“The state that made the most aggressive, best moves competitively is Arizona,” states Barry Broome, CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, singling out the tax and economic policies of the past five years. In his view, they comprise the single most positive impactful decisions the state has made in 30 years “because they were governed by what will grow the economy around … [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]
Healthcare and Open Enrollment: The Employer’s Role in Employee Choices
For many, healthcare insurance has been a personal or family need they have taken care of through their employer. Now, whether or not they continue to have a policy purchased through their employer, employees are asking their employer for the information on what the employer will offer and whether those offerings will meet the individual’s “shared responsibility” requirements. … [More]
Technology: Marketing
Technology is giving merchants a newer, slicker, 21st-century way to offer customers reward/loyalty programs, signaling a shift away from those wallet-clogging buy-ten-get-one-free punch cards. Indeed, merchants of all kinds are signing up for tech programs that enable them to keep tabs on their regulars and reach out to new customers while the customers pile up reward points … [More]
End the Performance Review
As a business consultant with organizations, both big and small, I regularly hear a litany of complaints about performance reviews or appraisals than range from “The formality of the appraisal stifles discussion” to “They are too infrequent” to “They are rarely followed up.” Please don’t get me wrong — I am not against performance feedback. In fact, I believe it is one of the … [More]
Contracts: Terms, Time and Negotiation
With so many different types of business contracts and so much to understand about negotiations, disputes, breaches and litigation, it’s no wonder business owners and executives often are confused. There’s a plethora of educational articles online about contract negotiation and even some silly contract songs on YouTube, but the bottom line is that if business owners don’t … [More]
The Nonprofit Board: Financial & Legal Best Practices
Remember Enron? Fallout from the company’s corporate abuse and accounting fraud can still be felt in corporate America more than a decade later — namely through the passing of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) by Congress, which aimed to rebuild public trust in the corporate sector. While SOX is almost exclusively aimed at corporations, a number of the law’s provisions have … [More]
R. Craig Coppola: Focus on Developing Talent
Through his 38 years in commercial real estate, Lee & Associates Arizona founding principal R. Craig Coppola has discovered a very important key to success: maintaining a constant and consistent focus on building a great team. “I call myself a collector of unique abilities,” Coppola says. “Everyone has a unique ability, and on our team, each person has one that is different … [More]
Valley Companies Collaborate for Ground-Breaking Lexus App
Leveraging the companies’ individual strengths, a collaboration among three Valley companies resulted in a training app for Lexus that the car manufacturer liked so much it released publicly on iTunes. And they delivered the app in six weeks — less than one-fifth the 40 hours Lexus had been told by others the project would take. Automatik, a Tempe-based company that provides … [More]
New Law Encourages Data Centers
The Arizona Legislature established a tax incentive program in September 2013, encouraging mid-size and large companies to move their computer data centers to Arizona. Qualified data center owners and operators will be exempt from all transaction privilege taxes, use taxes and local levels of purchasing data center equipment for 10 years. Data centers that fall under the … [More]
Phoenix Strong for Real Estate Investment
Buchanan Street Partners’ recent acquisition of 180,000-square-foot Stapley Corporate Center in Mesa for $32.5 million brought the real estate investment firm’s total assets in Phoenix to 1.4 million square feet. For the Newport Beach-based investment firm, “Phoenix is an attractive place to do business,” shares company president Tim Ballard. “We expect commercial real estate … [More]
Implement a Successful Worksite Wellness Program
Successful worksite wellness programs help improve employees’ health and productivity and reduce medical costs for employees and the company. Here are 10 tips for employers to implement an effective wellness program: Understand the Company’s Work Force. Review past insurance claims data, employee surveys and health assessments to select wellness programs that address the … [More]
Speaking to the Internet
Translate Your World International, developers of linguistic and mobile marketing technologies, released the latest update to its groundbreaking TYWI-Live (“tie-wee”), the voice translation software that translates what people say in real time into 78 languages. The update adds cutting-edge WebRTC capabilities. WebRTC is designed to enable Web browsers to transfer spoken words … [More]
Predict Churn and Retention of Customers
Predict customer risk using Bluenose Analytics’ advanced algorithms and proprietary health score engine. The health score gives an accurate view of customers’ health, using any factor and weighting that the user chooses. Get alerts on changes to customer health and mobilize immediately. … [More]
Bettering Business
Coming from the Better Business Bureau, the organization that pioneered the concept more than 100 years ago, and boasting the most trusted search platform to find reputable business services locally, the Accredited Business Directory is now online. Designed to be easily navigated, the online directory also is backed by research, including phone calls — to ensure quality … [More]
ACA Company Profiles Demonstrate Economic Growth
The Arizona Commerce Authority is promoting economic development through professional video company profiles available on its website — companies like Pivot Manufacturing, Frito Lay, Instant Bioscan, Nichols Precision, Kahtoola and many more. Through interviews with the companies’ key executives, these high-quality pieces speak to the power of what Arizona has to offer … [More]
C-Level Partnerships Affect CMO Compensation
A new “CMO Compensation Report” from the Chief Marketing Officer Council reveals that chief marketing officers (CMOs) who report directly to CEOs are likely to earn more than their peers. And CMOs who forge close partnerships with chief financial officers and chief information officers are among the highest paid. This may support intuitive logic, but the CMO Council’s executive … [More]
An Instant Classic: Paul Martin’s American Grill
Homemade dishes with the finest ingredients at a great price was the concept developed by Brian Bennett and Paul Fleming. Known for their successful restaurant concepts, they have now launched Paul Martin’s American Grill to be that great neighborhood joint to get some well-known dishes and fresh and flavorful creations made of locally sourced ingredients. Recently opened in … [More]
