Arizona’s strength in technology is broad. Leading and emerging companies in a wide range of technology sectors have operations in our metropolitan centers and are helping Arizona claim a reputation as a second-to-none business destination.
Arizona has a wealth of assets that we can leverage to build an ever-stronger and more diversified economy. Our enterprising and active tech community, strong higher education institutions, talented work force and business-friendly amenities, including one gigabit per second Internet service, are all important parts of Arizona’s strategy to recruit new businesses — and accompanying high-paying jobs — to our state. Businesses today consider strong technology infrastructure a “must-have,” and Arizona’s smart elected officials and business leaders have led the charge to invest in enabling technologies such as next-generation broadband service. Keeping Arizona on the cutting-edge of technology drives innovations that address critical needs, such as improvements in healthcare and education, while helping all businesses improve their productivity and efficiency.
Reaching out to individual companies for insights into their respective fields, In Business Magazine presents an overview of the economic sector that will sustain Arizona into the future. Companies include longstanding leader Microchip Technology, which has helped Arizona be 4th in the nation in semiconductors and electronics; Axosoft, an information technology company founded by one of the Valley’s technology pioneers; and TGen, an important force in the key realm of health and bioscience.
Financial wellness is another growing area of business, and In Business Magazine editor RaeAnne Marsh discusses why and how companies are focusing on this as a benefit to their employees. Scott James probes the question of what differentiates experts who have developed a brand around their expertise and those who, in spite of being good at their work, are not able to launch a truly successful platform. And discussing customer loyalty as a growth predictor, Jeff Sauro offers tips on how a business can measure it and use that data.
The regular monthly departments inform on topics that range from business security protocols to choices of where to enjoy a business lunch. This issue also presents a Top Tech special section, with profiles on some of the Valley’s leading companies.
I’m pleased to help bring you this June issue of In Business Magazine, and hope you enjoy it.
Sincerely,
Ken McMahon
Vice President of Sales for the Mountain West Region
CenturyLink
Ken McMahon is the vice president of sales for the Mountain West region of CenturyLink. He oversees strategic partnerships that support Enterprise customers in Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. His organization helps today’s IT organizations solve complex business challenges such as the explosion of applications, big data and data quality, security threats, cloud migration, upgrading existing networks and more, and he is responsible for CenturyLink’s revenue growth in these business segments.
McMahon’s 18 years’ experience in the telecommunications industry encompasses leadership roles in operations, marketing, e-commerce and vendor management. He currently serves on the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and is the incoming chair for 2015-2016. He also serves on the Patrick Peterson Foundation.
