The foreclosure rate in the Phoenix-area housing market is dropping, with none of the shadow inventory (from anticipated foreclosures) in the wings, according to the latest report from Mike Orr, director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at the W. P. Carey School of Business. Investors are still driving the market, as the ordinary homebuyer who needs to secure … [More]
Touchscreen Innovation in Airport Dining
HMSHost debuted the latest innovation in its dining service — Presto tablet, a table-top touchscreen that lets diners order and pay for their meals quickly and conveniently — at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. “We wanted to test it out in an airport where management is open to new ideas. … Also, this is one of the busiest terminals,” says Paul Mamalian, chief … [More]
Thunderbird’s Student ‘Action Learning’ Serves Free Consulting to Businesses
Teams of students attending the world-renowned Thunderbird School of Global Management have, for years, been solidifying their classroom learning with “action learning” in the real world, working with businesses to consult on actual challenges. A new collaboration with Local First Arizona aims to encourage more local enterprises to get involved in this opportunity to gain … [More]
Bytes: August 2012
Legally Speaking FordHarrison, a national labor and employment law firm with offices in Phoenix, has launched its KnowledgeCenter, which is a virtual library offering blogs, publications, alerts, news and training materials. SourceBook is a subscription-based service that provides information on state and local employment laws. fordharrison.com Job Find Most are not … [More]
Building Profits in Pampering
Having survived the recession that hit the economy only a couple of years into their entrepreneurial endeavor, Chandler-based Fuchsia co-owners Lisa Vukovich and Erin Owens recently moved their day spa into double the space. They attribute part of their success through the downturn to providing the pampering of a spa at an affordable price. Says Vukovich, “Clients who were … [More]
Business Model Innovates Insurance Sales
Exploding out of its home base of Jacksonville, Fla., Brightway Insurance is bringing its new model of insurance brokerage and franchise opportunity to Arizona. It plans to follow its recent opening of one store in Scottsdale with 52-68 stores throughout the state in the next few years. Calling Brightway an “insurance retailer,” David Miller, co-founder and CEO, explains … [More]
Consulting Concept Supports U.S. Economy
The trend of businesses outsourcing IT support to overseas companies not only reduces employment opportunities domestically but depletes our pool of knowledgeable workers from which innovation and future advances will come. Businesses’ gain, of course, is saving money, but the talent drain is an issue that has been recognized by economists. Amerishore, an IT service provider … [More]
Bytes: July 2012
Home-grown Alphastripe.com This global online network is exclusively for members of the military, their families, humanitarian organizations and civilians to share their war-time stories and connect in one place from around the globe. ASU students and co-founders Eli Chmouni and Pete Chinnici created this social network that has launched its beta site. … [More]
Bicycle as Commuter Transportation Means Business
Located in the Tempe Transportation Center close to a light rail station, The Bicycle Cellar serves not just recreational cyclists but those who make bicycles part of their commute-to-work transportation. Bicycling enthusiasts Joseph Perez and John Romero came together as business partners and opened the store eight months after the light rail opened, providing showers, … [More]
Marketing and Packaging Partner into a New Company
PRfect Retail was created as the perfect fit between a national packaging and display company — California-based Heritage Pioneer Corporate Group — and a marketing and advertising agency — Phoenix-based PRfect Media International. The two companies came together to create a new model for the retail packaging and POP display industry, what PRfect Media CEO John Hernandez calls … [More]
Discovery Triangle Vibrant with Entrepreneurial Activity
With about $2 million invested in active projects this year alone, the Discovery Triangle — an area of amorphous shape that takes in Downtown Phoenix, Tempe and Papago Park, one of the country’s largest urban parks, which sits on both cities’ boundary — is seeing a wave of entrepreneurial activity. In a year when the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity ranks Arizona the … [More]
Explosive Growth for Software Company Sends It to Chandler’s Price Corridor
Growth mode for Infusionsoft is bringing hundreds of new jobs to Chandler. The company, creator of all-in-one sales and marketing software for small businesses, is far surpassing its goals for this year, says co-founder and CEO Clate Mask. Having added 100 employees in the past 12 months, it expects to grow to 300 by the end of 2012 — with projected growth supporting employee … [More]
