Glenn Hickman, president of Hickman’s Family Farms, comes from a long line of innovators. In the 1940s, the first generation of Hickman’s Family Farms, Nell Hickman — along with her husband, Guy — began their backyard chicken coop with 500 chickens and a back-porch store. A savvy businesswoman, Nell used her hens’ freshly laid eggs for trade and extra income. Back then, … [More]
Patterson and Clifford: Clear Vision for Clear Title Agency
Clear Title Agency of Arizona, an industry leader in commercial and residential title and escrow services, continues fast-paced growth in its 10th year of operation. Bart Patterson, chief executive officer of Clear Title Agency of Arizona, started the title company with great confidence, experience and knowledge riding on the heels of two previous successful business … [More]
Alana Mann: Diversity Proved Key in Developing the Legacy Company
Residential real estate development, building and investing has, historically, been a male-dominated industry, so for Alana Mann, owner and president of Scottsdale-based The Statesman Group, it’s been all about changing people’s perspectives. In the late 1990s, Mann took the helm of U.S. operations for her family’s 40-year-old business and was tasked with moving the real … [More]
Ryan Sarbinoff: Building Successful Investment Sales Agents
Marcus & Millichap, a national leader in commercial real estate investment sale, financing, research and advisory services, has brought in Ryan Sarbinoff as regional manager of its Phoenix office. Taking the helm as vice president/regional manager, Sarbinoff comes in with a vibrant outlook for the future of the Arizona market. Sarbinoff previously led the Marcus & … [More]
Jan Wichayanuparp: Making Ice Cream Social
Jan Wichayanuparp started her career in a very different place from where she is today as co-founder and “chief ice cream hustler” for her artisan ice cream shop, Sweet Republic. Before opening the first location in 2008, Wichayanuparp served as vice president of Asia Pacific Equity Capital Markets at Citigroup, where she oversaw equity and equity-linked transactions. It was … [More]
Rick Ueable: Reject Passivity, Stand United, Invest Internally
According to Rick Ueable, Foods 2000, Inc. was supposed to be a distant memory well before 2017. Rewind to 1983, when Ueable formally partnered with colleague Ken Clark on a business called Real Investments, a commercial real estate company that was met with great success nationwide … until the fallout from the Tax Reform Act of 1986. “The Tax Reform Act changed the way … [More]
Daniel Owen: Taking the Flooring Business to New Heights
Walking through the newly constructed 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Phoenix, Arizona Polymer Flooring CEO and co-owner Daniel Owen remains surprisingly humble. At just 36 years old, the young leader has transformed a small yet innovative mom-and-pop operation into an international concrete coatings powerhouse. Known for integrity, superior products and systems, … [More]
Michael Finn: Leading Redflex on the Road with Public Safety
The path from tech startup to a market leader is rarely straight. It’s filled with peaks and valleys that create a unique landscape, culture and opportunity in the marketplace. Over the past quarter century, Glendale-based Redflex Traffic Systems has traversed a very diverse terrain. Now, CEO Michael Finn, who has held the post since May 2015, is ushering the company into a new … [More]
Shawn Linam: Challenging the Odds in Aerospace
Shawn Linam started her career training astronauts to use the robotic arm on the Space Shuttle. In 2001, she co-founded Qwaltec, a satellite operations and mission readiness firm, which she doubled in size in two years. Headquartered in Tempe, Qwaltec has an office in Maryland as well as employees in California, Colorado and New Mexico. It has subcontracted on projects with the … [More]
Eric Miller: Riding the Wave of 3-D Printing
Flash back to 1994, and you could probably fit everyone outside of the aerospace sector in Phoenix who knew about numerical simulation and 3-D printers around one dining room table. While the technology has now entered the mainstream, that wasn’t the case back when Eric Miller and his partners were launching PADT (Phoenix Analysis & Design Technologies) 23 years ago. The … [More]
David Richardson: Shifting Course to Meet Evolving Needs
For nearly 30 years, nonprofit credit counseling and debt management agencies such as Phoenix-based Take Charge America have helped consumers nationwide repay millions in credit card debt while educating them about the path to long-term financial independence. The core of the business model has remained largely the same, yet with the introduction of newer technologies and … [More]
Chuck Vermillion: Back on the Entrepreneurial Scene with AccountabilIT
After successfully growing OneNeck IT Services for nearly 14 years and, with his co-founders, selling it in July 2011 for $95 million, Chuck Vermillion was ready to jump back into the entrepreneurial world. “I learned that when you have great entrepreneurial success, it’s unquestionably the most satisfying professional experience you’ll ever have,” says … [More]
Jeff Herzog Goes ZOG Digital
In 1998, Google forever changed the way organizations did business. By launching its revolutionary search algorithm, it made content available to anyone’s fingertips. Google quickly dominated the Internet, guiding users through a virtual ocean of information they sought with astonishing speed and precision. While Google is the undisputed king of search, one man stands apart … [More]
Jim Reavey: Melding Two Companies into a New Vixxo Brand
As Vixxo, the data-driven facilities management company is only a few months old. But launching the new brand was a very purposeful strategy, says CEO Jim Reavey. The former president of FM Facility Maintenance — with which First Service Networks integrated to form the new entity — explains that the goal was to have a brand and culture that would be created from the bottom up, … [More]
Heidi Jannenga: WebPT Niche Co-Creator
Heidi Jannenga co-founded WebPT, an electronic medical record (EMR) platform for physical therapists, with her soon-to-be husband in 2008. Before launching WebPT, she worked full-time as an athletic physical therapist managing three clinics. She describes the inception of WebPT as serendipitous. In 2007, she realized the largest expenses at her clinics were transcription and … [More]
Tim Riester: Leading the Marketing Rhythm
For more than 27 years, Tim Riester and his advertising agency, RIESTER, have been successfully creating and revitalizing brands, launching products, changing consumer behaviors and motivating people to care about issues that matter. If you ask Tim Riester why his company is so successful, he points to the strategic nature of his clients and the talents and work ethic of his … [More]
Charles A. Touché: Embracing Change as Path to Innovation
It’s often said that change is the only consistency in life. And in the insurance industry, this adage is true now more than ever. An evolving economy, rapid emergence of new technologies and a rocky healthcare landscape are among the industry’s most difficult issues to navigate. It’s Charles A. Touché’s ability to adapt to such change — quickly and fearlessly — that has helped … [More]
Chuck McLane: Accounting for CBIZ Growth
A strong focus of CBIZ’s Phoenix office is its not-for-profit practice. In fact, shares lead managing director Chuck McLane, “some of our success here has led to similar approaches in other CBIZ offices.” His office’s approach includes identifying the not-for-profit organizations in the Valley that have a meaningful purpose and are able to attract to their boards the leadership … [More]
