inside tucson business 05/11/12

Tucson housing hit bottom in SeptemberLittle-used metric found market’s low price point

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Pinal County plans bio-plantJune start-date for $100 million project

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First in classJTED named top small business

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Your Weekly Business Journal for the Tucson Metro Area

WWW.INSIDETUCSONBUSINESS.COM • MAY 11, 2012 • VOL. 21, NO. 50 • $1

NEW‘COW’

HANDS

Tucson airport to get out of business of pumping plane gasBy David Hatfi eldInside Tucson Business

As gas station owners can attest, there’s no money to be made anymore pumping fuel. Th is week the Tucson Airport Authority (TAA) board voted to get out of the business of pumping it for planes at Tucson International Airport as well.

Dick Gruentzel, vice president of fi nance and administration, said the airport authority is “losing hundreds of thousands of dollars a year” pro-viding the service.

Before the vote, TAA President and CEO Bonnie Allin told the board it appears Tucson International “is alone among comparable airports” in directly providing fueling services. Instead, she said, the model is for me-

dium-sized airports to lease fueling operations to a third-party specialist.

Th e situation at Tucson Interna-tional has been exacerbated by the fact that traffi c has dropped to less than 76,000 operations — a takeoff and landing is one operation — from 164,000 fi ve years ago, Allin said.

But getting out of the fueling busi-ness isn’t going to be easy or quick. Allin said it could take up to three years. None of the 23 employees cur-rently dedicated to pumping fuel will lose their jobs. Allin said all will be of-fered positions fi lling existing vacan-cies within the TAA.

Th e plan is to start immediately by discontinuing fueling services for general aviation aircraft and transfer-ring those operations to the four in-dependent fi xed-base operators cur-

rently selling fuel at the airport.It will take longer to change the

fueling procedures for airlines since their contracts with the airport re-quire they buy fuel from TAA. Gruent-zel said airlines that had been briefed of the plan were supportive.

“Airlines like the idea of having more control over their costs and this helps with that,” Gruentzel said, not-ing that Delta Air Lines even went so far as to announce this month it will pay $150 million to buy a refi nery near Philadelphia in an eff ort to cut $300 million a year from its jet fuel bill.

Th e proposal drew debate among TAA board members Tuesday. Chair-man Tom Zlaket argued that it was a major operational change worthy of review by the board as it progressed.

Other board members encouraged the staff of the TAA to work as swiftly as possible to make the change to cut losses.

One board member, Steve Cole, who owns a plane himself, said he anticipates pilots and fi xed-base op-erators will welcome the change. Pi-lots should welcome the new compe-tition at the airport and fi xed-based operators will lose the airport itself as a competitor.

Publicly posted fuel prices this week at Tucson International among the private fi xed base operators ranged from $6.21 to $7.39 per gal-lon for full-service low-lead Avgas for general aviation aircraft and $5.20 to $6.43 per gallon for jet fuel. TAA’s price at the Executive Terminal was $5.86 for Avgas and $5.32 for jet fuel.

Amado’s Cow Palace under new management

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State hopes

tax cut will add

business growth

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WWW.INSSSSIISISIIISISISSISISSIISSSISIIISSIIIISSIIISIIIIIIIIIIIIISIIIISIIISIIIIIIIISIIISIIIIIIISIIISISIIISSIIIIIIIIIIIISIIIIIIIIIISIISSSIIIDEDEDDEDDEDEDEDDDEDDEDDEDDEDEDEDDEDEDDEEDEEDEDEEDEDEEEEDEDDDEDEDEDDDEDDEDEDDDEDDDEDDEDEDEDEDEEDEDEDEEEDDDDDDDDDEDDDDDEDEDEDEDDDDEEEDEEEEDDDDEDDEDDDDEDDDEDDEDEDEDDDEDEDEEEEDEDDDDDDDDDDEDDEDEDEDEEDEEDDDDDDDEDEDDDEEDEEDEDEDDDDDDDDDDDEDEDEDEDEDEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDEDEEEEEEEEDEDDDDDDDEDDDDEEDEDDDEDDDDEDDDDDEDEEDEDDDDDEDDDDDDEDDEDDDEEEDEDEDDDDEDDDDEEDEDDDDDDDEEDEDDDDDDDDDDDDEDEDDEDDDDDDDDDEDEEEEEDDDDDDDDDEEEEDDDDDDDDDEDDEEEDDDEDDDEEDDDDDDEDDDDDDEEEDDDDDDDDDDDDEDEDDDDDDEDDDEDDDDEDDDEDDDDD TUTUTUTUTUTUTUTTUTTUTUTUUTUUTUUTUTUTUTTUTUTTUTUTUTTUUUTUTUTUTUTUTUTUTTUTTUUUUUTUTTUTTTUTTTUUTUUTUTUUUTTUUTUTUTUUTTTTUUUUTUUUUUUUUUUTUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCSCSCSCSCCSCSCSCSCSCCSCSCSCSCSCSCSSCSSSSSCSSCSCSCSCCSSCSSCSSSCSCSSCSSSSCSCCCCSCSCSSSSSCSCSSSSCSCSCSCSCCCCCCCCSCSCSSSSCSCSCSSCSSCSSSSSCSCCCCCCSCSCSSCSCSCSSCSSCSCSCSSCCCCCCSCCCCCSCSCSSCSCSSCSCSCSSSSCCCCSCCSSSSSCSSSSSSCSSSCSSSCSCSSSCSSCSSCSCSSCSCSSSSCSCSCSCCSSCSCSCSSSSSSCSSCCCSCCSSSSSSSCCCCSCSSSSSCCCSCCCSCSSSSSSSCCCSSCSSCSCSCSSCSSCCSCSCCSSCSSSSSCSCCCCCSSSSSSSCCCSCCCCCSSSSSSCCCCSSSSSSSSSCCCCCSCSSSCCCCCSSSSCSCCSSSSSCCCCCCSSSSSSSCCCSSSSCSSCCSSSSSSSSCSSCCSSSSCSCSSCCCSSSCCSSSCSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOONOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BUSINESS.COM ••••• •• •••• •••••••••• MMMMM M M M M MMMMMMM MM MMM MM M M MAY 11, 2012 • VOL. 21, NO. 50 • $1

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under new managementPAGE 9

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2 MAY 11, 2012 INSIDE TUCSON BUSINESS

1 Wells Fargo is the #1 SBA 7(a) lender by dollars according to the U.S. Small Business Administration as of September 30, 2011.2 Based on data from U.S. Small Business Administration, for federal fiscal year 2011.All credit decisions subject to approval.© 2012 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. Member FDIC. (709199_04421)

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MAY 11, 2012 3InsideTucsonBusiness.com

Public Notices 6Lists 7Profile 9Inside Media 11Meals and Entertainment 12Arts and Culture 12Briefs 16

People in Action 17Finance 18Real Estate &Construction 19Biz Buzz 20Editorial 20Classifieds 23

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CARTOONISTWES HARGIS

Airport fi nishes 20 yearsof ‘sound-proofi ng’ homes

Can you hear me know? Hopefully, resi-dents of 1,121 homes near Tucson Interna-tional Airport are saying “not so much” these days.

After 20 years, the Tucson Airport Author-ity has fi nished insulating homes in neigh-borhoods near the airport to cut down on the amount of noise residents hear from over-head planes. In addition to the homes, one school, Mission Manor Elementary School, 600 W. Santa Rosa St. in the Sunnyside Uni-fi ed School District, was also insulated.

Jill Merrick, vice president of planning and development for the airport authority, said the voluntary program retrofi tted eligible sin-gle-family homes with specialized doors and windows and modifi ed ventilation systems at no cost to the owners. Eligible homes were within a contour using a formula to measure sound levels averaging 65 decibels over a 24-hour period.

Nearly all of the retrofi tting was done in neighborhoods northwest of the airport.

At an average cost of $26,600, the $30 mil-lion program was funded through grants from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Arizona Department of Transportation with matching funds from the Tucson Airport Au-thority.

Richard Miranda named Tucson city manger

After eight months, Richard Miranda had the “interim” part of his city manager title re-moved Tuesday by the City Council.

Miranda, who had been assistant city manager, had been given the reins after the council voted to fi re Mike Letcher. Miranda had also been chief of police. As city manager, Miranda’s salary is $200,000.

NEWSWhat’s in a name? Somebody thought Lindy’s on 4th was moving By Patrick McNamaraInside Tucson Business

It came as a surprise to the owners of Lindy’s on 4th last week when some of their neighbors congratulated them on fi nding a new and bigger location.

Th e news was all the more a shock be-cause Lindy’s hadn’t actually found a new home for the venerable Fourth Avenue burger joint.

“I don’t think it’s a surprise that we’re looking for a larger space,” said Brian Pracko, part-owner of Lindy’s.

Pracko said Lindy’s wants to remain on Fourth but has outgrown the tiny restaurant at 431 N. Fourth Ave. Th ey’d like a new home on Fourth but have yet to found it.

Th e confusion started when fellow Fourth Avenue merchants and property owners in late April received a letter from City of Tucson Planning and Development Services giving notice of a request to modify development regulations for 201 N. Fourth Ave., property just north of the underpass at Stevens and Fourth avenues.

Th e letter and an accompanying map identifi ed Lindy’s on 4th as seeking to mod-ify certain development requirements such as changes to building setbacks, trash col-lection and parking.

Th e owner of the property, Dennis Tom, has been shopping new tenants for the loca-tion.

Th e architectural fi rm Norris Design was working for Tom and submitted plans to the city, which include designs for a new restau-rant. Th ose documents, however, never re-fer directly to Lindy’s on 4th, rather just de-scribing the project generically by address.

Also, city documents show the name American Junkie typed on an earlier ver-sion of the map that was dated Feb. 27. But the name was scratched out and someone handwrote Lindy’s on 4th above it.

City spokesman Michael Graham said that was how the document was received.

“As to why it was changed, we don’t know,” Graham said. “Th at’s how it came to us.”

American Junkie has a bar and restau-rant in Scottsdale, and is owned by Sophia M. Entertainment.

Earlier this year the property owners called a public meeting with neighbors on Fourth Avenue and the surrounding residential areas to get feedback about a possible tenant. Th at possible tenant was American Junkie, which neighbors had mixed feelings about.

Pracko said the letter sent to neighbors was not a big concern for Lindy’s, but he didn’t want people to think the restaurant was associated with a previously proposed tenant.

“Th e neighborhood was so opposed to American Junkie that we didn’t want them

to think we were a part of it,” Pracko said. Th e incident brings up questions about

whether the city has any measures in place to prevent someone from appropriating a business’ name when fi ling paperwork with the development services department or if any additional controls are necessary.

Th e incident also could simply be a matter of miscommunication.

“In a sense it doesn’t matter what name is on the application because it would stay with the property owner,” Graham said.

He said the city attorney and develop-ment services head were looking into the matter.

A call to Norris Design was not returned by publication time.

Contact reporter Patrick McNamara at pm-

[email protected] or (520) 295-4259.

Property owners near this parcel at 201 N. Fourth Avenue received a letter from the city notify-ing them that the owners of Lindy’s on 4th had requested to modify development standards to build there. The problem was that Lindy’s doesn’t own the property or intend to move there.

Patri

ck M

cNam

ara

Arizona Pest Control

updates bug app Got strange looking bugs in or near your

house or work? Arizona Pest Control has an app for that and it has just been updated and improved.

AzPest.com Pest ID Pro, which was fi rst in-troduced a year ago, allows users to update a photo of the pest that needs to identifi ed. Th e updated version includes a pest gallery to help users more quickly identify intruders.

Th e app is downloadable from the Apple store and is also available for iPads.


Council votes to put $20 million to repair major roads, residential streetsInside Tucson Business

The Tucson City Council voted Tuesday (May 8) to allocate $20 million for road repair work in the fiscal year starting July 1.

The unanimous vote starts the process of repairing the more than 25 percent of major roadways and 55 percent of resi-dential streets in the city that are either in failed or poor condition, according to a Tucson Department of Transportation analysis.

The sources for the funding include refi-nancing the city’s Highway User Revenue Fund (HURF) debt to free up $12 mil-lion, a reallocation of $3.5 million from

the city’s current year HURF budget, with the remainder pulled from other budget areas.

In a memo to the council, Assistant City Manager Andrew Quigley wrote that state HURF contributions to the city have declined a total of $13 million since 2008.

In fiscal year 2011, the city received more than $43 million in money from HURF, which comes mainly from gas taxes. In that same fiscal year, the city put nearly $20 million of the HURF total into the road repair and maintenance budget, which made up 96 percent of the sector’s total budget.

Quigley notes the city should consider finding additional sources of income to

pay for repairs. “The city cannot rely on HURF alone

and expect (to) maintain its assets in a manner expected by the public,” Quigley wrote. “The lack of investment manifests itself in an ongoing need for pothole repair and further damage to our streets.”

In addition to the added money for road repairs, the city has tentatively scheduled a public hearing to discuss a possible bond election to fund long-term infrastructure and road improvements.

A proposed goal of the bond would be to provide up to $20 million per year over five years to repair roads.

The date for a public hearing on the goals has not been set.

NEWSIn last-minute drive, lawmakers approve slash to capital gains taxBy Hank StephensonInside Tucson Business

PHOENIX — In the fi nal hours of this year’s regular legislative session, lawmakers approved a package of tax cuts and tax ex-emptions designed to help small business-es and start-ups, and spur investment from corporations and individuals in Arizona.

Th e tax cut and credit package slashes the capital gains tax on personal invest-ments, increases the business personal property tax exemption and extends the net fund operating loss tax credit. Th e measure was sent to Gov. Jan Brewer for her signa-ture.

“Combined (these measures) will help Arizona become even more of a pro-busi-ness state which will attract business from especially California, but other states in the union, and help put our people back to work” said Sen. Al Melvin, R-Tucson.

Th e measure would phase in the reduc-tion of the capital gains tax on long-term in-vestments, starting with a 10 percent reduc-tion in the 2015-2016 fi scal year increasing to a 25 percent reduction by the 2018-2019 fi scal year.

It extends the amount of time — from fi ve years to 20 years — businesses can claim losses against their budget to claim the state net operating loss tax credit.

Another provision creates a new income tax credit for capital investments in new or expanded manufacturing facilities, com-mercial headquarters or research facilities.

Th e measure also increases amount of equipment costs that business can claim ex-

empt from business personal property tax, from about $68,000 to more than $125,000.

Republicans said the cuts and credits are vital to a healthy economy and will spur in-vestments and reinvigorate the economy.

Th e Joint Legislative Budget Committee, the Legislature’s independent accounting arm, said the plan would cost the state $24 million in lost revenue in the fi rst year and more than $100 million per year by fi scal year 2019. Most of that would come from the capital gains tax cut.

Sen. Steve Yarbrough, R-Chandler, said the business personal property tax changes will help small and large businesses pur-chase the equipment they need, and the capital gains tax will help individual inves-tors and kick-start the economy.

“Many of us believe sincerely that if you reduce capital gains (taxes), you increase investment,” Yarbrough said. “You’re deal-ing with property or investment that has al-ready been taxed when you earned it, and this is one of the best and very wisest things you can do to improve the economy.”

Democrats complained that lawmakers only had a few hours to read extensive last-minute amendments to the bill, and that the measure was being pushed through without a full vetting. Th ey said the project-ed impact to state revenues were too much, and that there is no guarantee slashing tax-es will create jobs.

“Here we are at the 11th hour and the 59th minute passing (this legislation) with a cumulative negative impact to the general fund of over $400 million dollars, with no guarantee of job creation or revenue to the

state of Arizona,” said Sen. Linda Lopez, D-Tucson.

Sen. Paula Aboud, D-Tucson, called the measure irresponsible and said it will cost the state millions without creating any jobs.

“Not one job is going to be created by capital gains tax cuts, not one job,” she said. “Capital gains are people’s investment dol-lars, typically investing in stocks and bonds and annuities and things like that to build an income — but it doesn’t create jobs.”

A few Republicans also voted against the measure. Sen. Linda Gray, R-Glendale, said that if lawmakers couldn’t aff ord $4.7 million she had requested to help devel-opmentally disabled children, then they couldn’t aff ord tax cuts either.

“Th e one thing that just kind of tips the scale for my conscience is that when those in power wont provide the (funding) for the developmental disabilities, and yet we give the tax credit back on this,” she said. “How do I justify for those children when we do this? It just seems not right.”

Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu City, said while he supports lower taxes in gen-eral, he didn’t have time to read the bill and couldn’t vote for it.

“Th is is how bad things happen when we have not run bills through the process,” he said. “How on Earth am I expected to read a bill on the fi nal day of the legislative ses-sion that is approximately 80 pages and un-derstand it in the amount of time I’ve been given to do this?”

Brewer has until Tuesday (May 16) to sign the bill into law, let it become law with-out her signature or to veto it.

TEP parent changingname to UNS Energy

Th e parent company of Tucson Electric Power is changing its name to UNS Energy Corporation, from UniSource Energy Cor-poration.

Th e name change was approved by shared holders and will take eff ect once the company fi les its amended articles of in-corporation with the Arizona Corporation Commission.

In making the announcement of the change, company offi cials emphasized that nothing else about the company’s structure is changing. Th ere’s no merger, subsidiaries Tucson Electric Power and UniSource Ener-gy Services will retain their current names, headquarters remain in Tucson and even the New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol UNS stays the same.

Th e company said the change, which will include a new logo, is intended to diff erenti-ate the company from unrelated companies with similar names. Th e name UniSource Energy was introduced in 1998 in anticipa-tion of industry deregulation, which did not materialize as envisioned. At that time, the company made preparations to move some operations into legally separate entities that would operate under an umbrella holding company. Th e name UniSource was intend-ed to convey the concept that customers could obtain energy-related products and services from a single source.

D-M commander Cherreyto leave for Pentagon

Col. John A. Cherrey, commander of Da-vis-Monthan Air Force Base and head of the 355th Fighter Wing since June 2010, is mov-ing to the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., next month to work a staff job at Headquar-ters Air Force in an area focusing on future strategies and operational concepts for the Air Force.

Coming to replace Cherrey is Col. Kevin E. Blanchard. He is currently serving in Af-ghanistan as the vice wing commander of the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing at Kanda-har Airfi eld. It’s anticipated he will arive in August.

Blanchard has twice before been station in Tucson. Once from 2001 to 2004 as an A-10C pilot and the second time from 2007-to 2010.

“Leading the men and women of the 355th Fighter Wing has been an incredible honor, they’ve accomplished so much both here and deployed” Cherrey said in a state-ment. His tour at the Pentagon is expected to last two years.

In March, Davis-Monthan was named the winner of the 2012 Commander in Chief’s Installation Excellence Award, which goes to the best installation of each branch of the service and included a $1 million prize to be used for quality of life improvements.


New UA health board members namedInside Tucson Business

Th e Arizona Board of Regents has ap-proved a new board of directors for the University of Arizona Health Network.

Th e board’s inaugural meeting is scheduled for May 24.

Th e 17-member board is part of a downsizing of the original 27-member board, which was made up of representa-tives of the boards of University Medical Center and University Physicians Health-care.

Th e organizations merged two years ago into the University of Arizona Health Network (UAHN).

Appointment of the new board comes a year after a battle for control over the hospital erupted last spring, with state lawmakers on one side and university of-fi cials and the Arizona Board of Regents at the other.

State lawmakers had reacted to a board of regents vote in early 2011 that would have shrunk the UA healthcare board and created a new vice president position to run University of Arizona Medical Center and would have answered to regents and the university president.

Republican legislators viewed the move as an eff ort to give university academics — and by extension the public sector —

greater control over the hospital. Th e issue was temporarily resolved

when an amended version of the bill passed keeping the structure largely un-changed in lieu of establishment of a med-ical education oversight task force, which Gov. Jan Brewer established through ex-ecutive order in July.

Taskforce members were charged with recommending organizational and gov-erning reforms to University of Arizona Health Network.

Named to serve on the new UAHN board are:

• Leo Brennan, former manager of IT operations at Baylor University Medical Center and vice president of the Dean Witter Reynolds stock brokerage and se-curities fi rm. His term is for one year.

• Michael Covert, president and CEO of Palomar Pomerado Health in San Diego. His term is for two years.

• Dr. Mindy Fain, co-director of the Ari-zona Center on Aging. Her term will be for three years.

• Martha Gilliland, vice president of the Research Corporation for Science Ad-vancement. Her term is for one year.

• Herma Hightower, former director of national programs for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Her term is for two years.

• Len Jessup, dean of the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management. His term is for three years.

• Kevin P. Larson, senior vice president and chief fi nance offi cer for UniSource. His term is three years.

• Nancy C. Loftin, former senior vice president and general counsel with Pinna-cle West Capital Corp. and Arizona Public Service. Her term is for three years.

• Steve Lynn, a consultant in strategic planning and corporate governance for Tucson Electric Power, UniSource and other clients. His term is for one year.

• Dr. Diego Martin, professor and head of the UA Department of Medical Imag-ing. His term is for two years.

• Dennis R. Minano, former General Motors vice president of environment and energy. His term is for three years.

• Santiago Muñoz, chief strategy offi cer for University of California’s UC Health. His term is for two years.

• Dr. Ole J. Th ienhaus, professor and head of the UA Department of Psychiatry. His term is for two years.

Serving as ex-offi cio members of the board are Dr. Steve Goldschmid, dean of the UA College of Medicine; Jodi Mans-fi eld, CEO of UAHN; and designees from incoming UA president Ann Weaver Hart and the board of regents.

Most state employees to leave merit system, become at-will workers By Hank StephensonInside Tucson Business

PHOENIX — Gov. Jan Brewer scored a major victory on the last day of the legis-lative session May 3 when lawmakers ap-proved a plan to overhaul the rules gov-erning state workers that she included as one of the cornerstones to her legislative agenda this year.

Th e measure removes most state work-ers from the state’s merit system and trans-fers them to at-will employees, making it easier to fi re and discipline them. Support-ers said the measure emulates practices in the private sector, and makes sure the state has the fl exibility to hire and promote good employees and to fi re employees who don’t perform.

“Th e state’s personnel systems would not be tolerated in the private sector,” Brewer wrote in a January legislative agen-da document. “Hiring workers takes too long, fi ring workers is diffi cult and reward-ing employees is nearly impossible.”

Under the proposal, new employees and those who accept a new position in the state would no longer be covered un-

der the merit system. Lawyers, supervisors, information technology employees, and those above certain pay grades would also move to the at-will system. Other workers would be off ered a one-time pay bump to convert to at-will status, but may choose to stay covered under the merit system.

Th e law would not apply to university employees, peace offi cers, employees at the Legislature, civilian employees of the Department of Public Safety and a few other groups.

Democrats said eliminating the protec-tions currently provided under law would lead to political cronyism and favoritism within state government and will deny workers their right to due process. Th ey said the current rules work fi ne and the legislation is unnecessary.

“Removing the due process that protects our state employees from becoming pawns in the political games that are often played in other areas of this state, particularly in the political arena obviously, is a step in the wrong direction,” said House minority leader Chad Campbell, D-Phoenix. “And I’m not sure why we’re doing this. We do not have a serious problem with personnel

abuse in this state.” But Republicans said the worst-case

scenario Democrats predicted would not come to pass, noting that other states have implemented the same rules without lead-ing to wide-spread political cronyism.

“We have safeguards in place in this bill we’re increasing the penalties that would result if you terminate an employee or punish an employee because an employee blows the whistle,” said bill sponsor Justin Olson, R-Mesa. “We have reforms to make sure the hiring process is based on skills and knowledge and experience. We have a process for review so that when someone is going to be either terminated or punished because of disciplinary action, that review process is going to take place. So there are a substantial amount of important protec-tions in this bill.”

Th e measure would consolidate the nine systems that currently deal with the state workers in 91 agencies into one new State Personnel System under the Arizona Department of Administration. It would also give the governor power to fi re nearly every agency head in the state, at her plea-sure.

NEWSThis Week’s Good NewsTUSD high school among best

Tucson Unifi ed School District’s Univer-sity High School this week was ranked the No. 4 best high school in the nation and the No. 1 high school in Arizona by U.S. News & World Report. Th e college prepatory high school has 795 students and is housed on the campus of Rincon High School.

Once again Tucson’s Basis School, 3825 E. Second St., made the list, at No. 6 nationally, No. 2 in Arizona and No. 1 among the nation’s charter schools.

Other Tucson high schools to make the list:

• Sonoran Science Academy, 2325 W. Sun-set Road, ranked No. 144 nationally, No. 4 in Arizona and No. 25 among charter schools.

• Catalina Foothills High School, 4300 E. Sunrise Drive in the Catalina Foothills Unifi ed School District, ranked No. 378 nationally and No. 7 in Arizona.

U.S. News & World Report said its rankings were compiled from data from 21,776 high schools for the 2009-2010 school year and is based on a three-step evaluation that mea-sures how well their students are performing, especially economically disadvantaged stu-dents who typically score lower.

The Tucson

INSIDERInsights and trends on developing and

ongoing Tucson regional business news

Lower out-of-state tuition?Brain drain is an issue for the Tucson re-

gion. Th e University of Arizona can cultivate a culture of discovery and invention but once a person gets a taste of success or wants to collaborate with like-minded people, they often leave the region.

One need look no further than to Ven-tana Medical Systems, which was founded in Tucson with innovations developed at the UA but once the company was sold to Roche Group in 2008, the founding principals left.

It turns out one way to change the brain drain is to change tuition rates at the UA. One idea instituted at the University of Colorado reduced out-of-state tuition to try to attract minds from other states.

$4 a gallon gas is here While the threat of $4-a-gallon regular gas-

oline seems to have abated for now, we’ve ac-tually found a station that, to our surprise hit the market and went well beyond it. A recently remodeled convenience market called Sun-rise Market and at 4811 E. Sunrise Drive on Wednesday this week was posting its price as $4.49 a gallon. And that was down 30 cents a gallon from prices posted last week. Attempts to reach the market by phone this week proved fruitless — the voice mail box was full.


JTED career and technical program named ‘Small Business of the Year’By Patrick McNamaraInside Tucson Business

Th e Pima County Small Business Commission has given this year’s Small Business of the Year award to an orga-nization that isn’t a business at all — the Joint Technical Education District (JTED).

Th e award was presented at the Tuesday (May 8) Pima County Board of Supervisors meeting.

“Th is came out of the blue,” said Alan Storm, superintendant and CEO of JTED.

Although JTED isn’t a business in a technical sense, the organization does work closely with area businesses to prepare students for the workforce through career and technical educa-tion.

JTED serves students in Pima Coun-ty’s 12 school districts, off ering a wide-ranging classes in areas including man-ufacturing, information technology, marketing, transportation and logistics, legal areas, hospitality and other. Many of the classes take place at the JTED’s central campus, 2855 W. Master Pieces Drive off Shannon Road north of River Road, while others take place at high schools throughout the county as well as on Pima Community Colllege cam-puses.

JTED’s selection as small business of the year speaks to the role career and technical education can play in preparing and placing students in the workforce, said Edie Lake, a member of the small business commission and co-owner of Gasoline Alley, an auto shop in Green Valley.

“If we don’t fi nd ways to make the youth better, we’re setting ourselves up for who knows what,” Lake said. “What do we want from our society? Do we want people who can fi x stuff and do things?”

Th at’s what career and technical ed-ucation at JTED has been geared toward — training the next generation of young people to work in fi elds that might not

TUCSON BBB ACTIVITY REPORT | APRIL 2012Top 10 most complained about industries Complaints Settled

1. Auto repair and service 5 80%

2. Cable and satellite TV services 5 100%

3. Used car dealers 4 50%

4. Retail furniture 4 75%

5. Hotels 4 75%

6. New car dealers 3 100%

7. Martial arts supplies and equipment 3 None

8. Air conditioning contractors and systems 2 100%

9. Heating and air conditioning 2 100%

10. Forgings 2 50%

Top 10 most inquired about industries Inquiries

1. Air conditioning contractors and systems 1,950

2. Roofi ng contractors 1,287

3. Travel clubs 1,034

4. Auto repair and service 1,024

5. Plumbing contractors 843

6. Used car dealers 775

7. General contractors 773

8. Landscape contractors 766

9. Pest control services 613

10. Movers 593

Source: BBB of Southern Arizona

NEWS

Correction

The height of a proposed student housing building near Speedway and Euclid Avenue is 14 stories. A report in the May 4 issue had the wrong height.

PUBLIC NOTICESSelected public records of Southern Arizona bankruptcies and liens.

BANKRUPTCIESChapter 11 - Business reorganization Philip Philips doing business as Amphi Apartments, and Bella Amanda Philips, 3516 N. Stone Ave. Principal: Philip Philips and Bella Amanda Philips, joint debtors. Assets: $2,629,654.00. Liabilities: $1,997,897.00. Largest creditor(s): Bank of America, Simi Valley, Calif., $645,136.00; and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Frederick, Md., $339,663.00. Case No. 12-09337 fi led April 30. Law fi rm: Eric Slocum Sparks

FORECLOSURE NOTICES Conley Printing LLC 6998 and 7000 E. Tanque Verde Road 85715Tax parcel: 133-15-2890 and 133-15-2880 Original Principal: $2,700,000.00 Benefi ciary: Columbian Mutual Life Insurance Co. and Santa Fe Square LLC, as successor by assignment of the Baltimore Life Insurance Company, c/o Brian Cave LLP, Irvine, Calif. Auction time and date: 11:30 a.m., July 30, 2012 Trustee: Fidelity National Title Insurance Company, 135 Main St., Suite 1900, San Francisco

Sabino Canyon Gateway LLC Approximately 15 acres of raw land at the northeast corner of Sabino Canyon and Cloud roads and approximately 4 acres of raw land at the southwest corner of Sabino Canyon and River roads 85750 Tax parcel: 114-33-0902D6 and 114-33-002E7 Original Principal: $1,000,000.00 Benefi ciary: Garrett Holdings LLC and Gugino & Mortimer PLC Profi t Sharing Plan Auction time and date: 10 a.m., July 25, 2012 Trustee: Jeffrey M. Neff, 4568 E. Camp Lowell Drive

LIENSFederal tax liens Saguaro Canyon Ranch Development Corp., PO Box 70207, 85737. Amount owed: $195,249.26.Steve Reno Inc., 7956 E. Nicaragua Drive. Amount owed: $5.976.45. Black Jack Pizza and Ditto D Pizza Inc., 8394 E. Sarnoff Ridge Loop. Amount owed: $13,490.92.Daniel J. Rylander PC, 4340 N. Campbell Ave., Suite 266. Amount owed: $8,720.56. Universal Ranch Red Rooster Cafe and Windi D. Murray, PO Box 724, Arivaca 85601. Amount owed: $9,308.31.Southern Arizona Air LLC and Mahmood Basharat, 702 E. Fair St. Amount owed: $120,622.91. Ultima Self Defense & Fitness Center LLC and Alan Dankwerth, 7649 E. Speedway. Amount owed: $13,358.26.

State liens (Liens of $1,000 or more fi led by the Arizona Department of Revenue or Arizona Department of Economic Security.)J&S Commercial Concrete Contractors Inc., 5820 S. Nogales Highway. Amount owed: $4,245.79. Brakes & More and Ramon A. Ross, 4702 S. 12th Ave. Amount owed: $18,606.37. Oasis RV Center Inc., 211 E. Benson Highway. Amount owed: $6,006.57. MBDS Holdings LLC, 13190 N. Colossal Cave Road #160, Vail. Amount owed: $11,538.87.

Mechanic’s liens (Security interest liens of $1,000 or more fi led by those who have supplied labor or materials for property improvements.)

Robert E. Fritzkinger doing business as Fritz Trim & Landscape Maintenance against Kimberly Woods LP, By General Partner KWLP LLC, By NCH Corporation Key Principal, Michael J. Hanson By Key Principal, By Kimberly Woods Apartments. Amount owed: $47,579.42.Robert E. Fritzkinger doing business as Fritz Trim & Landscape Maintenance against Rio Cancion Apartments and Concion Long Term Investments Inc. Amount owed: $38,182.86. ECI Control Systems Arizona Inc. against CLA River LLC and Children’s Learning Adventure USA LLC. Amount owed: $12,636.00.

necessarily require a four-year college de-gree but serve a vital function in society.

When the JTED started in 2007, about 12,000 students throughout the county participated in career and technical edu-cation programs. Today, JTED has nearly doubled participation rates, reaching 23,000 students last year.

Th is even as state lawmakers enacted cuts to the program’s budget last year.

When fi nalizing the fi scal 2012 budget last year, lawmakers took $29 million from the statewide career and technical educa-tion budget. Pima County was hit with at least $10 million in cuts, which sought to save money by eliminating funding for high school freshman in JTED programs.

“Th at translated to direct fi nancial cuts to member districts,” Storm said.

Th e cuts were particularly burdensome because many of the JTED programs are based on four-years participation.

Th e JTED program still manages to place as many as 25 percent of participat-ing students in job-shadowing programs or in actual jobs, Storm said.

“I’d like to see 75 percent of our kids in job shadowing or working,” he added.

Many of the JTED programs enjoy pop-ularity among students. Th e cosmetology program off ered through JTED couldn’t accommodate the all the students who ap-plied.

Th e program has 160 opening and more than 270 students applied. Storm said state regulations mandate a 20-1 student-to-teacher ratio.

“We’re constrained by size,” he said. “Th at is never a good thing when you have to turn students away.”

Contact reporter Patrick McNamara at pm-



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Tucson housing prices to go down, then up and way up By Roger YohemInside Tucson Business

Housing price analyst Fiserv Case Shill-er’s latest commentary on Tucson’s hous-ing market sounds like a quip right out of the movie “Th e Wizard of Oz.” As Dorothy, the Tin Man and Scarecrow meekly walk through the haunted forest toward the Em-erald City, Dorothy says, “I don’t like this forest. It’s dark and creepy.”

Said the Scarecrow: “I don’t know but… I think it will get darker before it gets lighter.” Cue the lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

Th e bears are back, at least temporar-ily, and the Tucson real estate forest will get darker before it gets brighter, according to the latest quarterly data from Fiserve. Th e fi rm projects that Tucson home prices will fall 4.1 percent by the end of 2012, gain 4.1 percent by the end of 2013, then come roar-ing back with an annualized increase of 8.2 percent through 2016.

Th at gives Tucson the eighth-best rate of projected price growth in the nation.

Th rough 2016, Medford, Ore., projected to grow 11.5 percent, and Madera, Calif., up 10.3 percent, are expected to have the high-

est annualized price gains, according to Fiserve. Th e next markets, in order, will be Napa, Calif., gowing 9.7 percent; Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla., up 9.2 percent; Ocala, Fla., up 9.1 percent; and Bend, Ore., and Daytona Beach, Fla., both up 8.8 percent.

Th e index tracks home price trends in over 380 metropolitan areas.

Locally, home prices peaked in the fi rst quarter of 2006. Th rough the end of 2011, prices were shredded and fell 45.8 percent, one of the steepest declines in the nation.

Nationally, average home prices are pro-jected to hit bottom by year-end. Th e annu-alized price growth through 2016 is expect-ed to be 3.9 percent compared to Tucson’s higher 8.2 percent rate.

Th at’s good news, confi rming the bullish forecasts of local housing experts who be-lieve Tucson real estate has hit bottom and is beginning to show signs of emerging from the lion’s den.

To quote the Scarecrow: “Oh Joy! Oh Rapture!”Contact reporter Roger Yohem at ryohem@

azbiz.com or (520) 295-4254.

By Regina FordGreen Valley News

Th e Cow Palace Restaurant has changed hands once again.

Longtime owner Frank Bertolino, who took back the Amado landmark restaurant in January, is now leasing the building to Chef Jeff Clock and Catherine Rodarte, for-mer owners of the Amado Territory Steak-house. Th e couple, who had bought the steakhouse on the Amado Territory Ranch in March 2009, closed those doors at the end of March this year to take over the “Cow,” as locals call it, full-time.

Clock is familiar with the restaurant busi-ness in Southern Arizona. Prior to the Ama-do Steakhouse, he was a chef at Esplendor Resort in Rio Rico and also worked as a chef at the Tubac Golf Resort and Spa.

Clock has already made some changes. Restaurant hours are now 7 a.m. - 8 p.m., seven days a week, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner.

He intends to change the menu as he goes, “keeping the popular items like the burgers, great sandwiches and steaks” and adding a few of his own, like Beer-Battered Walleye, a dish Clock says his regulars who follow him “just love.”

“I don’t intend to turn the Cow Palace into an expensive, fi ne-dining place, but I have a real chef and sous chef whose spe-cialty is cooking from scratch. I won’t waste their talents asking them to make packet gravy mix and instant sauces when they made better home-made food.”

A popular hangout for a variety of groups like the Santa Cruz Val-ley Car Nuts and the Green Valley Branch 77 Fleet Reserve Associa-tion, Clock says these groups are still “very welcome” and he en-courages more groups to “make the Cow their place to meet and eat.”

Th e historic restaurant dates back to 1920 when Otho Kinsley established his Kinsley Ranch there. Among his credits, Kinsley fur-nished bucking horses and Brahma bulls to the Tucson Rodeo La Fiesta de los Vaqueros. Eventually a general store was established on the site and the restaurant grew from there along what was then the main high-way between Tucson and Nogales. Th e res-taurant is about 34 miles south of Tucson.

Amado’s Cow Palace Restaurant gets another new life

PROFILE

BIZ FACTS

Cow Palace Restaurant28802 S. Nogales HighwayInterstate 19, Exit 48WArivaca Junction, Amado(520) 398-8000www.cowpalacerestaurant.com

Chef Jeff Clock and Catherine Rodarte.


Backers hope second time is charm, to begin building biomass power plant in June By Brittine BahenaArizona Sonora News Service

Next month Pinal Power, a utility com-pany in Scottsdale, is due to begin the con-struction of a biomass plant that will gener-ate electricity for 20,000 homes annually by 2014.

Th is is according to Hal Mitchell, CEO of Arbutus Bio Energy, and the manager of Pinal Power. Th e plant will be in the Pinal County city of Maricopa, adjacent to an existing ethanol plant. It will cost $100 mil-lion to build of which Pinal Power will cover $40 million and the remaining $60 million will be fi nanced. If all goes according to schedule, the plant should be operational by mid-2013.

Mitchell said that building a biomass power plant was a smart business move.

“Th ere is a need for this kind of power in this part of the country and it is a clean power,” Mitchell said.

Th ough solar power is the renewable en-ergy resource that usually comes to mind in relation to Arizona, it seems that biomass energy is the emerging renewable resource for the state.

Biomass is a favorable form of energy for Arizona because the desert eco-system is abundant in materials that can be used to create biomass. Th e heat is perfect weather for algae growth. Also, all desert trees can be burned and converted into biomass, according to Doug Hanchett, president of Green Organics Recycling.

Green Organics is one of the companies that will be providing wood waste material for the plant. Hanchett said the company takes agricultural waste and converts the material into compost and biomass.

Th e plant will act as an energy generator and will not work directly with consumers. So in order for the plant to be successful, electric companies within the area must purchase energy from Pinal Power and dis-tribute it to customers.

Here is how it will work: Th e plant will burn wood waste materials to generate steam. Th e steam will then be used to turn a turbine. Powered by the steam, the turbine will turn a generator and produce electric-ity, according to documents provided by Pinal Power.

Mitchell said his company specializes in renewable energy, and has 32 years of ex-perience. When asked what environment impacts the plant will have Mitchell said, “we are carbon neutral, we put in emission control equipment to make sure that the air is clean, to make sure they are no toxins be-

ing emitted.”Hanchett said that Green Organics will

be providing 38 semi-truck loads to the plant per day. Th e plant is projected to burn 260,000 tons of wood fuel per year.

Besides providing an environmental benefi t, the plant will bring 82 new per-manent jobs into Arizona. Th e job growth will have a ripple eff ect on their business partners, according to Hanchett. Green Or-ganics will increase its work force from 22 employees to 70 to 100 employees once the plant is complete.

Th ough everything is set for construc-tion, it is still unknown whether the plant will have enough companies willing to pur-chase power in order to sustain business.

Th e plant plans to generate profi t by selling the power to local utility companies around the state.

Electricity District 3 is a utility company that agreed to rent out power transmission lines to Pinal Power, but was not interested in purchasing power from the plant.

Bill Stacey, general manager of Electri-cal District 3, said his company was ap-proached by Pinal Power for distribution business, but the company declined for two reasons: More than 20 percent of their energy already comes from renewable re-sources, and the price for power was too expensive.

Stacey explained that the cost to pur-chase power from Pinal Power would be

12 to 14 cents per kilowatt hour. Th e aver-age price for this kind of power is 3.5 cents, according to Stacey. Pinal Power would not reveal the number of companies they plan to sell energy to, or the name of the compa-nies.

Stacey also said the cost is most likely to help cover transportation, and the costs that come with building a new plant.

Th is may be a reason for concern since this is not the fi rst attempt to bring bio-mass power to the state. A biomass plant was built in Snowfl ake in Navajo County in northeastern Arizona. Th e company was owned by Renegy Holdings, according to Scott Harelson, a spokesman for the utility company Salt River Project (SRP).

Salt River Project signed a power pur-chase agreement in June 2008 with the plant. It was scheduled to last 10 to 15 years. But SRP terminated the agreement after the plant fi led for bankruptcy in 2010, accord-ing to Harelson.

“Th e facility was having some fi nancial diffi culties and frankly, was not performing as well as our expectations for it,” Harelson said.

SRP attempted to fi nd a solution more than once, and modifi ed the agreement to raise energy prices. After the company went bankrupt, the plant was purchased by the Najafi Brothers Company. SRP is currently under contract with the new company.

Stacey from Electrical District 3 also said the new plant was having trouble fi nding companies willing to invest. But Mitchell is very confi dent about the success of the company, and believes that with their expe-rience in biomass energy, the plant should be a success. “Primarily our track record is what gives us confi dence about this invest-ment. Th is is our 40th plant.”

Hanchett also said that though people will not be able to give waste material to the plant directly, there will be plenty of op-portunities for the public to put their yard waste to use.

Once the plant is built, Green Organics will create drop-off sites around the Phoe-nix area where the public can drop off their yard waste. Th e company will sort the prod-ucts and take waste that can be used for biomass.

Hanchett said the plant will benefi t the larger community because fewer items will end up in the landfi lls.

“Our goal is to have multiple drop-off sites for people to bring their waste in di-rectly when they have the material. We aim to recover some of the materials that would normally go to a land fi ll.” he said.

NEWS

A rendering of the proposed biomass plant in Pinal County.

An illustration showing the process of converting biomass into electricity.


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TV news departments gear up for May ratings sweeps By David HatfieldInside Tucson Business

You can tell May is a ratings sweeps month as TV stations pump up the news promotion efforts to try to get your attention with special series, contests and whatever else they can drum up. And if there’s one month TV stations really want to shine, it is this one because the results of the May ratings will play a large part in advertising sales for the rest of 2012.

The Nielsen Media Research sweeps period started April 26 and runs through May 23. (After that be prepared for the long summer rerun season.)

ABC-affiliate KGUN 9 is concentrating on special reports. The newly combined news operations of CBS-affiliate KOLD 13 and Fox-affiliate KMSB 11 are going to the contest bag, giving away $50 Circle K gas cards. And KVOA 4, which saw a resurgence in viewers in February, is looking to keep the momentum going and has unveiled what it’s billing as “News 4 Tucson SkyNet.”

This came from a brain-storming session started by KVOA’s president and general manager Bill Shaw when he found out Tucson’s roadways don’t have sensors to detect traffic flow like some other cities where he has lived.

“It was amazing to me that we don’t know of hazards or road problems until people notify law enforcement,” Shaw said.

He put KVOA’s operations manager Dave Kerrigan on the prowl to see if there might be cameras the station could install. After some false starts with some

cameras, Kerrigan found some that can withstand up to 135 degrees, and can be run by remote-control to turn 360-de-grees and focus.

Shaw says he expects the cameras will give KVOA a competitive advantage on breaking news because there will be no time lost waiting for a news crew to get to the scene. In fact, he said the camera system rivals what could be done with a helicopter. No Tucson TV station has had a video-equipped helicopter since KOLD grounded Chopper 13 in February 2001, after operating it for three years.

Shaw wouldn’t reveal how many cameras the station has installed but says it’s just a few shy of covering the entire metropolitan area. He says the station is still looking for a few more locations from businesses that have strategic locations with unobstructed views and access to electricity. (If you’ve got an idea for a location, call KVOA at (520) 792-2270.)

And yes, Shaw has heard the com-ments about the name SkyNet. which was the name of the artificial intelligence system in the “Terminator” movies that used robots, cyborgs and computers to terminate humanity.

“That came up but come on, that’s a movie,” Shaw said.

Names in newsThe work of Lec Coble, who as

director of marketing at KOLD 13 has played a big a role in the successes of the station the past nine years, hasn’t gone unnoticed by Raycom Media higher ups who’ve tapped him to be corporate

director of marketing. As a result, sometime after this month he’ll be moving to Montgomery, Ala., where Raycom is headquartered and puts him closer to North Carolina where he grew up. It’s a big step, Coble will help with oversight of all corporate marketing with some stations reporting directly to him for marketing. Raycom owns or provides operations services for 48 TV stations in 36 markets across the country, which as of February includes Belo-owned KMSB 11 and KTTU 18 in Tucson as well as its own KOLD.

Still to be ironed-out are some details surrounding wife Robin Coble’s firm, Go Full Steam Productions. She told me the company has bookings through the end of the year and she intends to keep it going in Tucson. Sounds like there will be a bit of commuting going on.

An overdue congratulations to Tara Torres Hungate on receiving the Medal-las de Cortez sales manager of the year award for outstanding achievement in Hispanic radio outside the top 25 markets. Hungate, who is sales manager for Arizona Lotus Corp.’s La Caliente KCMT 102.1-FM and ESPN Deportes KTKT 990-AM, received the award March 21 at Radio Ink’s Hispanic Radio Confer-ence in San Diego. The award is named after Raoúl Cortez, who put the first Spanish-language radio station in the U.S. on the air in San Antonio, Texas, in 1946 and followed that with the first U.S. Spanish TV station in 1955. Hungate has been with the Lotus stations since 1991.

Inese Kalnins has been named Arizona regional account executive for

Wick Communications, responsible for selling regional advertising into the company’s 11 Southern Arizona publica-tions, including the Sierra Vista Herald, Green Valley News and Sun, Nogales International, San Pedro Valley News-Sun in Benson and Eastern Arizona Courier in Safford. A graduate of the University of Connecticut, Kalnins began her career there in retail buying for TJ Maxx. For the past 16 years she worked for the Arizona Daily Star and Tucson Newspapers, including the last eight years as key accounts supervisor. She is working out of the company’s Tucson office at Territorial Newspapers. Wick Communi-cations publishes Inside Tucson Business.

Weekday morning talkshow host Jon Justice is due to make his first public appearance Saturday (May 12) since a second heart surgery to repair a valve leak and an aneurysm. Although he has returned to the airwaves of the Truth KQTH 104.1-FM, Justice has been doing it from home. The event Saturday, which Justice is co-hosting with James T. Harris, whose show airs from 10 a.m.-noon weekdays, is a fifth anniversary celebration for the Journal Broadcast Group’s news-talk station. The station gave away tickets on the air for the event.

Contact David Hatfield at


Inside Tucson Media appears weekly.


I Dream In Widescreen, an annual showcase of fi lms made by University of Arizona fi ne arts-degree graduates takes place at 7 p.m. Saturday (May 12) at the Fox Tucson Th eatre, 17 W. Congress St. Th e evening features 16 fi nal fi lm projects by graduating seniors.

Most of the fi lms are about eight minutes long and run the range of experimental to drama to comedy. One is a music video and another is a musical complete with singing and dancing. If you like a variety of genres in your fi lms, you’ll fi nd something to enjoy in these.

Doors open and the screenings are free but if history is an indicator, the seats will fi ll up before the fi lms begin to roll with fi lmmakers, casts and crews, and lots of friends and family of the students.

Art “Small Th ings Considered” an annual

exhibit of small artworks at the Davis Dominguez Gallery. 154 E. Sixth St., is up through June 30 with works by more than 80 artists — full disclosure, I have a piece in the show. All of the artists are either represented or are invited to participate. Th is is the 20th annual exhibit.

Another new exhibit to check out is at the UA’s Arizona Museum of Art, 1031 N. Olive Road on campus, featuring California abstract artist Joshua Olivera with a show titled “Palimpsest: an Image of What Once

Was.” Olivera’s work has roots in traditional landscape work due to the environmental and conservationist overtones the artist uses to examine past and present using non-traditional materials and methods.

Th e show will be up through Sept. 2.

FilmNow that “Th e Avengers” has

broken the U.S. box offi ce record taking in $200.3 million in its opening last weekend, not to mention what it had previously done around the world, this week we turn our cinema attention to the latest Tim Burton-Johnny Depp fi lm “Dark Shadows.”

Th is fi lm, re-imagines the iconic vampire TV series from the 1960s and early 70s in a modern world.

Indie fi lms of note opening this week include Whit Stilman’s “Damsels in Distress” and the documentary “Marley” about Reggae music icon Bob Marley, which open at the Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway.

Contact Herb Stratford at herb@

ArtsandCultureGuy.com. Stratford teaches

Arts Management at the University of

Arizona. He appears weekly in Inside

Tucson Business.

ARTS & CULTURE

UA students’ wide-screen dreams to be showcased Saturday

OUT OF THE OFFICEMEALS & ENTERTAINMENT

Zona 78’s River Road location is once again partnering with New Belgium Brewing for a beer dinner Tuesday (May 15). Th ey’re off ering a fi ve-course meal with a diff erent brew paired with each course.

Th ree of the featured beers are from New Belgium’s Lips of Faith series of infused beers, including Biere De Mars, an ale brewed with spice; Cocoa Mole, an ale with cocoa and spices; and Tarte Lychee, an American-style ale with lychee fruit puree.

Th e theme for the menu is barbecue and starts with a barbecued-glazed shrimp over a mixed green salad with a honey balsamic dressing. Other courses include mango barbecued pulled pork sliders and cherry wood smoked beef brisket with a cherry-chipotle barbecue sauce. Th e menu lightens up for dessert with a Key Lime tart paired with Tarte Lychee ale.

Th e dinner starts at 6 p.m. and the cost is $40 per person.

• Zona 78 Italian Kitchen, 78 W. River Road — http://zona78.com/ — (520) 888-7878

Cartel on the move Cartel Coff ee Lab has moved to an

expanded space a few doors to the north in their mid-town Campbell Avenue strip center.

Originally opened in the summer of 2009 as Avenue Coff ee, owners Mark and

Jennifer Harrell merged with Phoenix-based Cartel Coff ee Lab in 2010. Th e latest evolution expands the businesses focus beyond coff ee with their recently acquired

liquor license. Th ere are about a dozen beers

on the menu as well as a small wine list that is available by the glass or bottle. Th ere’s also a small menu of food items such as sandwiches available from morning to night and, with the exception of the meat-and-cheese board for $10, nothing is priced over $8.

Coff ee is still the main attraction and with the move came a streamlined pour-over

coff ee system as well as the acquisition of a new espresso machine that incorporates the latest technological advancements. As for ambiance, not only is the new space signifi cantly larger, it has a warmer and more comfortable urban-industrial look and feel. In addition to the Tucson, location, there are Cartel Coff ee Labs in Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe.

Th e Tucson location opens daily at 7 a.m. and closes at 10 p.m. Sundays through Wednesdays and midnight Th ursdays through Saturdays.

• Cartel Coff ee Lab, 2516 N. Campbell Ave. — www.cartelcoff eelab.com/ — (520) 225-0437

Contact Michael Luria at mjluria@

gmail.com. Meals & Entertainment appears

weekly in Inside Tucson Business.

Zona 78 puts together dinner of 5 courses of barbecue and beer

MICHAEL LURIAHERB STRATFORD

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GOOD BUSINESSPR CORNER

To measure or not? Making the case for public relations A veil of mystery often surrounds the art

and science that is public relations. What is it exactly? Why is it important? And, perhaps most signifi cant, what is its value?

Th ere is a general sense that PR is a necessary part of the marketing mix, but in my experience, many companies, both large and small, are not entirely sure why. Even when PR is utilized, its true value may go overlooked if outcomes are not tracked. Th is is where new measurement methods sensitive to today’s media climate play a vital role.

PR works, basically, by disseminating a message or story through a third party — a journalist, blogger, peer infl uencer, advo-cacy group, etc. — to reach a target audi-ence. Because it must pass the litmus test of being share-worthy, “earned” PR outputs are often thought of as more credible than, say, paid advertising. PR, therefore, is able to effi ciently deliver credible messages to target audiences for less money. It is this quality that makes it such a valuable resource for small businesses.

But feeling credibility is not the same as seeing its impact on business success, which brings us to the question of mea-surement.

Modern PR measurement emphasizes a shift toward measuring outcomes, rather than outputs. Gone are the days of claiming success based solely on numbers of publications clips, media impressions or (the dreaded) advertising value equiva-lency. Th ey have been replaced by more dynamic metrics.

For instance, if a business embarks on a reputation building campaign, success can be measured by a complex mix of out-comes: engagement with traditional and social media, share of voice, frequency of positive mentions, expressed opinions of preference, knowledge of the brand, along with impact on sales, share price, customer loyalty, etc.

PR plans must be based on research — truly understanding what needs to change, among what audience and what shifts in conversation will drive the right changes. With measurable goals

in place, success can be evaluated for each of the steps in the PR process.

• Measuring PR activity: events held, stakeholders or infl uencers engaged, etc.

• Measuring third party dissemination: number or articles or conversations in traditional and social media, impressions among target audience, key message penetration, shares, likes, retweets, endorsement of infl uencers etc.

• Measuring impact on target audience: awareness or reputation increase, attitude change, click-throughs, downloads, likelihood to use/buy/recommend, etc.

Lack of resources is the most common excuse for not measuring PR value. But, there are aff ordable ways to conduct both quantitative and qualitative measurement.

A focus group or short omnibus survey, for instance, can be much less costly than a large-scale consumer survey. Ongoing market research can be leveraged to set attitudinal benchmarks prior to a PR campaign and measure its impact after-ward.

If a public relations plan includes an event, attendees can be surveyed before and after. If media analysis is all your organization can aff ord, look at tone, percent inclusion of key messages, and other intangibles that are specifi c to your organization’s particular situation, such as the X% increase year-over-year in stories positioning your product as superior rather

MICHELLE STRIER

than equivalent to your competitor’s. Public relations measurement will allow

your organization to be even more targeted and effi cient with limited budgets, and a good PR practitioner can help you get there.

So when faced with the question: to measure or not to measure? Remember,

there really is no question at all.

Michelle Strier is senior vice president

at SharedVoice Public Relations — www.

sharedvoicepr.com. She is a member of the

Southern Arizona chapter of the Public

Relations Society of America, whose members

produce this monthly column.

For the latest,

follow the

leader . . .

http://twitter.com/#!/azbiz


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SMALL BUSINESSSMALL BUSINESS

Legislative session wasn’t justguns, contraceptives and scandals

I have been actively following the Arizona Legislature for about a dozen years now, and during each session there is always a theme or a polarizing issue that just seems to capture attention and monopolize headlines. When times were good and revenues exceeded budgeted projections, “feel good” public programs were introduced or expanded. When state revenues began to tank and budgets got tight, the focus turned to cutting programs, sweeping funds and raiding the state’s emergency rainy day fund. Topping them all in recent years has been immigration and the passage of SB 1070 in 2010 that is still catching headlines.

Th is year was supposed to be a “lame duck” legislative session. It is an election year and not just any election year but a presidential election year when voter turnout is usually higher. Legislators wanting to return to offi ce were expected to play it safe, complete their business and end the session as quickly as possible so they can hit the campaign trail.

Th ere might be some truth to this, but, from my vantage point, Arizona’s business community enjoyed some much-needed wins during this session of the Legislature, making it anything but a “lame duck” year.

Th is year’s session will most likely be remembered for the headlines that revolved around guns, contraceptives and scandals. Beyond that, Arizona’s business community enjoyed some much-needed wins that might have fl own under the radar because House Ethics Committee hearings were more interesting to the news media.

Still though, some of the bills that will become laws are positive steps forward on such things as tort reform, taxation and easing of regulations, even if they aren’t grand slam news stories.

Th e Arizona Small Business Association (ASBA) is pleased that a number of our priority bills were passed and signed by

Gov. Jan Brewer. Among them:

• HB 2123 that will establish a 13-member Transaction Privilege Tax Reform Commit-tee to study and make recommen-dations regarding the collection of

revenues to the general fund. Th is includes both individual and corporate income tax, as well as the transaction privilege tax, or sales tax.

• HB 2150 clarifi es language on unem-ployment insurance and essentially increases the amount of time an employer has to fi le various appeals on unemploy-ment insurance claims.

• HB 2272 will exempt private compa-nies and individuals from public records laws when working with Arizona’s public universities. Th is will protect the private sector’s intellectual property and encour-age more research and clinical studies conducted in our state.

Th ese are just a few pro-business bills that will become law as a result of this year’s legislative session.

Th ese wins may not be as attention-grab-bing as guns in public places, but they are good public policy that will contribute to improving Arizona’s business environment.

ASBA is committed to advocating for good public policy at the state and federal level and will continue to partner with other business groups with similar goals.

Jerry Bustamante is senior vice president of public policy and oversees the Southern Arizona offi ce of the Arizona Small Business Association, 4811 E. Grant Road, Suite 262, in Crossroads Festival, phone (520) 327-0222.

JERRY BUSTAMANTE

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CORPORATE REAL ESTATE SERVICES3709 N. Campbell Ave, Suite 201 | Tucson, AZ 85719 | 520.881.8180 | FAX 520.881.5844Contact us at 1.800.831.4090 or at www.cotlow.com | Dean P. Cotlow [email protected]

We confidently attack the market withbold, precise strokes.Because we know the terrain and weunderstand what you want. Resolute, tenacious, decisive, andwhen called for, daring.Some call it “nerve.” We call it“success.” You will too.

We confidently attack the market withbold, precise strokes.Because we know the terrain and weunderstand what you want. Resolute, tenacious, decisive, andwhen called for, daring.Some call it “nerve.” We call it“success.” You will too.

TOURISM IN TUCSON

Summertime in Tucson doesn’t mean you have to be a hermit Th e majority of tourists have gone and

the days might be getting warmer, but Southern Arizona still has plenty to see and do. Many of Tucson’s attractions have climate-controlled facilities or off er special summer hours to accommodate the heat.

• Th e Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, 2021 N. Kinney Road in Tucson Mountain Park, is open from 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. daily through the September. And from June through August it stays open until 9:45 p.m. on Saturdays with a reduced admission charge after 4 p.m.

• Tohono Chul Park, 7366 N. Paseo del Norte northwest of Oracle and Ina roads, also opens early, from 7 a.m.-3 p.m. in July and August. It also has some special evening events. One to check out is Bloom Night, when the famous Night Blooming Cereus blooms en masse one night of the year. Of course, nature doesn’t work on a schedule, so the particular evening is not announced until noon of that day. You can sign up to be on the “Bloom Watch” and get updated information about the impending bloom at www.tohonochulpark.org/wordpress/events/special-events/bloom-night/ .

• Tucson Botanical Gardens, 2150 N. Alvernon Way, is open from 5-8 p.m. the third Th ursday of each month, hosting a variety of entertainment, with wine and full meals available. New this summer, the gardens is introducing Hot Friday Nights on the fourth Friday of each month, June through August. Visitors are encouraged to bring their own food and have a picnic in the gardens.

For those who venture out during midday, there are many air-conditioned attractions.

• Mini Time Museum of Miniatures, 4455 E. Camp Lowell Drive, off ers more than 10,000 square-feet of exhibits show-casing antique and contemporary minia-tures sure to delight all ages. Special summer programming includes the Summer Story Series and Summer Gallery Guide: In the Goodie Old Summertime. Train enthusiasts won’t want to miss the exhibit Brass Tracks and Railroad Facts: G Scale Model Railroading, open through June 17.

• Tucson Museum of Art, 140 N. Main Ave. downtown, features a photography exhibit by Scott T. Baster titled “100 Years, 100 Ranchers.”

Discounts to all of these attractions and 49 others are available through the Tucson Attractions Passport, which off ers more

than $400 in two-for-one savings and other discounts that are available until Sept. 15 for $18. Th ey can be purchased in the Tucson Visitor Center, 110 S. Church Ave., Suite 7199, in La Placita, and the Guest Services offi ces at La Encantada, 2905 E. Skyline Drive, and Foothills Mall, 7401 N. La Cholla Blvd. More information is online at www.tucsonattractions.com .

Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson Botani-cal Garden and Tohono Chul Park also participate in a membership swap June through September. A membership at any one of these organizations entitles the bearer to a complimentary general admission at the other participating organizations.

Th ere’s no reason to get cabin fever this summer. For a complete listing of summer activities in Tucson visit www.visittucson.org .

And in case you’re thinking our conven-tion business is gone during the summer – happily that is not the case! A lot of the bigger “summertime” meetings and conventions held in the Tucson area are actually from Arizona. While our own state is a consistent top performer for bookings, this is even more the case during the summer months, particularly June and July.

State education, medical, legal and other associations religious conferences and reunions all fi nd the combination of reduced room rates, abundant meeting space — air conditioned, of course — and kid friendly amenities at Tucson area hotels and resorts a perfect, cost eff ective combination.

Most planners encourage their attend-ees to bring the family and they give them plenty of time to mix business with pleasure. Add the fact that most attendees can drive versus fl y, leaves them a bit more in the budget for activities or events when

INSIDE TRAVEL

MARCIA RING

PAMELA TRAFICANTI

they get here. Th ese extended stays help restaurants and other retailers with much-needed revenues to help them get through the “slow season.”

Contact Marcia Ring, public relations

chair for the Southern Arizona Attractions

Alliance and marketing and communications

manager for Tohono Chul Park, at marciar-

[email protected] or (520) 742-6455,

ext. 221, or Pamela Trafi canti, a national

sales manager for the Metropolitan Tucson

Convention and Visitors Bureau (MTCVB), at

ptrafi [email protected] or (520)

770-2150. Th is monthly column is prepared by

the MTCVB.


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GET ON THE LIST

Next up: Electrical contractors, Mechanical contractors, Plumbing contractors

Inside Tucson Business is gathering data for the 2013 edition of the Book of Lists. Cat-egories that will be published in upcoming weekly issues of Inside Tucson Business are:

• May 18: Residential real estate fi rms,

Real estate brokers, Appraisers• May 25: Electrical contractors, Mechan-

ical contractors, Plumbing contractors • June 1: Law fi rms• June 8: Internet service providers, Web-

site designers, Computer hardware retail-ers, Software companies

• June 15: Retirement communities, Ac-tive adult retirement apartments, Assisted living facilities

If your business fi ts one of these catego-ries, now is the time to update your profi le. Go to www.InsideTucsonBusiness.com and click the Book of Lists tab at the top of the

page. New and unlisted businesses can cre-ate a profi le by following the directions.

Th e Book of Lists is a year-round refer-ence for thousands of businesses and in-dividuals. To advertise your business, call (520) 294-1200.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

S. Tucson gets giftfor economic development

Th e University of Arizona Eller College of

Management economic development pro-gram plans to use $100,000 in grants to help businesses in South Tucson expand.

Eller has partnered with JP Morgan Chase, who provided the funds, to start the small business assistance program.

Organizers plan to work with partners such as the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and other non-profi t organiza-tions to assist with the program and provide business education classes and workshops to help area business owners.

In July, the City of South Tucson received a $300,000 grant from the U.S. Environmen-tal Protection Agency to pay for environ-mental workforce development and job training for unemployed residents to clean up polluted areas.

WATER

Tucson Water proposes rate, fee changes

Tucson Water is proposing changes in rates that would increase an average resi-dential user’s monthly bill anywhere from 74 cents to $2.36.

Included in the proposal are changes to the monthly service charge as well as the rate structure.

Informational meetings about the chang-es are scheduled for next week.

• Tuesday (May 15), 5:30-7:30 p.m at Mis-sion Library, 3770 S. Mission Road

• Th ursday (May 17), 5:30-7:30 p.m at Miller-Golf Links Library, 9640 E. Golf Links Road

Th e City Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the changes at its May 22 meeting.

BIOTECHNOLOGY

Ventana Medical gets Congressional props

Ventana Medical Systems, Inc., a member of the Roche Group, recently was honored on the fl oor of the U.S. House of Represen-tatives for leadership in cancer diagnostics that improves patient safety.

Th e Congressional Record entry, issued in honor of National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week, stated that Ventana was “the leading global provider of such patient-focused, tissue-based cancer diagnosis.”

Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, read the statements into the record on behalf of for-mer Rep. Gabrielle Giff ords.

Ventana Medical Systems, Inc., inno-vates and manufactures medical devises used in cancer diagnostics. Th e company was founded in Southern Arizona and is lo-cated in Oro Valley.

BRIEFS


PEOPLE IN ACTION

counsel. Heckele focuses on real estate and business transaction and litigation and estate planning.

Baker’s Home Furnish-ings has hired Barbara Manhardt as an interior designer. Manhardt has 25 years of interior design and merchandising experience.

NEW HIRES

Humana Inc. has hired Kristina Almada as a telesales executive. She will work with health-benefi ts brokers to fi nd opportunities for Humana’s medical, specialty and wellness product offerings.

InTegriLogic Corporation has hired Robert Tackett as an account manager. He will be responsible for business development for InTegriLogic’s network integration and backup disaster recovery solutions.

Humana Inc. has

hired Tammy Kitzman

as a small group sales executive. Kitzman will work with health-benefi ts brokers to fi nd opportunities for Humana’s medical, specialty and wellness product offerings.

Dorris & Giordano, P.L.C. has hired Mark W. Heckele as attorney of

Go Web Solutions has hired Sarah D. Fischer as a marketing specialist. Fischer will be responsible for a mix of internal and client social media marketing and inside sales for the company.

Go Web Solutions has hired Jeremy Englert as a

BARBARA MANHARDT JEREMY ENGLERT CHRIS OBEN MARY DUNKEL

web designer. Englert was the new media coordinator for Watson Chevrolet, where he established and managed Watson’s social media marketing and crafted marketing materials for print and online media.

PROMOTIONS

MHC Healthcare has promoted Chris Oben to director of operations. Oben was instrumental in the successful oversight of MHC’s 14 satellite clinics.

Donald Green, MD, UA associate professor of

MARK HECKELE

surgery, has been named director at the South Campus trauma center.

APPOINTMENTS

Snell & Wilmer attorney Stephen J. Young has joined the UApresents advisory board. UApresents, a department

of the University of Arizona, is the campus host for international performing arts groups.

Mary Dunkel, director of marketing and media for Pepsi Cola Tucson, has been named to chair the Community Advisory Board for the College of Humanities at the University of Arizona.

RETAIL

Bed Bath & Beyond to keep

World Markets separateCost Plus World Market retail stores will

operate as a separate division of Bed Bath & Beyond once the acquisition announced Wednesday closes, which is expected by the end of August.

In announcing the deal, valued at $495 million, Gene Castagna, chief fi nancial offi -cer for Bed Bath and Beyond said Cost Plus would keep its own headquarters and exist-ing management.

Th e deal announcement comes after a successful test opening small Cost Plus shops selling specialty food items inside Bed Bath & Beyond stores. It’s a concept Bed Bath & Beyond offi cials said they would like to continue growing.

In the Tucson region, Bed Bath & Beyond currently operates four stores, 4811 E. Grant Road in Crossroads Festival, 9590 E. 22nd St., 6310 N. Oracle Road and 5225 S. Calle Santa Cruz in Tucson Spectrum. Th e company has also signed a lease to open a BuyBuy Baby store in 27,000 square-feet formerly occu-pied by Linens ‘N Th ings in Foothills Mall. Cost Plus World Market stores in Tucson are at 5975 E. Broadway and 4821 N. Stone Ave.

Cost Plus was started in 1958 with a store on Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco sell-ing imported goods. It now has 259 stores worldwide. It’s corporate headquarters are in Oakland, Calif.

Bed Bath & Beyond was founded in 1971 and operates more than 1,000 stores under its brands, including its namesake, BuyBuy Baby, Christmas Tree Shops, Harmon and Harmon Face Values. Its corporate head-quarters are in Union City, N.J.

HOSPITALITY & LEISURE

BBB warns of timeshare company

Better Business Bureau of Southern Ari-zona is warning consumers about Midwest Timeshares, a Wisconsin-based timeshare reseller that has racked up 70 complaints, including two from Tucson consumers.

Th e company, which has also done busi-ness as National Timeshare Resale and Inte-grated Advertising Solutions, has an “F” rat-ing with the BBB. Complainants tell the BBB that the company charged them upfront fees, claiming they had a waiting buyer, but the buyer never materialized and promised refunds were never received.

Th e BBB said in a news release that Mid-west Timeshares has not responded to re-quests to clarify or explain.

LEGAL

Former loan officer

indicted, arrestedTucsonan Sergio Martinez, 35, a former

loan offi cer, has been indicted on fi ve charg-es alleging he participated in a scheme to defraud Flagstar Bank out of a $1.4 million loan. Although Martinez was not the listed loan applicant, he is supposed to have par-ticipated in submitting an application that contained false statements.

Th e federal grand jury indictment was unsealed March 29 and charged Martinez with bank fraud, false statement to infl uence a fi nancial institution, wire fraud and con-spiracy to commit wire fraud. In April, he was arrested in Buff alo, N.Y.

According to court documents, Martinez used the money to purchase a $1.75 million home that subsequently went into foreclo-sure. Martienz held joint title on the property.

Th e investigation was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service and the FBI. If convicted, each charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and $1 million in fi nes.

MINING

Copper miner makes top

‘corporate citizen’ listFreeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.

is the only Arizona-based company to make Corporate Responsibility Magazine’s 13th annual “100 Best Corporate Citizens List.”

Aside from the mining company, which was ranked No. 10, there were other compa-nies with connections in Arizona that made the list including IBM, which ranked No. 2; Accenture at No. 6; Coca-Cola at No. 14; Pesico at No. 22; Texas Instruments at No. 25; Target Corp. at No. 64; and Wells Fargo at No. 80.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. topped the list.Th e magazine selected fi rms from the Rus-

sell 1000 stock market index and ranked them in the areas of environment, climate change, human rights, employee relations, corporate governance, philanthropy and fi nances.

ASSOCIATIONS

Fairbanks named chamber

communications directorCarissa Fairbanks has been promoted

to communications director for the Tuc-son Metro Chamber, stepping up from her post as events coordinator. Fairbanks, who joined the chamber in August 2011, replac-es Gina Babunovic who is no longer with the organization.

Th e events coordinator post was fi lled by new hire Monique Vallery, a certifi ed Tour-

ism Ambassador for Tucson. She has expe-rience in the hospitality industry, including prior work at the Hilton El Conquistador Resort.

Prior to joining the chamber, Fairbanks was offi ce administrator for Th e Caliber Group, a local advertising and marketing fi rm, for three years. She also held a front-offi ce position with Tucson-based Monsoon Marketing for three years prior to that.

Babunovic had been the Chamber’s communications director since November 2011. Previously, she had served as execu-tive director of Youth On Th eir Own.

KUDOS

Bring funeral home

earns national honorBring Funeral Homes was awarded the

2011 Pursuit of Excellence Award by the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA). Only 147 fi rms from around the world received the recognition.

To earn an NFDA Pursuit of Excellence Award, a participating funeral home must meet or exceed business standards set forth by the program and demonstrate profi cien-cy in key areas the funeral service, such as compliance with state and federal regula-tions; providing ongoing education and professional development opportunities for staff ; off ering outstanding programs and resources to bereaved families; maintain-ing an active level of involvement within the community; participating and actively serv-ing in the funeral service profession; and promoting funeral home services through a variety of marketing, advertising and public relations programs.

Bring operates Bring’s Memorial Cha-pel, 236 S. Scott Ave., and Bring’s Broadway Chapel, 6910 E. Broadway.

BRIEFS


TUCSON STOCK EXCHANGEStock market quotations of some publicly traded companies doing business in Southern Arizona

Company Name Symbol May. 9 May. 2 Change52-Week

Low52-Week

HighTucson companiesApplied Energetics Inc AERG.OB 0.05 0.06 -0.01 0.04 0.97CDEX Inc CEXI.OB 0.02 0.02 0.00 0.01 0.10Providence Service Corp PRSC 13.33 13.67 -0.34 8.35 15.94UniSource Energy Corp (Tucson Electric Power) UNS 36.03 36.00 0.03 32.96 39.25

Southern Arizona presenceAlcoa Inc (Huck Fasteners) AA 9.11 9.73 -0.62 8.45 17.47AMR Corp (American Airlines) AMR 0.51 0.58 -0.07 0.20 8.89Augusta Resource Corp (Rosemont Mine) AZC 2.17 2.53 -0.36 2.08 5.55Bank Of America Corp BAC 7.75 8.16 -0.41 4.92 12.43Bank of Montreal (M&I Bank) BMO 55.92 58.77 -2.85 51.83 65.79BBVA Compass BBV 6.41 6.50 -0.09 6.34 12.13Berkshire Hathaway (Geico, Long Cos) BRK-B* 81.59 81.13 0.46 65.35 82.59Best Buy Co Inc BBY 20.26 22.10 -1.84 19.79 32.85BOK Financial Corp (Bank of Arizona) BOKF 56.90 57.44 -0.54 43.77 59.59Bombardier Inc* (Bombardier Aerospace) BBDB 3.77 4.15 -0.38 3.30 7.25CB Richard Ellis Group CBG 17.15 19.18 -2.03 12.30 27.96Citigroup Inc C 30.34 32.70 -2.36 21.40 44.19Comcast Corp CMCSA 29.29 30.42 -1.13 19.19 30.88Community Health Sys (Northwest Med Cntrs) CYH 23.05 24.73 -1.68 14.61 31.06Computer Sciences Corp CSC 26.82 28.20 -1.38 22.80 45.14Convergys Corp CVG 13.26 13.27 -0.01 8.49 14.23Costco Wholesale Corp COST 82.73 86.64 -3.91 70.22 92.10CenturyLink (Qwest Communications) CTL 37.94 38.84 -0.90 31.16 43.49Cvs/Caremark (CVS pharmacy) CVS 45.08 45.92 -0.84 31.30 46.22Delta Air Lines DAL 10.88 10.87 0.01 6.41 11.60Dillard Department Stores DDS 65.36 66.00 -0.64 38.99 67.22Dover Corp (Sargent Controls & Aerospace) DOV 58.41 62.17 -3.76 43.64 70.15DR Horton Inc DHI 16.61 17.22 -0.61 8.03 17.91Freeport-McMoRan (Phelps Dodge) FCX 35.30 38.12 -2.82 28.85 56.78Granite Construction Inc GVA 24.14 27.99 -3.85 16.92 30.49Home Depot Inc HD 50.20 52.71 -2.51 28.13 52.88Honeywell Intl Inc HON 58.61 60.64 -2.03 41.22 62.00IBM IBM 200.60 208.06 -7.46 157.13 210.69Iron Mountain IRM 31.06 31.10 -0.04 27.68 35.79Intuit Inc INTU 56.22 58.64 -2.42 39.87 62.33Journal Communications (KGUN 9, KMXZ) JRN 4.03 4.14 -0.11 2.69 5.72JP Morgan Chase & Co JPM 40.33 43.20 -2.87 27.85 46.49Kaman Corp (Electro-Optics Develpmnt Cntr) KAMN 31.90 31.08 0.82 25.73 38.40KB Home KBH 7.90 8.73 -0.83 5.02 13.12Kohls Corp KSS 51.38 50.69 0.69 42.14 57.39Kroger Co (Fry's Food Stores) KR 22.82 23.34 -0.52 21.14 25.85Lee Enterprises (Arizona Daily Star) LEE 1.20 1.19 0.01 0.49 1.73Lennar Corporation LEN 27.76 29.02 -1.26 12.14 30.08Lowe's Cos (Lowe's Home Improvement) LOW 30.31 32.10 -1.79 18.07 32.29Loews Corp (Ventana Canyon Resort) L 40.60 41.27 -0.67 32.90 42.64Macerich Co (Westcor, La Encantada) MAC 60.59 62.29 -1.70 38.64 62.83Macy's Inc M 38.28 41.27 -2.99 22.66 42.17Marriott Intl Inc MAR 38.82 39.99 -1.17 25.49 40.45Meritage Homes Corp MTH 27.44 28.00 -0.56 13.68 29.54Northern Trust Corp NTRS 44.93 47.12 -2.19 33.20 49.75Northrop Grumman Corp NOC 60.75 63.35 -2.60 49.20 70.61Penney, J.C. JCP 33.27 35.27 -2.00 23.44 43.18Pulte Homes Inc (Pulte, Del Webb) PHM 9.50 10.27 -0.77 3.29 10.82Raytheon Co (Raytheon Missile Systems) RTN 52.80 54.02 -1.22 38.35 54.69Roche Holdings AG (Ventana Medical Systems) RHHBY 42.14 45.42 -3.28 34.02 42.30Safeway Inc SWY 19.13 20.00 -0.87 15.93 25.43Sanofi -Aventis SA SNY 35.85 38.49 -2.64 30.98 40.58Sears Holdings (Sears, Kmart, Customer Care) SHLD 54.48 62.07 -7.59 28.89 85.90SkyWest Inc SKYW 8.47 8.96 -0.49 8.44 15.91Southwest Airlines Co LUV 8.11 8.17 -0.06 7.15 12.44Southwest Gas Corp SWX 42.47 41.97 0.50 32.12 43.64Stantec Inc STN 30.09 32.12 -2.03 20.96 32.79Target Corp TGT 55.38 57.98 -2.60 45.28 58.95TeleTech Holdings Inc TTEC 14.58 15.04 -0.46 14.04 22.39Texas Instruments Inc TXN 30.44 32.09 -1.65 24.34 35.59Time Warner Inc (AOL) TWX 35.52 37.29 -1.77 27.62 39.24Ual Corp (United Airlines) UAUA 23.36 21.66 1.70 15.51 26.84Union Pacifi c Corp UNP 112.40 115.04 -2.64 77.73 117.40Apollo Group Inc (University of Phoenix) APOL 33.25 34.82 -1.57 32.88 58.29US Airways Group Inc LCC 10.61 10.26 0.35 3.96 11.21US Bancorp (US Bank) USB 31.42 32.04 -0.62 20.10 32.98Wal-Mart Stores Inc (Wal-Mart, Sam's Club) WMT 58.97 59.01 -0.04 48.31 62.63Walgreen Co WAG 33.96 34.15 -0.19 30.34 45.34Wells Fargo & Co WFC 32.69 33.57 -0.88 22.58 34.59Western Alliance Bancorp (Alliance Bank) WAL 8.45 8.72 -0.27 4.44 9.20Zions Bancorp (National Bank of Arizona) ZION 19.58 20.40 -0.82 13.18 24.71Data Source: Dow Jones Market Watch

*Quotes in U.S. dollars, except Bombardier is Canadian dollars.

FINANCEYOUR MONEY

Long-term care, the secretthreat to your retirement

No one wants to think about a time when they might need care for an extended period; it is an uncomfortable situation to contemplate. Yet with a population living longer than any generation before them, it’s important to plan for that possibility.

Approximately 70 percent of Americans over the age of 65 will need some form of long-term care during their lifetime, according to information from the National Clearinghouse for Long-term Care. Unfortunately, many people fi rst learn about long-term care when they or a loved one needs care. By that time, their options are usually limited due to lack of informa-tion, the immediate need for services or insuffi cient resources to pay for services.

Cost of long-term careLong-term care costs have soared in

recent years and are expected to continue to rise. While there are several options to consider for funding long-term care government-sponsored programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, for example, the reality is that many people will end up paying for long-term care expenses with their own resources.

In 2010, 56 percent of individuals used their own savings to pay long-term care costs, and another 32 percent relied on money from family and friends to supple-ment those expenses, according to a 2010 survey by Lincoln Financial. Th e median annual cost of home care assistance was estimated at $43,472 last year in a Gen-worth survey — an annual cost based on 44 hours of help per week at $19 per hour.

And costs can mount up. Here is a table developed by Genworth showing private room costs for an individual in a nursing home, assuming a 5 percent annual increase.

Years of care 1 year 3 years 5 years

Cost today $77,745 $245,091 $429,590In 10 years $120,608 $380,217 $666,435In 20 years $196,458 $619,333 $1,085,553

Long-term care insuranceMany people purchase long-term care

insurance to help protect their assets from depletion in the event they ever need the services previously discussed. Long-term care insurance generally provides coverage to those who are unable to perform two or more activities of daily living for a period expected to last at least 90 days, or require substantial supervision due to a severe cognitive impairment. Th e long-term care services can be received at home, in a

nursing home, in an assisted living facility or in a community facility — as long as it is provided in accordance with a plan of care prescribed by a licensed health care practioner.

When shopping for long-term care insurance, compare the features of policies and consider the follow-ing questions.

• Coverage: What services are included in the coverage? Does the policy cover nursing home, custodial care or personal care, or a combination of these services?

• Benefi ts: Are benefi ts paid monthly or daily? Does the policy have a maximum lifetime limit? Do I have to meet eligibility requirements, such as prerequisite hospital stay, before I can collect benefi ts?

• Elimination period: How long will I need to wait before I can begin receiving benefi ts? (Typically the longer the period, the lower the cost of the policy.) Can I aff ord to pay for long-term care services out of pocket until the elimination period ends?

• Benefi ts protection: Does the policy have benefi t protection features?

• Taxes: Are there tax implications when purchasing a long-term care insurance policy or receiving benefi ts?

Understandably, there are some diffi cult decisions that come with long-term care planning. However, a long-term care insurance policy can be a valuable exten-sion of your existing risk management strategy.

By owning a long-term care insurance policy, you provide your loved ones with greater options for your care while relieving them from full-time caregiver responsibili-ties. Plus, with a bit of foresight, you can help protect your savings against the potential risk of long-term care expenses so that you can focus on your other fi nancial goals.

Start the discussion with your loved ones today.

Contact W. David Fay, a second vice president in wealth management and fi nancial advisor with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, at http://fa.smithbarney.com/thefaymillergroup or (502) 745-7069.

W. DAVID FAY


INSIDE REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION

By Roger YohemInside Tucson Business

Based on Coldwell Banker’s assertion that selling price per square foot is the best indicator of property value trends, the hous-ing market inside the Tucson city limits hit bottom in September 2011 at $79. Since then, by this measure, the market has slowly improved, gaining $10 through April.

According to Coldwell Banker’s newest Tucson market report, the September 2011 sales price per square foot was the lowest value since the housing market collapse. March and April 2012 held steady at $89 per square foot, closing the gap on the 2011 high of $94.

Typically, median and average sales prices are the most common measurements of trends. But those fi gures are “impacted by the mix of high and low-end properties. Th e selling price per square foot is a more nor-malized indication of the direction of prop-erty values,” said Malcolm MacEwen, presi-dent of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage.

In the region’s other two major submar-kets, Marana’s selling price per square foot increased to $113 from $112 year-over-year in April, and Sahuarita went up to $71 from $69. Th e $112 in Marana was the high-mark for all of 2011. In Sahuarita, the April fi gure is a re-trenchment from a high of $75 in February.

In all three submarkets, higher and sta-ble square-foot values are an early sign of sustainable price recovery.

Meanwhile, MacEwen’s position that av-erage and median prices skew values played out in the April data as those levels contin-ued to fl uctuate.

Within the city limits, 957 homes sold.

Th e median sales price rose to $130,000 from $125,000 in April 2011. Average price was $174,429, up from $172,114.

In Marana, the median sales price dropped 9 percent to $191,648 in April, from $211,000 in April 2011. Th e average price, however, rose rose 3 percent to $265,256, from $257,310. Fifty-six homes sold in Ma-rana in April.

In Sahuarita, the median sales price fell to $130,000 from $135,000 and the average fell to $141,798 from $143,012. Th ere were 45 homes sold in Sahuarita in April.

Tucson had the highest inventory of homes in April, with 3,042 listings but that was down 24 percent from 4,003 listings in March. April inventory in Marana was 197 units, down from 239 in March and in Sa-huarita it was 134, down from 175 in March.

Shrinking lot supplyTh e region’s inventory of fi nished resi-

dential lots is shrinking rapidly as home-builders step up their buying and building activity, particularly in the northwest sub-market.

As of April 6, inventory totaled 5,260 fi n-ished lots, down about 1,000 parcels over

Coldwell Banker data show Tucson housing hit bottom in Sept. 2011

THE PULSE: TUCSON REAL ESTATE

4/23/2012 4/30/2012

Median Price $135,000 $140,500Active Listings 5,744 5,011New Listings 341 369Pending Sales 433 423Homes Closed 295 306Source: Long Realty Research Center

WEEKLY MORTGAGE RATES

Program Current Last WeekOne

Year Ago12 Month

High12 Month

Low

30 YEAR 3.75% 4.00%APR 3.75% 4.00%APR 4.95% 4.95% 3.75%

15 YEAR 3.25% 3.375%APR 3.25% 3.375% APR 4.22% 4.22% 3.16%

3/1 ARM 2.88% 3.25%APR 2.88% 3.25% APRThe above rates have a 1% origination fee and 0 discount . FNMA/FHLMC maximum conforming loan amount is $417,000 Conventional Jumbo loans are loans above $417,000Information provided by Randy Hotchkiss, National Certifi ed Mortgage Consultant (CMC) Hotchkiss Financial, Inc. P.O. Box 43712 Tucson, Arizona 85733 • 520-324-0000MB #0905432. Rates are subject to change without notice based upon market conditions.

5/9/2012

Graybar offi cially opened its new 55,000-square-foot, green-built distribution center this week.

the last 12 months, according to Aaron Men-denhall, associate with Chapman Lindsey Commercial Real Estate Services.

“Th ere are 81 active single-family com-munities in the Tucson metro area. Forty have fewer than 20 lots remaining and 27 have fewer than 12 lots left,” Mendenhall said. “Based on absorption trends, 16 com-munities will be built out within the next 12 months, with nine being in the northwest submarket.”

Mendenhall tracks only traditional sin-gle-family residential lots, not custom homes or multi-family parcels. During the fi rst quarter, 63 new fi nished lots were add-ed to the inventory. Over the next 12 months, he projects that builders will open seven new communities.

On the northwest side, the Tangerine Corridor is seeing strong activity, particu-larly in the Sky Ranch, Tangerine Crossing and Dove Mountain communities located along west Tangerine Road in Marana. In the past 12 months, there have been about 145 new homes sold in the corridor, accord-ing to Mendenhall.

Graybar grand opening Featuring rooftop solar panels on its new

55,000 square foot building, Graybar, a sup-plier to the electrical and telecommunica-tions industries, has opened its fi rst distri-bution center built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) specifi -cations.

Th e company’s new Tucson operations center, 3760 E. Tennessee St., includes many green technologies that Graybar sells to its customers.

Th irty-three employees work at the new facility which was occupied in late April, ac-cording to Steve Gosciminski, Southern Ari-zona branch manager. Garybar was former-

ly located at 1490 S. Cherrybell Stravenue.In addition to solar, the building includes

energy-effi cient lighting, water-effi cient landscaping, and electric vehicle charging stations in the parking lot.

Th e contractor was Holladay Construc-tion, South Bend, Ind. Company offi cials would not disclose the cost of the building.

Th e company’s corporate headquarters are in St. Louis, Mo.

Sales and leases• Wayne Gould purchased Oasis in the

Catalinas, a 19,952 square-foot apartment complex at 5801 N. Camino Esplendora, for $1.575 million from Red Fort Denver LLC. Th e 28-unit complex built in 1975 is on 1.2 acres. Th e transaction was handled by Bob Kaplan and Allan Mendelsberg, Picor Com-mercial Real Estate Services.

• Wayne Gould purchased Stone Leaf Apartments, a 60-unit complex at 334 W. Valencia Road, from DII Enterprises for $1.79 million. Th e transaction was handled by Bob Kaplan and Allan Mendelsberg, Pi-cor Commercial Real Estate Services.

• DCM Development Company pur-chased a 36,727 square-foot lot at 1765 W. Prince Road for $300,000 from Richard J. Geare II. Th e seller was represented by Pat-rick Welchert, Picor. Th e buyer, represented by Dave Hammack, Volk Company Com-mercial Real Estate, plans to build a Dollar General store on the site.

• Xtremeone LLC purchased a 5,867 square-foot industrial building at 3231 E. 46th St. for $230,000 from Patton & Mc-Nichol Enterprises, represented by Paul Hooker, of Picor. Th e buyer was represented by Steve Inouye and Barbara McGill, Long Realty.

• UBS Financial Services leased 5,901 square feet at 1725 E. Skyline Drive, Suite 101, from United Insurance Company, represented by James Hardman, Desco Southwest. Th e tenant was represented by Rick Kleiner, of Picor.

• IVF Fertility Group of Arizona leased a 5,460-square-foot medical offi ce building at 1775 E. Skyline Drive from Lynnbo LLC, represented by Rick Kleiner, Picor. Th e ten-ant was represented by Mark Irvin, Mark Ir-vin Commercial Real Estate Services.

• D & J Holdings LLC, doing business as Five Guys Burgers and Fries, leased 2,400 square feet in the Th ornydale Plaza, 7077 N. Th ornydale Road, Suite A2, from I.T. Invest-ments Two LLC. David Hammack of Volk Company represented the landlord. Alan Tanner of CBRE represented the tenant.

Email news items for this column to

[email protected]. Inside Real Estate &

Construction appears weekly.


EDITORIAL

DAVID HATFIELD

EDITORIAL

Th e conundrum that leads to political changeAs coincidences would have it, we’ve run into several

local bankers lately. Some of them work for the largest banks in the U.S. and others are involved in community banking operations.

Th e good news is that regardless of size, their industry is in better shape than it was three years ago. Th e bad news is they’re stuck.

While bank fi nancials have improved and in many cases have never been stronger — through some real strict interpretations by regulators — fi nding customers is tough. Banker after banker has told us there is plenty of money to lend but they can’t fi nd borrowers who meet credit-worthy standards.

As a result banks are reducing their ranks of employ-ees and putting the brakes on growth.

To a person, all bankers are nervous about how they’re going to do with the regulatory requirements contained in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Th ere may be a general perception that the act, passed in 2010, targeted big banks but the fact is it aff ects all banks and, because they’re smaller and lack the economies, community banks could be impacted to a greater degree.

From the fi rst days of the economic recession in 2008, economists have said that recovery will get into gear just as soon as consumers regain their confi dence. Once consumers get their confi dence back, they’ll start spending.

Supposedly 70 percent of economic activity in the U.S. is directly attributable to consumer spending.

But it’s kind of hard to get excited about spending when you lack confi dence in what’s going to happen next.

New data out this week show consumer borrowing in March rose by $21.4 billion to $2.54 trillion, which is getting close to the all-time high of $2.58 trillion in July

2008. Th at was eight months after the start of the recession.

Economists fi gured it out after the fact because at the time the rest of didn’t know it.

Th e March consumer debt increase was the seventh consecutive monthly increase and the largest single monthly bump since November 2001.

Th at sounds like confi dence is creeping back into the equation. After all, you’ve got to have confi dence to think you’re going to have money to pay back a loan.

Yes, but employers aren’t adding jobs like they had been. Th e average number of new jobs added in March and April was just 53 percent of the pace of new jobs added in the previous three months. Average pay over the last year is up 1.8 percent to $23.28 per hour while infl ation is up 2.7 percent so Americans’ income isn’t keeping up with costs.

It also means Americans are cutting down on savings, which in March was 3.8 percent of income, down from a 4.7 percent average for all of 2011.

Th e conundrum of regaining consumer confi dence and restoring the economy depends on banks lending money to help fi nance business growth. It helps a community and helps banks profi t. But without confi dence, borrowers aren’t interested in loans for expansion. (Either that or they’re not credit-worthy for the loan.)

Last weekend, voters in France and Greece got rid of political leaders who had failed to restore their confi -dence in the economy. Th e U.S. economy is vastly diff erent from Europe but when it comes to confi dence, Americans have something in common with the Europeans.

Come November that could play out in ballot boxes here, too.

BIZ BUZZ

Savoring relationshipsfrom people you meet

All the time I’ve spent focused on career and just living life, I remember hearing my elders wistfully recalling their memories. Th ey paid more attention to the obituaries in the newspaper than I did. Th ey’d joke and say it was a good day if their name wasn’t among them.

I always fi gured that was an attitude for older people. For me, there were other priorities. But I’m beginning to think diff erently. Within days, I heard about the deaths of Tim Ivankovich, one of the owners of Kingfi sher Bar & Grill on Grant Road and Bluefi n Seafood Bistro in Casas Adobes Plaza; a man I met named Tom, who was our son’s Fijian “dad” when he was in the Peace Corps fi ve years ago, and just this week about Jeff Arnold, the guy who fi rst helped me get my University of Arizona sports tickets a few years ago.

Ivankovich was only 54 when he died suddenly May 2 from a heart attack. What bugs me is that I didn’t even know about it until I read it in the Arizona Daily Star three days later. Th ere was a time when I probably would have just seen Ivankovich within the last week or so. Kingfi sher is my all-around favorite go-to restaurant in Tucson.

Th e food and people who work there are great. Ivankovich introduced me to what is now my favorite chardonnay wine. He didn’t think too much for my taste, however, referring to it as “oaky, buttery ----” — I’ll skip the last word he used, mainly because it would appear harsher in print than Ivankovich meant it. Besides he always smiled when he said it.

No thanks to the circumstances of changing jobs and the economy, I haven’t been able to get to the Kingfi sher as often lately. Still, though, Ivankovich and the two other partners in Kingfi sher, Jim Murphy and Jeff Azersky, were always welcoming. I swear I think most everybody I know in Tucson also knows either Murph or Jeff or knew Tim.

Th rough our son I heard about the death of Tom in Fiji. I’m not sure how old he was but he was probably in his 80s. He had retired from working and was living in a village. Fiji is known for some fabulous resorts on its 300-plus islands but indigenous Fijians in villages live more simply and communally. Th e day we visited Tom’s wife Lau (I think that’s how her name is spelled) made us an incredible meal of curry using tinned beef.

I remember their table was set using Fiji Water bottles. It didn’t look like the bottles were fresh from the factory and I commented about their using the internationally-known branded water.

“Yes, yes, Fiji water. It comes through the pipe,” Tom said with a laugh.

And just as I was about fi nished writing this I get word about Arnold. He was the son of former KOLD 13 general manager Jim Arnold and his wife Ruth. He put up a long, valiant fi ght with a brain tumor.

Such terrifi c memories savoring the lives of Ivankovich and Tom and the good times at Kingfi sher and in Fiji. So what happened to my elders is happening to me. What’s amazing is how fast it happens. I’m only now beginning to savor the memories.

I suppose there’s a lesson in there someplace. Except people who are younger and busy moving up their career ladders have more important priorities.

Contact David Hatfi eld at dhatfi [email protected]

or (520) 295-4237.


OPINIONBUSINESS INK

Mayor has opportunity to snuff out anti-business reputationTucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild has an

opportunity to snuff out the city’s anti-business reputation and usher in a new era of genuine business-friendly policies, personnel and performance.

Two of his high-profi le hires look terrifi c on paper: Maricela Solis as the mayor’s business advocate and Debbie Chandler as economic development manager. Chandler is from the private sector where results matter. She fi lls a post that was vacated in 2005.

But seriously? Does the mayor really believe he can change the culture of an entrenched bureaucracy? Is he a naïve glutton for punish-ment by fl out and red tape?

Mayor Rothschild is battling a hardened establishment, shaped for decades by the actions of city offi cials past and present. Th ey’ve also been swayed by union infl uence, political agendas, NIMBYs, environmental activists, no-growthers and special-interest groups.

For pity sake, the city council doesn’t even have the juice to raise bus fares by 25 cents to cover a $3 million Sun Tran defi cit.

Rothschild, Solis and Chandler are outnumbered. It’s common knowledge that pro-business council members who tried before to make reasonable reforms got pushback from the bureaucracy.

Th e attitude of city staff ers: I’ve been doing this job for 20 years. You elected offi cials will be gone in a few years and I’ll still be here.

Th e resistors have a vested interest in the keeping the status quo.

It happened over time. Th ere isn’t a single regulation, council decision or event that was a pinnacle moment that gave the anti-business

sentiment a foothold. Instead, it has been a legacy of negative vibes, missed opportunities and roadblocks that created the situation we have today.

Th rough the years, the state of business aff airs in Tucson has hit the national radar screens of people who watch such things: economic developers, site selectors, relocation advisors, business expansion consultants and commercial real estate brokers.

In the real world, the word is out. As a metropolitan region, Tucson is not business friendly. Forbes magazine ranks Tucson at No. 165 in the nation for best business conditions and careers.

Simply beating the drum, saying publicly that Tucson is open for business, and posing for call center ribbon cuttings and solar power ground breakings isn’t going to improve that ranking.

How did the reputation start? What is Tucson’s anti-business legacy?

It stems from such things as the rude treatment city offi cials gave Motorola when the company wanted to locate a large manufactur-ing plant in Tucson. Clearly not welcome here, Motorola instead picked Chandler and became one of the state’s biggest employees with 20,000 jobs.

Others remember how NIMBYs got local politicians to run off General Dynamics.

Th en there’s the fallout from Tom Volgy who became mayor in 1987 after 10 years on the city council. He spiked funding for neighborhood services that eventually created more than 125 neighborhood associations that often measure their successes in blocking progress.

Volgy created an output tax and in response, IBM shut down its manufacturing operations, pulling 2,500 jobs out of the region’s economy. At the time, IBM was No. 4 on the Fortune 500 list. Th is year it’s No. 19.

How many Fortune 500 companies have major presences in Tucson today?

In more recent times, Major League Baseball spring training left town, ending a tradition dating back to 1946. Losing the national marketing exposure as a late-winter destination hurt the local travel, tourism, restaurant and hospitality industries.

Th row in environmental activism over the pygmy owl, Pima pineapple cactus, Sonoran

Desert Conservation Plan and lawsuits ad nauseam over various desert reptiles and fi shes du jour.

Businesses also are spooked by the raw opposition to the proposed Rosemont Copper mine, F-35 fi ghter jet training, and Walmart’s eff orts to build at El Con Mall.

Other legacy issues include a feeble Tucson Convention Center, the Rio Nuevo downtown revitalization debacle and the city’s anti-big box ordinance.

Business executives watch how govern-ments handle growth issues. Public policies, such as land and water use, are analyzed. General incentives are nice, but the zoning and permitting process, taxes, utility costs, and workforce availability carry a lot more weight.

And to move goods to market, that’s tough to do without a cross-town freeway.

As a pro-business advocate, I fully support Mayor Rothschild’s ambitious pro-business eff orts. It is a worthy mission to change the negative reputation he inherited.

Any hope of becoming business friendly will require Rothschild to make many game-chang-ing moves. Hopefully, those actions will start on Day 181 of his term.

Contact Roger Yohem at ryohem@azbiz.

com or (520) 295-4254. His Business Ink appears

biweekly and weighs in on local political, social

and business issues.

ROGER YOHEM

ADVOCATING FOR BUSINESS

Where are we going and what is the plan to get us there?Great coaches have game plans. Great

companies have strategic plans. We plan our vacations, our careers and our fi nancial futures. Even a road map is a simple plan on how to get from point A to point B.

So where is Southern Arizona going and what is the plan to get us there?

Based on dozens of conversations I have had with very smart people in both the public sector and the private sector, our region is adrift. Th ere is no motor for movement. Th ere is no rudder for direction. Adrift.

Imagine Greater Tucson is a wonderful project and has enjoyed widespread support. Citizens in the Tucson metro area have voted on how they would like to see their community develop, going forward in the future.

Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities (TREO) has worked very hard on its economic development blueprint and it is good that we have it.

But what we need is even bigger than Imagine Greater Tucson and TREO. Th ose two plans can certainly be incorporated into the big master plan.

Th e regional master plan must be compre-hensive. Infrastructure. Cross-jurisdictional cooperation. Better public/private interface. Funding. Education. Workforce. Development. Vision. Inclusion. Renewal. Preservation of

culture and history. Capture of new opportunities.

Like many regions, ours is a mosaic of neighbor-hoods, communi-ties, cities, towns, counties and tribal nations. Th ere appears to be a vacuum where a

blueprint for regional cooperation, planning and sensible growth should be.

From where I sit, there is great attention paid to managing one’s own silo without much attention to the farm. Call it turf. Call it feudalism. Call it whatever you want, but the “all for me and to heck with you” approach is stifl ing a coordinated plan to move us all in the right direction.

When Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood was in Tucson last month for groundbreaking ceremonies for the Sun Link streetcar project, he met privately with business and government leaders at the Tucson Metro Chamber. (Remember, Secretary LaHood is a Republican serving in the Obama administration.) During his presentation, Secretary LaHood shared his

view of what it takes to move a region forward:

Government and business working together

Before we work together, we have to communicate on a high level of trust and mutual respect. Leadership must come before getting re-elected. Th e overall vitality of Southern Arizona must trump those who only care about their own back yards.

Have a planWe have a history of focusing on what we

“don’t want.” No visionary plan can ever rise from a “don’t want” agenda. Perhaps it is time for our metro area to create a regional plan that defi nes what we “do want.” In doing so, committed leaders could put community inter-ests above politics (see next item) and really create a vibrant, coordinated and effi cient region.

Put community good above politics

No offi ceholder I am aware of had “getting re-elected” as a campaign plank. Citizens don’t elect leaders so they can get re-elected, they elect them to lead. Imagine what we could all do if we adopted an aggressive agenda of leadership and statesmanship by putting

politics on the back burner and made leadership more important.

Tell people how we will spend the money

Th is is kind of a no-brainer, but it was good of Secretary LaHood to remind us that taxpayers want to know what they’re getting for their money...and then get it.

I think the secretary is on to something. It’s tough to argue with his four-point plan.

Not being one to complain without having a solution, I am pleased to say the Tucson Metro Chamber has begun looking at what it would take to create a sensible regional plan. A small working group is exploring the feasibility of a strategy to tear down the barriers to co-opera-tion and increase unity for the greater good of all residents of Southern Arizona.

Th ere will be more on that when the strategy gets some legs.

Contact Mike Varney, president and CEO

of the Tucson Metro Chamber, at mvarney@

tucsonchamber.org or (520) 792-2250. His

Advocating for Business column appears monthly

in Inside Tucson Business.

MIKE VARNEY


Phone: (520) 295-4201Fax: (520) 295-40713280 E. Hemisphere Loop, #180Tucson, AZ 85706-5027 Internet: www.azbiz.com

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OPINIONGUEST OPINION

How to stop ‘the end of men’ — bring it onLet’s get it out on the table, right up

front. I am a guy, and not apologetic about this. I’m a person with a paunch, with bristly whiskers that my wife wants shaved (I won’t), and a tendency to talk about myself. A lot. And I can be loud.

But here’s the thing: Now and then I listen, too. I catch the ads between baseball innings. I glance at the headlines. I see the handwriting on the wall.

I’m breaking ranks by telling you about this, but my buddies and I are stifl ing a laugh over the news.

We’re elbowing each other over the words of current experts that make it sound like we’ve been suff ering more than we thought.

We don’t read much. But we hear the buzz about articles like Th e Atlantic’s “Th e End of Men.”

And we can see the covers of recent books on shelves. “Th e Decline of Men” by Guy Garcia, “Guyland:Th e Perilous World Where Boys Become Men” by Michael Kimmel, “Save the Males: Why Men Matter, Why Women Should Care” by Kathleen Parker, and “Manning Up: How the Rise of Women Has Turned Men into Boys” by Kay Hymowitz. Books about us! About our fumbles in school, in college and even as

adults.According to a

recent study by the Pew Research Center, 66 percent of women ages 18 to 34 rated career high on their list of life priorities, compared with only 59 percent of young men. And

all of a sudden there are more chicks in higher ed than us dudes. Now, 36 percent of women ages 25 to 29 have a bachelor’s degree, says Pew, compared with just 28 percent of guys in the same age group.

Census data from 2000 shows that 46 percent of women under 30 had ticked off basic markers of adulthood: leaving home, fi nishing their education, starting work, marrying and having kids. Only 31 percent of us dudes could say the same.

So our recent track record of achieve-ment is remarkably lame. But I want you to know that my fellow guys and I are cool with the experts’ solutions to our problems. In fact we’re delighted. We are passing the chips, cracking a cold one. Here are a few of the experts’ hot-off -the-press ideas:

1. Guys need extra attention and understanding.

Bingo. Right on target. Our sisters and moms and wives seem way too busy with all of their jobs and chores. Th ey bustle around, doing more housework and volunteering than we do, hardly noticing that our blank expressions and belly-up positions on the couch hide truly sensitive natures.

2. We need even more freedom in school to squirm around and to just be boys.

Um, sure. We agree. Th ough in stricter times we guys learned how to sit at desks, absorb books and pay respectful attention, it was a drag. Teachers and parents simply expected us to put in the quiet time we needed to learn stuff , and if we didn’t, we lost a privilege or two. Didn’t they realize how unpleasant this was for us? Didn’t they get it? We guys prefer fi shing or kicking a ball or just hanging loose to being stuck in a classroom!

3. Men are being punished by a feminized, girl-focused culture.

Couldn’t have said it better myself. Even though we’re fawned over and favored by moms, zip up the ladder at our jobs, get paid more, and society accepts the trend

that we trade in wives for younger trophies, you’d be crazy to think that we’re in charge.

And sure, though our daughters now play guy-style sports and still say they’re “Daddy’s girls,” we are the ones really feeling the pain. Anyone can tell you.

4. Trying to civilize us guys is really just an attempt to turn us into women with whiskers.

My favorite expert suggestion of all. Th at sticker that we slap on our trucks — the one of an angry, urinating boy — that’s our fl ag, our Guyland coat of arms.

So stop expecting us to behave or clean up our act. It may be kind of weird that we had none of these guy problems back in the day. When we were supposed to be responsible and at least a little bit polite. But it’s a new day now.

Th e age of total guy emancipation is approaching.

My buddies and I are fl icking channels. We are belching.

We say: Bring it on.

Peter Mandel is an author of books for

children kids including the new “Zoo

Ah-Choooo” (Holiday House) and “Jackham-

mer Sam” (Macmillan/Roaring Brook).

PETER MANDEL

Yes, just as much as before or more 38% Yes, but not as much 25% No, I don’t want to deal with the hassle 37%

Next week’s poll: Do you think cutting capital gains taxes will give a boost to Arizona’s economy?


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