Greater Phoenix is the fifth-largest metropolitan area in the nation, so it’s no surprise that there is nothing static about our business community. With a strong core of major corporations and a thriving startup community, business here is continually pushing new boundaries.
One way I believe we can help our own businesses to grow is to support other businesses in our community, including some of our direct competitors. Our firm is in the middle of the resurging Phoenix Warehouse District, and, as architects and with me as the chair of the Warehouse District Council, we are promoting every business, property owner and resident, and are collectively providing grassroots, volunteer-led effort to brand and promote the area. No city in the United States has a brighter future to rebuild and reenergize its urban core than Phoenix. Our missing ingredient in downtown for the past two generations is people. Now, Phoenix is on a tremendous trajectory, with thousands of housing units recently finished or underway, with business expansions, retail, transit options, and food and beverage growth. There could not be a more exciting community to work in as a designer and visionary.
February’s cover story takes a cross-section of core business sectors and examines the direction select businesses are taking to grow. Those at the helm of leading businesses in, technology, hospitality and more share with In Business Magazine some of the challenges they encounter and strategies they implement that are changing the face of business in the Greater Phoenix area. Another story of “changing the face of business” comes from the example of competing marketing agencies creating a collaborative community of support for each other. In Business Magazine editor RaeAnne Marsh shares their experiences and surprising insights in “Competitors Build on Collaboration.”
Continuing series from local industry experts are Bruce Weber and Charlie Smith’s articles on capacity building for for- and not-for-profit organizations, Tyler Butler’s articles on the social impact being made by businesses here, and the first in a new series from Eileen Rogers on how risk plays a role in business.
Regular departments of Healthcare, Technology, CRE, Legal, Economy and more offer new information on trends, advances and opportunities and even cautions for businesses, from startups to major corporations. In Business Magazine continues to be a resource to help strengthen the Valley’s business community.
I hope you enjoy this February issue of In Business Magazine; I’ve enjoyed working with the editorial team to bring it to you.
Sincerely,
Brian Cassidy, AIA
President and CEO of CCBG Architects, Inc.
Chair of Phoenix Warehouse District Council
Brian Cassidy, AIA, is the president of CCBG Architects, Inc., which has studios in downtown Phoenix and San Diego. His firm has been involved in many adaptive reuse and mixed-use high-density housing projects in Greater Phoenix, including several thousand new apartment units and a diverse body of warehouse renovations that are breathing new life into our city. Cassidy passionately advocates to build Phoenix into a world-class city in which to live, work, worship and play.
