During the boom, cities went wild and planned as if the growth stage would never end. One result was an overbuilding of retail on virtually every corner. This was fine when homes were occupied, but when the Valley went bust, retail space became a different story. This was a huge mistake, according to Barry Broome, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, … [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]
Collaboration Challenge: ‘Playing Nice’ Can Be the Enemy
Collaboration is the buzzword of today. Right along with creativity and innovation, everybody’s talking and writing about it, but what does it really mean for business? While it may be a great concept, the real challenge — and the enormous business opportunity — is to learn to collaborate in a way that makes a positive difference to the business. An organization may attempt to … [More]
Architecture: Building Our Business Environment
An old motorcycle dealership that is now a vibrant coffee and wine bar. An old abandoned produce warehouse transformed into a stylish and modern office building. A multi-story, multi-use contemporary building complex in the heart of a thriving waterfront location. These are just a few of the many architectural projects that not only provide places for people to work, eat, shop … [More]
Action in the Valley’s Commercial Real Estate Market
In the office market, Metro Phoenix led the nation with a 3.9-percent increase in asking rents from the end of 2013 to the end of the first quarter of 2014. This has occurred while vacancy rates have remained flat, says Craig Henig, senior managing director of the CBRE Phoenix office. The reason? “Large blocks of space are in short supply,” he says. There is both speculative … [More]
Cassidy Turley
Cassidy Turley is a leading commercial real estate services provider with more than 4,000 professionals in more than 60 offices nationwide. With headquarters in Washington, D.C., the company represents a wide range of clients — from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies, from local nonprofits to major institutions. The firm completed transactions valued at $25.8 billion in … [More]
Cushman & Wakefield
The Cushman & Wakefield of Arizona office has been serving clients since 1987 and has become a highly respected commercial real estate advisor. The Phoenix office supports a full range of commercial real estate services, including brokerage (office, industrial, retail, multifamily, medical office, tenant representation and investment brokerage), corporate occupier and … [More]
NAI Horizon
As members of the largest world-wide network of owner-operated, local market-leading commercial real estate brokers, NAI Horizon is a respected local-market role model, passionate about the commercial real estate business. NAI Horizon has provided a full range of Commercial Real Estate services for more than 23 years, including brokerage, property management and appraisal … [More]
PPACA Impacts Healthcare Provider Businesses
The uncertainty about healthcare that abounds among employers generally is also an issue among healthcare providers. “We seem to be at a watershed moment for where the future of healthcare-delivery financing is going,” says Greg Vigdor, president and CEO of the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association, referring to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as well as … [More]
Drugs and Work Safety Liability
Drug and alcohol abuse costs business multiple billions of dollars in workers’ comp accidents, increased healthcare costs and productivity, including theft to fund the habit. Says Julie Pace, partner at The Cavanagh Law Firm, “There are all kinds of reasons why employers should care about having a good drug and alcohol policy, making sure they test on it, [because of] its … [More]
Dr. Audrey C. Menard: Keeping Command of Campus
As the new Head of School for Rancho Solano Preparatory School, Audrey C. Menard, Ed.D., credits delegating and collaborating as two keys to her success. She does this, she explains, by creating teams of employees with various strengths to handle different responsibilities. Also, by remembering that she runs a business — albeit one that emphasizes creating outstanding students … [More]
Trade Show Displays Made Easy
Air is what powers Skyline’s breakthrough exhibit system called WindScape. Fabricated with a bladder system that creates the framework, WindScape inflates in three to four minutes. It also offers the convenience of being lighter-weight than traditional exhibit systems. Where a traditional 10-foot backwall will weigh 60 to 80 pounds, a 10-foot WindScape backwall weighs about 20 … [More]
Business Starts with a Wine Glass and a Paint Brush
Franchisees of Arizona’s first Painting with a Twist, Shernell and Jeremy Mays, say they fell in love with the concept from their first experience as customers. They decided to open a studio for the art class/social hour in Tempe when they moved to the Valley from Texas last September, and Shernell says she’s found the business environment very supportive. “At Tempe Chamber of … [More]
Brokering Real Estate Through Extreme Collaboration
ABI Multifamily takes a collaborative approach to what has, traditionally, been a competitive one in creating a team to serve investors in the multifamily sector of commercial real estate. “We are all seasoned brokers, and we leverage each other’s strengths,” says co-founder John Kobierowski, referring to partners Rue Bax, Eddie Chang, Doug Lazovick and Alon … [More]
Kiosk Company Shows What It’s Made Of
Although it’s a B2B company and its showroom is open only by appointment, Zivelo has chosen Scottsdale Fashion Square for its corporate headquarters. The company designs, manufactures and distributes self-service kiosk and digital signage systems intended, according to company founder Ziver Birg, to “change the way humans interact with machines.” Birg says the unique space he’s … [More]
Ecommerce in an Instant
Building one’s own business online is easy these days, and Shopify, Inc. is a complete online e-commerce solution to sell and manage a product-based business. With templates online or by creating a personalized one, it is as easy as uploading the products, information, images and logos to be open for business worldwide. A trusted solution, Shopify advises on how to sell, market … [More]
Mobile Apps Keep Folks Reading
On-the-go reading of books on business or articles that can help a businessperson to success are as close as the three most useful eBook apps — Kindle by Amazon, Barnes & Noble’s Nook and Apple’s iBook. These free apps are downloadable to PDIs and allow users to purchase and read books from any of the three services. The different services have lending programs and offer … [More]
Legal Through a Click
LegalZoom.com, Inc. has widely been received as a valid option for businesses, for smaller documents and ongoing corporate compliance. Setting out to create new standards and convenience for business owners, the accredited site offers legal protection in the areas of trademarking, business start-up in all 50 states and other common legal issues. For the more complex needs, the … [More]
