Tempe Leadership Class XXIX donated two refrigerated food trucks worth $90,000 to United Food Bank at a ribbon cutting ceremony on April 25. Class XXIX, made up of 18 people who live and/or work in Tempe, raised $60,000 in three months to purchase the two vehicles as part of their Fresh Truck Project. The funds were coupled with a $30,000 Walmart grant given directly to United … [More]
Tempe Chamber Welcomes New Board Members
The Tempe Chamber of Commerce is pleased to welcome five professionals representing diverse organizations to its board of directors. The Nominating Committee believes that the following individuals will be instrumental in shaping the future of the Tempe Chamber. Kjell Andreassen, Managing Partner, Acceler8 LLC Kjell Andreassen is managing partner of Acceler8 LLC, a … [More]
Middle School Science Bowl
Q: At the surface of the Earth, the acceleration due to gravity is g. At an elevation of twice the Earth’s radius, what best represents the acceleration due to gravity? Odds are, members of a team from BASIS Scottsdale would tell you the answer is “g/9.” And they were just one of the teams from the charter school that competed earlier this year in the annual Middle School … [More]
The Year in Review
At our recent Annual Luncheon, we celebrated our accomplishments over the past year and shared our vision for the upcoming year. New board members and committee chairs were introduced, and we honored those moving on from their terms of service. Attendees enjoyed presentations by our leadership, an awards ceremony for our members and a keynote speech by Susan Brooks, founder of … [More]
Double Duty
Fifteen Phoenix-area high school students took their places in the spotlight after winning awards in the 2014 Arizona Science and Engineering Fair before also claiming top prizes in the 2014 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF). The Arizona fair drew more than 1,200 young innovators from across the state to the competition held March 31 through April … [More]
Credit Union and Naturopathic College Take Home Business Excellence Awards
At its Breakfast for Chamber Champions event held earlier this year, the Tempe Chamber of Commerce presented Landings Credit Union and Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine with the 2014 Business Excellence awards. “The Business Excellence Awards recognize outstanding businesses in our community,” said Mary Ann Miller, president/CEO of the Tempe Chamber. “Both Landings … [More]
New director of membership services for the Council
Brian Krupski is the newest staff member of the Arizona Technology Council, taking on the role of director of membership services. The position is similar to one he held earlier at the Tempe Chamber of Commerce, where he was responsible for membership development. Krupski is no stranger to the Council. “At the Tempe Chamber, I grew into a big fan of the Tech Council and always … [More]
Arizona Code Clubs
Ask anyone involved in hiring at a technology company and you’ll likely hear the same refrain: We need more qualified technical talent. A small, Mesa-based nonprofit is taking on finding a remedy to that problem by introducing local kids ages 8 to 18 to computer programming. The premise behind the Code Clubs of Arizona is simple: Kids and computers are a natural fit. Since … [More]
Catch Global Fever
It’s sometimes hard to pick up on this because bad news sells newspapers and drives clicks, but every year the world is getting better. Don’t believe me? Visit www.gapminder.org and see how, over the past 200 years, peoples’ wealth and health has improved dramatically. Annually, 50-100 million global citizens come out of poverty and average life expectancy continues to … [More]
Arizona’s Turning Point
Arizona has the 14th largest state population, and, as the 12th-ranked state for tourism, we’re above average. Yet we’re below average in exporting (ranked 18th) and foreign direct investment (27th). Brookings reports that in 2012, Metro Phoenix had $2.2 billion of exports with 4.4 million people, while Metro Salt Lake had over 50 percent more exports with one-fourth the … [More]
If Not Now, When? Here’s How Resources to Grow Globally
Business executives can’t be waiting around for a government entity to change Arizona’s international success. It just doesn’t work that way. But government can hinder or help. For instance, Arizona legislators passing SB1070 and SB1062 damaged Arizona’s international standing. People from around the world — and not just Mexico — continue to ask, “Why do people in Arizona … [More]
A World of Opportunity with Mexico
Mexico is Arizona’s top trading partner, with $6.3 billion in Arizona exports to Mexico in 2012 (2.9 percent of the total U.S. exports to Mexico). Other facts: There are 24 million border crossing person-trips from Mexico into Arizona each year, which accounts for 19 percent of Arizona’s international total in tourism dollars. Mexican sources are responsible for more … [More]
Canada-Arizona by the (Growing) Numbers
$2.5 billion in exports from Arizona to Canada $6 billion in FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) 1 million Canadians visiting Arizona per year 53% of international tourism dollars in Arizona come from Canadians 127 nonstop flights per week between Canada and Arizona 300+ Canadian companies operating in Arizona 17 years of Sister City relationship between Phoenix and … [More]
Be Aware of Cultural Differences
Doing business across cultures can be challenging, fun and profitable. Recruiting, hiring, decision-making, building of relationships, customer needs, and even business terminology can differ in diverse country contexts. It takes time, conscious effort and the right questions to understand how people see the world and therefore view business. For instance: In Germany, the … [More]
Government Resources that Work
Arizona companies looking to build overseas sales are wise to turn first to 20 Free Trade Agreement (FTA) partners for export opportunities. FTAs give American goods a distinct competitive advantage versus products from other countries due to reduced tariffs and a more transparent trading and investment climate. In addition to NAFTA partners Canada and Mexico (which account … [More]
To Grow Globally, Think Differently
Increasingly, Arizona companies are looking to overseas markets to do business. In this ever-evolving landscape of internationalized business, it is important for Arizona businesses to carefully consider the legal implications associated with their international business dealings. The best strategy, of course, is to be well-informed about the key legal considerations for a … [More]
Doing Business in China: Easy and Difficult
Arizona companies are successfully expanding their businesses to China, with 163-percent growth in Arizona exports to China since 2002 and 25-percent growth in 2012 alone. China is now Arizona’s third-largest trade partner, with $1.2 billion in exports in 2012 — 6.8 percent of total Arizona exports for last year. Major exports products to China include computer and electronic … [More]
Understand Anti-Corruption Laws in Global Business
Recently, several companies have publicly disclosed that they are internally investigated or are being investigated by United States and foreign governments related to alleged bribery of foreign officials in an effort to obtain a business advantage. The majority of the investigations have related to alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) or similar … [More]
