Over the past couple of years, business owners have been working to determine how best to comply with federal healthcare coverage requirements and provide competitive healthcare benefits to attract and retain the work force their business needs. In the ongoing and congruent effort to also control healthcare costs and improve the bottom line, businesses continue to seek … [More]
MaryAnn Guerra, BioAccel
Arizona has been recognized by Fast Company as the top state for entrepreneurial activity. And small business is a significant economic driver for our state, as it is for the country as a whole, powered in large part by technology. Technology development is moving at great speed, emanating from many diverse sources and a variety of fields of study. The problem is not in … [More]
Beau Lane, LaneTerralever
How the world views you, how people react to your product or service — this is the realm of marketing that is fueled by the interactions marketing creates. As your consumer-facing voice, marketing increasingly drives consumers’ engagement with you, creating both challenges and exciting opportunities for your brand. Marketers are now accountable for much more than a … [More]
Glenn Hamer, Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Regulation is a framework for business. It can be a strong support by which businesses can grow and thrive, but conversely can be a tight mesh of barriers that obstruct efforts by businesses to develop. Arizona is widely viewed as a state whose regulatory environment is conducive to business. Former Gov. Jan Brewer made regulatory reform a hallmark of her administration. One … [More]
Senator Jeff Flake, United States Senator – Arizona
Immigration is a hot-button topic throughout our country, and policies impact many aspects of our lives. Whatever problems our country faces, we continue to be seen as the “land of opportunity,” attracting people for educational, business, political and personal reasons. The topic is especially compelling here because Arizona is a border state. Our focus in this December … [More]
Amy Hillman, W. P. Carey School of Business
Having your own business has long been a part of the American dream, even more so now given the recent employment market. But starting a business and nurturing it to success requires a multitude of skills. To succeed, you’ll benefit from knowing the basics of business — but even business degrees won’t be enough if you don’t have a unique strategy that creates value. You’ll … [More]
Ron Butler, Ernst & Young LLP
Business giants had to grow into their footprint. Whatever idea or inspiration was the foundation for the business’s inception, successful growth required the same thing: effective management of the business’s assets. Capital — its acquisition and disbursement — is arguably the most significant element of a business’s operations. Ron Butler is the managing partner of the … [More]
Sandra Watson, Arizona Commerce Authority
Sandra Watson brings more than 20 years of economic development leadership experience to Arizona. She and her teams have attracted hundreds of companies to Arizona that have invested billions of dollars in capital and created more than 75,000 quality jobs for the state. Strengthening the economy through high-value job creation is a primary focus of our state’s economic … [More]
Rudy Parga Jr., Ryley Carlock & Applewhite
Rudy Parga is Managing Shareholder of the law firm Ryley Carlock & Applewhite. He has a broad commercial and employment litigation practice, and previously led the firm’s Litigation group. Parga is named in multiple editions of Best Lawyers® and Southwest Super Lawyers®, and has garnered recognition locally as well. He is also frequently acknowledged for his community … [More]
Rick Murray, Arizona Small Business Association
Small business is big in Arizona. It is both an economic force and an important employment producer, and comprises 97 percent of all businesses in the state. Contributing to this is the level of entrepreneurship here. In recent years, Arizona has been ranked by such respected sources as the Kauffman Foundation and Fast Company as the No. 1 state for entrepreneurial activity. … [More]
John Solheim, Karsten Manufacturing Corp./PING, Inc.
Manufacturing in the Valley runs the gamut from large fabrication facilities to small “mom and pop” shops like we once were when we first began making putters in my dad’s garage. Manufacturing is an economic engine that supports other industries as diverse as hospitality, construction and healthcare. For some, the word “manufacturing” may conjure up images of conveyor belts, … [More]
Jane L. Morris, A.A.E., Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Authority
Phoenix is one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country, and it is coming back strong after taking a bad hit in the wake of the housing collapse five years ago. The Valley is diversifying its economy and creating multiple centers as economic engines. At Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Authority, we’re working strategically to keep this “economic engine” running strong … [More]
Linda Hunt, Dignity Health Arizona
With all the debate over healthcare, an aspect that gets little attention is the role of the healthcare consumer. But the more engaged the individual, the better the health outcome should be — and when this is translated to the workplace, employers are finding that engaging employees in their healthcare impacts the company’s healthcare benefits cost. The question is, how do … [More]
Mark B. Bonsall, Salt River Project
Providing the energy that enables businesses to succeed and commerce to thrive is vital. Utilities such as Salt River Project (whose history is rooted in the provision of water and hydroelectricity) have the power — literally — to help deliver economic growth to the Valley, and it’s a responsibility we take very seriously. Looking ahead, the emphasis in the utility industry … [More]
Bob Parsons, GoDaddy
One of Arizona’s economic strengths is its wealth of entrepreneurial activity. In fact, our state ranks among the highest in the nation for start-up enterprises. Businesses span the gamut from service to high-tech. Entrepreneurs from all walks of life start and develop businesses, feeding our economic engine with the fuel it needs to grow. This entrepreneurial activity … [More]
Governor Janice Brewer, State of Arizona
Since the statewide economic slide of the recent recession, Arizona economic development agencies and business leaders have focused on diversifying the state’s economy beyond the boom-and-bust industries of tourism and construction. Efforts have ranged from identifying sectors built around the “knowledge worker” whose employment helps drive an economy forward and upward to … [More]
Patricia Reiter, Rob and Melanie Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives
We’ve come a long way from just a couple of decades ago when “going green” was a choice companies or individuals made in spite of the cost involved. If you define sustainability as economic prosperity, environmental resilience and social justice — or, more simply, the future we want — businesses and organizations in Arizona are leading the way. Today, as businesses operating … [More]
David Bruno, DHR International
On the subject of jobs, the rhetoric can get very heated as numbers are cited and calls to action urged. Arizona’s unemployment figures during the recession were near the top in the nation, and in the recovery some sectors are complaining of not enough workers. But numbers do not define the bottom line in today’s employment picture. Arizona is seeing growth today in almost … [More]
