A ban on smoking is an emerging trend in multifamily residential properties, gaining traction especially over the past two years, according to Bryan Fasulo, regional property manager for national multifamily management company Pinnacle, which manages Residences at Fountainhead, a development at Tempe Town Lake, and Proxy 333 in Downtown Phoenix. Support programs in Arizona are … [More]
The True Cost of Online Loans
It’s a common situation. A business owner needed a loan to grow his business, and, since banks require a substantial amount of paperwork the borrower didn’t have time to produce, he went with an online quick loan provider. The loan application took only about 20 minutes, with minimal fuss and paperwork. The borrower wasn’t a fan of the automatic payments, but it reduced the … [More]
STEM on the Raceway
Getting into summer camps seemed an attractive business move for Octane Raceway, but General Manager JP Mullan says the company wanted to offer a program with quality educational value. Brought together with Engineering for Kids, in the East Valley, they partnered to “come up with a one-of-a-kind inspiring summer camp” that, says Mullan, they hoped would be equally attractive … [More]
Hygiene as Opportunity
“There are business opportunities up and down every street,” says Scott Sheldon, who recently purchased an Enviro-Master franchise that launched the hygiene company’s presence in Arizona. Restaurants, perhaps not surprisingly, are a big part of his business, but he points out, “Anybody who has a public restroom needs this service.” The distinction between a hygiene company … [More]
Workforce Training
GamEffective is a Workforce Gamification platform. It helps companies set and manage personalized benchmarks for performance, learning and development, driving employee performance, motivation and learning. Managers set goals, desired behaviors, benchmarks or learning sequences. They can also set next-best-action sequences for employees. Employees use the platform to track … [More]
Streamline Your Workflow
Scottsdale-based Swiftpage, a leading CRM software provider, has released a new Act! Outlook Add-In on the Microsoft Office Store. With this new add-in, Outlook and Act! users will be able to streamline workflow, save time and ensure they maintain a complete record of all customer and prospect interactions, and make use of a host of other useful features. … [More]
Job Relocation Tool
FlyingYak, an informational and social site that provides data on cost-of-living and lifestyle factors for more than 1,000 cities globally with more than 235 data points, all while connecting peers, is a great tool for those considering relocating their career to find more information on what it is like to live and work in these cities. … [More]
Video Marketing as ROI
Marketing is a tough business, and Manley Films & Media has created Manley Manuals, videos that will clue business owners to the importance of good marketing, how to spend their money, and the value of a visual calling card for their company or services. Learn to create a budget, determine which tactics are the best fit, and implement proven strategies. Manley Films & … [More]
Good Buy, Canada
Real estate in the Valley of the Sun, and Arizona generally, continues to attract investment from Canadians. “Phoenix is a destination of choice — one of the top three Sunbelt states for Canadians to visit or retire to,” says Alain Forget, director of sales and business development for RBC Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Canada, which provides U.S. banking … [More]
Video West Stages New Site
LGE Design Build has completed construction on Video West Inc.’s new 40,000-square-foot office/warehouse headquarters in Phoenix. Video West Inc., a national audio visual rental and staging company, moved from Tempe to its new location near Loop 202 and 52nd Street and also Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, doubling the size of its former space. The new building … [More]
The Hard-of-Hearing Workforce
Accommodating hard-of-hearing or deaf employees need not be the intimidating effort many employers anticipate, points out Sue Kay Kneifel, statewide coordinator of the Arizona Department of Security’s Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Services, which has made educating employers on this workforce issue its focus this year. In Arizona, 1.145 million people age 20 and older are … [More]
Apt Apps
Top apps are a best practice when on the run and using mobile devices and tablets. Here are some that we have found to be most useful. Dropbox Nothing new here, but anyone not using Dropbox is likely not truly working mobile. It is the place for photos, documents, videos and other files. The files are safely backed up and available everywhere and on all devices. … [More]
Financially Serving the Hispanic Market
There’s more to serving the Hispanic market than simply translating messaging into Spanish. Language is a component, “but you need cultural relevance,” explains Luis Soto, a driving force in Vantage West’s recent designation of “Juntos Avanzamos” (“Together We Advance”) from Texas’s Cornerstone Credit Union League. “Vantage West is the first credit union outside the … [More]
The Expanding ATM Network
Allpoint recently added QuikTrip as a retail partner to serve the Phoenix area. The company works with banks and credit unions to provide surcharge-fee ATMs to the institutions’ customers at convenient, premier retail locations — the kind of well-known and trusted retail brand names that are already part of people’s daily routines. Financial institutions are moving to a … [More]
New Model in Real Estate
A new model of real estate brokerage firm debuted in the Valley earlier this year. Local real estate entrepreneur John N. Vatistas created Launch Real Estate with, initially, a handful of personally selected top-producing real estate brokers. “While it is common among traditional real estate brokerages to house agents of varying skills sets and experiences, from novice to … [More]
Making Change through Innovation
Changemaker Challenge is an opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students from all four Arizona state university campuses to make a difference in local and global communities through innovation. Students can win up to $10,000 to make innovative project, prototype, venture or community partnership ideas happen. This year, more than $40,000 was handed to several … [More]
Top Temp Talent
BlueCrew’s on-demand staffing platform automates the screening and matching of the most-qualified and -trusted candidates to the right jobs. Its algorithms empower employers to cut through the clutter of thousands of temporary job candidates to hire top temporary talent at the click of a button for positions that include movers, drivers, forklift operators, warehouse staff, … [More]
Global Payments
Bitwage combines cloud, mobile and blockchain technology to make international payments faster and simpler. The average to pay employees, freelancers and contractors across borders is five days and 8 percent. With Bitwage — founded in 2014 by a team of former Oracle employees — wage payments can be as fast as same day and as low as 1 percent. Companies can use Bitwage to pay … [More]
