the Arizona Office of Economic Security; Abe McCann, of the Arizona Coalition for Military Families; and Melissa Huffman, of the Department of Economic Security.

“Social Media for Small Business,” covering social media and websites.

Members: $20; general admission: $30

Peoria Chamber of Commerce

Free

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Tempe

8385 W. Mariners Way, Peoria

1140 E. Baseline Rd., Tempe

peoriachamber.com

Sunrise Mountain Library

21109 N. 98th Ave., Peoria

westmarc.org

tempechamber.org 12

13 Tues., Feb. 12

Tues., Feb. 12

Members: free; future members: $10

11:30a – 1:00p

Lunch and Learn

11:00a – 1:00p

15

20

Wed., Feb. 20

27 7:30a - 9:00a

Signature Education Luncheon

Expert HR Series

North Phoenix Chamber of Commerce

Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce

Networking plus a guest speaker who’s topic is generally centered on motivational and educational topics that tie in with a business professional’s daily challenges. Registration includes lunch.

“The Joint Employment Doctrine and What You Need to Know,” presented by Jaimie Graczyk, is designed to acquaint HR professionals and leaders with the ins and outs of what it means to be a “joint employer” under the NLRA, the FMLA, and the FLSA.

Members: $20; non-members: $25; at the door: $30 cash

$20

Location TBA

Employers Council

northphoenixchamber.com

scottsdalechamber.com

7975 N. Hayden Rd., Scottsdale

Arizona Technology Council “Your Content Marketing Doesn’t Work. But It Could; Here’s How” — There are at least 99 reasons why the vast majority of content marketing is ineffective. Molly Castelazo, chief content strategist at Castelazo Content, walks through the top nine of those reasons and shares her tried-and-proven strategies for driving revenue with content.

Wed., Feb. 13

11:00a – 1:00p

February Business Program National Organization of Women Business Owners – Phoenix “What is Social Entrepreneurship? Why does it matter?” panel discussion with Christy Moore of Social Spin and Tristan Gandolfi of Seed Spot, with moderator Andrea Evans of Frontdoors Media. Social entrepreneurs combine commerce and social issues in a way that improves the lives of people connected to a cause in their community.

Social, Cultural, Environmental.

Members: free; non-members: $15

Members: $43; non-members: $53; after Feb. 11: add $10

Galvanize

Gainey Ranch Golf Club

515 E. Grant St., Phoenix

7600 E. Gainey Club Dr., Scottsdale

aztechcouncil.org

nawbo.org/phoenix

MAGAZINE

FEB. 2019

IN BUSINESS

Social Media: Where It’s Going and How to Keep Up

EDUCATING LEADERSHIP

Tomorro s Leaderwʼ s How Our Busine Impacting ss Schools the C-Suite Are s

Blockchain as Disruptor NAFTA Out; USMCA

FEBRUARY

Economic

2019 • INBUSINESSPHX.COM

Personal

THIS ISSUE

Tempe Chamber of Commerce Arizona Small Business Association

Coming In Reputation:

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PACKAGED TO IMPRESS

Social Media: Where It’s Going and How to Keep Up with It

by Rachel Strella

Trends to Watch in 2019

Rachel Strella is the founder of Strella Social Media, a social media management company serving dozens of clients nationally. She is a regular contributor to Small Business Trends and Social Media Today, and has been featured in Forbes, ABWA Magazine, PR Daily, SmallBizDaily, Business Insanity Radio and SiteProNews, among numerous other outlets.

She’s an avid blogger with her award-winning blog (six awards), having more than 75 posts syndicated internationally, as well as a well-respected speaker. strellasocialmedia.com

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The year is young — now is a fine time for businesses to start doing the right things, to take charge of their social media strategy by evaluating trends and revisiting and refining their plans. Positive changes made now will position the business for better outcomes all year long.

Gone are the days when companies can treat social media as an afterthought or a supplemental marketing channel.

Today, social media platforms are where a business has an opportunity to consistently demonstrate its value and reinforce its voice. They are the go-to places where customers ask questions, offer accolades and air complaints. No business can ignore the significance of its social media presence, because it influences how people perceive its brand.

I’ve always been cautious about making social media predictions because the ideal social strategy is unique for every business. However, there are some online marketing trends worth businesses considering as they evaluate what tactics will grow their business.

1. The growing importance of personal branding to business branding. Especially for small businesses, putting a real, human face to a business name helps build loyalty. A brand that’s more relatable and has the human element naturally garners more trust — and trust is essential for building relationships.

One way to humanize a brand is to promote the personal brand of the business owner or a high-level leader. This tactic has become a staple for many organizations, as demonstrated through guest blogging, podcast and webinar appearances, and other publicity opportunities. Through allowing people to get to know the character and expertise of company leadership, a business can strengthen its brand reputation.

Businesses that embrace this in 2019 will have a distinct advantage over companies that hide behind their logo.

2. Long-form content for making an SEO impact. While word count is not the only thing that can impact how prominently an article will appear on the search engine results page, SEO

experts say long-form content will be able to provide an edge.

Although Google doesn’t penalize blog posts if they fail to reach a certain word count threshold, it stands to reason that a high-quality article with 1,600 words will likely outrank a highquality article with 500 words. It’s for that reason we’re seeing more publishers requiring guest authors to submit articles with a minimum of 1,000 or more words.

We’ll see more company blogs embracing long-form content and incorporating it into their content strategies. Therefore, businesses that have found they aren’t getting SEO traction with short posts may want to “go long” and add longer articles rich with information and insight that will attract readers and give Google a reason to rank them more favorably.

3. Acceleration of personalized marketing. With more companies digging into their data and using it to create customized marketing campaigns that target individuals’ interests at different points in the buyer’s journey, the pressure is on. Customers have come to expect brands to tailor special offers and discounts to their wants and needs.

To accommodate that expectation, more businesses will need to consider targeted advertising and retargeting campaigns on social media channels. I anticipate that social platforms will continue to refine their targeting offerings as the demand for individualized content grows.

4. Video’s prominence as the preferred form of content.

In a survey by Wyzowl “The State of Video Marketing 2018,” 97 percent of marketers said video has helped increase user understanding of their product or service and 76 percent said it has helped increase sales. Additionally, live streaming video will continue its emergence as a powerful way to engage people on social media. In fact, according to statistics compiled

by Go-Globe by 2020, 82 percent of internet traffic is expected to be live video.

Video’s prominence is tied closely to the first trend, personal branding’s influence on the business brand. Video

Especially for small businesses, putting a real, human face to a business name helps build loyalty. A brand that’s more relatable and has the human element naturally garners more trust — and trust is essential for building relationships.

How-tos for Social Media — Dos and Don’ts for 2019 Achieving goals of any sort involves doing more of the right — and less of the wrong — things.

Marketing and social media goals are no exception. How can you better ensure your social media efforts will help you accomplish your brand’s objectives in this new year?

DOS

allows a company to put a face to the business. It enables prospects and customers to get to know who leads and works in a business. Video gives businesses an opportunity to show not only what they do but also “who” they are.

Also, social media algorithms might give video posts better organic reach than other types of posts.

5. “Pay to play” — the path to more exposure.

In 2012, brands could expect, on average, approximately 16 percent of their fans would see their updates, according to an article on Hubspot. Fast forward to today, and that reach has plummeted even more.

With the diminishing organic reach of business content, most companies will need to invest in sponsored posts, boosted posts and social media ads if they want to stay top of mind.

Fortunately, social media advertising doesn’t have to break the bank; a small amount of money can go a long way, and this trend should continue well into 2019.

CHANGE: AN EVER-CONSTANT TREND.

The one trend business can always count on resurfacing year after year is they must — to some degree — adjust their social media approach to gain broader awareness and increase engagement with customers.

The thing about trends is, following them doesn’t guarantee success. While businesses are wise to pay attention to social media trends, they should — before jumping on the bandwagon — carefully evaluate if incorporating them in the marketing strategy will be consistent with their brand and practical for their business.

Think first. Then post. Remember that what you post on your personal social media accounts can affect how people view your company. Think carefully about how posts that issue commentary on hot-button topics like religion, politics or gender issues might impact your relationships with customers, vendors and others in the business community.

Let them hear your voice. On your blog and social media channels, let your readers see your personality shine through. Many people follow bloggers because they like what the writers are saying and how they’re saying it. Share your unique insight and strike a conversational tone that engages readers.

Be real. Show your audience that you have real people behind your logo; it will make it easier for them to relate to your brand. Some ways to do that are to introduce members of your team, show videos with “behind the scenes” glimpses of your staff doing what they do best, and take photos of your team at special events and activities. Also, consider promoting the personal brand of your business owner or a high-level manager to put a face to your business name. Many organizations are doing that, and it’s an effective way to facilitate loyalty and trust.

Set realistic expectations. Realize that social media alone can’t grow sales. Yes, it can help immensely by building your brand reputation, generating awareness and increasing visibility of your business. However, many other areas of your company impact customer acquisition and revenue growth. Examples include the performance of your website, the quality of your products and services, your sales team’s skills and your customer service. You must pay attention to your business as a whole for social media to succeed.

Write for your readers. Focus your content on what will help your audience and write it in a way that they will understand. Simplifying your content doesn’t mean you have to dumb it down, but avoid overly complicated wording and sentence structure.

Put personalization into practice. Customers expect that brands will tailor deals and discounts to their unique interests and needs. Consider embracing the potential of targeted advertising and retargeting campaigns on social media to cater to the demand for individualized content and offers.

DON’TS

Engage with haters, trolls and other negative influences online. Battling them is — and always will be — a lost cause. If you do, you’ll waste time, energy and creativity that you could be using to build your brand and serve your customers.

Try to be everywhere and do everything. Not every social media platform will deliver results for your business. And by trying to maintain too many channels, you’ll become overwhelmed and dilute your effectiveness on those that matter most. Stay active only on the accounts that give you the best return on your time and effort.

Post without proofreading. If you publish posts with careless grammar and misspellings, it will reflect poorly on your brand. Before making posts live, review what you wrote and fix mistakes.

Review the content again after you publish it because sometimes sneaky errors can slip by despite initial proofreading efforts.

Ignore your followers’ questions, comments and messages. Although this seems like a logical no-no, it happens often. Ignoring your audience is the fast track to causing hard feelings, missing opportunities and damaging your brand. Keep tabs on activity on your social media accounts and respond promptly to your followers.

Use AI as a substitute for human interaction. Marketing automation saves time, but never use it as a replacement for person-to-person communication on social media. Your followers expect to develop a relationship with your brand, which can only be done if you’re genuinely, humanly engaged with them.

Dwell too much on your competition. Watching your competition is essential, but more critical to your success is developing your business and delivering excellent service to your customers. Leverage and nurture your brand’s unique strengths and capabilities rather than trying to be a carbon copy of another company.

The thing about trends is, following them doesn’t guarantee success. While businesses are wise to pay attention to social media trends, they should — before jumping on the bandwagon — carefully evaluate if incorporating them in the marketing strategy will be consistent with their brand and practical for their business.

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FEB. 2019

INBUSINESSPHX.COM

WE VALUE WHAT WE OWN

The All-New Jaguar I-Pace Electric SUV

JAGUAR I-PACE ELECTRIC SUV Battery: 90 kWh Battery range: up to 234 miles/full charge 0-60 mph: 4.5 sec MSRP: $69,500

Built from the ground up, the 2019 Jaguar IPACE is a pure Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV). Thrilling to look at and drive.

The IPACE is propelled by two permanent magnet synchronous electric motors. Like the technology found in the ITYPE Formula E racing car, these motors generate 394 horsepower and 512 pound-feet of torque. Instant torque and All Wheel Drive traction gives the IPACE the acceleration of a sports car. It reaches 60 mph in 4.5 seconds. There are five full seats, innovative storage, a substantial rear cargo space of more than 25.3 cubic feet and 0.95 cubic feet in the front storage compartment.

The IPACE has a compact footprint from the outside but exceptional space within. It is a distinctively elegant SUV in a sporty and sleek look, with a stance that is empowering and “electric.” The retractable, flush door handles and curved roofline give a sense of the far-out future of design and features for an SUV. The sliver-thin LED headlights give an illumination that impresses day and night.

The interior is spacious. With no engine or transmission tunnel through the middle of the vehicle, it allows for more leg room and knees for rear passengers. The sleek, low instrument panel is easily seen despite being minimized, making

for a simple dashboard. The form-fitting seats are plush leather with twin-needle stitching, giving a sporty, slim and comfortable look. Acoustic-laminated glass insulates traffic sounds for a quiet and peaceful ride. True Jaguar luxury is felt in this well-designed cabin.

The 90-kWh battery of the IPACE is made up of high-energy density, lithium-ion pouch cells. Its design and state-of-the-art thermal management system support longevity and periods of sustained maximum power. One full charge provides a range of up to 234 miles. With a 50 kW DC rapid charger — the kind found at most public charging stations — the I-PACE can achieve a 0-80 percent charge in 85 minutes. —Mike Hunter Jaguar jaguarusa.com

Mobile Messaging at Work and Play – Beyond Conversation Over the last few years, mobile messaging usage has exploded.

transactional messages notifying customers about information

It now dominates smartphone usage. While consumer

related to their transaction. While SMS does have its limitations,

communication grew rapidly a few years ago, the more recent

such as plain-text, restricted-length format, it more than makes up

and interesting phenomenon is the rise of “messaging as a

for it with its reach and ubiquity.

MAGAZINE

FEB. 2019

IN BUSINESS

Social Media: Where It’s Going and How to Keep Up

EDUCATING LEADERSHIP

Tomorro s Leaderwʼ s How Our Busine Impacting ss Schools the C-Suite Are s

Blockchain as Disruptor NAFTA

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Economic

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worldwide for rich messaging functionality remains WeChat,

Messaging and conversational experiences are gradually

along with similar apps Line and Kakao. These messaging

transforming every aspect of the human-computer interface.

apps enable users to not just communicate but also do a wide

The rise of Alexa and Assistant shows that, depending

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INBUSINESSPHX.COM

variety of transactions, including shopping, banking, insurance,

on context, users will seamlessly use both oral and textual

payments, travel, taxis, food delivery, jobs, music, news, etc.

conversations to get things done. For example, in private spaces

These have now become super-apps that subsume many other

with busy hands (e.g., when driving or cooking), audio is the

apps within them. These are powerful illustrations of the vision

preferred conversational medium. However, in public spaces (e.g.,

of “messaging as a platform.”

meeting room or noisy street), screen-based textual or visual interaction is usually the preferred mode.

Even as other channels mount a bid to be viable alternatives,

FEB. 2019

While other channels continue to develop, the gold standard

their customers and build advanced conversational experiences.

Messaging channels and conversational experiences continue their rapid growth even as the hype cycle has moved on. As they say, it is easy to overestimate the short-term and underestimate

SMS continues to remain the preferred channel for enterprise

the long-term; that is certainly the case with messaging and

messaging given its ubiquity. Globally, enterprises send 2 trillion

conversational experiences. —Beerud Sheth, founder and CEO of

text messages to consumers worldwide. These are mostly

Gupshup (www.gupshup.io)

EV Charger Installation: Jaguar partnered with Qmerit to help with resources for installation of the EV charger for the Jaguar IPACE. Qmerit provides easy access to a network of easy access, certified local installers to manage the installation of a ChargePoint home EV charger certified by Jaguar to get it right so that the car owner’s home charging station keeps his or her IPACE running.

Photos courtesy of Jaguar

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MEALS THAT MATTER

BY RAEANNE MARSH

LemonShark Poké: Bowled and Bold Colors. Flavors. Textures. Poké offers an amazing variety in all these aspects. And LemonShark Poké offers that amazing variety in its fresh, build-to-suit selection.

Ahi tuna, spicy salmon, shrimp, tofu, ginger, edamame, red cabbage, corn, mango: These are just a few of the array of ingredients patrons can mix in their poké bowl atop a base that does not need to be the traditional sushi rice, before then being faced with a sauce choice from among 11, which includes a gluten-free soy sauce, with spicy mayo and eel ranking as the most popular. One more choice before the bowl is complete: the option to add a little crunch on top with crispy fried onion, Macadamia nut, or another of more than a halfdozen toppings. For those who are feeling either adventurous or too overwhelmed to choose for themselves, the menu offers a “Trust Me Bowl” — putting all the choices at the whim of whoever owns the smiling face serving that customer at that time.

Augmenting the poké selections is a short menu of small bites that includes perennial favorite tempura shrimp and Spicy Tuna Crispy Rice, bite-sized rise crisps with a dollop of spicy tuna drizzled with spicy mayo and ponzu sauces and topped with a deceptively decorative, thin slice of fiery serrano chile.

The self-serve soft drinks are sugar-sweetened; no highfructose corn syrup. There’s also a selection of self-serve beers on tap, sold by the ounce.

Ahi Tuna Poke Bowl

Forbidden Rice Pokerrito

Owners Bethanie and Paul Mercer “always wanted to own a restaurant” and, coming out of Corporate America, saw franchise as their best option, explains Bethanie Mercer.

They opened LemonShark Poké in Scottsdale last year. “We love sushi,” Bethanie says, “and we wanted somewhere where we would go.” It’s a fast-casual concept, but, Bethanie shares, she and her husband intend the beers and free Wi-Fi to help encourage people to “sit and stay” rather than eat and run.

LemonShark Poké 7325 E. Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd., Scottsdale (480) 219-9233 lemonsharkpoke.com

That’s Some Crust Maui Heat Wave

Sauce. Cheeses. Toppings. Pizzerias can put their stamp on their pie in many different ways. In Business Magazine wanted

FEB. 2019

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INBUSINESSPHX.COM

California Pizza Kitchen

Hungry Howie’s (pictured)

One of the pioneers that took pizza

Known as the originator of the

beyond cheese-and-pepperoni-and-

flavored crust pizza, Hungry

sometimes-anchovies to a whole

Howie’s offers it in Asiago cheese,

new world of flavors, CPK added a

butter, butter cheese, Cajun, garlic

La Grande Orange Pizzeria

whole wheat option for crust a few

herb, onion, ranch and sesame as

LGO’s fermented crust tastes strongly of

years ago, a boon for those trying

well as the plain “original.”

sourdough, complementing well the many

to minimize their intake of highly

Multiple locations

garden toppings on its creative pizza menu.

processed flour.

hungryhowies.com

4410 N. 40th St., Phoenix

Multiple locations

(602) 840-7777

cpk.com

lagrandeorangepizzeria.com

Photos courtesy of LemonShark Poké (top), Hungry Howie’s (bottom)

to shine a spotlight on the foundational element: the crust.

TEMPE CHAMBER

ADVANTAGE Winter 2O19 • tempechamber.org

Photo by Rawpixel on Unsplash

Career Ready Tempe:

A partnership that fills critical skills gaps for City of Tempe businesses and youth This summer, the Tempe Chamber of Commerce and the City of Tempe will launch Career Ready Tempe, a two-year youth workforce pilot program intended to tackle barriers to employability for income-eligible youth and help employers create a robust youth talent pipeline.

Teens preparing for today’s workforce have co-existed with the internet for the entirety of their existence. Their “virtually” innate ability to keep their fingertips on the pulse of technology and current trends makes them innovative assets to most industries. Yet, simply due to their age, many young workers lack the soft skills and experience needed to address the human factor required for corporate sustainability.

The program is funded through the City of Tempe’s Innovation Fund and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Career Readiness Lab Grant. It has been strategically designed to align with industry needs and the City of Tempe’s TempeAchieves65 initiative, Tempe City Council’s goal to reach 65-percent post-secondary-degree attainment for residents by the year 2030, through collective community efforts. Paid eight-week summer internships with Tempe businesses will be offered to eligible juniors and seniors in the Tempe Union High School District. This year’s internship focus is on advanced business services, one of the largest employment sectors in the Tempe economy. Projections show there will be continued employment and advancement opportunities for years to come, preparing students for our future’s top jobs.

To prepare students for their internships and future employment, Career Ready Tempe has incorporated Arizona State University’s

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

Edge certificate program into its requirements. Edge is a high-quality soft skills training program focused on equipping young people with customer service, leadership and personal development skills. All of which are imperative to their success as future professionals. Career Ready Tempe will also provide one-on-one career and college planning support to enrolled students by linking them to College Connect Tempe, a college and career exploration mentoring program housed within the City of Tempe’s Human Services Department.

Career Ready Tempe proposes to develop the future workforce of Tempe so that it aligns with industry needs by providing youth with internships, increasing the number of young people in Tempe who enter career fields that meet industry demands. Often, companies would like to reach new talent pools of young adults — especially in growing industries or those affected by skills gaps — but lack the in-house capacity or expertise. Career Ready Tempe can help Tempe businesses think strategically about the future and make sure we are developing the talent pipeline for 10, 20 years from now.

Not only will the Career Ready Tempe program offer participating Tempe businesses assistance in selecting and preparing studentinterns, but program funds will also serve to compensate those who have been granted internship placement.

Career Ready Tempe is currently seeking internship host sites. Prospective Businesses are encouraged to apply at tempe.gov/CareerReadyTempe by March 17.

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Tempe Chamber Announces Tempe Streetcar Asset Assistance Loan Program In a partnership of the City of Tempe, the Tempe Chamber of Commerce, SCORE and One AZCredit Union, a Tempe Streetcar Asset Assistance program was announced in December of 2018. The purpose of the program is to provide low-interest loan opportunities to businesses directly adjacent to the streetcar route during construction.

The Tempe Streetcar project is a three-mile route that moves along Apache Boulevard then curves up Mill Avenue then east on Rio Salado. This loop is anticipated to include 14 sheltered stops and two connections to the existing Light Rail. With sustainability in mind, the six-vehicle fleet will be powered by hybrid battery while off-wire through the Downtown Mill Avenue Corridor.

Businesses along any part of this route that may be impacted by construction of the rail can apply for up to $20,000 of a low-interest credit line to help offset lowered business capacity during this time. To qualify, the business in need must have been in business two years, be adjacent to the construction route, independently owned and operated and

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T E M P E C H A M B E R A D V A N TA G E

meet the full terms of the credit line program.

The process begins with a free consultation with SCORE to help assist with initial planning and program qualification. Qualified businesses then establish their account and loan services through One AZ Credit Union, who has partnered in this program to provide the low interest rate of +2% prime and a term of 48 months of repayment.

The full project design for the Tempe Streetcar was approved in May of 2018, while funding was finalized in August of the same

year. Currently, construction of the rail and utility relocation is in progress. The project is expected to wrap up in 2021, and will be set to handle 125 passengers with its ADA- and bicycle-accessible vehicles.

The Tempe Chamber of Commerce highlighted the Tempe Streetcar Asset Assistance program at its December Emerging Issues Forum and will continue to be a point of contact for businesses wishing to apply. For more information, contact the Tempe Chamber of Commerce, tempechamber.org/contact.

Tempe Chamber Women in Business Announces the 2018-2019 Mentoring Program The Tempe Chamber of Commerce’s Women in Business Council launched its annual mentoring program with 11 pairs of mentors and protégés. The selected participants began the six-month program on December 13th.

The program focuses on self-discovery, professional development, making connections, sharing experiences and much more. Each participant was asked to complete a TTI/DISC online assessment that provides customized insight into each participant — including communication style, driving forces and values — and is used in sessions.

Gold sponsor for this year’s program is Sender Associates, and program partners include MAC6, Southwest College for Naturopathic Medicine and Yoga for Today.

The 2018-2019 Mentoring Program culminates with a graduation ceremony at the 2019 Leadership Conference & Expo presented by the Women in Business Council. The conference is set for May 17, 2019, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Phoenix Tempe.

This year’s program participants are: Mentors Kjell Andreassen Acceler8 LLC Heather Carter The New Foundation Suzy Greenwood Arizona Tax Advisors Dawn Hocking The Centers for Habilitation David Lloyd SpectraPure, Inc. Kelly Lorenzen KLM Consulting Michele MacLachlan Yoga for Today Eva Marin GHI Real Estate Aneesah Nadir LegalShield Holly Pennington Comerica Bank Brian Stinson The PEAK Fleet

Protégés Tia Blackwell Riot Hospitality Group Tracy Cook Sender Associates Tayo Fakunle IFASEMB Doneen Grimm St. Joseph’s Hospital – Dignity Health Roxanne Helman United Dairymen of Arizona Lisa Herrmann Arizona Center for Nature Conservation Shannon Kellso Versum Materials Nyalong Nhial TNO Unlimited Solutions Maribel Pena Arizona State University Student Media Drew Saenz Team Up Health and Fitness Savonne Shahid Waste Management

We need you to Transform a Life!

New Pathways for Youth is seeking 35 volunteer mentors to match with youth having experienced Adverse Childhood Experiences. These youth are committed to transforming their lives. They now need you to step up and join their journey. Will you be the one?

Join us for a Mentor Introduction Session on Tuesday evenings at 6:15 p.m. and on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month at 7:30 a.m. at 1001 East Pierce Street, Phoenix.

RSVP to info@npfy.org.

Your commitment is urgent.

Transform a life today!

Become a New Pathways Mentor!

New Pathways for Youth is an evidenced based mentoring program that matches well-trained mentors with youth in need of a caring adult relationship. Mentors receiving coaching and support to guide their mentoring relationship in the life skills curriculum offered

by New Pathways.

Transform a LIFE. Be a MENTOR. Te m p e C h a m b e r. o r g

T E M P E C H A M B E R A D VA N TA G E3

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Aurora Payments

God’s Garden Treasures

International Minute Press

Main Event Tempe

Milk ‘n More

Neil Riordian Center Soutwest College of Natroupathic Medicine

Rainforest Cafe

Varsity Tavern

Sweetest Season Artisan Cafe

Treasures for Teachers

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Tempe Chamber Welcomes New Staff Erika Acorn, Business Development Specialist Erika’s role is to develop and implement programs to increase membership and sponsorships.

She has worked for a nonprofit membership-based company where she was able to connect members with new opportunities and create programs that aligned with their needs. She brings experience in community engagement, brand development and fundraising to the Chamber.

“Erika has an exceptional business background with strong communication and marketing skills,” said Anne Gill, Tempe Chamber president and CEO. “She will be a great asset to the team and a valued resource for our members.”

As a nine-year resident of the Valley and a graduate of Arizona State University, Acorn is passionate about creating a dynamic community and economy for the present and future residents of Tempe. She is eager to build and maintain relationships with business in order to promote a diverse, sustainable membership.

Kristian Johnson, Marketing Specialist Kristian’s role will include all facets of the Chamber’s marketing program including website management, content creation, social media and events.

After spending most of his life in Southern California, Kristian brings nearly two decades of creative, branding, and marketing experience to the Chamber. His expertise includes both traditional and digital media, executing award-winning advertising, trade shows, and rebrands that span from small businesses to global corporations.

“We are very excited to add Kristian to the team,” said Chamber President and CEO Anne Gill. “His expertise in communications and digital marketing will serve our members well and bring immense value to the Chamber in furthering our mission to propel business success.”

Most recently, Kristian comes to serve the greater Tempe community from The QE Group, a small-business marketing solutions incubator, where he helped ideate services and strategies to help entrepreneurs make the most of limited time and budgets.

With his own parents in mind, themselves Arizona business owners for more than 30 years, it is Kristian’s goal that, through the Chamber, he can help make life a little easier for the people of Tempe’s business community and help build a more connected feeling for Tempe as a whole.

Ken Blanchard College of Business | College of Education | College of Nursing | College of Arts & Sciences | College of Fine Arts & Production

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A R I Z O N A’ S P R I VAT E U N I V E R S I T Y S I N C E 1 9 4 9 Get started today! 855.287.0174 | www.gcu.edu/inbusiness Grand Canyon University is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. (800-621-7440; http://www.ncahlc.org/ ).

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

T E M P E C H A M B E R A D VA N TA G E

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Signature Events

2019 State of the District with Greg Stanton March 22, 2019 | 9:00a – 10:15a Rio Salado College Conference Center, Tempe Each year, the Tempe Chamber of Commerce presents the State of the District, a Federal Update with our U.S. Representative for Arizona’s 9th congressional district. This event welcomes community, educational, political and civic leaders for brunch while Rep. Stanton provides an update on federal issues affecting our district, state and country.

Greg Stanton was elected in November of 2018 and assumed office on January 3rd of this year. A member of the Democratic Party, he served six years as mayor of Phoenix after serving several years on the Phoenix City Council.

The event is hosted at Rio Salado University in partnership with Maricopa Community College and the Tempe Chamber of Commerce. The public is invited to attend.

Registration is now open.

East Valley Career Conference March 26, 2019 | 1:00p – 7:00p The Falls Event Center, Gilbert The East Valley Chamber of Commerce Alliance is proud to announce a flagship workforce development event welcoming top employers for a collaborative career fair.

The event will showcase a variety of full-time, part-time and internship opportunities available throughout the East Valley, and attendees will network with many of the area’s largest and fastest-growing businesses looking to connect with talented local professionals and rising stars. Industry focus includes: Healthcare & Senior Care, Banking & Finance, Manufacturing & Skilled Trades, IT & Engineering, Education & Nonprofit.

This annual conference brings together students, job seekers and employers from the region at one encompassing event. The expo hall and informative seminars will be held from 1-4 p.m. and a VIP Business Reception will be held from 5-7 p.m. Registration is required and free to all job seekers. The VIP reception will be for invited guests and registered EVCCA Chamber members.

2019 Leadership Conference & Expo presented by the Women in Business Council May 17, 2019 | 8:00a – 1:00p Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Phoenix Tempe Each year, this powerful event brings together hundreds of business leaders in a setting that celebrates success, facilitates network development and offers incredible opportunities for personal and business growth.

A trade show featuring local and national organizations and businesses provides the backdrop to a luncheon and presentations by powerful keynote speakers. The event also features the award of Businesswoman of the Year and graduation of the men and women who participated in the 2019 Mentoring Program.

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T E M P E C H A M B E R A D V A N TA G E

State of the City with Mayor Mark Mitchell Breaks Records Innovation, Discovery, Education, Arts – IDEA Tempe was the theme of the 20th Annual State of the City Address by Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell. Hosted by the Tempe Chamber of Commerce at the Marriott Buttes Resort Tempe, the event welcomed 600 distinguished sponsors and guests to hear Mayor Mitchell reflect on the past year’s success and discuss new projects for Tempe’s future. The registered attendance was the largest in the last two decades of the event.

Presenting Sponsor Edward Jones was on hand to welcome the guests after breakfast following a beautiful performance by the ASU Pitchforks A Capella group singing The StarSpangled Banner. The morning was full of excitement as the audience heard about the success of new businesses who had moved to Tempe, job growth and the new projects underway that would bring more success and jobs to the city. At times, laughter was injected, including Mayor Mitchell joking that he had a Carvana “Token” hidden under each seat in the packed audience.

As the presentation wrapped up, the Tempe Chamber announced the 2019 State of the City date would be October 25th at the same time and location of this year’s event.

The Tempe Chamber of Commerce would like to thank the record amount of corporate sponsors, the City of Tempe’s communication team, the Mayor’s staff and the Tempe Marriott Buttes for partnering in this historic morning.

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

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Board of Directors Tempe Chamber Staff

Board Chair: Jenna Rowell Chair-Elect: Jihan Cottrell Treasurer: Jennifer Ochoa Vice-Chairs: Chad Akin, Marshall Hunt Immediate Past Chair: Dawn Hocking

Anne Gill, IOM, President / CEO president@tempechamber.org

Directors: Raveen Arora, Tracy Bullock, Mark Holthaus, Clark Landrum, Tina Lee, Kyle McIntosh, Megan Martin, Joe Theiss

Sukki Jahnke, Director of Marketing & Programs sukki@tempechamber.org Erika Acorn, Business Development Specialist erika@tempechamber.org Kristian Johnson, Marketing Specialist kristian@tempechamber.org

Ex-Officios: Kate Borders, Andrew Ching, Robert Cox, Shereen Lerner, Joe Hughes, Brian McCartin Committee Chairs: Suzy Greenwood, Nicole Spracale, Jenna Rowell, Glen Hayward, Don Cassano, Elaine Vreeland, Suzanne Durkin-Bighorn, Lori Zurcher

Mark Tarabori, Membership Relations Specialist marktarabori@tempechamber.org Julie Flanigan, CPA, Director 0f Finance julieflanigan@tempechamber.org Tempe Chamber of Commerce P.O. Box 28500 • Tempe, AZ 85285 (480) 967-7891 www.tempechamber.org

The Tempe Chamber of Commerce strengthens the local economy though networking, advocacy, professional development and influence. It regularly advocates for a favorable business climate through interactive public policy engagement and provides ongoing representation in government at local, state and federal levels.

CONNECT WITH THE TEMPE CHAMBER! JOIN US ON FACEBOOK /tempecc WATCH OUR VIDEOS /tempechamber

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @tempechamber

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM @tempechamber

FOLLOW US ON LINKEDIN /company/tempe-chamber-of-commerce Visit our website at www.tempechamber.org!

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About ASBA

The Arizona Small Business Association (ASBA) fosters and empowers a thriving small-business community by working diligently to advocate for legislation and regulation that supports a probusiness environment while eliminating legislation that threatens small business.

Networking Your Small Business

by Jodi Towns, ASBA Director of Partnership Development, and Founder of Networking for Healthcare & HealthNow Expo Arizona & Texas

ASBA brings relevant and dynamic

You may have the most lucrative product or

opportunity to share in-depth details about

education and mentoring opportunities

service, but how do you move from no one

your business and share what type of

to business owners to improve their

knowing about it to achieving great success

connections you are looking for.

business knowledge, solve problems and,

in business? Networking for your small

The old adage “It’s not what you know,

ultimately, become more successful. We

business is an integral part of marketing

but who you know” is absolutely true when

accomplish this by offering our members

and promoting what you offer. Networking

it comes to building a successful business

valuable programs, undying commitment

is the next step of branching outside of the

through networking. To grow your small

to their success, and the convenience and

office, meeting new people and forming

business quickly, you will need to have a

efficiency of our products and services.

new relationships. Networking can be

strong source of relevant connections in

a cost-effective way to find meaningful

your network whom you can call on when

connections for you and your business.

you need them. Networking can open the

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

Not all networking for your small

door to talk to highly influential people you

and advocacy to resources, mentoring

business is the same. There are varying

wouldn’t otherwise be able to easily talk to

and meaningful partnerships, we engage

types of networking events. Some

or find.

our members with relevant interactions

events consist of open networking, which

at every touchpoint. By staying on top of

allows attendees to mingle and have

daunting. When planning out your calendar

current trends, we ensure the tools we

conversations. It is important in open

for networking events, especially ones you

offer, as well as the extensive breadth

networking events that you don’t do all

are trying for the first time, think ahead

of insights delivered, are valuable to

the talking. To learn more about other

of who you are trying to connect with.

the businesses we represent while

attendees’ businesses, ask more questions

Meeting every single member in the room

significantly boosting the organic growth

before you share about yourself. Active

is not manageable, especially at an open

of our membership base.

listening and asking questions tells the

networking event. Walking away with two

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

other person you’re engaged in what they

or three new strong connections is far more

have to say. Forming a relationship is more

valuable. To continue to grow relationships,

valuable than exchanging business cards

plan to follow up with all new connections

when networking.

immediately. Send an email, call them and,

Central Arizona 11811 N. Tatum Blvd., Suite P-195 Phoenix, AZ 85028 p. 602.306.4000 © 2018 ASBA. A publication of the Arizona Small Business Association. For more information or to join ASBA, please contact us at www.asba.com. Section designed by the Arizona Small Business Association.

There are more organized networking

Attending a new networking group can be

potentially, set up another time to continue

groups, often called leads or referral

the conversation. To be successful with

groups. These groups tend to meet often,

networking, connections must be mutually

usually weekly, and are more structured.

beneficial. Be reciprocal by introducing your

These groups include an agenda and

new connection to your network.

introductions of each member’s business.

Finding the right networking group

Often these groups emphasize active

requires commitment. Start your new

participation by setting requirements for

year right by attending a new networking

all members to continually pass along

group each week for the next month. Allow

business leads. Some networking groups

yourself time to find the networking group

also have a business spotlight, which

that works best for you and your business.

highlights a member’s business for that

Once you find that right network, the growth

week. Utilizing this spotlight, it is a perfect

of your business is sure to come.

1

What Motivates Employees?

by Kristin Munson

Andrew Siegel decided to start looking at best practices for

Work” title. Using this model, other companies can also develop

employee engagement. For many in the HR field, balancing the

processes for how the company sets itself apart from its competition

buzzword-heavy realities of “multi-generational workplaces,” “talent

by recruiting wisely, onboarding seamlessly, administering benefits

management,” “creation of culture” and “employee engagement,” his

easily, paying accurately, training carefully and giving timely and

attention to the subject couldn’t have been more timely. As president

consistent feedback to employees. Payday HCM’s ability to attract

and CEO of PayDay HCM, while the company developed processes

and retain top talent affects not only client’s experiences but also

and participated in strategy circles to improve the experiences of

the company’s bottom line, and growing small- and medium-sized

clients, Siegel returned again and again to the same questions: What

businesses can replicate Payday HCM’s success.

motivates our employees? Why do our employees come to work?

How can our employees make a difference in people’s lives? What he discovered in his research, however, was that, while companies invest millions of dollars into improving their client experience, very few make a commitment to improving the employee experience.

Siegel set out to change that.

Southwest-based service bureau Payday HCM set out to improve the employee experience, from hire to retire. Companies taking advantage of the day-to-day employee/employer relationship have the best results in their product advancements.

What resulted for PayDay HCM was a multi-directional engagement process that energizes employees, improves communication, promotes collaboration and facilitates cultural alignment with company goals — and, most recently, winning the coveted “Best Places to

2

As Payday HR Consulting Division Director,

Payday HCM’s differentiation platform

Richard Valdez was recently quoted: “Without

became the lens through which other services

the right people in your organization, your

are viewed to help employees reach their

business is nothing but a warehouse for

individual potential. As Siegel says, “Even if

supplies and equipment. It’s the people that

you have a full-time HR manager, you can feel

make the real difference. It’s the people who

overwhelmed by the tasks associated with

differentiate your organization from your

personnel management and with reporting and

competition.”

payroll matters. But, as onerous as those tasks

Taking that philosophy to clients was not a difficult sell. Clients who had come to rely on

can be, they are only part of the ‘people’ side of operating a business.”

Payday HCM for professional HR consulting, payroll, benefits, or time and attendance

Siegel and Valdez are co-authors on a new

tracking already looked to Payday HCM as an

book with the working title Engagement, How

industry expert on employee management.

to Win the Best Places to Work Award.

For most clients, adopting the engagement

Established in 1985, Payday HCM offers

piece, and using the tools to develop

nearly 1,500 businesses support in the human

employees so they perform to their fullest

resources administration of more than 40,000

potential, became an organizational goal.

client employees. Our clients are nationwide,

For example, employee engagement tools

with local offices in Albuquerque, N.M.;

will soon help employees stay connected,

Phoenix, Ariz.; and Denver, Colo. Payday

share ideas, seek help and collaborate.

HCM is a partner in the iSolved Network, the

Employers improve productivity; find, retain

revolutionary single-source platform for Payroll,

and develop top talent; and reward innovation

HR, Time and Benefits and more. For more

and success.

information, please visit PaydayHCM.com.

ASBA STAFF LIST & TITLES Jess Roman Chief Executive Officer Debbie Hann, Chief Operating Officer Angelia Hill Senior Vice President, Marketing & Business Solutions Robin Duncan Vice President, Business Development Jodi Towns Director of Partnership Development Ashley Vizzerra Member Services Manager Genesis Garcia Marketing Manager

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

Master Your Social Position!

Social Media that gets noticed, backed by the credibility of In Business Magazine…

Marketing Automation | Social Media | Digital Products www.inbusinessphx.com 480.588.9505

3

Are You Setting Your Business Up for a Disaster? by www.technologysolutions.net

If you’re like most business owners, your computer data backups are one of those things that you rarely pay attention to.

Backups are kind of like flossing your teeth and eating low-fat, high-fiber foods — everyone knows they’re supposed to do them, but how many really do these things regularly?!?

hands-off approach can be very dangerous if no one is overseeing your computer data backup process.

With Backup Systems, it’s important to test and test again.

Unfortunately, when it comes to your backups, complacency can

With any newly installed backup system, don’t assume everything

be very dangerous. Of course, it’s always a good idea to have a local

works correctly right out of the box. Even more importantly, don’t

computer service company you can rely on for advice on selecting

take for granted that your backup system will continue working

and maintaining your computer data backups. But, unless you’re

indefinitely. You need to periodically restore some folders and files

prepared to put a full-time IT person on your company’s payroll, it’s

from your backup media to validate that your backup system still

important that you get some basic understanding of the major issues

works.

with backups.

If your automated backup routine is configured to include a

Here’s a compilation of some crucial tips on backups that we’ve

verify run with each backup job, monthly testing should be ample.

put together from nearly 10 years of helping businesses protect their

However, if you have an extremely low tolerance for risk, you may

valuable computer files.

want to simulate a sample restore job once a week.

Test your computer backups regularly and monitor their log

If your small business depends greatly on its computer systems,

files. To be effective, backups must be highly automated to ensure

backing up your data is not optional. And it is not something that can

that jobs are launched consistently and correctly, but your backup

be casually brushed off, either.

system also needs to be watched over diligently to make sure it continues to function reliably.

Unfortunately, monitoring the backup system generally isn’t a priority until something goes wrong. By then, it’s too late.

4

People have a strong tendency, with a backup system, to set it and forget it. Automation clearly has many benefits, but a totally

Use these backup tips in this article to help you become a more IT-aware business owner. And remember, when it comes to backups and your business, it is essential to have a disaster recovery plan before disaster strikes.

Taking Document Security to the Next Level

by Seth Kelly, Executive Vice President, BlueInk

In a famous New Yorker cartoon, one dog sitting at a computer

With BlueInk, we designed a Certificate of Evidence and an

declares, “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.” The cartoon’s

eSignature system that allows you to effortlessly confirm with whom

impact has grown and is now seen as prophetic. As a business, not

you are doing business and prove better-than-notary levels of

being sure who you’re dealing with can break your company.

protection for the integrity of your documents. Our authentication

Regardless of the industry, the need for immediate gratification

methods, documented in the Certificate of Authentication, include:

by the general population is more apparent than ever before

•

Photographic evidence of signee

and will continue to increase as time passes. With massive

•

SMS PIN Verification

technological advancements, we as individuals have access to the

•

IP stamp to confirm identity

most convenient means possible to catch a ride, order groceries,

•

Geographic location stamp

pay our bills and even apply for a home loan. Being able to

•

Government ID Authentication (scanned into the record of our

conduct tasks in our day-to-day life with the click of the button is a

Certificate of Evidence)

tremendous benefit to most, but the heightened risk of fraud and liability has been just as massive.

Lax electronic signature companies have created a dangerous

In addition to creating the most secure eSignature environment to date, our customizable software can incorporate additional

landscape of very insecure digital signature products that can

authentication measures through third providers and credit bureau

leave you exposed to fraud and lawsuits. The question for most

companies. The elimination of fraudulent signings leading to

companies is, how do you decide on the level of eSignature

high-risk transactions is exactly what BlueInk creates through our

authentication you need?

comprehensive identity validation measures, allowing you to expand

At BlueInk, we believe that the greater your financial risk exposure,

your company’s reach and increase efficiency, volume and satisfaction.

the higher the level of authentication you need. If you are selling a

The world of business will continue to advance through

house, handling investments, buying a car, et cetera, you’d expect

technological growth, creating highly efficient and convenient

that the level of authentication would be higher than signing an event

accessibility to consumers and businesses alike. Ensuring you are

planning contract. Unfortunately, many companies fear that if you

protected with each relationship while accommodating the demand for

want to make your eSignatures secure, you have to create draconian

immediacy is imperative to the future of your business, and BlueInk’s

obstacles that will send customers fleeing or abandon the concept of

secure environment will help ensure success today and into the future.

electronic signatures completely.

Visit www.BlueInk.com to learn more.

5

How to Create the Website of Your Dreams (even with no prior website experience)

by Louise Henry, Founder, Solopreneur Sidekick

Imagine: a stunning, professional website that brings in clients

purchase your domain, create your website, share content and

24/7, and didn’t cost $10,000+ to build.

build your email list, too — all in one place.

Think it’s impossible?

Think again.

Thanks to simple DIY tools online, you can design your dream

five tips: 1. Keep it simple — This rule applies to both the design and

website (and manage it yourself from now on, too!).

your content. By keeping it simple, you make it easier for

No more relying on Web developers to make every tiny change

visitors to navigate your site, find the content they need

you need. Now, the power is back in your hands, meaning you

and become a customer. Don’t overload your pages with

can move quicker in your business than ever before.

too much text or options, and ensure there is a lot of clean,

There are many tools out there, but my pick for a professional, easy-to-use, all-in-one solution is called Squarespace. You can

6

So how do you go about ensuring it’s dream-worthy? Here are

empty space.

2. Simple, Not Boring — Just because you’re following tip

number one, doesn’t mean your site has to be boring. It’s important that you infuse personality into your website. The more it’s jumping off the page, the better!

3. Maintain Brand Consistency — Before you create your website, it’s important to create your brand identity. This means the colors, fonts and style of images you’re going to share.

Decide on these and then keep them consistent across your entire website. (Hint: Squarespace does this automatically for you!)

4. Create a Funnel — It’s actually not what you can see, but what is happening behind the scenes of your website that is most important. Every site needs a marketing funnel in place that takes someone from a first-time visitor to a customer. This is why building your email list is so important. You can offer something for free in exchange for an email and then follow-up with strategic emails that sell your product on autopilot. (Hint:

While DIYing is totally doable, it can still be a challenge, which

Squarespace recently added this functionality to its platform so

is why I’ve put together an easy, step-by-step program that walks

you can collect email addresses and create your funnel, too).

you through exactly what to do. You can try it for free by going

5. Need-to-Know Basis — The biggest mistake I see new business owners making is providing too much information on

to solopreneursidekick.com/join.

Louise Henry has helped hundreds of self-proclaimed “non-

their website. With every page and paragraph you add to your

techie” entrepreneurs from all over the globe build their own

website, ask yourself: Does the visitor need to know this in

website with her simple, step-by-step system. You can find her

order to become a customer? If the answer is no, scrap it!

at solopreneursidekick.com or on YouTube chatting all things websites!

DONATE. VOLUNTEER. CHANGE A LIFE. HELP A CHILD BUILD CONFIDENCE & REALIZE THEIR POTENTIAL

BBBSAZ.ORG (602) 264-9254

7

The Advantages of One Benefits System

(to be sure your business is ready complaint with 2019 mini-COBRA requirements)

by Denise Haney, TASC Regional Sales Director, Total Administrative Services Corporation

Andrew Westle | Chair General Counsel Soaren Management, LLC

Your job is hard! As a small-business owner, you have a lot of different balls to juggle and things to

Jennie King | Vice Chair Salt River Project

manage, and you don’t have time for complex and confusing benefit plans — which we all know isn’t

Mike Leeds | Past Chair Pro Sales Coaching, LLC

going to get easier any time soon, especially since there’s currently more than 70 years’ worth of laws

David Bones | Treasurer The Kenrich Group Phoenix

on the books! And every time there’s new legislation, it feels like you have to find another vendor with

Daniel Schenck | Board Development Clark Hill PLC

another solution, and there’s yet another thing to buy, right?

Small business can benefit from using one

Kerry Stratford | Secretary The Caliber Group

vendor for all their benefits administration. One system is the answer. With an integrated program

Jason Trujillo | At-Large Woodbury Financial

management system, you can easily get information on your current benefits, which allows you to

Otto Shill Jennings, Strouss $ Salmon, PLC

make timely decisions for your business. You don’t have to waste too many hours extracting data and consolidating information before you can make an informed decision.

In order to function optimally, however, human

universal solution to handle your benefits tasks is a nearly immediate improvement in terms of

and resources in place. TASC (Total Administrative

administrative efficiencies in compliance with

Services Corporation) Universal Benefit Account

the new 2019 state mini-COBRA law. This new

has taken all the disparate functions of plans like

law requires businesses that have 19 or fewer

FSAs, HSAs, tuition reimbursement, charitable

employees to make continuation of medical

giving and more, and unified them into one simple

insurance coverage available to employees who are

platform. You as the employer can choose from

enrolled in their employer’s fully insured medical

more than 30 accounts and offer benefit plans, on

plan three months or longer when they leave or

par with large companies, without the hassle and

are terminated from that employ. To address this

work of multiple vendors.

new state requirement, TASC created our Arizona mini-COBRA administration package, which

benefits once the universal system has been

affords you the opportunity to have one company

implemented. Employees would have one card, one

completely administer this new COBRA requirement

website and one mobile app, ultimately improving

for a nominal one-time set-up, monthly and annual

company satisfaction. A one-system platform is

renewal fee. That way, you know you’re completely

designed around how people think and work, so

compliant and can rest assured that, if any

you spend less time getting more: more employee

questions arise pertaining to this new law, you have

satisfaction, more opportunities to make a difference

the correct resources in place!

and more time to focus on what matters to you. The

8

One of the most obvious benefits of using a

resources departments must have the right tools

Companies can immediately enjoy many HRIS

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

To learn how TASC can assist your business

TASC Universal Benefit Account makes benefits

with state and/or federal benefit/compliance

really feel like benefits!

requirements, visit www.tasconline.com.

Janice Washington Arizona Small Business Development Center Network Valerie Wynia Arizona Public Service Lisa Hunt BANNER / AETNA Jon Rosenburg Levrose Commercial Real Estate Eric Knott Arizona State University, W. P. Carey School of Business; FinePoint HR Rick Murrary Arizona Chapter National Safety Council Frank L. Divers Business Development Specialists, Inc. Genia Kehayes Experience Scottsdale Patrick J. Van Zanen MARGRAVE CELMINS, P.C.

Acorn, Erika, 45

Griffin, Pamela, 32

Mercer, Paul, 40

Savron, Doris, 29

Biely, Michelle, 14

Gross, Beth, 10

Miller, Liz, 13

Sheth, Beerud, 38

Brown, Mike, 10

Haney, Denise, 56

Mitchell, Mark, Mayor, 47

Shin, Jason, 12

Carter, Louis, 31

Healey, Doug, 12

Mooney, Mike, 58

Siegel, Andrew, 50

Chaurasia, Varesh, 18

Henry, Louise, 54

O’Toole, James, 31

Strella, Rachel, 36

Colangelo, Jerry, 9, 25

Johnson, Kristian, 45

Patterson, Michael, 22

Tilton, Mike, 18

Cross, Andrea, 16

Kelly, Seth, 53

Prising, Jonas, 20

Towns, Jodi, 49

Daniels, Jenn, 33

Klier, Dan, 20

Quade, Kristine, Dr., 33

Valdez, Richard, 50

Eisenberg, David, 16

Loo, Leonardo, 10

Roelofs, Scott, 14

Walton, Malani, 33

Gibb, Randy, 27

Marcel, Brian, 30

Salyer, Patrick, 13

Wilson, Rob, 11

Goes, Paulo, 28

Mercer, Bethanie, 40

Savoia, Alberto, 31

Wisneski, John, 26

4C Medical Group, 18

Employco USA, 11

Snell & Wilmer, 3

Alliance Bank of Arizona, 2

Enterprise Bank & Trust, 8

National Organization of Women Business Owners – Phoenix, 34, 35

APS, 21

Equiant, 11

Arizona Small Business Association, 49

First Bank, 6

Arizona State University, 25

Gilbert Chamber of Commerce, 33

Arizona Technology Council, 35

Gilbert, Town of, 33

North Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, 35

ATHENA Valley of the Sun, 33

Grand Canyon University, 27, 45

PayDay HCM, 50

Technologysolutions.net, 52

Bank of Arizona, 15

Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, 35

Peoria Chamber of Commerce, 35

Tempe Chamber of Commerce, 34, 35, 41

Barrett-Jackson, 12 Bicoastal Legal Solutions, 20 Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona, 55 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, 18, 60 BlueInk, 53 California Pizza Kitchen, 40 CBIZ & MHM, 7 CBRE, 16 Chandler Chamber of Commerce, 34 Chief Marketing Officer Council, 13 Cigna Corporation, 12 Colangelo College of Business, 27 Creative Center of Scottsdale, The, 14 Desert Financial Credit Union, 5 Economic Club of Phoenix, 34 Eller College of Management, 28

Networking for Healthcare, 49 New Pathways for Youth, 43 Newland Communities, 16

Griffin Group International, 32

Phoenix Metro Chamber of Commerce, 34

Gupshup, 38

Point B, 16

Hungry Howie’s, 40

Quarles & Brady LLP, 10, 23

Insight, 12

RCG Valuation & Monetization, 14

Jaguar, 38

RealVNC, 12

JDM Partners, 9

Recognize, 11

Jive, 6

Rob and Melani Walton Foundation, 33

JLL, 17

SAP, 13

Kryon, 11

Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce, 35

La Grande Orange Pizzeria, 40

Small Giants, LLC, 12

LemonShark Poké, 40

Solopreneur Sidekick, 54 Spear Education, 10 Spencer Fane LLP, 22 Strella Social Media, 36 Surf, 8

Total Administrative Services Corporation, 56 UnitedHealthcare, 19 University of Phoenix, 29 University of Arizona, 28 USA Basketball, 9 W. P. Carey School of Business, 25 Wallbeds ‘n More, 39 Washington Federal, 10 WESTMARC, 35 Wonderspaces, 12

Lincoln Property Company, 16 ManpowerGroup, 20 Mayo Clinic, 59 MBDA Business Center Phoenix, 34 Mesa Chamber of Commerce, 34

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

Bold listings are advertisers supporting this issue of In Business Magazine.

OUR PODCAST: Join us for interesting, informative and inspiring conversations with top local businesspeople in the Greater Phoenix area.

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Mike Mooney — whose career (it could be said) has been going in circles for the last 25 years in the motorsports industry — delivers practical and ready-to-use personal branding and reputationbuilding strategies in his book Reputation Shift – 5 High Performance Truths for Success.

Mooney has launched and led awardwinning marketing and communications campaigns for companies that include MercedesBenz, 3M, Tylenol and Walmart. He is also recognized for his work in crisis and reputation management, having led dozens of crisis recovery efforts over his career.

He now works with leaders, entrepreneurs and business owners to help them proactively shift the way they value, manage and build their brands and reputations. mikemooney.com

FEB. 2019

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BY

Personal Reputation Audit We never grow in the status quo

by Mike Mooney

I speak with leaders and entrepreneurs on a regular basis about the power, value and need to proactively manage our reputations. In those discussions, I’ve heard responses like, “Reputations are important, and it seems like something I should keep an eye on, but it’s not very tangible to me.” In other words, it seems like a soft skill.

But nothing could be further from the truth. Suppose we ask the leaders at Marriott, Papa John’s Pizza, Facebook or Michigan State University if what people think of their brand is a soft skill. Perhaps we’d learn more of the tangible nature of personal reputations if we had the opportunity to ask Matt Lauer, Lance Armstrong, Brian Williams or Harvey Weinstein.

They would all tell us that our reputation is gold and that they wished they had done a better job of protecting theirs. It’s not easy, but it’s doable.

It doesn’t just happen. We have to be proactive. There’s a perfect storm rolling over us right now! We have a values gap in behavior among leaders that litters the headlines. Combine that with the fact that we are all now citizen journalists carrying smartphones to capture events, and we have a hyperconnected and shareable world that social media channels have created. The end result is, our reputations are now more fragile than at any other time in human history.

With the stakes so high, doing nothing is not an option.

Below, I outline the key steps to perform a Personal Reputation Audit that will help you get a reputation baseline to weather this perfect storm by learning where you are today and then building on what you learn.

There are several ways of conducting a Personal Reputation Audit. The first is doing an online search to see what surfaces about you. The second requires courage and you will, more than likely, get uncomfortable. This is where most people stop and don’t move forward. But what new heights could you reach if you did?

1. Identify a core group of people and explain what you are trying to do. These are people whom you know well and trust or whose insight you respect.

We are multidimensional people, so we need to gain a multidimensional perspective on our reputations. In a way, our reputations are like mosaics instead of one crisp image. That is why it’s important to identify a wide range of colleagues,

In today’s hyper-connected and shareable world that social media channels have created, our reputations are now more fragile than at any other time in human history.

clients, friends or family who know you and have seen you in different areas of your life.

2. Listen to what is being said; don’t react or try to defend yourself. If your helpers begin to sense that you’re getting defensive, they will naturally begin dialing back the feedback being shared. After all, they didn’t accept your invitation to coffee or lunch to get into an argument or have to defend what they’ve heard or experienced. Be respectful of what you say in response to their comments. In fact, try not to say anything other than, “Thank you for being honest and helping me.” Also, be mindful of your body language. Our body language will speak more honestly and clearly than any words we can push out of our mouths!

3. Take notes so you can reflect. Please don’t rely on memory for this exercise! Consider organizing your notes by the different people in your life and the ways you interact with them.

For example, the categories could be “work,” “family,” “friends” and “community.” By looking at your notes and the trends or themes that emerge, you will see what behaviors or perceptions appear more consistently. This will allow you to focus your energy and attention in specific areas of your life or recognize where your actions and decisions weren’t holistically congruent.

4. Digest the feedback and develop an action plan.

Now, take a moment and pause! Don’t dwell on your reputation of yesterday and today, rather focus on your future. Also, don’t try to change or develop everything at once. Prioritize the areas that need your attention before moving on to other audit points. For example, in your “work” category, are there consistent themes of unresponsiveness? Perhaps, not actively participating in meetings? Those would be two immediate areas where you could have impact with daily and deliberate actions. As your progress continues, you can then move on to other audit points.

Remember, the intent of this audit is not for it to be a personal beat down; rather, it should serve as a source of empowerment to help you harness your potential. Find that balance to improve your strengths and strengthen your weaknesses. Consistently put your actions into play and you will realize how, over time, your (and your organization’s) reputation will improve and you will reap the benefits in all aspects of your life.