I’ve built my career helping companies create cultures that "wow" their people — cultures where leaders motivate and inspire employees, fill them with purpose, challenge them and help them thrive. That's all well and good in times of prosperity. But what about in times of fear and uncertainty? As the pandemic keeps employees remotely located, furloughed, and (in the cases of … [More]
Tommy Bahama to Reopen in Arizona May 3rd with Revamped Options
Tommy Bahama has announced it will begin to strategically reopen its retail and restaurant locations across the country. Starting on May 3rd, Tommy Bahama restaurants at the Woodlands and Legacy West in Texas and Kierland Commons in Arizona will begin to offer take-out service. The retail stores at these locations in Texas will also open on May 3rd with the retail store at … [More]
Back-to-the-Workplace Security Preparedness – Are You Ready?
As portions of the American workforce transition back to working in a physical office after shelter-in-place orders lift, special considerations for security teams arise. One of the best ways to approach this challenge is to revisit the company Incident Response Plan. “A rigorously developed relevant Incident Response (IR) Plan that considers potential impact to all aspects … [More]
The Phoenix Employment Scene, Now and Next
Business leaders in Phoenix are responding to the current job market by supporting, helping, advising, connecting and encouraging each other. These leaders range from entrepreneurs and small-business owners or managers to company directors and include people who are seen as thought leaders or front-line employers in the markets that we serve. These could be small restaurant … [More]
In a Time of Uncertainty, Understanding Risk Is Essential to Business Survival

Today, more than ever, business leaders and entrepreneurs are functioning in a world that is full of uncertainty. These executives need to clearly understand the difference between what is certain and what is not, in order to identify which risks are worth taking and which to avoid. Many years ago, when I started my own Phoenix-based real estate company, I took on millions … [More]
Dental Benefits Co. Providing $500,000 COVID-19 Aid to Arizona’s Health Centers
Community health centers across Arizona are on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic to provide care for underserved and uninsured populations. As a healthcare partner and the largest dental benefits provider in the state, we continually reinforce the connection between oral health and overall health. To help support these patients in this unprecedented time, Delta Dental of … [More]
COVID-19 Buying Behavior

The bottom fell out, of course, on many U.S. consumer spending categories during the month of March. But others, like grocery, drug and discount retailers, actually climbed significantly last month as consumers cooked at home and stocked up their pantries and medicine cabinets for an extended stretch of sheltering in place. Meanwhile, consumers were doing much more of their … [More]
Orthopedic and Neurosciences Care Institute Announces COVID-19 Antibody Testing

The CORE Institute has announced the launch of its rapid COVID-19 antibody testing program. The test does not detect the virus itself, but rather antibodies in the blood that show the presence of an immune system response, typically due to prior exposure to the virus. The test is administered at select clinical locations in Phoenix with plans to expand to other markets soon. … [More]
More Than Half of U.S. Employees Worry about Exposure to COVID-19 at Workplace
Fifty-four percent of U.S. employees say they are worried about exposure to COVID-19 at their job, according to a new national poll by Eagle Hill Consulting. Workers indicate that several factors would make them feel safe going back to work – the availability of protective protections like masks, gloves and hand sanitizer (58 percent); mandating employees with symptoms stay … [More]
Is the U.S. Doing Enough Testing? It’s Not Even Close
No, it isn’t – not if we look at the rest of the world. We’ve all heard that testing is a measure of how effectively a country is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. It not only helps us identify cases for treatment, it also enables contact tracing to identify other cases and control the spread of the pandemic. But how do we measure testing? And which countries are doing … [More]
Paying Attention to Mental Health Is More Crucial than Ever Before

As the USA experiences a sudden rise in remote work self-isolation and health-related anxiety, this has created a general sense of unease for many people and exacerbated existing mental health issues for many more. Following a surge in anxiety caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, managing and supporting mental health at work has never been more crucial, as research by Pews Research … [More]
COVID Consortium to Help Companies Navigate COVID-19 Testing
CopernicusMD, a leader in medical, laboratory and billing analytics, announced today the launch of The COVID Consortium, a council of physicians, business leaders, clinical laboratory executives and retired military brass focused on providing testing resources and guidance to businesses across the country preparing to re-open in the COVID-19 environment. Many business owners … [More]
Report: Hotels Require More PPP Loan Funding to Save Jobs

The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) released a new report today showing the average small business hotel will require additional funding from SBA loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in order to rehire employees or prevent further layoffs and keep their business open. AHLA also sent an urgent letter today to Congress asking for additional funding … [More]
Working Remotely, Successfully
After a month of quarantine under the pall of COVID-19, corporate leaders can take an objective look at how their companies are faring remotely. What makes working remotely successful? Companies that invested in the ability for teams to work remotely prior to this pandemic have an edge. Perhaps they already had in place a designated, ongoing channel of communication from … [More]
Business Agility: Lessons Hard-Learned amid the COVID-19 Catastrophe

If there’s one thing the global business community has learned from the COVID-19 pandemic that continues to ebb, flow and unfold on the daily — wreaking havoc on bottom lines in every corner of the world in its wake — it’s the outright imperative for companies to be agile “from top to bottom.” In fact, agility is rapidly establishing itself as “the great equalizer,” asserting … [More]
Journalists, Researchers and Marketers Navigate the COVID-19 Crisis with ‘Mapping the New Normal’ Insight Product
The biggest cultural and behavioral shifts we have ever witnessed are taking place right now, reshaping societies from the bottom-up. Audience intelligence company Pulsar has launched a free insight product to map these new emerging trends and behaviors. Using its proprietary trend detection AI, Pulsar leverages data from social media, search, news and web analytics to … [More]
Report: Perceptions of the COVID-19 Work-at-Home Transition
Due to the unprecedented impact of COVID-19, the ability to work at home is practically a requirement for much of the world. Many businesses are either shifting or have already shifted their employees to virtual offices; however, this raises a new host of questions. Questions of capability, productivity and quality of work are as important to the new remote workforce as they … [More]
Revealing the Pulse on the Small Business Community’s Experience with the COVID-19 Relief Funds
The Arizona Small Business Association (ASBA) released a survey to our small business community and members to reveal the real challenges that the business owners are experiencing navigating the funding opportunities. ASBA’s survey of the small business community found, Nearly half of our respondents are still confused by the funding opportunities that are available to … [More]













