August 2017 Issue of In Business Magazine

AUG. 2017

Keep Business Devices Safe During Monsoon Season

Where Is Our Educated Talent?

What are we doing to develop, nurture and retain a talent pipeline for our workforce?

Leadership: the Positive

Advantage Two Sides on

Healthcare Devising Great Dashboards $4.95 INBUSIN ESSMAG.COM

THIS ISSUE Arizona Technology Council

AUG. 2017 COVER STORY

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Where Is Our Educated Talent?

With input from business, education and government, In Business Magazine explores what is happening in developing and retaining the educated and skilled workforce needed for a strong and growing economy.

PLUS: “Keep Your Call Centers, We’ll Keep Our Tech” is an in-depth look at issues of employment and talent pool in the technology sector.

FEATURES

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Leadership style — whether positive or negative — does matter. Jon Gordon suggests ways a negative leader can become a positive one.

MAGAZINE

Season

AUG. 2017

IN BUSINESS

Keep Busines s Devices Safe During Monsoon

WORKFORCE

Where EducatedIs Our Talent?

What are we doing to develop retain a talent , nurture pipeline for and our workfor ce?

AUGUST

Leadership: the Positive Advantag e Two Sides

on

2017

Healthcare Devising Great Dashboa rds

• INBUSINESSMAG.COM

THIS ISSUE

Arizona Technology

$4.95 INBUSINESSMAG.COM

Council

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PARTNER SECTION IN THIS ISSUE 2 A Test for Tech

New trade deals, pending immigration changes leave feeling of uncertainty

4 Not Just Whiskey Row

Council partners with Prescott to grow technology community

5 Going Global

Student STEM program generates international interest

6 Taking the Lead

Transformation helps executives and their organizations

WHO WE ARE The Arizona Technology Council is Arizona’s premier trade association for science and technology companies.

Phoenix Office 2800 N. Central Ave., Suite 1920 Phoenix, AZ 85004 Phone: 602-343-8324 • Fax: 602-343-8330 info@aztechcouncil.org

Tucson Office

The University of Arizona Science and Technology Park 9040 S. Rita Rd., Ste. 1150 (near I-10 & Rita Rd.) Tucson, AZ 85747 Phone: 520-382-3281 • Fax: 520-382-3299 tucson@aztechcouncil.org

MANAGEMENT AND STAFF Steven G. Zylstra Leigh Goldstein Linda Surovick Lauren Witte Deborah Zack Brian Krupski Laura DeGeorge Jeff Sales Don Rodriguez Ron Schott Don Ruedy Justin Williams

President + CEO COO + Vice President, Programs + Events Director, Finance + Administration Manager, Marketing + Communication Senior Director, Membership Services Director of Membership Services Executive Assistant to President + CEO Executive Director, Southern Arizona Regional Office Editor Executive Emeritus, Phoenix Executive Emeritus, Tucson Executive Emeritus, Tucson

Jeremy Babendure, Executive Director, Ph.D. Arizona SciTech Festival Marisa Ostos

Director, Arizona SciTech Festival

Arizona Technology Council Foundation Susan Farretta Greg McCarthy Sabrina Foy

Director of Educational Initiatives

Arizona Technology Report

Arizona Technology Council: The Voice of the Technology Industry

President’s Message Where have all the leaders gone?

This question has been on my mind lately. We now live in a world where we hear from our president not in stately Steven G. Zylstra, messages delivered from the Oval Office President and CEO, Arizona Technology Council but in middle-of-the-night rants on Twitter.

And they usually are filled with vitriol aimed at the lawmakers on Capitol Hill — on both sides of the aisle.

And Congress is not much better.

Instead of representing the will of the people, they are going down swinging to defend their respective parties. While many Americans await a remedy for “Obamacare” that is said to be broken, senators and representatives spend more time doing … I don’t know. You tell me.

Collectively, a pretty questionable bunch. This begs the question: Is leadership as bad as we think it is?

If you think this is a recent phenomenon, think back. The seeds were planted some time ago.

Who can forget Anthony Weiner, the former Democratic congressman whose political career came to a grinding halt in sexting scandals that ended up being part of the FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton before the November election. He is to be sentenced in September following a plea agreement for a term in the range of 21 to 27 months.

He’ll just miss spending time in the Big House with former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who about the same time should be wrapping up a 15-month sentence in a hush money case stemming from allegations that he sexually abused young boys in the 1960s and 1970s.

Although he never faced sexual abuse charges because statutes of limitation had expired, he did plead guilty to hiding money transactions, admitting that he paid $3.5 million to keep one victim quiet.

Just in Washington? Look toward New Jersey and you might see Gov. Chris Christie catching some rays at the beach. While state government recently shut down in a budget stalemate, the governor and his clan had a grand time at a state-owned mansion — use of it is part of his compensation — on a beach closed to the general public due to the same budget crisis.

Just in politics? Unfortunately, not. It’s no longer a free ride for Travis Kalanick, who abruptly resigned as Uber’s CEO due to investor pressure. His departure followed the firing of more than 20 employees after an investigation of the company’s culture. That probe began after a former Uber engineer detailed what she claimed was sexual harassment at the company.

We can do better when it comes to leadership. I’ve seen it happen at the local level from Gov. Doug Ducey to the startups that are springing up around the state. And even the best leaders at times need repositioning of their compasses. To help, the Arizona Technology Council started the Transformational Leadership Program. You can find out more about it inside this section.

Join me in identifying and supporting the leaders in our midst who make us all proud to be Arizonans. If our leadership is stumbling at the national level, we can set the pace for the rest of the nation.

Director, Business + Community Relationships Accounting Assistant

ARIZONA TECHNOLOGY REPORT

aztechcouncil.org

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39 Arizona Technology Council

DEPARTMENTS

Achievement

An Annual Event Telling Stories of Success

Guest Editor

Fri., Oct. 6 Join In Business Magazine for a luncheon honoring the talents of women business owners, managers and leaders who have achieved great success in and for our Greater Phoenix business community. inbusinessevents.com

Healthcare

“Drug App for Kids with Cancer,” “Fighting Pancreatic Cancer,” “Same-Day Spine Care Clinic,” and “Value-based Care: For Employers, It’s a Prescription for the Future”

20

Legal

There has been an uptick recently in collective action filings against Arizona restaurants. A local attorney addresses the requirements of tip pooling and an employer’s decision to take the tip credit.

29

Books

New releases give fresh insights on business thinking.

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With passion, a focus on community and a little help from Yelp, Sweet Republic co-founder Jan Wichayanuparp is making ice cream social.

Feedback

Grant Johnson, Spencer Pierce and Michele Shuey respond to In Business Magazine’s burning business question of the month.

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Briefs

“Monsoon Season Digital Safety,” “Make Money from the Beach,” “Investor-Entrepreneur Connection,” “Properties Market Online,” “Aggregate Tech News,” “Looking Good’,” “Risky Role Models – Sexual Harassment Is No Joke” and “Lyft Drawn by Phoenix Tech Environment”

By the Numbers

36

From the Top

Assets

2017 Infiniti Q60 Coupe Plus: Where to go when a looming decision elicits a “Let me sleep on it” response.

38

Power Lunch

Dust Cutter: Cutting-Edge ‘Not Just Bar’ Food Plus: Cool and nutritious, smoothies make a quick and easy summer lunch.

PwC’s Deals Mid-Year Review and Outlook discusses the lack of disruption and odds of continued stability.

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14

In Business Magazine invited two business leaders to share their divergent views on federal healthcare legislation’s impact on small business.

PRESENTED BY

WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT

18

Dr. Maria Harper-Marinick, chancellor of Maricopa Community Colleges, introduces the “Workforce” issue.

13 Women of

Capitalizing on a Dashboard World

Steve Wexler, Jeffrey Shaffer and Andy Cotgreave share dos and don’ts of great dashboards.

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Summer 2O17 • aztechcouncil.org

Leadership: Take the Positive Advantage

CRE

“Multifamily Reflects Booming Phoenix Economy,” “Grocery Anchors Multifamily in Tempe,” “Major Mixed-Use in Scottsdale” and “Spec Suites Imagine the Future”

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Technology

“Locksmithing via Cloud,” “Partnering in Delivery” and “Music Platform Innovates on Innovation”

Roundtable

ON THE AGENDA

31

Spotlight

‘Tech Me Out to the Ballgame’ — Trapp Technology Small Business Expo – Phoenix — The Shoe Producers

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Calendar

Business events throughout the Valley

AUG. 20 1 7

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INBUSINESSMAG.COM

With approximately 200,000 credit and non-credit students enrolled, Maricopa County Community College District is the largest provider of workforce development in Arizona and among the top four largest community college systems in the country.

YOU’RE INVITED Join us at Taste of the Biltmore.

This highly anticipated, upscale block party welcomes residents from the entire valley to participate in the unofficial kickoff to the Arizona charity event season. Participants will feast on tastes provided by local restaurants. All proceeds go to Arizona charities, and since 2007 Taste of the Biltmore has raised more than $79,000.

Thursday, October 12, 2017

6 p.m. - 9 p.m.

BUY TICKETS AT

TasteoftheBiltmore.com

NBAZ.COM | A division of ZB, N.A. Member FDIC Š 2017 ZB, N.A.

Aug. 2017 In Business Magazine is a collaboration of many business organizations and entities throughout the metropolitan Phoenix area and Arizona. Our mission is to inform and energize business in this community by communicating content that will build business and enrich the economic picture for all of us vested in commerce.

STEARNS BANK CUSTOMER

Hudd Hassell

PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS Kristen Merrifield, CEO Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits (602) 279-2966 www.arizonanonprofits.org

President: Bella Victoria LLC - Mesa, Arizona

Jack Lunsford, President & CEO Arizona Small Business Association Central Office (602) 306-4000 Southern Arizona (520) 327-0222 www.asba.com

Your Work. Your Legacy.

There’s a sense of pride in getting the job done right. We’ve been treating our customers like family for over 100 years and we’re ready to do the same for you!

Steven G. Zylstra, President & CEO Arizona Technology Council One Renaissance Square (602) 343-8324 www.aztechcouncil.org

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Doug Bruhnke, Founder & President Global Chamber® (480) 595-5000 www.globalchamber.org

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IN THE NATIO

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1 # BANK $2

ASSETS

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For a fast business loan or complete banking relationship, call 480-314-4200.

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follow us

| stearnsbank.com | Member FDIC

Phaedra Earhart, President NAWBO Phoenix Metro Chapter (480) 289-5768 www.nawbophx.org

*Based on 3-year ROAA, “The Superstar 75.” Independent Banker, May 2017; Based on 3-year ROAE, “Metrics & Measures, Midtier Rankings.” American Banker, June 2017.

Anne Gill, President & CEO Tempe Chamber of Commerce (480) 967-7891 www.tempechamber.org Our Partner Organizations are vested business organizations focused on building and improving business in the Valley or throughout Arizona. As Partners, each will receive three insert publications each year to showcase all that they are doing for business and businesspeople within our community. We encourage you to join these and other organizations to better your business opportunities.

The members of these and other Associate Partner Organizations receive a subscription to In Business Magazine each month. For more information on becoming an Associate Partner, please contact our publisher at info@inbusinessmag.com.

ASSOCIATE PARTNERS Ahwatukee Foothills Chamber of Commerce ahwatukeechamber.com Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry azchamber.com Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce azhcc.com The Black Chamber of Arizona phoenixblackchamber.com Chandler Chamber of Commerce chandlerchamber.com Economic Club of Phoenix econclubphx.org Glendale Chamber of Commerce glendaleazchamber.org Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce phoenixchamber.com Greater Phoenix Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce gpglcc.org Mesa Chamber of Commerce mesachamber.org North Phoenix Chamber of Commerce northphoenixchamber.com Peoria Chamber of Commerce peoriachamber.com Phoenix Metro Chamber of Commerce phoenixmetrochamber.com Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce scottsdalechamber.com Surprise Regional Chamber of Commerce surpriseregionalchamber.com WESTMARC westmarc.org

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AUG. 2017

INBUSINESSMAG.COM

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BMO Harris Commercial Bank is a trade name used by BMO Harris Bank N.A. Member FDIC

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WHEN BUSINESS BOOMS, BOOM BACK.

Aug. 2017

VOL. 8, NO. 8

Publisher Rick McCartney

Editor RaeAnne Marsh

Art Director Benjamin Little

Contributing Writers

Jodi Bohr Andrew Cavenagh Brian Choe Dr. Ed Clarke Andy Cotgreave Aaron Goldstein Jon Gordon Mike Hunter Sophie Lapkin Farrell Quinlan Bob Saada Jeffrey Shaffer Stephen Viramontes Steve Wexler

ADVERTISING

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At Bank of the West, we listen closely and work with you to craft smart, personalized banking solutions that meet your needs. That’s why we’re proud to offer OwnerOccupied Commercial Real Estate Loans with 20-year fixed-rate term with 20-year amortization. Call a business banker today to start the conversation.

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Contact a business banker today:

Senior Art Director Benjamin Little

Chris Crafton 623-334-7186

Financial Manager Jeffrey J. Quatrone, E.A.

Paul Menchaca 480-372-1628

1. Offers valid for applications received and completed between May 20, 2017 through July 7, 2017. Loans and lines are subject to credit approval and for business purposes only. Conditions, fees and restrictions may apply. Offers available for new Bank of the West loans and lines of credit. Offers require automatic payments from a Bank of the West Business Checking account. Rates and terms are subject to change at any time without prior notice.

2. The closing cost credit will be applied on the settlement statement as credit towards third-party fees such as appraisal, title policy and environmental fees incurred during the loan process. If the actual third party costs incurred are less than the advertised credit amount, no additional credit will be given. The fee credit cannot be combined with other loan offers. A credit up to $1,000 will be applied for loans between $150,000 and $500,000. A credit up to $2,000 will be applied for loans between $500,001 and $1,000,000. A credit up to $3,000 will be applied for loans between $1,000,001 and $2,500,000.

3. SBA loans from Bank of the West are in participation with the US Small Business Administration. Loans are subject to approval in accordance with both Bank of the West and SBA eligibility and lending guidelines. Certain fees, conditions and additional restrictions may apply.

4. A good faith deposit will be required upon accepting Bank of the West approval. If applicant withdraws the loan request after issuance and acceptance of Bank of the West’s Commitment Letter, all third-party costs incurred must be paid by the borrower. A credit up to $3,000 will be applied for SBA loans between $150,001 and $1,000,000. A credit up to $5,000 will be applied for SBA loans between $1,000,001 and $5,000,000. A credit up to $10,000 will be applied for SBA loans between $5,000,001 and $15,000,000. Credit cannot be applied toward SBA packaging or participation fee.

5. Bank of the West Prime + 0.5% rate is for new or existing Bank of the West customers who have or open a new Choice or Analyzed business checking account with Bank of the West. Available for Business Lines of Credit up to $750,000. After 12 months, a minimum rate of 4% applies. Bank of the West Prime is 4.00% as of March 22, 2017, and subject to change.

6. For new accounts, minimum opening deposit of $100 required; the monthly service charge of $20 on Choice Business Checking will be rebated for the first two statement cycles. Ask a banker about ways to waive the monthly service charge thereafter. Additional terms and conditions and fees apply.

7. Account charges based on service usage less earnings credits, based on balances, and may offset fees. See current Analyzed Business Checking Schedule of Fees for details. Minimum opening deposit of $100.

AUG. 2017 DATES

BLEED 4.875” w x 9.875” h TRIM 4.875” w x 9.875” h

MECH DATE

03-27-17

CLOSE DATE None

Events Amy Corben

Inform Us: Send press releases and your editorial ideas to editor@inbusinessmag.com.

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More: Visit your one-stop resource for everything business at www.inbusinessmag.com. For a full monthly calendar of business-related events, please visit our website.

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www.inmediacompany.com Vol. 8, No. 8. In Business Magazine is published 12 times per year by InMedia Company. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to InMedia Company, 515 E. Grant Road, Suite 150, Phoenix, AZ 85004. To subscribe to In Business Magazine, please send check or money order for one-year subscription of $24.95 to InMedia Company, 515 E. Grant Road, Suite 150, Phoenix, AZ 85004 or visit inbusinessmag.com. We appreciate your editorial submissions, news and photos for review by our editorial staff. You July send to editor@inbusinessmag.com or mail to the address above. All letters sent to In Business Magazine will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication, copyright purposes and use in any publication, website or brochure. InMedia accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or other artwork. Submissions will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. InMedia Company, LLC reserves the right to refuse certain advertising and is not liable for advertisers’ claims and/or errors. The opinions expressed herein are exclusively those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the position of InMedia. InMedia Company considers its sources reliable and verifies as much data as possible, although reporting inaccuracies can occur; consequently, readers using this information do so at their own risk. Each business opportunity and/or investment inherently contains certain risks, and it is suggested that the prospective investors consult their attorney and/ or financial professional. © 2017 InMedia Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

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INBUSINESSMAG.COM

DR. MARIA HARPER-MARINICK, MARICOPA COMMUNITY COLLEGES

It Takes Talent

Maria Harper-Marinick, Ph.D., is chancellor of the Maricopa Community Colleges, one of the largest community college systems in the nation. She oversees operations for the system, which serves 200,000 students and nearly 10,000 faculty and staff members across 10 colleges, a corporate college and two skills centers.

Chancellor Harper-Marinick has served on local and national boards and councils, among them the Federal Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, by appointment of U.S. Secretary of Education, and the National Community College Hispanic Council (president, 2016-18).

Dr. Harper-Marinick has been recognized locally with numerous awards, and was featured in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education as one of 25 women who have made a difference in the world.

Many of the attributes Arizona touts as being attractors for business — quality of life, affordability, climate — are also factors that attract workforce.

At the Maricopa Community Colleges, we are proud of the work we are doing with regional and state economic development organizations such as the Greater Phoenix Economic Council and the Arizona Commerce Authority to attract and retain businesses in the State of Arizona. And even though we are the largest workforce training and education provider in the state, we are constantly reevaluating to identify opportunities to improve the ways in which we serve the business community. In our recently adopted Maricopa Transformation plan, we propose a more streamlined integration of programs across colleges organized by industry sector. These “Industry Institutes” will provide a single logical unit for employers to support workforce development for a particular sector.

With our partners, these Institutes will provide degrees and certifications aligned specifically to industry needs, create apprenticeship and other workplace-like learning experiences, and improve the pipeline and career readiness from K-12 through college and employment.

A diverse economy requires a diverse talent pool. Since the last economic downturn, business development professionals across the state have striven to build a diversified economy that would be less susceptible to market fluctuations, and three of the key areas of focus are technology, finance and manufacturing. Thanks to input from those industries as well as education and government, this issue’s cover story explores what is happening in developing and retaining the needed educated and skilled workforce.

A timely reminder of sexual harassment liability in the workplace shares space in the Briefs section with tips for businesses to protect their operations against the power outages that may come with this season’s monsoons. A Healthcare article looks at the evolution of value-based care and its benefit to business over the old model of volume-based care. And on the Technology page is the story of how a local business with a disruptive approach has embraced technology and a goal to make Arizona synonymous with “the independent music capital of the world.”

This issue also includes a feature article that addresses leadership style and discusses benefits and techniques even negative leaders can employ for a more productive positive approach, and another aimed at helping businesses create the most useful and useable dashboard for their needs. And, with a summer mindset, this August issue’s From the Top feature delves into how Jan Wichayanuparp, with some help from Yelp, built Sweet Republic into an ice cream success story.

With its focus on covering a breadth of topics in each issue, In Business Magazine continues to support our business community. I’m pleased to help bring you this August issue, and hope you enjoy the read.

Women of

Achievement

An Annual Event Telling Stories of Success PRESENTED BY

WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT Fri., Oct. 6 Join In Business Magazine for a luncheon honoring the talents of women business owners, managers and leaders who have achieved great success in and for our Greater Phoenix business community. inbusinessevents.com

Go online at inbusinessmag.com to see the behind the scenes video on our interview with David Krietor

Maria Harper-Marinick, Ph.D. Chancellor Maricopa Community Colleges

CONNECT WITH US:

Retaining Talent We’ve heard the complaint from business that we graduate top

We asked Maria Harper-Marinick, Ph.D., chancellor

talent only to see them move away to other markets. One way to

of Maricopa Community Colleges, to lead this issue on

address this is to involve the business community in workforce

workforce. Maricopa Community Colleges are leading the

development-related decisions at our institutions of higher learning,

way in innovative and effective workforce programs that are

ensuring a strong fit between positions businesses want to fill and the

connecting education with industry to identify opportunity

talent pool. For our cover story, we spoke with those educating and

for graduates as they enter college. Retaining talented

working to provide access to jobs for our workforce about their efforts

graduates is more likely when a pathway to work is seen

to identify the industries that are most important for our economy and

early on. We thank Dr. Harper-Marinick for working with us on

about the programs for building a workforce that has the skills those

this August issue. Her leadership and efforts on workforce

businesses need. From startup to corporate relocations, the economic

are truly making an impact on graduates and our economic

climate is changing and retaining talent is a key to our success.

future.

Devices Safe During Monsoo n

MAGAZINE

Season

AUG. 2017

IN BUSINESS

Keep Busines s

WORKFORCE

Where EducatedIs Our Talent?

What are we doing to develop retain a talent , nurture pipeline for and our workfor ce?

AUGUST

Leadership: the Positive Advantag e

2017

Two Sides

• INBUSINESSMAG.COM

THIS ISSUE

Arizona Technology

Council

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—Rick McCartney, Publisher

Let us know what you think of this issue of In Business Magazine. Email our publisher at feedback@inbusinessmag.com.

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AUG. 20 1 7

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VALLEY LEADERS SOUND OFF

Q:

FEEDBACK QUESTION: Let us know what you want to know from the Valley’s top business leaders. editor@inbusinessmag.com

For all past Feedbacks go online to inbusinessmag.com and see what Valley executives think on various business topics.

WORKFORCE

MICHELE SHUEY

North America Delivery Team Manager – Phoenix Contact Center Direct Energy Sector: Utilities

Talent Optimization & Leadership Development Manager Spear Sector: Professional Services Industry

Director of Talent Development Vixxo Sector: Facilities Management

The Direct Energy Learning and Development Team ensures both new hires and existing employees have ample options when it comes to training.

Our new-hire programs are designed to skill our agents to create an effortless experience for our customers. We facilitate New Hire Induction for five distinct lines of business/call types in our Tempe call center, followed by a twoweek on-the-job training process.

The Management Academy ensures managers have the knowledge and skills needed to fulfill their role by clearly outlining what is expected in that role, and helping them identify their areas of focus for their development. The starting point is a management diagnostic designed to help employees understand what it means to be a people manager in Centrica. The employee completes a self-assessment based on his or her experience as a people manager, which is collated with an assessment by the employee’s line manager. A personalized report is then prepared that identifies the employee’s strengths and development areas, and will signpost recommended learning activities to help the employee continue to develop his or her management capability.

At Spear, we value training and educating our team members to ensure they’re armed with the tools, resources and product knowledge to provide a high-quality customer experience, as well as ensuring they have immediate opportunities to connect and collaborate with other team members, clients and partners. Our initial new-hire training, Spear Immersion, is broken into three segments: Business Foundation & Industry Education; Culture, Values & Leadership; and Role-Specific Training.

We are in a niche industry, which makes training and educating our team members a crucial part of their success at Spear. We develop, manage and facilitate the program, all in-house. Our resident faculty, alongside our product and industry experts, elevate the experience, being able to provide insight and knowledge from their experiences practicing and teaching in the dental field.

We are equally passionate about our culture, our values and our leadership, and invite people to get involved right from the start. Team members at all levels within the company may embark on Leadership Development Pathways programs to develop themselves as leaders, which include subject-matter experts, leaders of people and culture advocates.

Devices Safe During Monsoo n

Season

AUG. 2017

Keep Busines s

Where EducatedIs Our Talent?

What are we doing to develop retain a talent , nurture pipeline for and our workfor ce?

Leadership: the Positive Advantag e

AUGUST

Two Sides

2017 • INBUSINESSMAG.COM

INBUSINESSMAG.COM

SPENCER PIERCE

Grant Johnson has more than 22 years’ contact center experience, with 20 years in Learning and Development across the service, energy, credit card, hospitality and collections sectors.

He has worked in call centers for Bank One, ProMark One, First USA Bank, Cendant and Encore Capital Group.

MAGAZINE

10

GRANT W. JOHNSON

Direct Energy directyourenergy.com

IN BUSINESS

AUG. 20 1 7

What training programs do you have in place for your employees – whether new hires who may be lacking in certain skills or employees moving to new positions within the company?

THIS ISSUE

Arizona Technology

Council

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Spear speareducation.com Spencer Pierce has a strong background in HR, building her career over eight years in the retail, marketing and professional services industries. Having experience operating under various HR strategies, she’s developed and refined her own approach to optimizing talent and developing leaders with company culture, values and key business objectives in mind.

Our approach to training revolves around what we call “The Vixxo Experience.” The Vixxo Experience is made up of six stages of the associate lifecycle, which includes first impressions, making a commitment, the first 90 days, rewards and recognition, growth and development, and career transition. We’ve intentionally developed training programs to align with each of these six stages.

For example, all new hires participate in culture training to learn about our culture and gain alignment around key results, accountability and ownership.

Similarly, all managers participate in our Managing Matters program to set the foundation for developing strong leadership skills.

Our current program of focus involves career mapping, where we help our associates map out their intended career paths starting on day one. We highlight the specific skills and abilities that are required of their next role, and set them up for success even before they transition to their next role. This program, similar to the other training programs we’ve developed, are designed to ensure our associates have the tools and training needed to be successful.

Vixxo vixxo.com Michele Shuey has more than 19 years of experience in training, organizational development, succession planning, executive coaching and career development, helping leaders uncover their strengths and capitalize upon them. Shuey holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s in organizational management, and is a Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP) as well as a SHRM-Senior Certified Professional (SCP).

Sign up for the monthly In Business Magazine eNewsletter at www.inbusinessmag.com. Look for survey questions and other research on our business community.

QUICK AND TO THE POINT

Monsoon Season Digital Safety Monsoon season, officially recognized as extending beyond traditional summer months to the end of September, may not threaten the physical devastation of such natural disasters as an earthquake or hurricane, but a monsoon does have the potential to cause a power outage. Today’s businesses, which rely heavily on their computers and electronic devices to remain operational, can mitigate risks of being impacted during such an event.

Cox Business offers the following tips to help businesses protect their digital devices this monsoon season.

• Back up files before monsoon weather hits; businesses may even have online backup included with their Internet service at no additional charge.

• Connect to the closest Wi-Fi hotspot location in the event of a power outage; with some carriers, this connection is free.

• Use the call forwarding option on the office line to a mobile phone so that calls can continue to route to a designated number even if services or power is down.

STAY CONNECTED EVEN WHEN AWAY

Using a tool like MailChimp or Constant Contact allows the business owner to schedule touch points with clients, whether it be a note or even a promo code, to stay top of mind and have business ready when he gets back

Investor-Entrepreneur Connection from 2UP Technology, Inc. that connects entrepreneurs looking to turn their idea into a reality with angel investors who are

• Consider using a waterproof case to protect mobile devices from water damage when on the go in rainy weather.

• Use surge protectors to safeguard office electronics.

• Large businesses can store information on a remote server in a data center to prevent loss of server files when the power is out.

Additionally, Cox Business Security Solutions offers detection services with water and flood monitoring to alert a business when it has been compromised by storms.

— Mike Hunter Cox Business cox.com/business/home.html

For service-provider entrepreneurs, fiftythree percent of appointments are made outside of traditional business hours. Armed with this insight, business owners have two choices: Work around the clock to meet clients’ needs or get smart about it. There are solutions that allow a business owner to grow his business and still have a life.

What better place than the beach to create content? While away on vacation, business owners can take the opportunity to breathe some new life into their business’s Facebook, Instagram or Twitter account. Whether a hairstylist, personal trainer or accountant, the entrepreneur can take advantage of free time to post some interesting content. Staying current and engaging takes only a few minutes and can be done while soaking up the sun.

by Mike Hunter

Pitch Investors Live is a new app

Make Money from the Beach

LEVERAGE THE BUSINESS’S SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE

BYTES

looking to find great new companies in which to invest. Using live video, it provides a practical yet virtual environment, for entrepreneurs to better understand angel investors and investors to learn about new companies.

Pitch offers investors the convenience of using a simple and intuitive platform to quickly and easily screen entrepreneurial teams, and to watch as they are screened by other investors and experts. And it offers entrepreneurs the benefit of watching, learning and pitching their own endeavors. The app is available for free on all iOS devices. pitch.ventures

Properties Market Online SetSchedule is a revolutionary technology-based real estate exchange marketplace that connects Realtors® with homeowners, buyers and investors who are looking to buy and sell properties. It aims to provide user-friendly communication tools to users.

A recent round of financing from a team of angel investors will enable the company to better serve its wide membership of property owners, investors, home shoppers and real estate professionals in 35 states by enabling the development of new and dynamic desktop and mobile platforms. Among the products in development is a mobile application that allows users to access breakthrough practice management tools to dispatch seller and buyer opportunities

from the break. Who says a person can’t be productive while OOO?

USE APPOINTMENT-SCHEDULING SOFTWARE

Those who are service providers with clients should definitely be using online appointment-scheduling software. The fact of the matter is, we need to be where are clients are — and that’s online. The software enables an entrepreneur to stay actively engaged with clients and booking appointments even from the beach, letting the business stay on autopilot while the business pipeline grows. —Brian Choe, founder and CEO of Visibook (www.visibook.com), advanced appointment-scheduling software available for app and desktop designed for businesses and professionals to manage client appointments.

on demand. setschedule.com

Aggregate Tech News Stack News is a news aggregator for all the tools in a developer’s tech stack — a personalized, curated feed of the latest news, articles and changelogs for all the tools in its user’s stack.

It combines news from sites like Hacker News, and Reddit; pulls in thousands of RSS feeds; and intelligently detects the tools mentioned, ensuring developers always stay on top of their stack, including potentially important announcements such as a new product release or vulnerability disclosure.

It also enables multiple feeds — one for a user’s current stack, one for tools he’s thinking of adopting, and even one for Silicon Valley’s hottest newcomers. Separate notification preferences can be set for each stack, so the user has full control over how and when he receives news. stackshare.io

Casual dress codes may cause clothing confusion for many professionals, new research from staffing firm OfficeTeam shows. Although 56 percent of employees surveyed said they prefer to wear more relaxed work attire, 41 percent admitted they’re at least sometimes unsure about whether clothing is office-appropriate. The greatest preference for formal dress codes (56 percent) is in the 18-34 age group. bit.ly/work-dress-code

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QUICK AND TO THE POINT

LOOKING GOOD

Local Standouts Recognized for Achievements and Philanthropy ACHIEVEMENTS

High Marks for SRP Salt River Project continues to receive high marks in satisfaction from its residential electric customers, according to the most recent annual study by J.D. Power. SRP ranks highest for residential electric service in the western United States among large electric utilities for the 16th consecutive year, with a Customer Satisfaction Index score of 775 on a 1,000-point scale in this year’s ranking, a 45-point improvement over 2016. srpnet.com

Toll Brothers Wins PCBC Gold Nugget Award The mid-century modern Sullivan Design at Toll Brothers at Adero Canyon in Fountain Hills earned the home builder top honors at this year’s prestigious Gold Nugget Awards, centerpiece of PCBC, the largest home building show in the Western United States: the best-of-show Home of the Year, for original, innovative design with the most impact and merit for the entire industry, and the Grand Award for Best Single Family Detached Home 4,000 to 5,000 Square Feet. tollbrothers.com/luxury-homes/Arizona

Flower Child Wins ‘Hot Concept Award’ Flower Child, the healthy, happy, fast-casual restaurant by renowned restaurateur Sam Fox, has won a coveted “Hot Concept Award” from Nation’s Restaurant News. The prestigious award honors forward-thinking brands at the leading edge of food service. This is the third time Fox has been honored with a Hot Concept nod, a distinction not usually received by one restaurateur multiple times. iamaflowerchild.com

PHILANTHROPY

Jaburg Wilk Donates Water Phoenix law firm Jaburg Wilk supported the Phoenix Rescue Mission’s Code Red program, which provides water to vulnerable people during our record-breaking triple-digit summer heat. Able to donate more than 17,000 bottles of water this year, with matching donation, Jaburg Wilk has supported Phoenix Rescue Mission’s Code Red program for the past three years and each year has increased its donation. jaburgwilk.com • phoenixrescuemission.org

OpenWorks Assembles CARE In a show of support for United States troops serving overseas, Phoenix-based OpenWorks representatives training at the company’s headquarters recently spent a day assembling CARE packages for the nonprofit Support Our Troops. OpenWorks, one of the nation’s leading commercial cleaning franchises, saw employees from coast to coast come together for the cause. openworksweb.com

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Risky Role Models – Sexual Harassment Is No Joke

The massive media coverage of President Trump’s Twitter attack on “Morning Joe” host Mika Brzezinski brought to the fore an important point for business to keep in mind: Companies and employees should be aware that just joking at work about President Trump’s tweets could get their company sued for sexual harassment.

Typically, a person can quote the President of the United States without getting sued, but not today. Some employees might think, “If the President can say it, I can talk about it.” But not when the President’s statements meet the legal definition of sexual harassment.

Any statement that is directed at a person’s gender, that is unwelcome and that is offensive to a reasonable person can contribute to a sexual harassment claim. President Trump’s statements, if repeated with approval, fit this bill. A manager who repeats such statements with a chuckle risks getting his employer sued.

The image of the President as a role model should make employers nervous. President Trump might get tried in the court of public opinion, but a company stands to lose millions of dollars in a court of law. —Aaron Goldstein, a labor and employment partner at international law firm Dorsey & Whitney, who provides litigation expertise and advice regarding trade secret disputes; non-competition agreements; race, gender, disability, national origin, age, religious, and sexualorientation discrimination; whistleblower retaliation; and sexual harassment; protected under law

Lyft Drawn by Phoenix Tech Environment

Identifying Phoenix as one of its fastestgrowing markets, Lyft solidified its presence here with the opening of its Southwest Region headquarters in June. “We’ve seen accelerated growth,” says Southwest Region general manager Drena Kusari, reporting that both rides and drivers have more than tripled over the past year. “We believe it will continue, so we see Phoenix as a great investment.”

Greater Phoenix is seen as welcoming of new technologies as well as having a vibrant labor force, according to Kusari, who adds, “There’s an excitement about opportunities here for technology companies.”

Since bringing its operations here in 2013, Lyft has established numerous partnerships across a multitude of organizations that include nonprofits, education institutions, sports venues, and entertainment venues for various events. Its contributions to the Phoenix economy last year totaled $39.6 million. Kusari explains there’s an element of the networking effect, whereby people may go to a venue they hadn’t been to before due to parking or transportation issues. And, she points out, drivers’ extended use of their car leads to increased use of services such as car washes.

Lyft’s 3,813-square-foot Phoenix Hub is located within the Cotton Center, conveniently close to Sky Harbor Airport and a convergence of freeways. It will house Lyft’s 11 full-time local employees, plus in-person driver support, troubleshooting and recruiting resources for local Lyft drivers. Not every market has a hub; the Phoenix Hub will serve the Southwest Region, which, Kusari says, is largely the State of Arizona but may take in our neighboring state when Lyft transitions New Mexico from its “Emerging Markets” status.

—RaeAnne Marsh Lyft – Phoenix Area lyft.com/cities/phoenix-az

Legal grounds for “sexual harassment” claims encompass harassing comments, graffiti and pictures as well as aggravated assault.

METRICS & MEASUREMENTS

Deal-Steady Second Half?

PwC’s Deals Mid-Year Review and Outlook discusses the lack of disruption and odds of continued stability

by Bob Saada

A deals market that started 2017 with energy — anticipating action by a seemingly business-friendly government — has calmed somewhat at the midway point. But with deals volume up over 2016, PwC’s Deals Mid-Year Review and Outlook finds the outlook for the rest of the year remains largely positive.

WADING THROUGH THE UNCERTAINTY IN WASHINGTON

With a new presidential administration and the possibility of regulatory changes, some dealmakers expected 2017 to see more activity. So far, however, the market seems to be running mostly on its own momentum, with no significant impact from the turbulence in Washington.

The landscape still could shift if legislators repeal and replace of the Affordable Care Act and move on to tax reform, although debate over the latter could spill into 2018. For now, it helps that both private equity firms and corporate buyers have shown a willingness to deploy capital through deals.

Industry convergence continues as more and more deals get announced of non-tech buying tech. Interestingly, tech buying non-tech seems to be gaining momentum.

Deal Snapshot, Year-over-Year Private equity deal value

down 14 percent year-over-year

IPO activity

69 IPOs raised $20.7 billion January through May, just shy of the total value for all of 2016

Deal volume

up 12 percent year-over-year

Outbound deal volume

down 9 percent year-over-year

Follow-ons

significant increase, with 344 follow-ons raised for $66.4 billion

Debt issuance

significant increase, with 225 high-yield debt issuances for $123 billion

IPO data was sourced from PwC’s Capital Markets Watch, Dealogic, and S&P LCD. All other figures and data quoted in the report, unless otherwise cited, were sourced from Thomson Reuters with PwC analysis.

MORE DEALS YEAR-TO-DATE

Through May, the number of deals was up by 12 percent over 2016. Deal value has dipped, in part due to a dearth of megadeals.

But recent announcements could help boost the dollar amount for total transactions. Looking across sectors, technology and consumer have accounted for about one-third of deal activity, while industrial products and financial services made up roughly one-fourth of deals — similar to this point last year.

Beyond M&A, divestitures are up 9 percent — possibly the result of companies focusing on core businesses, raising capital for fresh acquisitions or spinning off successful units.

If a unit is underperforming and shareholders are anxious, a divestiture can help ward off a potential activist campaign.

DEALING ACROSS BORDERS

Amid concerns about relationships with other nations, the U.S. remains a destination for dealmakers. While deals by U.S. companies in other countries are down from 2016, foreign investors continue to eye U.S.-based targets. Through May, the number of inbound deals was up 10 percent from a year earlier.

The pace isn’t entirely surprising. Early this year, four out of 10 respondents to PwC’s Global CEO Survey said their companies are targeting the U.S. for growth. One path is acquiring a U.S. company — for example, a tech startup that could help a non-tech business begin to reinvent itself. Even with talk of trade barriers, America still seems like a good bet to overseas investors, especially compared to less stable markets.

HOLDING STEADY IN THE SECOND HALF

With no major stumbles and a stable, if non-explosive, performance so far in 2017, deals activity seems poised to remain steady the rest of the year. Even if there’s no surge similar to late 2016, the pace would have to slow considerably to fall significantly short of last year’s overall deal volume.

PwC’s Deals Mid-Year Review and Outlook bitly.com/pwc-mid-year-deals

IPOs are hot. Activity is nearly double what it was for the same period in 2016 with 69 offerings for $20.7 billion, just shy of the total value for all of 2016, according to PwC’s Deals Mid-Year Review and Outlook. bitly.com/pwc-mid-year-deals

Bob Saada is the U.S. Deals Leader with PwC’s Deals Practice, which provides a deep fluency in mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, and capital markets transactions. pwc.com/us/en/deals

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PROPERTY, GROWTH AND LOCATION

Multifamily Reflects Booming Phoenix Economy Positive forces converge and are maintaining momentum in the multifamily sector, according to Marcus & Millichap’s Multifamily Research Market Report for second quarter 2017.

Vacancy is expected to fall for the eighth consecutive year as economic growth supports continued success in the Phoenix apartment market. Corporate expansions and relocations from large, international companies such as Intel, Apple and Orbital ATK are driving healthy metro-wide job growth and carrying momentum in 2017. Additionally, the metro is expected to add an estimated 81,000 net residents this year, underpinning household formation that exceeds the national pace. Furthermore, expansion among the prime renter cohort of 20- to 34-year-olds is robust and accelerating.

Construction is approaching saturation point at the top of the renter pool. Developers have added thousands of units to the market over the past few years, focusing primarily on high-end complexes near employment hubs. Although strong demand has, historically, been able to absorb new construction, supply pressures are mounting, particularly in the Class A segment. A short-term rise in Class A vacancy, slowing rates of rent growth and the increased use of leasing incentives seem in order during the near term as new supply hits the market. The Greater Phoenix metro, however, is on pace to record improvements in both vacancy and rents in 2017.

—Marcus & Millichap (marcusmillichap.com)

GET REAL

Major Mixed-Use in Grocery Anchors Multifamily in Tempe Scottsdale The Local, a new, mixed-use development

The Block, a 22-acre retail mixed-use

As part of the reimagining of the iconic

located on an 80,938-square-foot parcel

center developed by MainSpring Capital and

Renaissance Square in Phoenix, Cypress

at the intersection of University Drive and

Forum Capital that broke ground recently,

Office Properties, LLC., with funds managed

Ash Avenue, broke ground last month.

is the biggest retail center constructed in

by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P., engaged

Developed by Denver-based Forum Real

Scottsdale in five years.

four of Phoenix’s most widely recognized

Estate Group, The Local will be a unique

INBUSINESSMAG.COM

architecture and design firms to collaboratively

upwards of 70,000 square feet of free-

design office suites of the future for various

Whole Foods Market 365 on the ground

standing pad and retail shop space: four

industries in what is being called “Project

floor, with three levels of parking directly

freestanding pad sites for stand-alone

Future.” The four speculative suites, making

above, then five floors housing 286

users, 35,000 square feet of shop space

up the entire 18,379-square-foot fourth floor

residential apartments, averaging 739

designed for fast-casual lunch and dinner

of Renaissance One, are slated to be revealed

square feet per unit. Scheduled occupancy

users, 60,000 square feet of class A

in Oct. 2017 at the grand unveiling of the

for The Local is the first quarter of 2019.

office, and a sizable parcel for hospitality.

completion of the first phase of the $50-million

Infrastructure construction is fully

Renaissance Square renovation.

floorplans will be available, with finishes

underway on the project and grading of

and accents that blend vintage inspiration

the full site has also begun.

with modern design. The Local’s overall

14

The Block at Pima Center will contain

luxury apartment residence anchored by

Studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom

AUG. 20 1 7

Spec Suites Imagine the Future

Stan Sanchez, JK Jackson and Larry

Architects invited to participate are McCarthy Nordburg, designing a 2,913-square-foot financial space; RSP

design blends exposed concrete and

Miller with Colliers International in Greater

Architects, Ltd., designing a 5,341-square-

brick, distressed and rich wood tones,

Phoenix serve as leasing team for the retail

foot nonprofit space; SmithGroupJJR,

and living plant and art details to create

center. colliers.com/en-us/greaterphoenix

designing a 3,574-square-foot law space; and

a warm, authentic and welcoming vibe.

Evolution Design, designing a 6,552-square-

thelocaltempe.com

foot technology space. oaktreecapital.com

Improving property operations combined with healthy returns will sustain investor interest for Phoenix apartments this year, though buyers are becoming more conservative in their underwriting. A combination of higher borrowing costs, tempered revenue growth expectations and threats of new supply are the main forces instilling caution in the market. —Marcus & Millichap’s Multifamily Research Market Report for second quarter 2017.

photos courtesy

Construction has begun on the 22-mile Loop 202 expansion that will connect Chandler to southwest Phoenix.

According to Marcus & Millichap’s Multifamily Research Market Report for second quarter 2017, assets near the freeway route may elicit greater investor interest upon its completion in late 2019, marcusmillichap.com

by Mike Hunter

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INNOVATIONS FOR BUSINESS

by Mike Hunter

Locksmithing via Cloud KeyMe takes a new approach to locksmithing, a $7.5-billion industry, using a digital scan that is securely stored in the cloud. KeyMe comes in the form of both a kiosk and an app, and allows users to store, share and duplicate their physical keys Customers can instantly make copies of their keys at a kiosk. Or use the app to digitally scan keys from their mobile device — enabling a locksmith to make a key from scratch by viewing instructions KeyMe displays on the customer’s phone as well as enabling customers to share keys with family/friends and mail order physical duplicates.

Cutting-edge technology enables KeyMe’s AI to compare a key scan with millions of previous scans, and call upon those “memories” to quickly and accurately identify the key. This allows the kiosk to reset the key to its original manufacturer settings, removing wear and tear and resulting in a key that’s often more accurate than the original.

KeyMe supports the majority of key types, including home, office, mailbox, padlock, Mul-T-Lock and select Medeco keys, in its mobile app and kiosks, and more than 70 percent of car keys at the kiosks. Kiosk locations in Phoenix include the Bed, Bath & Beyond on Camelback; other retail locations of kiosks nationwide include 7-Eleven and Albertsons. key.me

Partnering in Delivery In a strategic partnership, OnTrac, which specializes in delivery services throughout the eight western-area states, and AB&R® (American Barcode & RFID) have joined forces to address issues in mobility and route management, and package tracking.

AB&R is working together with OnTrac to move their devices over to AndroidTM devices. The Android operating system is much more touch-friendly. This means less reading errors and faster response times in the delivery management application, an important factor when speed and efficiency are the main components for generating and increasing revenue.

OnTrac and AB&R are also developing an easy-to-use, customizable delivery application for OnTrac Service Providers. The upgraded application will allow an OnTrac service providers to easily adjust their route by dragging and dropping addresses, integrating google maps for turn-by-turn navigation, and sync functionality that will send data back to OnTrac’s delivery management system for administrators to take action in real-time. ontracinternational.com • abr.com

Arena Merchandising arenamerchandising.com Arena Music arena.com

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Streaming Music: Subscription-based music-streaming platforms that rely on bulk hits generally pay artists 3 to 6 thousandths of a cent per play, according to Arena Music founder Damon Evans.

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to insert any song into a playlist even while it’s being played, in real time.

The Arena site is designed to be fully automated. So, where Spotify, for instance, has a team of more than 150 programmers, Arena can operate with a team of about six, Evans explains. “We can adjust automatically based on data that comes in, such as a specific playlist that’s getting a lot of attention.”

Orders for the licensed merchandise are processed and printed on demand, and can be shipped same day, through Arena Merchandising, a sister company to Arena Music.

Evans explains his business started in 1998 as a physical music distributor, began doing screen printing for many local clients that include charities and sports teams plus contract sewing for the military, and transitioned about seven years ago to doing screen printing and custom apparel for bands.

“Revenue from Arena Merchandising is reinvested into Arena Music to be able to pay artists premium rates for the streams,” Evans says, noting that the major streaming platforms pay artists three to six thousandths of a penny per play. Observing, “That makes it a challenge for artists to have a viable career; they can’t afford a [recording] studio or even strings [for their guitar],” Evans says, “We support alternative revenue streams for the artists. …

We’re finding the artists are creating more per transaction through these bundled offerings than they would have generated in downloads through iTunes.”

Evans says he created the business model as a solution that addresses artists’ needs and concerns, leading him to proclaim in the company’s tagline, “Arena, Arizona, is the independent music capital of the world.”

—RaeAnne Marsh

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Streaming music lies at the basis of Arena Music’s business operations, but its success comes from taking that technology and giving it an innovative twist in the business plan.

In fact, “It’s more about doing everything opposite,” says founder Damon Evans, referring to the major subscription-based music streaming platforms.

“Arena is an on-demand merchandise storefront that leverages a free streaming service to help artists monetize their content in a music industry where consumers no longer buy music to own,” says Evans, who recognized that what younger consumers will buy is merchandise.

When a band contracts with Arena, the company sets up a profile page and radio channels. The band gives Arena exclusive merchandise designs that Arena packages into campaigns. “Consumers buy an exclusive shirt from their favorite band, and get the music for free,” Evans explains.

The band gets its music inserted into listeners’ playlists, which may be at the request of the artist to promote himself or of Arena staff to promote the Arena brand. Thus, Arena can promote a band to new listeners. This gives the artist’s music a higher profile and, says Evans, “keeps listeners happy — they use Arena Music as a music discovery system.”

On the consumer side, Arena Music offers listeners a free subscription to advertisementfree streaming music, starting out by asking for the names of ten or more of their favorite bands and immediately generating playlists to their preferences. “It’s like Pandora, mimicking traditional radio,” Evans says. With that format, listeners cannot replay a song but they can skip or fast forward. “Our goal is for the listener to not skip.” Arena uses a sophisticated algorithm that mixes established acts with unknown independent acts, including sub-genre filters for deep album cuts, and its platform allows it

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Ways To Keep Your Money Safe 1 Secure checks and bank statements as carefully as you would cash.

Fraud Prevention, Your First Line Of Defense.

In today’s world, criminals have more ways than ever to steal your money.

2 Implement banking services that help spot—and stop—fraud in real time.

Whether it’s online through cyber attacks or in person, you have to safeguard your business against all kinds of threats.

A strong fraud prevention strategy can help you protect the financial integrity of your business.

At Bank of Arizona, we offer a variety of fraud prevention services that can help you detect and prevent criminal activity. Call us today to discuss how we can help you fight fraud.

Bill Halsted | 602.808.5331 | www.bankofarizona.com

© 2017 Bank of Arizona, a division of BOKF, NA. Member FDIC.

3 Make sure the same person isn’t authorizing, receiving and reconciling financial transactions. Even if you have a small staff, rotate responsibilities periodically.

YOUR BENEFIT IN BUSINESS

WELL WELL WELL

by Mike Hunter

Drug App for Kids with Cancer The Purple Drug Guide, a unique drug research tool to help families dealing with pediatric cancer, combines detailed treatment information in a user-friendly format. The free mobile app offered by Scottsdale-based nonprofit The Purple Society also enables comparison of pricing information.

“Knowledge is power, and this new app gives the family the ability to make educated decisions quickly and accurately about the treatments prescribed to their children,” says Anthony Conti, creator of the app, who co-founded The Purple Society with daughter Nitalia.

The nonprofit was born out of the struggles the Conti family experienced during Nitalia’s battle with and devastating loss to brain cancer. Nitalia wanted resources such as The Purple Drug Guide App to be free for those in need of the information. werpurple.org

Fighting Pancreatic Cancer Local nonprofit The Seena Magowitz Foundation was created with the hope of raising awareness of pancreatic cancer — the fourth deadliest cancer and one of the hardest to detect. Because it is often detected in late stages of development, people with pancreatic cancer have just a 5 percent chance of surviving for five years after their initial diagnosis, and it claims hundreds and thousands of lives each year.

The nonprofit was founded by local businessman Roger Magowitz, who lost his mother, Seena, to pancreatic cancer a mere five months after her diagnosis. Hoping to promote early detection that might prolong other lives, and working to raise funds for studies to prevent or cure pancreatic cancer, it is collaborating with TGen and HonorHealth to advance research. seenamagowitzfoundation.org

Same-Day Spine Care Four out of every five Americans will face back pain in their lifetime. Problems with the low back, in particular, are on the rise. It is a leading cause of missed work and accounts for an estimated $177 billion in spending every year. Aiming to help patients unravel the typical confusing web of generalists and specialists that provide care for spine issues, Stridewell is a new, independent healthcare clinic that is open seven days a week and can usually offer same-day appointments.

Operating under the guidance of Igor Yusupov, M.D., a seasoned neurosurgeon specializing in minimally invasive techniques, Stridewell is staffed entirely by spine health specialists who each have a decade or more of specialized training in diagnosing spine conditions.

Value-based Care: For Employers, It’s a Prescription for the Future Delivering best-in-class products at a fair price and with stellar customer service is at the core of every company’s mission.

Now, the healthcare industry is embracing these principles with a progressive model of care that rewards physicians and hospital systems for the quality of their clinical outcomes instead of the number of services they provide. Insiders call it a transition “from volume to value.”

Value-based care is designed with patients in mind. The idea is to keep them healthy and help those with chronic or acute conditions find the best, most cost-effective treatments and avoid escalation to more costly interventions.

For companies, the result is a healthier workforce that stands to be more productive on the job.

The shift from volume- to value-based care is not new (the healthcare industry was heading in this direction long before the passage of the Affordable Care Act), though it is growing in popularity among both public- and privatesector employers.

One reason is, value-based agreements enable employers to customize corporate health plans based on the needs of their workforce. It makes sense because employees who work in an industrial setting have different needs from those in a sedentary office environment. The health status of a company’s workforce also can dictate the type and range of services in a valuebased plan. So can an employer’s commitment to wellness in the workplace and the level of employees’ engagement in their health.

Some considerations: Does the company have an on-site gym or offer healthy menu items in its cafeteria? Are workers faithful about getting annual health screenings? Does the work environment make them prone to certain conditions like high stress or low-back pain? And do they exercise regularly or need help from a health coach?

Healthcare coverage arrangements that address the individual needs of employees is just part of what makes value-based care a promising model now and well into the future.

Beyond the actual care — whether it is preventive or for a chronic or acute condition — is the support to help clinicians succeed in a changing healthcare environment. Valuebased care aligns the goals and interests of patients, providers and payers, and then puts

in place components — from clinical teams that help physician offices coordinate care to hospital “navigators” who guide patients through the clinical, administrative and financial process before, during and after a health procedure, to health coaches who help patients with chronic conditions to get all the care and support they need.

Technology also plays a critical role in delivering value-based care by connecting patients to a vast network of clinicians across the health system, while breaking down data walls among providers, so they can share information and glean insights on the health of patients and the larger community.

But a successful value-based care model is not complete without rigorous clinician performance documentation and patient satisfaction reporting systems. This includes constant, transparent communication, along with a scorecard to help clinicians track their progress in achieving the “triple aim” of improving patient care and satisfaction while managing overall costs.

Value-based care models continue to evolve. Still, one point is clear: For employers, value-based care is a significant step forward in contributing to not only a healthy and productive workforce, but the safety and quality of life in greater Phoenix as well.

—Ed Clarke, M.D., chief medical officer of Arizona Care Network (azcarenetwork.org), a physician-led and -governed, clinically integrated network with 5,000 clinicians who provide a broad range of clinical and care coordination services to more than 170,000 patients through value-based agreements

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Dartmouth-Hitchcock, a nonprofit academic health system in New England, documented Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care that, with a volume-based payment model, “there is a 2.5-fold variation in Medicare spending nationally, even after adjusting for differences in local prices, age, race and underlying health of the population.” dartmouth-hitchcock.org

LAW MATTERS TO BUSINESS

Minimum Wage Touched by Tip Pooling Has your tip pool encountered cross contamination?

by Jodi R. Bohr

Women of

Achievement

An Annual Event Telling Stories of Success PRESENTED BY

WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT Fri., Oct. 6 Join In Business Magazine for a luncheon honoring the talents of women business owners, managers and leaders who have achieved great success in and for our Greater Phoenix business community. inbusinessevents.com

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Jodi R. Bohr is a shareholder with Gallagher & Kennedy, P.A. She practices employment and labor law, with an emphasis on litigation, class actions and HR matters, and is a frequent speaker on a wide range of employment law topics. gknet.com

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The recent uptick in collective action filings against Arizona restaurants compels a Human Resources focus on the requirements of tip pooling and an employer’s decision to take the tip credit. With minimum wage reaching $15 per hour in some cities and states, restaurateurs have been forced to address the disparity in pay rates between servers who can accept tips and kitchen staff who cannot. Many restaurants have tried to narrow the pay gap and recognize the service that kitchen staff provides to customers by instituting tip pooling policies. But restaurateurs should be aware that this practice runs afoul of the Fair Labor Standards Act regardless of whether a tip credit to the minimum wage is taken.

RECAP ON TIP CREDIT

The FLSA requires covered employers to pay employees no less than the federal minimum wage, which is currently $7.25 per hour ($10 per hour under the Arizona Minimum Wage Act). Under the FLSA, employers are permitted to pay tipped employees less than the minimum wage (Arizona employers taking the tip credit must pay employees $7 per hour, $3 per hour less than the Arizona minimum wage) and take a “tip credit” if the employees’ tips suffice to fulfill the applicable minimum wage for the workweek. Prior to taking the tip credit, an employer must inform the employee of the FLSA’s tip credit provisions.

The FLSA outlines very specific notice requirements for employers to follow. To take the tip credit, the employer must inform the employee: 1. the amount of cash wage the employer is paying the tipped employee, 2. the amount claimed by the employer as the tip credit, 3. that the tip credit cannot exceed the amount of tips actually received, 4. that all tips are to be retained by the employee (subject to a valid tip pool) and 5. that the tip credit will not apply to any tipped employee who has not received this notice.

While this notice may be oral or written, providing written notice — receipt of which is acknowledged by the tipped employee — is a best practice that should be followed.

TIPS BELONG TO EMPLOYEES

Under the FLSA, all tips received by the employee must be retained by the employee regardless of whether the employer utilizes the tip credit. The FLSA prohibits any arrangement between the employer and the tipped employee that results in any part of the tip received becoming property of the employer.

This requirement does not, however, preclude a valid tip pooling arrangement. Prior to utilizing a tip pooling arrangement, the employer must notify tipped employees of any required tip pool contribution amount. Moreover, the

tip pooling exception allows only “the pooling of tips among employees who customarily and regularly receive tips” (e.g., servers, bussers, bartenders, bellhops, counter personnel (who serve customers) and service bartenders). The FLSA expressly excludes dishwashers, cooks, chefs (except sushi chefs) and janitors from tip pooling arrangements. An invalid tip pooling policy will open an employer up to liability for unpaid wages.

HOW CAN COMPANIES BE PROACTIVE?

Prior to taking the tip credit or implementing a tip pooling arrangement, restaurants should implement (i.e., post and distribute) a comprehensive written tip notice and pooling policy. Employers should have employees provide written acknowledgement of the receipt and understanding of the tip notice and pooling policy, and place a copy of the acknowledgement in the employee’s personnel file.

Employers using tip credits and tip pooling should regularly audit their payroll practices to ensure tipped employees are paid properly under both federal and state law. This means that employers should have a system in place to (1) ensure that an employee never falls below the minimum wage after being paid the combined hourly wage and receiving tips in any given workweek, (2) ensure that no one who is not a proper “tipped” employee is participating in a tip pooling arrangement, and (3) ensure that only actual tips received by the tipped employee are greater than the tip credit. Should the company discover non-compliance in an internal audit, it should engage counsel to determine corrective action going forward.

Clearly, these steps don’t address the pay disparity between servers and kitchen staff. If pay disparity remains a concern, restaurants may consider adding a tip line on the receipt for kitchen staff. Restaurants may also eliminate tipping altogether and implement a service charge. A service charge does not constitute wages and could be divided among servers and kitchen staff at the restaurant’s discretion. But employers must keep in mind that implementing a service charge in lieu of tips would mean not being able to take the tip credit. These ideas are being implemented in other states with success when implemented properly.

The question of whether the Department of Labor can make rules regarding tip pooling dates back only to 2010, to a case in Oregon (Cumbie v. Woody Woo Inc.) that hinged on whether back-of-the-house staff was entitled to a portion of tips given to front-of-the-house staff.

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Where Is Our Educated Talent?

What are we doing to develop, nurture and retain a talent pipeline for our workforce?

by RaeAnne Marsh

Are businesses in Arizona able to get the talent they need to operate?

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Do we even have a sizeable-enough employment pool? In some sectors, businesses have in the past had to resort to poaching skilled employees from one another, but such a practice is, obviously, not a route to growth for the overall economy.

Businesses, government and education institutions in Arizona are working together to build a strong employment-ready workforce to support business growth and, in turn, build a strong economy.

A study by Arizona’s Office of Economic Opportunity identified the five types of occupations projected to grow the most between 2014 and 2024: management (20.3 percent, from 139,633 to 167,974 jobs); business and financial operations (25.3 percent, from 137,570 to 172,343 jobs); computer and mathematical (29.3 percent, from 88,928 to 114,937 jobs); architectural and engineering (13.1 percent, from 51,932 to 58,717 jobs); and life, physical and social sciences (18.8 percent, from 17,441 to 20,722 jobs).

To support a diversified economy that can advance Arizona, says Amy Hillman, dean of the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, “We need to attract industries that rely on highly skilled technicians, more finance and more startups. At the W. P. Carey School, we’re developing talent for all economic sectors, because we are trying to train for what exists today and for the future.” The W. P. Carey School ranks in the top five for placing graduates in technology and its entrepreneurship graduates are growing at a fast pace, according to Hillman, and she observes, “Whether they build startups themselves or bring the entrepreneurial mindset into growth companies, we know they have the skills to advance.”

Likewise, Maricopa County Community College District focuses on a variety of economic sectors, which include information technology and cybersecurity, manufacturing, healthcare and bioscience, advanced business services, energy and environmental services, and construction.

Matt Hasson, communications director with Maricopa Community Colleges, cites employer demand, projected growth potential and importance to regional economic development priorities as factors in identifying these priority sectors.

Hillman and Hasson feel Arizona needs to move away from its historical dependence on legacy sectors, many of which have not returned to pre-Great Recession strength. And Hasson points out that aerospace and electronics sectors are increasingly vulnerable to outsourcing, automation, and both foreign and domestic competition. “Consequently,” he says, “regional economic development efforts have focused on pivoting existing regional competencies in legacy sectors to new industry areas such as information technology, cybersecurity, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, bioscience, and alternative energy development.”

Both also note the attention their institutions devote to aligning education with the changing workforce needs. “We have over 300 unique companies advising us on skills and capabilities they need not only in firsttime hires but within leadership. We balance this with the deep expertise that comes from a research faculty to stay ahead of market demands,” Hillman says. And Hasson notes that all occupational programs offered

by MCCCD are required to maintain advisory committees made up of local

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Phoenix took #17 on CBRE’s annual Scoring Tech Talent Report, which ranks 50 U.S. and Canadian markets according to their ability to attract and grow tech talent. industry representatives who advise program faculty on curriculum. “MCCCD also utilizes industry forecast studies to examine emerging occupational and workforce needs in sectors such as allied health and the biosciences.

The District subscribes to predictive analytic datasets to determine future industry and occupational demand, and participates in industry sector partnerships with regional organizations such as the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce.”

Megan Rose, in the director’s office of Arizona Department of Administration, says, “The occupation groups where we project the largest growth are management and business and financial operations. These two occupation groups are projected to grow by more than 63,000 jobs by 2024.

Total openings, including separations and the new growth, are projected at more than 123,000 over the ten-year period [2014 to 2024].”

Nicole Farr, communications manager with Arizona Insurance Institute, says the Arizona Insurance and Financial Industry has sought to fill nearly 6,000 jobs annually for the past several years. “Here at the Arizona Insurance Institute, we expect the number of job openings to greatly increase over the next five years as more companies in our industry move operations to Arizona and more current employees retire.” The issue is a qualified workforce. “Individuals with an IT background are highly sought after here in Arizona, as well as those with some knowledge of the insurance and financial industry.” Programs to prepare people for a career in this industry do exist, such as an internship program at Rio Salado College, but many companies will hire employees with an associate’s degree or simply a high school diploma or equivalent, and train employees in-house.

Farr sees a need for companies to come together in order “to create the educational environment we need here in Arizona to build and sustain a new, highly qualified workforce.”

Such coming together is what the manufacturing industry has done.

Arizona Precision Manufacturing Apprenticeship Program is a collaborative effort under the Arizona Commerce Authority of businesses within the industry and education institutions that aims to promote apprenticeship as a route to provide regional precision manufacturers with a world-class technical workforce.

Advanced manufacturing is one of the areas in which Arizona is seeing “impressive growth,” according to Rose. “Over the last 12 months, there have been several significant announcements of expansions and relocations

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that are bringing a large number of new manufacturing jobs to the state.

Raytheon, Intel, Orbital ATK and Lucid Motors have announced significant expansion plans — those four projects alone account for over 7,600 projected new jobs — while Benchmark Electronics, Rogers Corporation and others have announced they are relocating their headquarters to Arizona,” she says.

Pointing out that manufacturing now encompasses defense, aerospace, semiconductor, alternative energy, medical and automotive industries, Steve Macias, president and CEO of Pivot Manufacturing, says, “The needs are shifting from the old days of plugging in unskilled labor and having them learn a trade over many years to employers now needing employees who have a certain level of tech skills from the get-go, as well as having the everimportant soft skills of showing up on time and playing well with others.”

Macias, who is past chairman of the Arizona Manufacturers Council and continues to serve as chairman of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, adds, “Under Gov. Ducey, there has been a renewed emphasis on getting an understanding of workforce needs from the business perspective and seeing how the state can help, which is great because the community colleges have been developing just such employer-centric programs, so the timing is perfect.” In fact, he points to Maricopa Community Colleges working with industry for company-specific programs, to see what the company needs are and how the community colleges can best help them out. “This direct collaboration helps get buy-in from companies that utilize the MCCs and gives the students better odds of landing stable and well-paying jobs.”

He also credits ASU President Michael Crow for “pushing the envelope of higher education on what a university can do for a community (and the world), but at the same time is insistent on pulling and dragging everyone along with him.”

It is recognized at the state level that Arizona’s educational institutions must provide an increasing number of highly skilled graduates to meet the demand of growth in the high-value sectors, according to Rose. One response has been the creation of the Office of Economic Opportunity as a part of Governor Ducey’s strategic vision for economic development in Arizona, ACA 2.0, to bring labor market information resources and state workforce policy under one roof. “This is enabling our workforce development system to set a new standard in data-driven policy and workforce planning,” Rose says.

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Another response Rose describes is in the community college efforts Macias refers to above. Rose reports that the Maricopa, Pima and Central Arizona community college systems are partnering to develop a standardized advanced manufacturing curriculum and a “regional approach to building enrollment in those programs in an innovative partnership designed to address the needs of the burgeoning advanced manufacturing sector in the I-10 Corridor between Tucson and Phoenix.”

MCCCD is the largest provider of workforce development in Arizona, and Hasson says it is constantly reevaluating “to identify opportunities to improve.” The recently adopted Maricopa Transformation Plan proposes more streamlined integration of programs across colleges, with single points of entry organized by industry sector. Explains Hasson, “Institutes will share resources, equipment, staff, faculty and curriculum, including consolidating existing disparate resources and systems into a single organizational unit for consistency and flexibility, maximizing the efficiency.”

There is no debate about the value of a college education in today’s “knowledge economy,” and Hillman says one reason W. P. Carey School of Business engages in online degree completion programs is to assist the large number of people in Arizona who have just some college credits. But she notes also, “Not all of the workforce needs to be college graduates. We need to embrace technical training, apprenticeships and other forms of engagement to get people excited about their opportunities in our economy.”

Retail is another important employment sector, employing more than 229,000 in the Greater Phoenix area. Says Rose, “An innovative partnership between OEO, Arizona@Work, Chicanos Por La Causa, Goodwill and others is making advanced technical training available to retail workers. It is hoped that this large pool of retail workers will develop skills and experiences that will make them a critical part of the emerging labor supply for these highdemand sectors.”

Also addressing the retail sector is a new initiative by the nonprofit Center for the Future of Arizona. “CFA launched RetailWorks AZ in early 2017, a first-of-its-kind initiative for the Greater Phoenix area. We bring education and training together with employee development in support of frontline, entry-level retail workers to help them gain the skills necessary to move up the career ladder,” says Amanda Burke, Ed.D., senior director of Education and Workforce. Recognizing that many Arizonans first acquire their work experience as well as professional skills in retail (47 percent of the retail workforce is younger than 35), RetailWorks AZ is designed not only to make it easier and faster for frontline, entry-level workers to advance their careers in retail, but to build Arizona’s pipeline of skilled young talent for adjacent sectors such as hospitality, healthcare and business services.

BUSINESS-EDUCATION COLLABORATION

“In recent years, it has become apparent from employers in nearly all industry sectors throughout Maricopa County of the need for a forum for exchange among key employers and college leaders at the District level,” Hasson shares. MCCCD’s Workforce Development Office responded by creating district- and region-wide Business and Industry Leadership Teams to examine the needs of the region as a whole in the highest demand areas of employment need and growth. “Thus far, BILTs have been created for sectors in manufacturing, advanced business services, healthcare, and information technology,” Hasson says. “Through the BILTs, MCCCD convened some of the region’s most influential business leaders to describe their workforce needs to faculty and administrators from across the district, and to identify the actions necessary to establish a pipeline of appropriately skilled students for work-based learning and employment opportunities.”

This is also part of CFA’s raison d’être. “The Center for the Future of Arizona is focused on creating innovative approaches to solve problems in critical areas for the state. To strengthen Arizona’s talent pipeline, we are bringing education and training together to address employers’ workforce needs,” says Dr. Burke. An initiative it developed and is the statewide lead for is Arizona Pathways to Prosperity, designed to ensure more young people in Arizona complete high school and earn a postsecondary credential with labor market value in high-growth, high-demand industry sectors. “We start with the needs of businesses first by working with industry sector partners to identify jobs and skills that are in high demand. We then collaboratively design career pathways for Arizona’s young talent that enable them to earn a postsecondary credential which aligns with industry needs and supports businesses seeking qualified employees to help them grow.”

A broad focus on workforce needs and development exists. But underpinning almost all business today is technology, whether viewed as its own industry or as an operational element of others, and “Keep Your Call Centers, We’ll Keep Our Tech” provides an in-depth analysis of employment and talent pool issues for technology in Greater Phoenix that impact our economy.

Arizona Insurance Institute arizonainsuranceinstitute.com Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity oeo.az.gov Arizona Precision Manufacturing Apprenticeship Program azpmap.org Center for the Future of Arizona arizonafuture.org Maricopa County Community College District maricopa.edu W. P. Carey School of Business wpcarey.asu.edu

Overall, the Phoenix market is doing well and competing with some of the more established and emerging tech hubs. The CBRE’s annual Scoring Tech Talent Report shows there are 83,140 people in tech jobs in Phoenix and these workers are making an average wage of $86,231 (2016). Phoenix remains a significantly cheaper place to live and work than other more established tech markets. In fact, tech workers spend just 13.3 percent of their income on rent, while tech workers in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco spend anywhere from 27.2 percent to 30.8 percent.

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Keep Your Call Centers, We’ll Keep Our Tech Booming yet bleeding – Phoenix tech industry feels growing pains With excessive sales jobs cluttering the job market in Phoenix, fresh tech talent is moving away from Phoenix in search of more promising positions. Over 2017, Phoenix can expect big companies to move into the region seeking its businessfriendly, affordable environment. However, rather than bringing in favorable opportunities for fresh tech talent, more back-office jobs in sales, customer service and call centers will be seen on the market.

While numerous articles have painted Phoenix as a rapidly emerging tech hub with greater living affordability than Silicon Valley, the state is struggling to keep hold of talent from local universities to fill even the most menial of roles.

On top of that, existing startups complain of the lack of funding and mentorship opportunities that are forcing them to move elsewhere.

With no real opportunities, tech workers are moving away from the area, leaving behind nothing more than back-office jobs on the market. Robert Backie, CEO of SmartClinic, a local medtech company offering a smartphone app that provides information on patients’ medical progress, says, “Jobs are great for the community, but outsourcing low-cost jobs from other areas does not make us a tech hub. Silicon Valley was not built from outsourced jobs but rather from the ground up, starting with Fairchild Semiconductor in the 1950s. To be a tech hub, we need to follow the Silicon Valley model by starting companies locally that grow and succeed, reinvesting cash and tech talent back into Arizona.”

So how can Phoenix stop this vicious cycle to move past ordinary sales jobs and provide greater innovative tech opportunities?

WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? Despite cities across the country increasing their efforts to retain college students over the last decade, Phoenix still holds the record for the lowest retention rate of students throughout the country, with just 36.3 percent of graduates from two-year colleges remaining after they graduate. The figure is even worse with four-year colleges, where only 18 percent of students choose to stay.

With such a high percentage of graduating students moving out of Phoenix, large corporate companies are crying out for tech talent. Justin Gray, CEO of Arizona-based marketing company LeadMD, says, “When I started my agency in 2009, it was impossible to find local talent. In the last eight years, little has changed. Now that we are launching a software platform, we feel the pain even more as, one by one, local talent falls to the allure of areas like San Francisco, Seattle and Austin. Last year, we spent over $100,000 relocating talent to Arizona due to the lack of local expertise.”

On the other hand, Bodetree, a small tech company specializing in business data analytics, left Phoenix for “less isolated” Denver in search of more technical support for its business. After years battling on home turf, it struggled to find experienced mentors to help the company grow and felt it was being held back by a lack developer talent.

And, while other startups battle on and big names move in, the quality of jobs being offered simply doesn’t meet the standards of ambitious, self-empowered millennial talent. While leading names like Uber and Yelp might be setting up shop here, it’s not with exciting innovation labs and research facilities, but instead with large numbers of sales and customer service jobs. These customer-support positions are failing to catch the eyes of ambitious millennials, who have no problem going further afield in search of something a bit more exciting. After all, Silicon Valley is only 90 minutes away.

According to Code.org, a nonprofit dedicated to expanding access to computer science across America, Arizona offers only a little under 10,000 open computing jobs, in comparison to California’s 68,000 open computing jobs.

INBUSINESSMAG.COM

ARE THERE SOLUTIONS?

One solution is to promote current opportunities. Phoenix has created

generous opportunities for startup initiatives, yet the rest of the world appears to know little about their existence. In February this year, Phoenix held an inaugural keystone event, Street Pitch, at which 10 startups pitched their business to a panel of judges for a chance at a $50,000 investment from the Arizona Founders Fund. This is just one example of many startup events and organizations like PHX Startup Week, BioAccel and $3m available from Arizona Commerce Authority that are supporting technology startups and the growth of Arizona’s small-business ecosystem.

However, while some of these initiatives have been around for years, more needs to be done to move the needle and retain tech talent in the area. Communityowned #yesphx creates a forum to motivate and encourage the Phoenix-metro community to take pride in the area and build a greater startup society. Similarly, Arizona Technology Council’s startup and entrepreneurship committee works to connect and engage technology companies operating within the State of Arizona through educational seminars, mentoring sessions and networking events.

With so many favorable initiatives in place in Phoenix, it comes as a surprise that fresh talent is not given the opportunities needed to develop in Phoenix. Justin Talbot-Stern, CEO of management software company B2Gnow, has seen firsthand the numerous examples of real creative and ground-breaking tech opportunities that are not often recognized or reported. “What the media reports is ‘big news of small wins.’ A ‘tech company’ opening a call center in Phoenix is not ‘tech news’; it’s boring news. It dampens enthusiasm for investment in Arizona startups because we get labeled as a service industry, not an inventor industry. By dressing it up as a ‘tech win’ (which it is not), it captures clicks but does our community a disservice by reinforcing the notion that Phoenix is a low-cost service center in the desert.”

Marketing specifically to tech talent entering the workforce will create greater energy and enthusiasm in the field and fuel the business tech hub in Phoenix.

Another solution is to support local industries. More niche industries such as cyber security, edtech and medtech are prospering in Phoenix. By controlling the job market and analyzing the insights into the latest trends, these industries create networking possibilities within the Arizona community. Phoenix provides both government, university-based and industrial opportunities.

CyberSecurity, for example, aims to attract and retain cyber talent in Arizona by working closely with local universities, advertising jobs in local media, providing learning and training options for employee growth, and widely promoting the benefits of working in the cyber sector in Arizona. Institutions such as Draper University, a provider for Silicon Valley entrepreneurship programs, has recently begun creating a four-month program for entrepreneurs in partnership with the “most innovative” college in the country, Arizona State University.

By highlighting the industries that are growing naturally in strength within their micro-ecosystem, local authorities and startup organizations can create accelerators, meetups and events, which will bring in greater opportunities for tech talent.

Much is happening in the Phoenix tech scene. However, according to the Deloitte Millennial Study 2016, what truly motivates recent graduates is an authentic sense of purpose. An environment where employees can grow their own skills and feel like they are making a difference, which can start with internships and learning opportunities and develop into opportunities for each to foster his or her own ideas and create his or her own projects, would both attract and retain talent to help grow the tech ecosystem in Phoenix. —Stephen Viramontes, a tech entrepreneur with experience in tech education and workforce development and a leader in the local tech and startup community

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MAGAZINE

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Where EducatedIs Our Talent?

What are we doing to develop retain a talent , nurture pipeline for and our workfor ce?

AUGUST

Leadership: the Positive Advantag e

2017

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Leadership: Take the Positive Advantage Leadership style does matter. Can a negative leader become a positive leader?

by Jon Gordon

Jon Gordon’s newest book is The Power of Positive Leadership: How and Why Positive Leaders Transform Teams and Organizations and Change the World.

His best-selling books and talks have inspired readers and audiences around the world. His principles have been put to the test by numerous NFL, NBA and MLB coaches and teams; Fortune 500 companies; school districts; hospitals; and nonprofits.

Gordon has also written numerous bestsellers, among them The Energy Bus, You Win in the Locker Room First and The No Complaining Rule; has been featured on Today, CNN, CNBC and other TV outlets, as well as numerous magazines and newspapers.

Principal with The Jon Gordon Companies, he is a graduate of Cornell University and holds a master’s in teaching from Emory University. jongordon.com

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Any business leader will submit that running a world-class organization is no easy feat. It’s challenging to work toward a vision and create a positive future for oneself and one’s team, especially given the challenges, adversity, negativity and tests of all kinds guaranteed to arise along the way. But in the face of these obstacles, one’s attitude makes all the difference in the culture and success of one’s organization. One must choose very carefully.

Pessimists don’t change the world. Throughout history, we see that it’s the optimists, the believers, the dreamers, the doers and the positive leaders who change the world. The good news is, even the biggest pessimist can learn to change his outlook, and that will change his life and make him a much stronger leader.

Research clearly supports the connection between a positive attitude and success in terms of individuals and organizations. For example, Daniel Goleman’s research demonstrates that positive teams perform at higher levels than negative teams.

Also, according to Wayne Baker, research he and Robert Cross conducted (Positive Organizational Scholarship: Foundations of a New Discipline) shows that “the more you energize people in your workplace, the higher your work performance.” Baker says this occurs because people want to be around such a person; he attracts talent, and people are more likely to devote their discretionary time to his projects.

They’ll offer new ideas, information and opportunities to this type of leader before others. The opposite is also true — people won’t go out of their way to work with or help those who de-energize others.

Finally, a Gallup study estimates that negativity costs the economy $250–300 billion a year and affects the morale,

performance and productivity of teams.

As I discuss in my new book The Power of Positive Leadership, optimism in one’s company starts with its leader(s). Leaders who don’t have it can’t share it. I am not a naturally positive person, but I am proof that you can learn to be positive. I think of myself as a pessimistic optimist. I will always gravitate, naturally, toward the negative. The good news is, pessimism is just a state of mind. It’s not permanent; a person can — and, I argue, should — change it.

The following are seven tips to make the life- and business-changing transformation from a negative leader to a positive leader.

Stop complaining and blaming. A person who is complaining is not leading. Leaders don’t complain. They focus on solutions. They identify problems and look to solve them in order to create a better future for all. Positive leaders don’t attack people; they attack problems.

Don’t focus on current set-backs; focus on a positive goal. Positive leaders lead their team with optimism and vision. Regardless of the circumstances, it’s important to keep pointing others toward a positive future.

Even when Clemson football lost the national championship in 2015, head coach Dabo Swinney believed they would return the following year and kept pointing his team toward a positive future. He didn’t see the loss as a challenge. He saw an opportunity to come back and win it the following year — and that’s what they did.

Lead with love instead of fear. Fear is draining; love is sustaining. Fear divides; love unites. The key to leading without fear is to provide both love and accountability.

Negative leaders provide a lot of fear and accountability, but no love. If a team knows its leader loves them, they will

Gordon points to the optimistic attitude and leadership in Silicon Valley during the Great Recession. “While the rest of the country was going through the downturn, the people who lead and work for the companies in Silicon Valley refused to participate in the recession.

They were too busy trying to change the world. They were surrounded by a bubble of optimism.”

BETTERING YOUR BUSINESS allow him to challenge them. But love must come first. Former CEO Alan Mulally turned around Ford with both love and accountability: Practicing his philosophy of “love ’em up,” and holding the employees accountable to the process, principles and plan, he was able to save Ford and help the economy.

Be demanding without being demeaning. Many people think positive leaders are Pollyanna positive who just smile all the time and don’t care about results. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Positive leaders pursue excellence. They believe in a brighter future, so they take the necessary actions with excellence to create it. They lift others up in order to accomplish their goals, rather than tear them down. They don’t talk at their employees; they walk and run with them.

Connect one on one. The greatest leaders connect with those they lead. Dave Roberts, manager for the Los Angeles Dodgers, is a great example. One day I witnessed a player walk in and say hello. Dave got up and gave the player a big bear hug for about five seconds — the kind of hug a dad would give to his son. I told Dave how great it was that he would give his player a hug like that. He said, “I do it each day, and he often stops by to talk about life and challenges and whatever is on his mind.”

A few weeks later, while watching the Dodgers play the Nationals in the postseason, I watched in amazement as this player hit homeruns in Games 4 and 5 to help the Dodgers advance. It was as if I had a front-row seat to see the impact of what happens when a coach makes the time to pour love and support into one of his players.

Create positive change inside-out. Many leaders believe they are victims of circumstance. They have an external locus of control. But positive leaders believe they can influence events and outcomes by the way they think and act, defining their circumstances with their vision, beliefs and actions.

Coach Donna Orender is a great example. When she served as commissioner of the WNBA, she saw a lot of negativity amongst those in the corporate offices. There was a feeling that no one cared about women’s basketball and a lack of belief that the organization could be successful. But Orender saw the passion and optimism in the coaches and players, and she believed in them and in the future of the WNBA. She began building an optimistic belief system and inspired her colleagues to believe in the WNBA’s future as well. By focusing on one success at a time, she helped create a new reality for herself and changed the organization from the inside out.

Encourage instead of discourage. Positive leaders are also positive communicators in such a way that they make people around them better and feel encouraged instead of hopeless or discouraged. They also spread positive gossip, listen to and welcome new ideas, and give genuine smiles when they speak. Finally, they are great encouragers who uplift the people around them and instill the belief that success is possible.

One of my favorite phrases comes from the original Olympic “Dream Team” and Detroit Pistons coaches Chuck Daly and Brendan Suhr. It is, “Shout praise, whisper criticism.” Shout praise means to recognize someone in front of his or her peers, and whisper criticism means to coach a person to get better. Both build better people and teams.

There is a power associated with positive leadership. Even people who naturally lean toward a negative outlook can make a few changes that will inspire momentous change in their own career success as well as in the success of their team. Those who lead with optimism and share positive energy with others will transform the negativity that too often sabotages teams and organizations.

The Strategic Analysis Cycle Hand Book This is an authoritative and practical guide to collecting, analyzing and managing data, to enable managers and companies to develop successful business strategies. Data has become a dominant factor in today’s business environment. This book, written by a leading practitioner, explains the underpinning nature of data for a company’s business strategy. The book begins with data collection: Getting data is no big deal; getting the right data to win in the market is. It moves on to data analysis: Turning data into actionable intelligence is what drives and determines competitive advantage. And, finally, managing data: how to organize data collection and analysis to create winning strategies. This is a definitive book about one of the most important topics in today’s digital and data-driven economy.

The Strategic Analysis Cycle Hand Book: How Advanced Data Collection and Analysis Underpins Winning Strategies Erik Elgersma LID Publishing

$34.95

The Lost Art of Closing For decades, sales managers, coaches and authors talked about closing as the most essential, most difficult phase of selling. They invented pushy tricks for the final ask, from the “take delivery” close to the “now or never” close. But these tactics often alienated customers, leading to fads for the “soft” close or even abandoning the idea of closing altogether. It sounded great in theory, but the results were often mixed or poor. Anthony Iannarino has a different approach geared to the new technological and social realities of our time. In The Lost Art of Closing, he proves that the final commitment can actually be one of the easiest parts of the sales process — if the salesman has set it up properly with other commitments that have to happen long before the close.

The Lost Art of Closing: Winning the Ten Commitments That Drive Sales Anthony Iannarino Portfolio

240 pages Available: 8/8/2017

$27

Uncommon Sense It’s time to dispense with the common nonsense of dusty old selling imperatives (like elevator pitches, unique value propositions, and “always be closing”). One must stop thinking like a seller and start thinking like one’s customers and prospects. Uncommon Sense provides a toolkit of practical strategies and tactics that will improve one’s access to prospects, enrich engagements with one’s customers, and transform one’s results. It features dozens of examples of calls gone seriously wrong, careerchanging stories of real salespeople, eye-opening statistics, and tips for thinking one’s way out of self-defeating behaviors into providing real value for clients. It also presents counterintuitive sales thinking in bite-sized chunks for the busy salesperson who wants practical advice on specific topics.

Uncommon Sense: Shift Your Thinking. Take New Action. Boost Your Sales Jill Harrington Figure 1 Publishing

A Gallup study estimates that negativity costs the economy $250–300 billion a year and affects the morale, performance and productivity of teams.

400 pages Available: 8/8/2017

224 pages Available: 9/15/2017

$26.95

29 20AUG.1 7 INBUSINESSMAG.COM

MINDING THEIR BUSINESS

Jan Wichayanuparp: Making Ice Cream Social

Passion, community and a little help from Yelp

by Sophie Lapkin

Achievement PRESENTED BY

WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT Fri., Oct. 6 Join In Business Magazine for a luncheon honoring the talents of women business owners, managers and leaders who have achieved great success in and for our Greater Phoenix business community. inbusinessevents.com

A SWEET JOURNEY • Sweet Republic was named one of the Valley’s best ice cream shops in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2015 and 2016.

• The artisan ice cream shop has been featured in national magazines for its unique, handcrafted flavors such as Sichuan Chocolate, Sweet Corn and Blue Cheese.

• Since opening in 2008, the Sweet Republic founders have grown the company to three retail locations in the Greater Phoenix area and are wholesaling to premier hotels and restaurants, as well as to Whole Foods Markets in Arizona.

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According to the International Dairy Foods Association, the ice cream industry in the United States contributes more than $39 billion to the national economy and creates more than 188,000 jobs in communities across the country.

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platforms like Yelp to build awareness for Sweet Republic among local residents. “When we opened Sweet Republic, we had no marketing or advertising budget to help get the word out to the community about who we are or what we do,” Wichayanuparp states.

Knowing Sweet Republic wouldn’t be a success without the support of Scottsdale residents, Wichayanuparp immediately claimed her free business page on Yelp. With millions of people turning to Yelp each day for recommendations, this gave Wichayanuparp the opportunity to reach a new set of customers looking for the ice cream experience Sweet Republic offers. “It was the beginning of the artisan ice cream trend and many people didn’t know what to expect,” remembers Wichayanuparp. “Using Yelp allowed us to set expectations with customers and create an experience for them before they even walked into our store.”

Since opening in Scottsdale, Sweet Republic has launched a Phoenix location, opened in Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and can be found at Whole Foods stores around Arizona.

Now, Wichayanuparp and her business partner are an integral part of the Arizona business community, helping other entrepreneurs find their place within the local business landscape. In fact, Wichayanuparp partnered with Yelp this past June to host the first-ever local business partner event at Sweet Republic, which helped small-business owners prepare for Arizona’s mandatory paid sick leave.

Continuing to build their community, the Sweet Republic founders believe in sharing the pleasure of ice cream in a way that is responsible to the environment and the area in which they live. Wichayanuparp and Yung source their milk and cream from independent Arizona dairy farms, and handcraft their ice cream in small batches using all-natural ingredients that are good for their guests.

While being a savvy businessperson and having the ability to crunch numbers are important to a company’s growth, Wichayanuparp attributes passion and community to be two of the driving forces behind Sweet Republic. “What gets me up in the morning is the powerful knowledge that I can choose to build every day — my staff, my customers, the community of Arizona growers and suppliers that I work with, my friends, my family and my business,” says Wichayanuparp.

AUG. 2017

Women of

An Annual Event Telling Stories of Success

Jan Wichayanuparp started her career in a very different place from where she is today as co-founder and “chief ice cream hustler” for her artisan ice cream shop, Sweet Republic.

Before opening the first location in 2008, Wichayanuparp served as vice president of Asia Pacific Equity Capital Markets at Citigroup, where she oversaw equity and equity-linked transactions.

It was in 2001 that Wichayanuparp realized she wanted a career more personally fulfilling than the one she had made for herself. On Sept. 11, she was attending Citigroup’s Global Associate Training Program at 7 World Trade Center in New York City, located across the street from where the twin towers fell. Says Wichayanuparp, “The actuality of something like that happening in real life, right in front of me, completely boggled my mind.” Witnessing an awful tragedy and being unsure of what was ahead, she recognized life is finite and you have only so much time to do what you love. For Wichayanuparp, that was ice cream.

Wichayanuparp became passionate about ice cream at an early age while her family was living in Bangkok, Thailand, and later when they immigrated to Los Angeles — where she was introduced to more varieties and styles of ice cream. “Ice cream is my favorite food group,” she shares. “Still today, the majority of my days start with a little scoop of ice cream in my morning coffee.”

As much as she enjoys eating this frozen treat, Wichayanuparp didn’t have much experience when it came to making or selling it. Wichayanuparp knew that for her dream of creating a neighborhood ice cream shop to come true, she had to partner with someone who had culinary experience. This was her first realization that building a business isn’t a one-woman job — it takes a community.

In 2008, Wichayanuparp partnered with Helen Yung, a former colleague and friend who attended Le Cordon Bleu and has impressive culinary experience training in Sydney, Australia, and working in Berkeley. Together, Wichayanuparp and Yung opened their first Sweet Republic in Scottsdale, Arizona — created with the sweet mission to put a smile on each and every customer’s face.

With Wichayanuparp from the West Coast and Yung from the East, these two entrepreneurs needed to create a support system from scratch to grow their new shop.

Without established roots in Scottsdale, they turned to

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Trapp Technology

‘Tech Me Out to the Ballgame’ Fri., Aug. 11 | 2:00p – 9:30p Trapp Technology presents its third annual business technology summit, with a focus on effectively scaling one’s company as a topic that would engage a business’s entire executive level. This business summit is designed to educate attendees on specific techniques and methods for successful business growth.

The program will start with a selection of breakout sessions, led by an experienced business mentor. Among these are “Managing Your Bullpen: Putting Your Players in the Right Position for Success,” with D.J. Jones, director of sales with Trapp Technology, discussing pitfalls to avoid when managing the IT “bullpen” and how a business can scout out its best IT partner; “How to Avoid Running Out of Cash,” with Jesse Randall, CEO of Drip LLC, discussing hidden causes that lead to mission-critical cash shortages in a business and how to avoid them; and “How to Foster a Culture of Partnership to Support Direct and Indirect Sales and Marketing Efforts,” with Jen Spencer, VP of marketing and alliances for Allbound, covering the greatest marketing and sales challenges facing vendor/reseller relationships and what today’s digitally-driven marketer can do to help foster a culture of partnership that supports both direct and indirect sales efforts.

Attendees will then come together for the keynote panel, “How to Scale a Business: Growth Tips from CEOs with Real Life Experience,” featuring top Valley CEOs: Jenny Poon, CEO of CO+HOOTS; David Trapp, CEO & founder of Trapp Technology; and Greg Head, CEO of Greg Head Consulting.

The panel presentation will precede the happy hour and dinner, which will be followed by the Chicago Cubs vs. Arizona Diamondbacks baseball game, enjoyed from the Legends Suites at Chase Field. Luxury suite game ticket is included in the price of event admission. — RaeAnne Marsh $50 Chase Field – Legends Suites

The Shoe Producers

Small Business Expo Phoenix Thurs., Aug. 31 | 9:00a - 5:00p SMALL BUSINESS EXPO® is the nation’s largest smallbusiness-to-business networking and learning event. Every year, more than 100,000 small-business professionals and entrepreneurs across the country attend one of the small-business expos in 18 major U.S. markets to take their business to the next level.

The day-long conference and trade show travels to the country’s top cities for small business, bringing together industry thought leaders and experts in a hands-on environment that features more than 20 free workshops and programs along with more than 100 interactive booths, demos and brand exhibits. Headlining the Phoenix event is Bill Walsh, founder and CEO of Powerteam International, presenting “Success By Design – The 7 Keys to Build a Mega-Successful Business” in the Inspiration 2020 ShowcaseTheatre.

Startups and business owners can take advantage of free admission and educational workshops covering online/ social media marketing, employee benefit plans, credit and financing, strategies for increasing revenue and team productivity, mentoring, cloud technologies, retirement plans and much more.

“Experts tell us that more and more Phoenix residents are wanting to take the entrepreneurial leap, but that the biggest barrier to starting a new business is that people don’t think they can,” says event founder Zachary Lezberg.

“With the program we’ve put together, we believe our attendees will feel more empowered by the end of the day.”

—Mike Hunter

401 E. Jefferson St., Phoenix

Free

azcommerce.com

Phoenix Convention Center – South Hall 100 N. 3rd St., Phoenix

AUGUST 2017

thesmallbusinessexpo.com

S M T W T F S

SAVE THE DATE

Upcoming and notable

WESTMARC 13TH ANNUAL GOLF CLASSIC Sept.

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Fri., Sept. 29

This is an excellent opportunity for golfers — and non-golfers — to spend a day networking, experiencing a fabulous golf course, and enjoying our beautiful weather while supporting WESTMARC and the West Valley. westmarc.org

WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT Oct.

Fri., Oct. 6

6

Join In Business Magazine for a luncheon honoring the talents of women business owners, managers and leaders who have achieved great success in and for our Greater Phoenix business community. inbusinessevents.com

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6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 AUGUST 2017 NOTABLE DATES 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 No holidays in August 27 28 29 30

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AUGUST 2017 Tues., Aug. 1

Tues., Aug. 8

11:30a – 1:15p

‘Fabulous Footwear Contest & Lunch’ Fabulously Fun Networking

“A Look at Commercial Real Estate In 2018”: Jim Rounds, president of Rounds Consulting Group, and Mark Singerman, vice president, regional director for the Rockefeller Group, will provide their perspectives on the current condition of the Phoenix metro real estate market and turn their eyes toward the coming year.

Members: $30.00; non-members: $35 Arizona Broadway Theatre 7701 W. Paradise Ln., Peoria westvalleywomen.org Tues., Aug. 8 7:30a – 9:00a

11:00a – 1:00p

Members: $45; nonmembers: $65 (Registration deadline: Aug. 4, noon)

Elite Networking Breakfast

Professional Women’s Alliance Presents Kimberly Hall of Goodwill

Phoenix Metro Chamber of Commerce

Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce

Business and social networking.

Speaker is Kimberly Hall, director of donor development of Goodwill of Central and Northern Arizona, at this meeting of the monthly networking luncheon.

Speed Networking – Happy Hour Mixer

Members: free to attend, $30 with lunch; non-members: $50

Fast-paced format of networking.

Phoenix Country Club

ALOFT Hotel Phoenix

2901 N. 7th St., Phoenix

4450 E. Washington St., Phoenix

phoenixchamber.com

asba.com

Members: free if pre-registered; non-members: $10 if pre-registered, $15 at the door Blue Agave Mexican Cantina 7000 E. Mayo Blvd., Phoenix phoenixmetrochamber.com

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2 Fri., Aug. 4

4

Phoenix Country Club

Thurs., Aug 10

First Friday Networking Breakfast Glendale Chamber of Commerce Speaker is Caprice Amerine of Spotlight Youth Theater, who will also bring a few of the actors to do a special performance. In addition to presentation by a speaker, the event is an opportunity for all members in attendance to introduce their company and/or products and services. Event always closes with a raffle.

Phoenix Metro Chamber of Commerce Networking in a summertime setting.

Members: free if pre-registered; non-members: $10 if pre-registered, $15 at the door Hilton Garden Inn Phoenix North/ Happy Valley 1940 W. Pinnacle Peak Rd., Phoenix

2901 N. 7th St. Phoenix

phoenixmetrochamber.com

aaed.com Tues., Aug. 8

5:00p – 7:00p

Arizona Small Business Association Members: free; non-members: $10

8

7:00a – 9:00a

5:30p – 9:00p

Elite Networking Mixer by the Pool

Arizona Association for Economic Development

West Valley Women

Wed., Aug. 2

Wed., Aug. 16

11:30a – 1:15p

Phoenix Luncheon

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16 Thurs., Aug. 10

7:30a - 9:30a

8:30a – 10:30a

‘The First Five Minutes of a Sales Call’

Business Bootcamp with SCORE

Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce

Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Chamber Institute program will cover how to differentiate one’s business from one’s competition, get invited in to meet with one’s prospects, and meet with the right people from the beginning. Continental breakfast and coffee will be provided.

“7 Hot Trends to Implement Now”: Online marketing is frustrating. What worked last month, doesn’t work this month. Program will cover seven marketing trends emerging for 2017 to help attendees make smart decisions regarding which to embrace and which to safely ignore.

Members: $49; non-members: $69

Free

Sandler Training

Compass Career & Business Solutions

8901 E. Pima Center Pkwy., S​ cottsdale

scottsdalechamber.com

​ embers: $12.50 (with 48-hour M advance registration), $15 (week of event); future members: $60 Cuff Restaurant 5819 W. Glendale Ave., Glendale glendaleazchamber.org

2601 N. 3rd St., Phoenix

azhcc.com Thurs., Aug. 10

7:15a – 10:20a

2017 Business & Education Summit Gilbert Chamber of Commerce Foundation Registration and a light continental breakfast followed at 7:50 by a screening of the documentary Most Likely to Succeed, a feature-length documentary that examines the history of education in the United States, revealing the growing shortcomings of conventional education methods in today’s innovative world. The film explores compelling new approaches that aim to revolutionize teaching as we know it, inspiring school communities to reimagine what students and teachers are capable of doing. Screening will be followed by a panel discussion to hear thoughts and feedback from local leaders, educators and participating audience members.

Free Higley Center for the Performing Arts

AUG. 20 1 7

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For more events, visit “Business Events” at www.inbusinessmag.com

Please confirm, as dates and times are subject to change.

4132 E. Pecos Rd., Gilbert

gilbertaz.com

Thurs., Aug. 24

Join Us

7:30a – 10:00a

OCT. 6, 2017 AT CAMELBACK INN FOR THIS INSPIRING EVENT

Town Hall on Education Global Chamber The global tribe gathers to provide input into the Arizona Town Hall process on education in the state, including the amount of funding for Pre-K12 education for an optimal impact on workforce and the economy.

Members: free; non-members: $30 SkySong

1365 N. Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale

globalchamber.org Thurs., Aug. 17

Wed., Aug. 30

5:00p – 7:00p

10:00a – 3:00p

Business After Hours

Tribal Symposium

Glendale Chamber of Commerce

Arizona Association for Economic Development

Monthly networking event averages 75–100 attendees. Attendees are encouraged to bring flyers or brochures on their company for the member display table.

Keynote speaker is Chris James, president and CEO of The National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development.

Members and their guests: free; future members: $60

Members: $65; non-members: $80 (Registration deadline: Aug. 24, noon.)

Bar Louie

Mazatzal Hotel & Casino

6770 N. Sunrise Blvd., Glendale

Hwy. 87, Mile Marker 251, Payson

glendaleazchamber.org

aaed.com

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Thurs., Aug. 24

Meet this Year’s Women of Achievement

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Luncheon & Event October 6, 2017 Camelback Inn Resort 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

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4:00p – 7:00p

2017 Biz 2 Biz West Valley Expo West Valley Chambers of Commerce: Buckeye Valley, Glendale, Peoria, Southwest Valley, Surprise Regional, Wickenburg Fri., Aug. 18

Noon – 2:30p

2017 ASU Sun Devil Football Kickoff Luncheon Tempe Chamber of Commerce “Voice of the Sun Devils” Tim Healey emcees this exciting afternoon as Head Coach Todd Graham kicks off the season with his players, coaches and other special guests. Sparky, the ASU Spirit Squad and the Dixie Devils will be on hand to set the exciting and energetic tone of the luncheon. $60 Tempe Mission Palms Hotel 60 E. 5th St., Tempe tempechamber.org

This is an unparalleled opportunity for all businesses throughout the West Valley and beyond to showcase their products and services to hundreds of decision makers and buyers. In addition to a cash bar and prizes, the event offers attendees an opportunity to develop critical relationships with surrounding businesses and leaders throughout Avondale, Buckeye, El Mirage, Glendale, Peoria, Surprise, Tolleson, Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Sun City, Sun City West, Wickenburg and Youngtown.

Free Glendale Civic Center Thurs., Aug. 31

Join us on October 6th to hear Letitia Frye and five other top businesswomen tell their inspiring stories of adversity and achievement.

Also, join us in celebrating

5750 W. Glenn Dr., Glendale

wvcca.com

7:30a – 9:00a

Good Government Buzz Session with Gilbert Public Schools Gilbert Chamber of Commerce An event of SRP’s Good Government series, this buzz session will bring together Governing Board members and leaders of Gilbert Public Schools with the business community for a discussion on the latest local, regional and national issues in education. This meet-&-greet event is also an opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback that will contribute to a vibrant business community.

Members: up to 2 seats free, $10 each additional guest; non-members: $50 Gilbert Public Schools – Board Room

the incredible work of Linda M. Herold as we recognize her Lifetime of Achievement.

Register at inbusinessevents.com

140 S. Gilbert Rd., Gilbert

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If your event is directed to helping build business in Metro Phoenix, please send us information to include it in the In Business Magazine events calendar. Full calendar online. events@inbusinessmag.com

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OUR SUBJECT IN-DEPTH

Capitalizing on a Dashboard World The Dos and Don’ts of Great Dashboards

by Steve Wexler, Jeffrey Shaffer and Andy Cotgreave Steve Wexler, Jeffrey A. Shaffer, and Andy Cotgreave are co-authors of The Big Book of Dashboards: Visualizing Your Data Using RealWorld Business Scenarios. bit.ly/big-book-dashboards

Steve Wexler has worked with ADP, Gallup, Deloitte, Convergys, Consumer Reports, The Economist, and many other organizations to help them understand and visualize their data. He is a Tableau Zen master, Iron Viz champion, and training partner. datarevelations.com.

Jeffrey A. Shaffer is vice president of information technology and analytics at Recovery Decision Science and Unifund. He is also adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati, where he teaches data visualization, and was named the 2016 Outstanding Adjunct Professor of the Year. dataplusscience.com.

Andy Cotgreave is technical evangelist at Tableau Software.

His more than 10 years’ experience in data visualization and business intelligence encompasses analyst at the University of Oxford and, at Tableau in 2011, providing technical advice and ideas on how to build a data-driven culture in a business. gravyanecdote.com.

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As the business world becomes ever more complex (and less and less forgiving), the ability to show data in a meaningful way — without overwhelming people or leading them to the wrong conclusions — has become a foundational skill for all leaders. The good news is there are a lot of tips and tricks you can use to create easy-to-understand, high-impact dashboards. Here are nine “dos and don’ts” to keep in mind: DO experiment, iterate and, most importantly, get feedback. You’ll be amazed what happens when you show your work to somebody who hasn’t lived with the dashboard as long as you have.

Do you think all the dashboards we show in our book “got it right” the first time? So many of the dashboards had to endure an “extreme vetting process” in which we would ask, “Why are those bars red? Why is that text over there? What happens if you move that important component from the bottom right — where I didn’t even see it — to the upper left?”

Getting feedback early also turns passive participants into project owners who will want to see the project succeed.

DON’T emulate snazzy infographics from Time and USA Today to garner user engagement. Your organizational dashboard probably isn’t appearing in a magazine or public website where it must compete with pictures of kittens and puppies. If you really want to engage your audience, personalize the dashboard for each viewer (people like things that are about themselves even more than they like kittens and puppies). It’s easier to do than you might think.

DO make it personal. You want to create things that are meaningful to the people viewing them, and one of the best ways to do that is to include the viewer in the visualization.

You can do this by creating dashboards that make it easy for people to see how their department, region, store, etc. is doing with respect to others (see “Comparerator” dashboard below).

DO mix and match the best elements from different dashboards and from different industries. Yes, each industry has its own challenges and you want to be inspired by solutions you can relate to, but you’ll be missing great stuff if you don’t look beyond your silo. One of the best examples is a mobile-ready dashboard that professional soccer players use to see how well they performed across different measures.

The technique to show the most recent match compared with previous matches is jaw-droppingly effective and will work in any situation where you need to compare current with past performance.

DON’T use red and green. At least don’t use the hues of red and green that you usually see in things like balanced scorecards, as a startlingly large percentage of the population cannot discern any differences between those two colors. If you know a little bit about the general population and colorvision deficiency (a.k.a., “color blindness”), you’ll make things that more people can use and that will likely be considerably more attractive than a traffic light.

DON’T try to answer every question in one dashboard.

We have yet to hear anyone say, “This dashboard would be better if you overstuffed it with even more information.” By all means, answer the most important questions (at least the ones you know about), but expect your work to generate as many new questions as it answers. It’s the first step in building an open, data-driven company as it encourages individuals to explore data on their own, discover new insights, and then publish their own dashboards.

DO design with mobile devices in mind. You want to make it as easy as possible for people to explore the information they need when they need it, and that means creating dashboards that are mobile-friendly.

DO use BANs (big-ass numbers) on your dashboards.

These are large, key performance indicators that start as anchor points to the dashboard. They can serve as conversation starters and finishers, can provide context to adjacent charts, and can serve as a universal color legend. They are also wonderful anchor points for people who may be unfamiliar with a dashboard as they practically scream, “Start here!”

DON’T use the same old chart for your data. You’ve got a dataset that has time in it. Don’t assume a line chart will be the best choice. There are many ways of visualizing time. Some will reveal insights the standard timeline cannot show. If you’re looking at seasonality or changes in rank or part-to-whole changes over time, the timeline is sometimes the worst choice.

Consider the question being asked of the data, then iterate through the different chart types to find the most appropriate.

Truly functional, reliable digital dashboards date back only to the 1990s, with advances in data warehousing and online analytical processing; although introduced two decades earlier, they did not gain popularity as they suffered from incomplete or out-of-date data.

倀䠀伀䔀一䤀堀 䄀甀最甀猀琀 ㌀㄀猀琀 ∠ 倀栀漀攀渀椀砀 䌀漀渀瘀攀渀琀椀漀渀 䌀攀渀琀攀爀 ∠ 匀漀甀琀栀 䠀愀氀氀 䘀 ∠ 㤀䄀䴀 ⴀ 㔀倀䴀

一䔀吀圀伀刀䬀 圀䤀吀䠀 吀䠀伀唀匀䄀一䐀匀 伀䘀 䈀唀匀䤀一䔀匀匀 伀圀一䔀刀匀 ☀ 䔀一吀刀䔀倀刀䔀一䔀唀刀匀 ∠ 匀瀀攀攀搀 一攀琀眀漀爀欀椀渀最 匀攀猀猀椀漀渀猀 ∠ ㈀ ⬀ 䈀甀猀椀渀攀猀猀 䌀爀椀琀椀挀愀氀 圀漀爀欀猀栀漀瀀猀 ∠ 䈀甀猀椀渀攀猀猀 䌀愀爀搀 匀栀漀眀挀愀猀攀 ☀ 䔀砀挀栀愀渀最攀 ∠ 䄀 圀椀搀攀 䄀爀爀愀礀 漀昀 䔀砀栀椀戀椀琀漀爀猀 圀椀琀栀 倀爀漀搀甀挀琀猀 ☀ 匀攀爀瘀椀挀攀猀 琀漀 䠀攀氀瀀 夀漀甀爀 䈀甀猀椀渀攀猀猀 䜀爀漀眀 ∠ 䌀甀琀琀椀渀最ⴀ攀搀最攀 䴀愀椀渀 匀琀愀最攀 倀爀攀猀攀渀琀愀琀椀漀渀猀

戀礀 倀漀眀攀爀琀攀愀洀 䤀渀琀攀爀渀愀琀椀漀渀愀氀 ∠ 䄀渀搀 䴀甀挀栀 䴀漀爀攀℀

眀眀眀⸀吀栀攀匀洀愀氀氀䈀甀猀椀渀攀猀猀䔀砀瀀漀⸀挀漀洀⼀倀栀漀攀渀椀砀 INBUSINESSMAG.COM

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What are we doing to develop retain a talent , nurture pipeline for and our workfor ce?

AUGUST

Leadership: the Positive Advantag e

2017

Two Sides

• INBUSINESSMAG.COM

THIS ISSUE

Arizona Technology

Council

on

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AUG. 20 1 7

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BY RAEANNE MARSH

MEALS THAT MATTER

Dust Cutter: Cutting-Edge ‘Not Just Bar’ Food Guajillo pepper sauce, lime cream, cabbage and pickled red onion slaw $9

MARY’S CHICKEN & MESQUITE POD WAFFLES Spicy pickled yellow watermelon, Copper City bourbon syrup $16

Editor’s note: After setting the culinary vision for Dust Cutter at Marriott’s Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel — menu, concept, sourcing and preparations — Chef Murray was tapped by Marriott to do the same for a sister property in Chicago and is leaving as we go to press.

AUG. 20 1 7

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Breaking the ice over a few shared dishes makes a great start to a productive power lunch. Dust Cutter offers an array of interesting palate pleasers from the creative mind of Executive Chef Joshua Murray, a Phoenix transplant whose immersion in the Valley of the Sun’s edible bounty and culinary influences yields Avocado Fries, firm wedges coated with Sonoran spices and served with a Chiltepin pepper aioli; a new take on an old favorite, bacon-wrapped dates, that uses the small Deglet Noor dates instead of the common Medjool for a smoother texture and more even blending of flavors with the Crow’s Dairy goat cheese, served with a Prickly Pear balsamic; and corn bread served in — of course — a skillet.

Flavors that pervade the menu defy the usual “Mexican” or “Southwestern” labels. Grilled Wild Isle Salmon is served topped with a blue corn foam and sides of a mildly spiced creamed version of Mexican street food-style corn-on-the-cob and a garden succotash that includes sunburst squash, baby zucchini, breakfast radish and heirloom tomatoes. Steak Frites and Queen Creek Truffle Fries is a hearty entrée of marinated strips of flatiron steak served alongside a snaky pile of seasoned French fries.

Supporting the emphasis on indigenous ingredients and sustainable sourcing is use of local vendors, and this includes alcohol. Beers on tap are all from Arizona breweries. And the specialty cocktails get the same “made fresh” attention as

the dishes, eschewing bottled syrups for house-made mixers.

If time permits an expansive lunch: The El Pepino is a great summer libation with its refreshing flavor of cucumber.

Dust Cutter opens off the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel’s lobby, like many a hotel bar. But the food — served from a kitchen open 11 a.m. to midnight — is not what one typically experiences at a bar. And neither is the ambience, sophisticated yet evoking Arizona’s early cowboy heritage (which is also the source of the saloon’s name: “Dust cutter” harkens back to a cowboy coming into a saloon at the end of a long day on the range to cut the dust in his throat with a few shots of whiskey).

Patrons can get comfortable at one of the community tables, bar seating, or, for the workaholic, the perch-and-post table, or in the lounge area, below railroad ties seemingly hung by fraying rope. Yes, of course there are the requisite big-screen TVs, but they’re incorporated into the décor at convenient but not obtrusive viewing placement on the walls between expanses of window. Windows of garage-style gates open to the sidewalk in nice weather, boosting the hotel’s goal of being part of the rebirth of a vibrant Downtown Phoenix.

Dust Cutter 100 N. 1st St., Phoenix (602) 333-0000 • bit.ly/dust-cutter

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Photos courtesy of Dust Cutter (top and far left) and Nékter (bottom)

MARY’S CHICKEN TAQUITOS

Summer 2O17 • aztechcouncil.org

IN THIS ISSUE 2 A Test for Tech

New trade deals, pending immigration changes leave feeling of uncertainty

4 Not Just Whiskey Row

Council partners with Prescott to grow technology community

5 Going Global

Student STEM program generates international interest

6 Taking the Lead

Transformation helps executives and their organizations

WHO WE ARE The Arizona Technology Council is Arizona’s premier trade association for science and technology companies.

Phoenix Office 2800 N. Central Ave., Suite 1920 Phoenix, AZ 85004 Phone: 602-343-8324 • Fax: 602-343-8330 info@aztechcouncil.org

Tucson Office

The University of Arizona Science and Technology Park 9040 S. Rita Rd., Ste. 1150 (near I-10 & Rita Rd.) Tucson, AZ 85747 Phone: 520-382-3281 • Fax: 520-382-3299 tucson@aztechcouncil.org

MANAGEMENT AND STAFF Steven G. Zylstra

President + CEO

Leigh Goldstein

COO + Vice President, Programs + Events

Linda Surovick

Director, Finance + Administration

Lauren Witte

Manager, Marketing + Communication

Deborah Zack

Senior Director, Membership Services

Brian Krupski

Director of Membership Services

Laura DeGeorge Jeff Sales Don Rodriguez

Executive Assistant to President + CEO Executive Director, Southern Arizona Regional Office Editor

Ron Schott

Executive Emeritus, Phoenix

Don Ruedy

Executive Emeritus, Tucson

Justin Williams

Executive Emeritus, Tucson

Jeremy Babendure, Executive Director, Ph.D. Arizona SciTech Festival Marisa Ostos

Director, Arizona SciTech Festival

Arizona Technology Council Foundation Susan Farretta

Director of Educational Initiatives

Greg McCarthy

Director, Business + Community Relationships

Sabrina Foy

Arizona Technology Report

Arizona Technology Council: The Voice of the Technology Industry

President’s Message Where have all the leaders gone?

This question has been on my mind lately. We now live in a world where we hear from our president not in stately Steven G. Zylstra, messages delivered from the Oval Office President and CEO, Arizona Technology Council but in middle-of-the-night rants on Twitter.

And they usually are filled with vitriol aimed at the lawmakers on Capitol Hill — on both sides of the aisle.

And Congress is not much better.

Instead of representing the will of the people, they are going down swinging to defend their respective parties. While many Americans await a remedy for “Obamacare” that is said to be broken, senators and representatives spend more time doing … I don’t know. You tell me.

Collectively, a pretty questionable bunch. This begs the question: Is leadership as bad as we think it is?

If you think this is a recent phenomenon, think back. The seeds were planted some time ago.

Who can forget Anthony Weiner, the former Democratic congressman whose political career came to a grinding halt in sexting scandals that ended up being part of the FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton before the November election. He is to be sentenced in September following a plea agreement for a term in the range of 21 to 27 months.

He’ll just miss spending time in the Big House with former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who about the same time should be wrapping up a 15-month sentence in a hush money case stemming from allegations that he sexually abused young boys in the 1960s and 1970s.

Although he never faced sexual abuse charges because statutes of limitation had expired, he did plead guilty to hiding money transactions, admitting that he paid $3.5 million to keep one victim quiet.

Just in Washington? Look toward New Jersey and you might see Gov. Chris Christie catching some rays at the beach. While state government recently shut down in a budget stalemate, the governor and his clan had a grand time at a state-owned mansion — use of it is part of his compensation — on a beach closed to the general public due to the same budget crisis.

Just in politics? Unfortunately, not. It’s no longer a free ride for Travis Kalanick, who abruptly resigned as Uber’s CEO due to investor pressure. His departure followed the firing of more than 20 employees after an investigation of the company’s culture. That probe began after a former Uber engineer detailed what she claimed was sexual harassment at the company.

We can do better when it comes to leadership. I’ve seen it happen at the local level from Gov. Doug Ducey to the startups that are springing up around the state. And even the best leaders at times need repositioning of their compasses. To help, the Arizona Technology Council started the Transformational Leadership Program. You can find out more about it inside this section.

Join me in identifying and supporting the leaders in our midst who make us all proud to be Arizonans. If our leadership is stumbling at the national level, we can set the pace for the rest of the nation.

Accounting Assistant

aztechcouncil.org

ARIZONA TECHNOLOGY REPORT

1

A Test for Tech

New trade deals, pending immigration changes leave feeling of uncertainty Being in the top 10 most definitely carries its rewards. However, there are no promises that such rankings are permanent. There is always something, somewhere that could take that away.

That best describes the situation where it comes to Arizona’s technology industry and its role as a key exporter in the United States.

Arizona ranks No. 8, with approximately $5.6 billion in manufactured technology goods exported in 2016, according to the latest CompTIA Tech Trade Snapshot. That’s an increase of 0.9 percent from the previous year.

For the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale area, $4.1 billion in technology product exports were reported in 2015 — a jump of 9.2 percent from 2014.

With more than 800 member companies now in the Arizona Technology Council, they have a lot at stake in the trade situation. Their workforces were among the 34,742 estimated

by CompTIA to be involved in technology

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ARIZONA TECHNOLOGY REPORT

manufacturing in 2014, with 32 percent of those jobs supported by exports.

But exporting can be risky business. This became readily apparent close to home when President Trump first talked about upending the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), causing a shudder to ripple among members of Arizona’s technology community as they thought of what would happen to the state without this historic deal that has changed three nations. After all, the leading trading partners for technology products for the entire nation and Arizona last year were Mexico and Canada. This also includes IT, telecommunications and information services.

Admittedly, NAFTA is overdue for change.

When the agreement was signed by the United States, Mexico and Canada in 1994, the world was a different place. Take the technology sector. What is taken for granted today was but a dream more than two decades ago. For example, rapid technological advancement

has changed how goods and services move around the Earth. NAFTA does not address data transfer and storage. Renegotiations could adopt regulations that help protect the storage and privacy of company data. An updated agreement could incorporate other important benefits and protections if handled properly.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has said the administration hopes to complete the NAFTA talks by the end of the year. That means productive dialogue must begin now.

That also means Arizona companies need to reach beyond the state’s borders for input. As a first step, Melissa Sanderson, chair of the Arizona District Export Council, was joined by the Arizona Technology Council and other groups in recently sending a letter to Michael Crow, president of Arizona State University, asking the university to convene national thought leaders for a summit to begin the process of analyzing and developing fact-based options for a new trade paradigm.

The focus shouldn’t just be on Arizona exports. Imports also are essential in a global marketplace. In technology, companies rely on imported parts from processors to computer screens that can fuel advancements in products and solutions. Unfortunately, U.S. House of Representatives members are not helping as they have proposed a Border Adjustment Tax (BAT) of 20 percent on goods imported into our country. That means all imported goods, including food, drugs and clothing. It’s estimated each family will pay $1,700 per year more for these necessities, totaling $1 trillion over the next decade. The BAT would be a major step backward with serious consequences for innovation.

Speaking of the border, there is a major push to tackle the related issue of reforming a broken immigration system. To help, the Council is a member of the new FWD.us Arizona Coalition comprised of business and community leaders to communicate the need for immigration reform. FWD.us is a national bipartisan organization started

by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft founder Bill Gates among other key technology leaders to promote policies that keep the United States competitive. By modernizing a legal immigration system, the group envisions unlocking immigrants’ economic potential to help create millions of jobs and reduce the deficit.

FWD.us is working to mobilize the tech community and other leaders in business and civic engagement to promote immigration and economic policies that keep the U.S. competitive in an increasingly globalized world. Since Arizona is on the front lines of the immigration debate, it also is well positioned to have a significant and positive impact on the vital issue of immigration reform.

The FWD.us Arizona Coalition is championing the cause of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. The DACA program was put in place in 2012 to allow young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children to get temporary relief from potential deportation and be able to live, work and study openly in the United States. In order to receive a two-year renewable work permit, all DACA participants must undergo a thorough background check (including fingerprinting), pay fees, and be subject to strict residency and other requirements.

Hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients across the country face significant insecurity about their legal status in the face of aggressive immigration policies being pursued at the federal level. The Council

aztechcouncil.org

through the FWD.us Arizona Coalition will fight for DACA recipients in the state, advocating for the government to find a legislative solution like the Recognizing America’s Children Act for these individuals who came to the U.S. as children and desperately want to continue contributing to our economy.

So far, there has been no morally defensible reason to deport the young people. The vast majority of the 750,000 participants in the DACA program are gainfully employed or students. They are major contributors to the U.S. economy, both as workers and consumers.

Forcibly removing hundreds of thousands of these “Dreamers” would have a significantly negative impact on our national economy, with the potential to push gross domestic product down by as much as $400 billion over the next decade.

The effort by FWD.us is coupled with the technology community’s ongoing push to double the number of available H-1B visas for high-tech jobs in response to the shortage of workers with the necessary science, technology, engineering and math skills and education needed to fill critical positions. There is concern that the Trump administration will reduce the number

of H-1B visas, which the Arizona technology community fears would negatively affect the economy, as many companies could be forced to move key projects outside the United States.

There is a proposal for a “startup visa” that has gained some support. The International Entrepreneur Rule would allow some startup founders to remain in the United States while they build their companies and maintain at least 10 percent ownership, among other requirements. They would be allowed to stay up to 30 months with the possibility of extending their stay for an additional 30 months. The rule was scheduled to go into effect July 17 — six months after it was approved by the Department of Homeland Security under the Obama administration. It was revealed in recent news reports, however, that the rule was sent to the Office of Management and Budget for further review, which some observers say means it could be amended, postponed or withdrawn.

Time will tell whether the shifting trade and immigration climate will bring sunnier days or dark clouds for technology in Arizona and the rest of the nation.

ARIZONA TECHNOLOGY REPORT

3

Not Just Whiskey Row

Council partners with Prescott to grow technology community Not too many organizations can claim that one of its members is home to the College of Security and Intelligence, which trains professionals — cyber and otherwise — to work at the national and international level.

And not too many cities can claim it’s home to this college.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott is one of the newest members of the Arizona Technology Council (and, actually, there is no other institution like its college in the nation). Another new member, the City of Prescott, is the base for the western campus of the worldrenowned aeronautical university. These new relationships actually signal an effort by the Council to build a member base in a city that perhaps is best known for tourism.

“Prescott has a great university in Embry-Riddle, a great community college in Yavapai College, lots of smart people and a desirable quality of life,” says Steven G. Zylstra, president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council. “We want to help the Prescott area grow the number of technology companies — our future members — that call that area home.”

While Zylstra sees the value in Prescott, it hasn’t been easy getting people to the table. “We have been trying to get a critical mass of members up there for years,” he says. The difference now is James Robb, the city’s economic development consultant. Robb carries extensive experience from his work in software and technology in the hotbed of Seattle. “I was there from the beginning as software grew,” he says, adding that he took the lead in taking companies public and was involved in mergers and acquisitions.

Robb also knew about the Council from conducting strategy sessions with members in the group’s early days when he lived in Scottsdale and before he started doing consulting around the country. “So I really believe in it,” he says.

Ultimately, Robb moved to Prescott and was hired by the city earlier this year. One of his first actions? “He helped us get the city and EmbryRiddle to join,” Zylstra says. Robb saw these memberships as ways to get a tech presence by at least acknowledging the Council and what it offered.

“If we’re going to have a future in this community,” he says, “you have to have something besides tourism as your economic engine in the 21st century. That’s going to come through technology.”

At a more grassroots level in a rural community that has had no technology industry and some people not fully understanding what he was trying to accomplish, he viewed the Council as a way to help. “I actually went on [the Council’s] website and I would walk them through different sections to show them the website,” Robb says. “It was like

Cybersecurity Lab at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott

taking a kid to a candy store and they would go, ‘Oh, my God. We never realized that this was going on.’”

With a game plan ranging from incubation to innovation, Robb understands that the resources of the Council are what his community needs. “I’m going up there to meet with the business leaders to try to help them figure out how to be more attractive as a tech destination,” Zylstra says. Meanwhile, Robb says he will continue working to get more members. “I want us to have 12 to 15 members just in the Prescott area and grow from that,” he says. With such growth, Zylstra sees the potential of having quarterly meetings in the city.

The Council’s announcement that its upcoming CEO retreat will be held this year in Prescott was met with heightened excitement at city hall. The city will be a sponsor of the annual event that brings together technology and other leaders from throughout the state. Robb says he already has spoken with Embry-Riddle about its professors facilitating off-site sessions as an option for the retreat.

Robb also sees benefits by teaming with the Council for events beyond the retreat. There is Prescott getting direct exposure to the state’s technology community and how the city can fit into it. Add to that the gain in credibility. He already envisions that partnering with the Council on different conferences could bring in the decisionmakers so they “see a place where maybe they could put a satellite office and we could start to grow in infrastructure here.”

For the Council, Prescott offers potential for its own growth beyond its strong membership bases in Phoenix and Tucson. “We have expansion plans for Yuma and Sierra Vista, too, in the south,” Zylstra says. “We wish to be a truly statewide organization and represent technology companies wherever they are. The idea is that innovation can be anywhere.”

Annual CEO Retreat Reaches 10-Year Mark It’s a major milestone for the Arizona Technology Council as it prepares to host its 10th annual CEO Retreat in Prescott on Aug. 14 and 15.

The two-day event is created for CEOs, presidents and business owners to network and discuss some of the issues they all face.

The setting for the first afternoon is a lunch and a round of golf at Capital Canyon Golf Club. The day ends with an evening reception. The second day is filled with workshops, speakers and keynote

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ARIZONA TECHNOLOGY REPORT

presentations at Prescott Resort & Conference Center.

The opening keynote speaker will be Jim Cantrell, CEO of Vector Space Systems, a Tucsonbased company that connects space startups and innovators with affordable and reliable space access. The lunch keynote speaker will be Lee Benson, founder and CEO of Execute to Win, a Phoenix-based company that helps organizations drive alignment to winning behaviors and

performance. Rounding out the day will be keynote speaker Blake Irving, CEO of Scottsdale-based GoDaddy, the world’s largest cloud platform dedicated to small, independent ventures.

The partner sponsor for the retreat is the Arizona Commerce Authority, whose President and CEO Sandra Watson will speak on Arizona’s future outlook.

To register and learn more, go to aztechcouncil.org/event/2017-ceo-retreat.

Going Global

Student STEM program generates international interest Good news travels fast — and far.

That’s what organizers of the Arizona-based Chief Science Officers (CSO) program learned when their promotional video was named winner of the Facilitator’s Choice Award in the STEM For All 2017 Video Showcase supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF). (The video is at stemforall2017.videohall.com/ presentations/907). Separately, the foundation in collaboration with the Institute for Learning Innovation awarded the program a $1.2 million grant to develop, evaluate and support research for the program, says Jeremy Babendure, Arizona SciTech’s executive director.

The CSO program was launched by Arizona SciTech as a way to increase student voice in school and community discussions about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), resulting in an increase of student interest and career awareness. The program is a collaborative initiative of the Arizona Technology Council Foundation and the Arizona Commerce Authority.

With CSO on its radar, NSF made the connection when its counterparts in Kuwait learned of the Arizona program’s focus on students as STEM ambassadors. At this point, Babendure only has had an initial Skype meeting with the Kuwait connection to extend an invitation to get a firsthand look at CSOs in action on their home turf. “How cool it would be to have a cabinet of chief science officers all the way around the planet!” he says.

There may more interest overseas. Viewers of the award-winning video also can be traced to China, Indonesia, Ireland, Kenya, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Rwanda, Singapore and Turkey.

In the meantime, there already is national interest and engagement since launching here only two years ago. There are multiple regions that are wanting to launch their own programs

aztechcouncil.org

CSOs offer testimonials in the program’s award-winning video.

after learning about what is happening in Arizona, Babendure says. “Not wanting,” he says, correcting himself. “They are doing it.”

Michigan and Oregon are examples of locations where CSOs are active. A school district in Tampa Bay has been taking the lead for its program. Regarding community or school involvement, “they can leverage what we already have going on but we’re not promoting this as, ‘Hey, you’re doing something that’s only in Arizona,’” says Babendure. “We’re billing it as a national opportunity.”

Not every group is based on state boundaries. A new region recently brought together CSOs from Tennessee, Indiana and Illinois for a meeting in St. Louis. To help get them on their feet, CSO Vivian, an incoming junior at Hamilton High School, flew there to help lead a session on what the students can expect in their new roles. “Our main point was how to serve as a CSO — collective action that we all get together and work towards — and how to be a STEM ambassador and student voice,” she says.

Vivian admits she “was worried that I wouldn’t be able to really connect with the students” since their backgrounds and interests

were tied to the Midwest. But she discovered they really weren’t that different and had the same desire to serve their fellow students. She recalls also being hesitant to get involved in the CSO program last year but saw a larger purpose for making the commitment. “I thought that by being a CSO that I could convince more people to pursue STEM education despite how difficult it may be in the beginning, because I saw how it could change the world in the future.”

This school year she will be among the 340 Arizona students Babendure expects to be involved. That’s about two-and-a-half times the number when the program began. The addition of CSOs outside the state should take to the total to just under 500 nationwide, he says.

Helping the cause are the supporters, whether it has been through funding or in-kind donations. For example, Dow Chemical has stepped forward to help the Michigan CSOs. But such backing goes beyond cultivating the next STEM workforce. More importantly, it’s about the impact the students make on society today, Babendure says. While STEM may be a new term, the general message of the importance of science-related careers has been around for decades. “But you put a kid on stage and it’s like, ‘Wow’ People respond,” he says.

The nationwide expansion is just starting. But it will take more funding. Babendure says ideally the program needs $3 million so it can expand to 50 regions. The money would provide seed funding for new programs along with putting in place systems such as site visits by coordinators to provide guidance and a buildout of the website to support the national groups.

Meanwhile, the CSOs will continue spreading the word on STEM as they lay the foundation for their own careers. “I heard if you like your job then you don’t have to work a day,” says future physician Vivian.

ARIZONA TECHNOLOGY REPORT

5

Taking the Lead

Transformation helps executives and their organizations After a decade of success as president of her own company, Kathryn Odland was looking for something more for her company — and herself.

She found it in the Arizona Technology Council’s Transformational Leadership Program, which “provided tremendous self-reflection, so much that I became amazed at some gaps between my perception and the perception of others in my organization,” says Odland, president of Global Patent Solutions, a research and consulting firm she co-founded to meet the needs of inventors and intellectual property professionals.

“This program taught me valuable fundamental lessons that have created a true mental shift in how I function as a leader,” she says.

“Lessons are both quickly implementable and lasting for continued selfdevelopment for me and my team.”

That’s just an example of the outcomes for one member of the inaugural group of eight leaders who went through the program launched last year to move executives from simply system effectiveness and outcomes to operating from a place of valuable principles. Planning has begun for the next cohort, which starts in January 2018, says Margo Boster, CEO of ImpaQ Solutions and the program’s facilitator.

While Odland’s cohort size was eight, an ideal size would be closer to 15, Boster says. “We want to keep it small enough that it’s personal but I’d like to have it a little more than eight so that they get a better experience with their other colleagues,” she says.

The leadership training process is done through a learning community of colleagues and individual assessments delivered in classroom sessions and one-on-one executive coaching.

The program is built around 11 days of classroom sessions over a six-month period in which leaders have the opportunity to integrate and apply learned practices. In the first class, each member of the cohort identifies a leadership challenge that he or she is going to work on throughout the program. “A lot of times they’ll come in thinking they know what their challenge is,” Boster says, “but then the more they learn, the more they say, ‘Well, that was really just a symptom. My real issue is …’ So, they take that and they follow it along.”

Just because the group meets occasionally doesn’t mean work is done only on those days in class. Between each session they constantly work

on their leadership challenges.

They also have reading assignments. Add to that the requirement to meet at least once with a partner from their cohort group. “We want to give them these things that they also have to really integrate into their lives,” Boster says.

Cohort members also attend one-on-one coaching sessions. “I make certain that I have trained, qualified executive coaches,” says Boster, who notes they are not to be confused with life or career coaches. She is one of the four executive coaches who are available for the program.

When the six months are finished, cohort members should notice improvement in how they handle their personal challenges. “The most profound thing I tried to learn and apply is mindfulness — the notion of meeting people where they are, knowing your responsibility and being aware of how you are engaging with them,” says Christine Cross, vice president of domains at GoDaddy. “Are you opening the possibilities of discussion or shutting them down? It boils down to two words: mindfulness and intentionality.”

Boster points out that even though the Arizona Technology Council backs the program, it is not just for technology companies. “It’s for executives of all types from all types of companies,” she says. Besides Odland and Cross, the first cohort included the owner of a recruiting company, the president of a health education company and the chief financial officer of a nonprofit.

Still, for Council members, there is the incentive of a discount. Tuition for the program is $8,950 for members, with a price of $8,475 for those who apply by Sept. 15. For non-members, the tuition is $9,975, with a September early-bird price of $8,975. The ultimate application deadline is Nov. 6.

For an application or more information, go to aztransformationalleadership.com.

Get Smart at Inaugural Summit

Network security, transportation and education will be the focus when the inaugural Smart City Summit – Share Your Smarts is presented Sept. 28 by the Arizona the Technology Council and Sustainability Transition Consulting.

The event will be held at the DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Hotel Paradise Valley – Scottsdale, 5401 N. Scottsdale Road, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Representatives of corporate, educational and governmental institutions in Arizona will gather to share their advances in the use of communication technology to develop smart cities, smart universities and smart schools.

The opening keynote speaker will be Philip Bane, managing director of the Smart Cities Council. There also will be panel discussions and a “smartness fair” where participants and sponsors can present their achievements.

For registration and other information, go to aztechcouncil.org/event/ smart-city-2017.

6

ARIZONA TECHNOLOGY REPORT

Innovator and Entrepreneur from Academia Named to Board Two key members of Arizona’s university community have been appointed to a three-year term on the Arizona Technology Council Board of Directors. David B. Bolman is provost of the University of Advanced Technology (UAT) and Stephen Fleming is vice president, strategic business initiatives at The University of Arizona (UA).

Bolman has been instrumental in growing UAT from a single classroom of 13 students into a private college focused on science, technology, education and mathematics that is unique not only to Arizona but also the country. UAT and its community are dedicated to advancing society through students who learn the tools, techniques, concepts and responsibilities of applying technology in ways that improve society. Bolman has researched, written and spoken on the nature of technology as a foundational human force and how to successfully lead innovation.

Fleming joined the UA in February and is charged with leading a new initiative to advance the strengths of the university’s comprehensive research portfolio to industrial partners and external stakeholders. He previously led economic development and entrepreneurship initiatives at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. In his career, Fleming also has been a senior executive with leadership experience in startups, multinationals and private equity.

David B. Bolman

Stephen Fleming

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Babendure, Jeremy, 43

Elgersma, Erik, 29

Hasson, Matt, 22

Robb, James, 42

Bohr, Jodi R., 20

Evans, Damon, 16

Hillman, Dr. Amy, 22

Rose, Megan, 22

Bolman, David B., 45

Farr, Nicole, 22

Iannarino, Anthony, 29

Saada, Bob, 13

Boster, Margo, 44

Farrell, Quinlan, 50

Johnson, Grant W., 10

Shaffer, Jeffrey A., 34

Burke, Dr. Amanda, 22

Fleming, Stephen, 45

Kusari, Drena, 12

Shuey, Michele, 10

Cavenagh, Andrew, 50

Fox, Sam, 12

Macias, Steve, 22

Viramontes, Stephen, 27

Choe, Brian, 11

Goldstein, Aaron, 12

Magowitz, Roger, 18

Wexler, Steve, 34

Clarke, Ed, 18

Gordon, Jon, 28

Murray, Joshua, 38

Wichayanuparp, Jan, 30

Conti, Anthony, 18

Harper-Marinick, Dr. Maria, 9

Odland, Kathryn, 44

Yusupov, Igor

Cotgreave, Andy, 34

Harrington, Jill, 29

Pierce, Spencer, 10

Zylstra, Steven G., 39

1100 KFNX, 21

Desert Schools Federal Credit Union, 21

National Bank of Arizona, 5

Spear, 10

Direct Energy, 10

National Federation of Independent Business, 50

SRP, 12

Dorsey & Whitney, 12

Nékter, 38

Dust Cutter, 38

OnTrac, 16

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 42

OpenWorks, 12

2UP Technology, 11 AB&R, 16 Activate Human Capitol, 47 Alliance Bank of Arizona, 3 Arena Music, 16 Arizona Association for Economic Development, 32, 33 Arizona Care Network, 18 Arizona Commerce Authority, 22 Arizona Department of Administration, 22 Arizona Diamondbacks, 51 Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, 32

Stack, 11 Stearns Bank, 6 Stridewell, 18

Pareto Captive Services, 50

Surprise Regional Chamber of Commerce, 33

Peoria Chamber of Commerce, 33

Sweet Republic, 30

Forum Real Estate Group, 14

Phoenix Metro Chamber of Commerce, 32

Tableau Software, 34

FSW Funding, 47

Pinnacle Bank, 37

Gallagher & Kennedy, PA, 20

Pivot Manufacturing, 22

Gilbert Chamber of Commerce Foundation, 32, 33

Prescott, City of, 42

Flower Child, 12 Forum Capital, 14

Glendale Chamber of Commerce, 32, 33

Purple Society, The, 18 PwC, 13

Tempe Chamber of Commerce, 33 ThinkSmallBiz, 48 Toll Brothers, 12 Trapp Technology, 31 Tropical Smoothie Café, 38 UnitedHealthcare, 19

Arizona Insurance Institute, 22

Global Chamber, 33

Arizona Manufacturers Council, 22

Global Patent Solutions, 44

Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity, 22

Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, 32

Arizona Small Business Association, 32

ImpaQ Solutions, 44

Arizona State University, 22

Infiniti, 36

Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce, 32, 33

Arizona Technology Council, 39

Infusionsoft, 48

Seena Magowitz Foundation, The, 18

Wallbeds “n” More, 15

Bank of Arizona, 17

Jaburg Wilk, 12

SetSchedule, 11

Wells Fargo, 45

Bank of the West, 8

Jamba Juice, 38

Small Business Expo, The, 31, 35

West Valley Women, 32

Bed Bath & Beyond, 36

Jive, 6

Wickenburg Chamber of Commerce, 33

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, 52

JLL, 2

Southwest Valley Chamber of Commerce, 33

BMO Harris Bank, 7 Brookstone, 36 Buckeye Valley Chamber of Commerce, 33 Center for the Future of Arizona, 22 Cox Business, 11 Cypress Office Properties, LLC, 14

Recovery Decision Science, 34 Relax the Back, 36 Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel, 38

University of Advanced Technology, 45 University of Arizona, The, 45 Visibook, 11 Vixxo, 10 W. P. Carey School of Business, 22

Yelp for Business, 30

Jon Gordon Companies, The, 28 KeyMe, 16

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Employers Need Repeal of a Stable Individual Obamacare: Now Insurance Market More than Ever

by Andrew Cavenagh

by Farrell Quinlan

The Affordable Care Act’s (Obamacare) health insurance exchanges are poised to collapse. By 2018, nearly 40 percent of all counties nationwide are expected to have only one insurer participating in the exchanges. More insurers are expected to leave the exchanges in the coming weeks. Tens of thousands of Americans in dozens of counties could have no exchange plans to choose from.

The failure of the exchanges spells trouble for the millions of people who depend on them. But it also spells trouble for businesses. If the individual market falls apart, companies’ health insurance costs will increase, potentially substantially.

Next year, some insurers may increase exchange plan premiums by 50 percent. Those price hikes could drive people out of the individual market, which would raise costs for employers in two ways.

First, many people, especially those who don’t receive subsidies, won’t be able to afford insurance policies. When they need healthcare, they’ll turn to emergency rooms, which treat all patients regardless of whether or not they have insurance. Every uninsured patient costs hospitals an additional $900 per year.

Hospitals won’t simply accept these losses. They will start demanding higher reimbursements from insurance companies to cover some of the cost of treating the uninsured. These costs are then passed onto both selfinsured and fully insured employers.

Second, many people who currently have exchange plans would seek new jobs to obtain employer-sponsored coverage.

Businesses cannot exclude workers with pre-existing conditions.

New high-cost employees would drive up employers’ premiums.

The ACA’s creation of the individual insurance exchange could have benefitted businesses. But if the exchange now collapses, employers’ healthcare costs would soar. Congress can avoid burdening job-creators by preventing this impending meltdown.

For seven years, the opponents of the Obamacare healthcare law have been promising to repeal and replace the unpopular, costly and unsustainable federal intervention into and excessive regulation over one-sixth of the United States’ economy.

Now that they have won the White House and majorities in both congressional chambers largely on opposition to Obamacare, it’s time for them to make good on their campaign promise.

While Congress seems unable, if not unwilling, to act, healthcare costs continue to surge and Main Street businesses struggle to stay viable while Obamacare crumbles around us in text-book demonstrations of adverse selection and an insurance market death spiral.

Here’s a taste of Obamacare’s bitter fruits for Arizona: An analysis last year by the Kaiser Family Foundation revealed that Phoenix had the nation’s largest premium increase for the Obamacare exchange’s benchmark silver plan — up 145 percent from $207 to $507 per month for a 40-yearold non-smoker.

Arizonans in the exchange experienced, on average, a 116-percent premium increase for the benchmark silver plans, and those purchasing individual market plans abided a mere 54 percent bump.

Congress must not fail to seize this last, best opportunity to not only avoid single-payer but to put America’s healthcare system on the mend toward a more patient-centered system based on the free market rather than government control.

Though not perfect — no legislation ever is — the bill being considered by the U.S. Senate does many good things, including massive tax relief by eliminating or delaying 11 of the most burdensome Obamacare taxes, which are crushing small businesses and driving up costs. It also eliminates the devastating individual and employer mandate penalties that discourage job creation, expansion and investment.

Andrew Cavenagh is managing director and founder of Pareto Captive Services (paretocaptive.com), which manages benefit captive programs that allow medium-sized employers to self-insure with less risk and volatility.

Farrell Quinlan is the Arizona state director for the National Federation of Independent Business (nfib.org), a leading national small-business association.

The Center for the Future of Arizona recently reported that June 2017 Gallup Analytics cited the cost of healthcare as Americans’ top financial concern. arizonafuture.org

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