inside tucson business 09/28/2012

More positive performancesHousing in all submarkets scorehigher metrics

Page 23

Airports courting more local tastesTerminal concessions want more food with local connections

6

Your Weekly Business Journal for the Tucson Metro Area

WWW.INSIDETUCSONBUSINESS.COM • SEPTEMBER 28, 2012 • VOL. 22, NO. 17 • $1

DIRT ALERT 2

PAGE 4

American fl ightdelays subsideon word of talks Inside Tucson Business

After cancelling 436 fl ights — including six to and from Tucson International Airport — and de-laying 5,788 others — including 22 of 57 others through Tucson — American Airlines and the Al-lied Pilots Association (APA) this week made plans to resume talks toward a new labor agreement.

Th e cancellations and delays had mounted since Sept. 20 after a bankruptcy judge earlier in the month agreed to allow American to void its labor agreement and impose deep new concessions on pilots. Th at came after 61 percent of pilots some-what surprisingly voted to reject an agreement the airline and the APA had reached over the summer.

Th e showdown intensifi ed as pilots started re-questing more aircraft maintenance checks. Amer-ican said the number of such requests had more than quadrupled since July.

As the backlog mounted, American’s schedulers sought to stay ahead of the situation by pre-emp-tively cancelling some fl ights but as September wore on, the airline found it increasingly diffi cult to maintain the schedule. As the month end ap-proached the airline also faced the situation of pi-lots using up their government-mandated allow-able monthly fl ight hours.

In Tucson, the most severe days were from Sept. 21 through Tuesday this week when the six fl ights were cancelled. Th e delayed fl ights were anywhere from 16 minutes late to one going to Chicago on Sunday that was nearly six hours behind schedule, according to data from Flightstats.com. Numerous fl ights were four hours or more late, including one on Monday that was due in from Dallas-Fort Worth at 10:45 p.m. but instead arrived at 3 a.m. Tuesday.

Th e delays aff ected only fl ights Ammerican operates using MD-80s and Boeing 737s, which from Tucson are to Dallas-Fort Worth and Chicago O’Hare. American Eagle fl ights to and from Los An-geles were not impacted by the pilots’ actions.

Wednesday this week, American said it antici-pated operating more fl ights as scheduled, though it was still planning to cancel one fl ight to and from Dallas-Fort on Th ursday.

American is the second busiest airline at Tucson International, carrying 23.4 percent of the airport’s passengers this year.

Restaurant, bar revival taking shape in Tucson’s urban core

PAGE 3

Falling supply of finished lots will create

‘pocket’ shortages when construction recovers

2 SEPTEMBER 28, 2012 INSIDE TUCSON BUSINESS

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

SBA Lending Getting the right business financing is key in today’s economy. A Wells Fargo SBA loan is a smart choice, because the low down payment and low monthly payments help you maintain capital and cash flow. If you’re looking to purchase real estate for your business, acquire another business, expand to an additional location, or simply buy equipment or inventory, turn to Wells Fargo SBA Lending to help you do it.

You can be confident in our experience as an SBA lender. In 2011, we approved over a billion dollars in SBA loans to businesses across America — more than any other bank in SBA lending history.2 We’ll use that experience to guide you through the process and make sure you get the financing you need.

Apply for a loan or learn more today. Stop by a Wells Fargo location to talk with a banker, or call 1-800-545-0670 (Monday – Friday, 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. Pacific Time). You can also visit wellsfargo.com/sba.

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SEPTEMBER 28, 2012 3InsideTucsonBusiness.com

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CARTOONISTWES HARGIS

Downtown restaurant revival pours more than $12.4M into economy

NEWS

By Patrick McNamaraInside Tucson Business

Behind the tractors and front-end load-ers with workers laying tracks along Congress Street for the SunLink, the modern streetcar project, there’s a quieter but steady revital-ization of the downtown restaurant and bar scene.

Since 2008, nearly 50 new restaurants, ca-fes and bars have opened or expanded down-town, pouring more than $12.4 million in pri-vate investment into the area.

“Th ere’s never been this large an infl ux of new business in this short of a time in down-town Tucson,” said Michael Keith, CEO of the Downtown Tucson Partnership.

Th e organization has just completed a sur-vey that tracks the amount of public and pri-vate investment made in downtown Tucson. Taken together, the private and public invest-ment in the past fi ve years totals nearly $800 million.

“It’s staggering, absolutely no one could have predicted this level of investment, es-pecially given the global fi nancial situation,” Keith said.

Numerically, the Downtown Tucson Part-nership study shows restaurants and bars have been the most common new businesses since 2008.

In terms of money invested, multi-family housing developers have spent the most, put-ting more than $90.9 million into six diff erent projects.

Major investments also have been made in offi ce buildings, with $81.1 million spent on new projects and improvements to existing buildings.

An early convert to downtown was Kade Mislinski, who in less than two years has opened Th e Hub, 266 E. Congress St., Th e Playground, 278 E. Congress St., and the forthcoming Lulu’s Shake Shoppe, which will be located between the two.

BIZ FACTSINVESTMENTS IN DOWNTOWN TUCSON2008-2013

Total public investments $589 million

Construction jobs created 7,544

Total private investments$208.6 million

Restaurants/bars: 48Offi ce: 23Retail: 38Entertainment: 4Multi-family housing: 6Residential: 21Hotel: 1Total project by sector: 141

Private investment by sector

Restaurants/bars $12.4 millionOffi ce: $81.1 millionRetail: $11 millionEntertainment: $4.9 millionMulti-family housing: $90.9 millionResidential: $8.2 millionHotel: $25,000

Jobs created or relocated

Construction: 2,912Relocated: 720Created: 906Source: Downtown Tucson Partnership

see RESTAURANT Page 6

“Before we came here, everyone was like, ‘you guys are nuts,’” Mislinski said. “We be-lieve in downtown.”

His investment in the three locations has topped $2 million and the restaurants employ 112 people.

For him, opening a bar and restaurant downtown was only natural. He had spent years promoting concerts and raves and DJing events at clubs and warehouses around downtown and another decade with Fox Res-taurant Concepts.

“What was happening downtown was fun when we were kids and it’s becoming fun and useful again,” he said.

Fun is what Mislinski says he’s all about, and it shows in the toy-themed Playground and house-made ice cream at the Hub.

Elliott’s on Congress, 135. E. Congress St., is another newcomer to downtown.

Elliott’s on Congress opened in May. It’ among the many bars and restau-rants in the resurgent downtown food scene.

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Public Notices 6Lists 9-12Profile 13Meals and Entertainment 15Arts and Culture 15Briefs 18-20People in Action 19

Inside Media 20 Calendar 21Finance 22Real Estate &Construction 23Biz Buzz 24Editorial 24Classifieds 27

EDITION INDEX

Tucson’s unemployment ratedrops to 7.6% in August

Tucson’s unemployment rate improved in August to 7.6 percent, from 7.7 percent in July and down from 8.6 percent in August 2011, ac-cording to the state’s Offi ce of Employment and Population Statistics.

Signifi cantly, both the number of people working and the number of people in the avail-able workforce were up, 1.7 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively, compared to July. Th at’s something of a reversal from previous months’ trends. Compared to a year ago, the numbers in both cases are down.

Th is year in August, 419,800 Tucsonans were working, which is up from 412,800 in July but down from 422,400 in August 2011.

Tucson’s total civilian labor force in August was 454,200, up from 447,300 in July but down from 462,400 in August 2011.

Arizona’s statewide unemployment rate re-mained unchanged at 8.3 percent in August but down from 9.5 percent a year ago. Th e statewide unemployment rate is seasonally adjusted but the Tucson rate is not, which means month-to-month comparisons are not as indicative locally as year-to-year comparisons.

With the start of the school year, it’s typical for Arizona to add jobs in August. State offi cials said the number of government jobs added this August exceeded the average of the past 10 years while the number of private sector jobs was below average.

Rathbun Realty fi les bankruptcy, closes

Rathbun Realty Inc., which earlier this month was told by the Arizona Department of Real Estate to cease and desist doing business, has now fi led for Chapter 7 liquidation.

Th e bankruptcy fi ling essentially means Rathbun is out of the real estate and property management business, according to a man who answered the phone at the company Wednesday. Attorney Alan Solot did not return a phone call as of press time.

In the fi ling, Rathbun said it had estimated liabilities of more than $1 million to $10 mil-lion but had not yet fi led a schedule of credi-tors. Th e company said its assets amounted to $50,000 or less.

Th e cease and desist order which suspend-ed the licenses of Rathbun’s two brokers was issued Sept. 4 over $1.8 million that was miss-ing in trust accounts. Th ree days after the order, Rathbun said it had signed an interim broker in an eff ort to continue operating.

Rathbun Realty’s offi ce is at 5650 E. 22nd St.


NEWSDIRT ALERT PART 2

Will builders face a possible 15,000-lot shortage?By Roger YohemInside Tucson BusinessConclusion of two parts

Start the countdown. When will all of the fi nished lots be gone?

In December 2009, D.R. Horton Homes bought 203 lots in Marana’s Con-tinental Reserve. By mid-2010, Rich-mond American Homes and Maracay Homes picked up 160 lots off Interstate 10 around Arizona Pavilions.

As 2011 closed, Meritage Homes and Miramonte Homes had grabbed more than 210 lots in the hot area called the Tangerine Corridor. In northwest Mara-na, developers secured 800 acres of dirt.

Th is year, the acquisitions have ac-celerated. By the end of the year lot sales could triple the volume of 2011. Is now the time to re-stock?

It’s a developing situation with no certain answers. What is certain how-ever, are concerns the supply-demand balance is nearing an imbalance.

“By 2014, we may not be able to de-liver enough fi nished lots to meet con-sumer demand for housing,” said Will White, Tucson manager of Land Advi-sors Organization, 3561 E. Sunrise Drive. “Th ere is a substantial amount of platted lots, but who is going to build those? Th e owners don’t want to shell out that kind of money.”

Signs of improvementIn the past 18 months, there have been

clear signs of improvement in the region’s real estate market. Small price gains in used homes are holding. Builders have inched up prices for new homes.

Foreclosure notices are higher but expected to fall sharply in 2013. Gener-ally, active listings are settling despite the overhang of shadow inventory. Lots cost more. And the large national builders have sophisticated new business plans based on lessons learned from the Great Recession.

“Developers and builders now are smarter than they get credit for. Th ey don’t want to own raw land. Holding land ties up fi nancial assets that aren’t producing any revenue,” said Jim Mar-ian, a principal with Chapman Lindsey Commercial Real Estate.

A “just-in-time” strategy of inventory management, based loosely on what transformed the manufacturing industry decades ago, has entered the business. “Like manufacturing, home building is all about production,” Marian said.

When builders buy land, that’s “a real obvious good sign” they are going to build again, he added. Th at means build-ers who consolidated their Tucson oper-

ations to Phoenix will have to re-staff locally with new construction-related jobs.

Over the last two years, White estimates builders have bought $30 million to $40 mil-lion in dirt in and around the Tangerine Corridor in Marana. From Rancho Vistoso Boulevard west to Dove Mountain Boule-vard, this area contains most of the prime “A” lots in good locations.

“Not one other area of Pima County can make that claim,” White said.

Meritage Homes has been the most ag-gressive buyer along the corridor, having picked up several hundred lots in the com-munities of SkyRanch, Tangerine Crossing, Dove Mountain, and Rancho Vistoso (see chart).

Typically, those lots were abandoned by other builders/investors and/or foreclosed during the recession.

Higher land pricesRising from the housing collapse, na-

tional builders are emerging as the major players. Th ey are now cash rich with aggres-sive business plans. Th at has enabled them to control about 90 percent of recent land transactions, said White.

Before the crash, KB Home and Lennar “often traded places as the biggest builder in town. But now, DR Horton is setting them-selves way apart,” White said. Horton has been an early and steady land buyer and “could be a 30 or 40 percent market share

builder here.”As Horton, Meritage, Richmond Ameri-

can and others put their plans into action, they paid a “decent premium” for land, add-ed White. “Prices are up. Land is the founda-tion of their business plan.”

In August, 150 new home sales closed re-gion wide, the highest since June 2010, said Ginger Kneup of Bright Future Real Estate Research.

“Th ere are good signs this pace will con-tinue in the fi nal months of the year. Th e best indication is that the number of permits pulled in May through August exceeded the same 2011 period by 53 percent,” she said. “Builders are reporting good sales and ad-vertising few specs, so the market is well-positioned to exceed 2011, likely by 200 to 250 units.”

Back to the coreNear the peak of the 2005-2006 housing

frenzy, developers searched the outskirts of the metroplitan area for dirt.

Along the I-10 corridor, Pulte leap-frogged Marana to Red Rock. Speculators eyed tracts to the west along Ajo Highway al-most to Th ree Points. Others saw Sahuarita growing south along I-19 to the Santa Cruz County line. Even Benson and Whetstone to the southeast made it onto the radar screen.

“Th e drive ‘til you qualify option was hot but now there is no incentive to go out that far. Th e economy killed that. All it took was

Over the past 18 months, builders have paid a “decent premium” for lots. Prices are higher, especially in Marana.

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UA seeks to considerveterinary program

Th e University of Arizona wants to look into the possibility of launching a veterinary pro-gram. An item that would allocate $3 million for feasibility study was on the Arizona Board of Regents meeting agenda for Th ursday.

Arizona currently does not have a veteri-nary school and pays to send residents to pro-grams outside the state.

In this current school year, 47 students are participating in a veterinary medicine program through the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education Professional Student Exchange Program, where the state provides a $30,000 support fee per student, according to the Arizona Board of Regents. Th is totals state support of $1.4 million for the 2012-13 aca-demic year.

Th e UA already has a veterinary diagnostic lab, multiple laboratory animal research facili-ties, a product and safety laboratory with two working ranches, research farms, and does microbiological research, according Dr. Shane Burgess, vice provost and dean of UA’s Col-lege of Agriculture and Life Sciences. And, the facilities are already connected with the UA’s schools of public health, medicine and phar-macy and a faculty with animal and biomedi-cal expertise.

Th e Arizona Board of Regents was meeting Th ursday and today in Flagstaff .

Offi cial: UA enrollmenttops 40,000 for 1st time

It’s now offi cial, after teetering near the 40,000-student mark for a few years, student enrollment at the University of Arizona has for the fi rst time topped that, with 40,223 students this year.

Th at’s up from 39,236 students last year.Also, the UA’s eff orts to have students stay

beyond their fi rst year appears to be paying off with a fi rst-year retention rate of 80.2 percent, up from 77.2 percent a year ago. Th e freshman retention rate for residents grew to 82.7 per-cent from 80.1 percent and for non-residents, it was 75.9 percent, up from 71.9 percent.

In making the announcement, Melissa Vito, vice president for student aff airs, credited the UA’s targeted eff orts for the improvement in student retention.

One program specifi cally cited by Vito is called Th ink Tank, which was visited by nearly 7,500 students about 45,000 times last year.

“Over 70 percent of these students are freshmen and sophomores, and early data shows that students who use these services do better than those who don’t. Our least aca-demically prepared students who use Th ink Tank services returned at a 21 percent higher rate than students who did not use these ser-vices,” Vito said.

Th e newly released data also noted the UA’s four-year graduation rate in 2011 was 39.9 per-cent, up from 36.3 percent in 2010, and the six-year graduation rate was 61.4 percent, up from 59.8 percent.


NEWSfalling home prices in Tucson to move de-velopment activity back into the core metro area,” White explained.

Th at swung the spotlight back to north-west Marana, an area abundant in “laser-lev-eled farm land.” In addition to the Tangerine Corridor, builders will return to communi-ties with existing entitlements for over 6,500 lots along I-10 like Gladden Farms, Sanders Grove and Saguaro Bloom.

Gladden Farms has 1,900 fi nished, plat-ted and zoned lots. Sanders Grove has 2,500 planned lots and Saguaro Bloom holds 2,200 partial, platted and zoned lots.

“Once the economy turns, this will be the fastest growing area,” White said. “Home prices are back to reasonable back in the core.”

As the Tangerine Corridor and the north-west area build out, builders will be drawn to other currently calm submarkets. Th ose ar-eas are Sahuarita, the Houghton Road Cor-ridor and Vail, said Pete Herder, CEO of the Herder Companies.

Shortage of lotsSince 2005, White estimates some 34,000

fi nished lots have been absorbed “during the worst economic times.” Currently, there are about 4,000 fi nished lots available to the market.

Based on new home permits projections of about 2,000 this year and 2,200 next year, “we’re at 4,200 and out of lots by the end of 2013. Permits could be 2,500 to 3,000 in 2014, a worst-case scenario caused by a hor-rifi c market crash that nobody prepared for is coming back.”

Th e shortage of fi nished lots could ap-proach 15,000 by 2017-2018. Th at is “a daunt-ing task because only paper lots will be left,” said White. “So the big issue becomes who builds them?”

Several thousand planned “paper lots” exist in the region. But due to ongoing eco-nomic and tax uncertainty, “many owners will not put out the money or time to de-velop their lots,” Herder emphasized. “From scratch, raw land can take 12 to 18 months to do fi nished lots. I see the builders taking on that role more.”

In two subdivisions, Herder has held about 120 fi nished lots for three years. His son John will develop some of those and the balance likely will be sold in bulk to build-ers.

Whether the shortage reaches a crisis is unclear. Th ere are too many variables in play.

“It all comes down to consumer confi -dence and that will be determined by jobs and land location. Until jobs come back to Tucson, strong housing demand will not come back,” Herder said.

Although the shortage of lots is a serious issue, neither Herder nor Marian sees it es-calating into a major crisis. As absorption shifts to paper lots, development will still driven by economics.

“It’s a risk-reward situation. If the risks are way off the chart, land owners are not go-ing to put money into improving their lots. Most would rather have the builders do it. But if the opportunity, the reward is there to make a profi t, they’ll do it themselves,” Mar-

ian said.“Builders will go where the economics

of a deal work, including infi ll,” he added. “Th ere will be very tight pocket shortages of lots in certain areas, but not a severe shortage market-wide.”

Over the next fi ve years, annual vol-umes of about 4,000 new home permits would be a welcome, healthy and man-ageable “sweet spot,” said White. To meet demand, “builders will have to build their own lots again.”

Looking ahead 10 to 15 years, a pro-jected population growth of 500,000 peo-ple will pressure Arizona to release state trust land. Th e state owns about 1 million acres in the Tucson region.

“Th at will be the next big challenge,” said White. “Th e search for new land is a very tough task.”

Contact reporter Roger Yohem at

[email protected] or (520) 295-4254.

The Tangerine Corridor has the most prime “A” lots, says Will White of Land Advisors.

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Date Buyer Submarket/General Location Sales Price Acres Lots/Type Price/lot9/2012 Richmond American Marana: Tangerine/Dove Mountain $3.4 million 9 63 finished $54,0008/2012 True Life Communities Oro Valley: Tangerine/Rancho Vistoso $10 million 168 Raw land N/A8/2012 Meritage Homes Marana: Tangerine/Dove Mountain $2 million 99.7 61 platted $33,2426/2012 Meritage Homes Oro Valley: Rancho Vistoso/Moore $7.2 million 50.9 128 finished $56,2506/2012 D.R. Horton Homes Marana: The Pines $2.35 million 7.7 56 finished $42,0005/2012 D.R. Horton Homes Marana: Camino de Manana/Oasis $3.5 million 12 83 finished $42,0005/2012 Meritage Homes Marana: Tangerine (Sky Ranch) $1.59 million 17.6 53 platted $30,0004/2012 Lennar Marana: Tangerine/Dove Mountain $1.96 million 5.8 29 finished $69,5001/2012 D.R. Horton Homes SW: Rancho Sahuarita $4.39 million 37.2 88 finished $51,0005/2011 Meritage Homes Marana: Tangerine (Sky Ranch) $2.23 million 6.6 32 finished $69,6871/2011 Miramonte Homes Oro Valley: Tangerine/Dove Mountain $3.9 million 20.8 130 finished $30,2769/2010 Pulte Homes Oro Valley: Tangerine/Dove Mountain $2.66 million 8 38 finished $70,0006/2010 Richmond American Marana: I-10/Arizona Pavilions $2.58 million 7 43 finished $60,0005/2010 Maracay Homes Marana: I-10/Arizona Pavilions $2.88 million 7.8 60 finished $48,00012/2009 D.R. Horton Homes Marana: Continental Reserve $5.8 million 112.7 203 finished $28,571Land Advisors Organization data

Tangerine Corridor/Northwest Marana dominate land sales

This Week’s Good News Curtain goes up

On Monday (Oct. 1) the Westin La Paloma Resort and Spa, 3800 E. Sunrise Drive, will un-veil its fi rst block of 24 renovated rooms that will be ready for guest occupancy. It represents a milestone in the resort’s $30 million make-over under new ownership after emerging from bankruptcy. So now it’s 24 down, 363 rooms to go restoring the luster to one of Tucson’s resort jewels.

The Tucson

INSIDERInsights and trends on developing andongoing Tucson regional business news.

On the F-35 As the Air Force continues to evaluate sites

for future basing of training facilities for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, it could be nearing crunch time. Th e Air Force has already identi-fi ed Hill Air Force Base near Ogden, Utah, as a preferred site. Th at doesn’t make it a done deal but it gives them a leg up while Tucsonans are still trying to make the case for the Air National Guard’s 162nd Fighter Wing at Tucson Inter-national Airport.

What could be a wild card, is what Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild says after he takes an upcoming trip to Lockheed Martin to hear fi rst-hand what the fi ghter jet sounds like.

Rothschild says he doesn’t want others to ac-company him on the trip, presumably so as not to try to unduly interfere with what he hears.

Fighting Padres move Even though the El Paso business group

MountainStar Sports this week signed an agree-ment to buy the Triple A Tucson Padres, there are some who are still trying to fi ght it. Some of the loudest are coming from El Paso where vot-ers aren’t being given a say in the city’s plans to spend $50 million to build a ballpark downtown because the city plans to do it through certifi -cates of participation, a type of bonding mecha-nism that doesn’t require voter approval.

Separately, meanwhile, the El Paso City Council is asking voters in November to ap-prove a $462 million bond sale for quality-of-life improvements for parks and recreation fa-cilities, open space, libraries, museums, the zoo, neighborhood improvements, and cultur-al and performing arts facilities.

Voters also will vote whether to impose a 2 percent hotel room occupancy tax, which could raise revenues to help pay for the ball-park but city offi cials say the planning for that was always a separate issue and those revenues aren’t needed to build the ballpark.

Under MountainStar’s ownership, the Tuc-son Padres will play their fi nal season in 2013 at Kino Memorial Stadium before moving to El Paso in 2014.


Billy Elliott and wife Valaree opened the bar and restaurant in May hoping to tap into the area’s new energy.

“It seems like there’s a lot of new stuff going on and we wanted to be a part of it,” Billy Elliott said.

In addition, he wanted Elliott’s to of-fer something slightly out of the ordinary. Th e menu includes duck, which they use in numerous applications and whimsical desserts like chocolate-covered bacon and deep-fried peanut butter-and-jelly sand-wiches.

“I don’t want our menu to look like Fri-day’s,” he said.

Elliott’s on Congress also off ers a selec-tion of house-infused vodkas and cocktails that riff on the theme.

Myles Stone, co-owner of Borderlands Brewing Company, 119 E. Toole Ave., said he and his partners sought a downtown lo-cation because they liked the burgeoning urban environment and the connection to history.

“We just loved the personality and the history,” Stone said. “It’s got so much more soul.”

He and his partners started the down-town brewery on a paltry $2,000. Th ey’ve since attracted more than $200,000 in investment and anticipate reaching the $500,000 threshold by year’s end.

Despite the shoestring budget, demand for their beer has swelled, Stone said.

“We’ve been under capacity since the minute we opened,” he said.

A handful of Tucson bars and restau-rants has Borderlands’ beer on tap.

Stone said demand has grown to where

Borderlands has already ordered new brewing equipment to increase capacity ten fold.

Keith said the infl ux of private invest-ment projects in downtown has followed on the heels of public infrastructure im-provements.

“Th e level of public investment that had gone in already has set the table for the res-taurant industry,” Keith said.

He notes projects such as the SunLinks modern streetcar, the Fourth Avenue un-derpass, Plaza Centro Garage and even a nearly $40 million infrastructure invest-ment using funds from the much-criticized Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities District all have played a role in preparing down-town for private development.

“All of that has set the stage for small in-vestors to go downtown,” he said.

Th at public investment downtown seemed long overdue, as what once was the heart of the city fell into a state of de-cline due to suburban growth. Downtown’s proximity on the west side of where much of the population lived, also hurt.

By the end of the 1970s the exodus was complete. Excepting a few venerable retail mainstains and private offi ces, govern-ment workers, attorneys and the homeless seemed to be what remained downtown.

Several attempts by government over the decades to revive downtown fell fl at. But now downtown Tucson appears to be in the midst of a true urban revival.

Tucson Electric Power and its parent company UNS Energy Corp. last November moved into its new $64 million, nine-story headquarters building at 88 E. Broadway. A

year earlier, Providence Service Corpora-tion relocated its national headquarters to 64 E. Broadway downtown, investing mil-lions to rennovate a building that was origi-nally constructed in 1909.

Blocks of student housing have begun a vertical assent as well, and the $200 million SunLink modern streetcar project contin-ues to wind its way through downtown.

“All of these things are beginning to cre-ate a sense of place,” Keith said.

In addition to the nearly 50 new bars and eateries opening downtown over the past fi ve years, Keith said at least 10 more are on their way.

Th under Canyon Brewery, a long-time fi xture in Foothills Mall, plans to move into the Brewery Block at 220 E. Broadway.

Further west on Broadway, next to the Providence Service’s headquarters at Scott Avenue, a new bar is poised to open.

Renovation activity is underway at the now-closed Vaudeville Cabaret site at 110 E. Congress St.

Two restaurants and a bar have pending liquor license applications for spaces in the Rialto Block on Congress.

Th e thing all these places have in com-mon, Keith said, is local ownership. Th at, according to him, is the key to keeping downtown Tucson a unique and grow-ing location, free from the homogeneity of chain restaurants.

“Tucson can be very good at being itself,” Keith said, “but being itself very well.”

Contact reporter Patrick McNamara

at [email protected] or (520) 295-

4259.

NEWS

RESTAURANT continued from Page 3

Sparkroot, a coffee shop and café, is one of the nearly 50 restaurants and bars to open downtown in recent years.

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PUBLIC NOTICESSelected public records of Southern Arizona bankruptcies and liens.

BANKRUPTCIESChapter 7 - Liquidation Rathbun Realty Inc., 5650 E. 22nd St. Principal: Bette Glover, president. Estimated assets: $50,000 or less. Estimated liabilities: More than $1 million to $10 million. Largest creditor(s): Schedule not fi led. Case No. 12-20996 fi led Sept. 21. Law fi rm: Tilton & Solot

Chapter 11 - Business reorganization John Wesley Dorris III, 7635 E. Ocotillo Overlook Drive. Principal: John Wesley Dorris III, debtor. Estimated assets: $50,000 or less. Estimated liabilities: More than $100,000 to $500,000. Largest creditor(s): Cadles of Grassy Meadows II LLC, Smoot, W.Va., $88,052.48 and American Express, Malvern, Pa., $70,287.44. Case No. 12-20712 fi led Sept. 18. Law fi rm: Davis Miles McGuire Gardner, Tempe

FORECLOSURE NOTICES Foothills Land LLC 5490 N. Falcon Crest Place 85749 Tax parcel: 205-30-1150Original Principal: $300,000.00 Benefi ciary: Meryll M. Frost Jr. and Susan C. Frost, Gainesville, Fla. (42%); John H. Valdata (33%) and Francis Henry Champagne as trustee for the Francis Henry Champagne Revocable Trust (25%) Auction time and date: 10 a.m. Dec. 12, 2012 Trustee: Albert H. Hartwell Jr., 1177 N. Church Ave., Suite 703

Artistic Glass & Mirror Company Inc. 2029 E. 14th St. 85719 Tax parcel: 129-04-2720Original Principal: $612,000.00 Benefi ciary: California Bank & Trust, Sacramento, Calif. Auction time and date: 11:30 a.m. Dec. 14, 2012 Trustee: Fidelity National Title Insurance Company, 11000 Olson Drive, Suite 101, Rancho Cordova, Calif.

Euclid N.T. Partnership LLC 17121 W. Tiro Road, Marana 85653 Tax parcel: 208-19-210ROriginal Principal: $15,000.00 Benefi ciary: Katherine Rutherford Auction time and date: 11 a.m. Dec. 20, 2012 Trustee: Timothy Ingraham, PO Box 36825, 85740 Phone: (520) 529-6740Fidelity National Title Insurance Company, 11000 Olson Drive, Suite 101, Rancho Cordova, Calif.

LIENSFederal tax liens Arizona Laminate Fabricators Inc., 8020 N. Business Park Drive, Marana. Amount owed: $24,439.11.Frankie’s South Philly Cheesesteaks & Hoagies and Frank Santos, 2574 N. Campbell Ave. Amount owed: $8,201.16. Hacienda Custom Builders Inc., 9760 S. Camino De La Calinda, Vail. Amounts owed: $7,673.79 and $171,346.45. Arizona Lending Group Inc. and Robert L. Schmidt, PO Box 32830, 85751. Amount owed: $83,184.93. Strategic Retirement Plan Dynamics Inc., 1010 N. Finance Center Drive, Suite 106. Amount owed: $67,117.75. Renaissance Renovating LLC and Timothy J. Duvall, 3421 W. Eunice Place. Amount owed: $3,710.61. Redhair Law Group PC, 7440 N. Oracle Road, Building 3. Amount owed: $21,373.71. Express Tune-Up & Lube and S&H Enterprises Inc., 777 E. 22nd St. Amount owed: $8,044.38. Law Offi ce Laurence M. Berlin and Laurence M. Berlin, 4525 E. Skyline Drive, Suite 111. Amount owed: $5,995.71.Daniel J. Rylander PC, 4340 N. Campbell Ave., Suite 266. Amount owed: $33,911.97. Wade Law Firm and Gladys S. Wade, 100 N. Stone Ave., Suite 502. Amount owed: $8,968.43. Seawater Foundation, 4230 E. Whittier St. Amount owed: $35,302.72.Product Development Industries Inc., 4500 E. Speedway, Suite 50. Amount owed: $1,703.56. JJ’s Smoke Shop and Jason Geiser, 5846 E. Speedway. Amount owed: $5,691.03.Fund-Net Corp., 2100 N. Wilmot Road, Suite 218. Amounts owed: $233,327.94 and $195,594.65.


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Deferred deportation process raises new legal issues for employers Editor’s note: Normally, this monthly column

has been dealing with issues surrounding

social media in the workplace, but is

switching topics this month to deal with the

potential legal challenges facing employers

under the federal government’s “Deferred

Action” program for previously undocument-

ed people.Employers are facing a new set of hiring

issues now that previously undocumented individuals are now eligible for Employ-ment Authorization Documents (EAD) through the federal government’s “De-ferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” process, which puts deportation on hold for two years while allowing a legal work permit.

Th e process is designed for young people, often brought to the United States from other countries by their parents and who are considered to be low priority by U.S. immigration enforcement offi cials.

To qualify for the deferred action process, applicants must meet these criteria:

1. Under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012.

2. Come to the U.S. before reaching his or her 16th birthday.

3. Continuously resided in the U.S. from June 15, 2007, to the present.

4. Was physically present in the U.S. on June 15, 2012.

5. Entered “without inspection,” meaning not through a U.S. Port of Entry, before June 15, 2012, or his or her lawful immigration status expired as of June 15, 2012.

6. Is currently in school, has graduated or obtained a certifi cate of completion from high school, has obtained a general education development (GED) certifi cate, or is an honorably discharged veteran of the Coast Guard or Armed Forces of the

United States. 7. Has not been

convicted of a felony, signifi cant misdemeanor, three or more other misdemean-ors, and does not otherwise pose a threat to national security or public safety.

Deferred action job applicants raise distinct issues for employers:

• A new applicant may apply for a position with an EAD from the deferred action process. Whether the individual does or does not have “lawful” or “legal” status is an open question. Nonetheless, with a properly issued EAD from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, he or she is authorized to seek and accept employment.

• A current employee may come forward with a new EAD from the deferred action process, which may contain information inconsistent with documents provided to the employer during the original I-9 process. By virtue of the requirements of the deferred action process, the employee may not have had lawful status in the U.S. when initially hired, which suggests he or she may not have provided a genuine docu-ment when initially completing the I-9 process.

In the fi rst scenario, the EAD issued under the deferred action process is an acceptable “List A” document for the Form I-9. As a result, the employment process can proceed. Th e employer must treat that person similarly to other work authorized applicants.

Th e key question for the employer to ask is, whether the applicant can provide a valid List A document or a List B and List C

JARED LEUNG

document to demonstrate work authorization on the Form I-9. Th e immigration “status” of the individual is not relevant.

Th e second scenario is more complicated. Although an

employee presenting a work permit obtained through the deferred action process currently has work authorization, the employee may have misrepresented himself or herself when completing the initial I-9. Th e deferred action process applicant may now have a new social security number.

Clearly, the individual now has work authorization, and cannot be terminated on that basis alone. Th e employer must take into account its policies toward employees who have falsifi ed information on the job application or were otherwise less than truthful to the company.

Th e employer must consider these ques-tions:

• What is the company’s written policy, if any?

• Did the company include this subject during orientation or in any materials provided at the start of the employment?

• Is there any fl exibility in the written policy or documents to allow the company to enforce its policy on a case-by-case discretionary basis?

• What has been the company’s actual practice?

If there has been no policy concerning employees who have provided falsifi ed information or an inconsistent practice in the past, it would be wise to establish a policy for false statements to the employer.

In addition to immigration-relat-ed issues, such a policy will allow employers to resolve misrepre-sentations in other areas such as prior criminal convic-tions, exaggeration on résumés, etc.

A transparent policy on these issues is clearly a best practice. And, if the employer wants to create fl exibility in how it handles these situations, a provision for “notice and cure” should be considered, so employees may be given a chance to correct prior misrep-resentations and save the company from having to terminate an otherwise valuable employee, at the employer’s discretion.

In creating a new policy or modifying an existing one, employers should retain the ability to exercise judgment on a case-by-case basis. Should the employee be terminated and rehired under the new and corrected information? What are the implications? Th ese are questions with complicated answers that should be carefully considered and are beyond the scope of this article. Consult with your immigration and labor/employment attorney to develop such a policy or to fi ne-tune an existing policy.

Th e authors are with law fi rm of

Fennemore Craig. Contact Jared Leung, who

practices in the area of immigration law, at

[email protected]; John Balitis, who practices

in the labor and employment area, at

[email protected]; and

Nancy-Jo Merritt, who practices solely in the

fi eld of immigration and nationality law, at

[email protected].

GOOD BUSINESS

JOHN BALITIS NANCY-JO MERRITT

HR IN THE WORKPLACE


Tucson sixth-poorest among metro areasBy Khara PersadCronkite News Service

WASHINGTON — Tucson tied with two other U.S. metropolitan areas to be as the sixth-poorest in 2011, with a poverty rate of 20.4 percent, according to data from the Census Bureau.

Th at rate, which was well above the na-tional poverty rate of 15.9 percent last year, was attributed to the region’s high unem-ployment, slow economic growth, low edu-cation levels and low-paying jobs.

“Obviously it is a statistic we’re not hap-py about,” said Mike Varney, president and CEO of the Tucson Metro Chamber.

He pointed to the region’s unemploy-ment — which has hovered between 8.4 and 9.4 percent over the last three years — as a major factor.

“No paychecks and no jobs mean prob-lems in the household,” Varney said.

Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild said the numbers were not surprising, but he thinks they are “down a bit” from previous years. He said one problem is the high rate of poverty among children in Pima County, which is included in the Tucson metro area.

Th e sixth-place ranking, tieing with Al-buquerque and Toledo, Ohio, was among just over 100 metropolitan areas with popu-lations over 500,000 that were included in the report issued Sept. 17.

Marshall Vest, director of the University of Arizona’s Economic and Business Re-search Center, described Tucson as having very slow economic growth, with a consis-tently high rate of poverty compared to the rest of the nation.

“Th ere is little demand for additional housing, offi ces, retail space — therefore

construction, and industries related to growth operate at a reduced level,” Vest said Monday. “Th ere is very low employment growth. Employers are cautious.”

An offi cial at Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities (TREO) agreed that improve-ments are coming slowly to the metro area. “Our region is in economic recovery but like many markets, it is not fast enough,” said Laura Shaw, a spokeswoman for the eco-nomic development agency.

Shaw said the traditional elements of Tucson’s economy are now beginning to re-cover, and it is critical that the region “not revert to reliance on population growth to drive our economy again.”

Vest and others also pointed to the im-pact of high poverty rates of the Tohono O’odham and Pascua Yaqui reservations in Pima County.

In Arizona, 4.5 percent of the population is American Indian and in Pima County they account for 3.2 percent of the population. Th at 3.2 percent is “a large number com-pared to other metropolitan areas around the country,” Vest said.

“Income levels, unemployment rates and poverty are much higher on reserva-tions, and are signifi cant factors compared to the rest of the country,” he said.

Varney said low-income jobs are also a problem for the region.

“We have a service-driven, tourist in-dustry where there is an over-abundance of lower paying jobs,” he said.

Varney said there are a number of things that can be done to lower the area’s poverty level, but he believes education is most im-portant because it will help capture more high-paying jobs.

“Education is the pathway to get 21st cen-

NEWS

Rich metro, poor metroCronkite News Service

U.S. metropolitan areas with the highest poverty rates in 2011: 1. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas, 37.7% 2. Fresno, Calif., 25.8% 3. El Paso, 24.7% 4. Bakersfi eld-Delano, Calif., 24.5% 5. Modesto, Calif., 23.8%6T. Tucson, Albuquerque and Toledo, Ohio, 20.4% 9. New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, La., 19.5%10. Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla. 19.4

Metro areas with lowest poverty rates in 2011: 1. Washington, D.C., 8.3% 2. Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn., 9.4%3T. Ogden, Utah, and Honolulu, Hawaii, 10.1% 5. Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pa., 10.5% 6. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif., 10.6% 7. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass., 10.7% 8. Lancaster, Pa., 10.9% 9. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn. 11.0%10. Des Moines, Iowa, 11.1%

tury jobs,” said Varney, adding that educa-tion will prepare workers for jobs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Shaw and Vest agreed that education, in Vest’s words, is “absolutely the key.” Vest said Tucson will create a lot of jobs in the fu-ture — the question is whether or not they will be good jobs.

“Th ere’s a lot of growth yet to come and a lot of questions to be answered,” he said.

“You need to have more jobs and a vibrant economy for the poverty rate and the unem-ployment rate to decline.”

In addition to education, Rothschild said it is important to “educate people about what the problem is, and diff erent ways to approach it concretely.”

Th at includes helping improve children’s reading levels, and creating opportunities for them to fi nd jobs and internships.

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CP Graphics merges printing needs with new market demands By Christy KruegerInside Tucson Business

Young entrepreneur Jake Walker had the vision in 2010 to rescue and revive a longtime Tucson printing company before it could fall into the jaws of recession and changing times.

Founded in 1983, City Press had a good track record and a solid reputation. But the printing industry in general was losing ground to electronic communication solutions. Th e National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL) reported there are half as many print shops across the country today compared to the 1990s.

Walker, 33, had a background in managing change for companies. He saw an opportunity with City Press and put together an investment group to purchase the business. After taking on the role as operating partner, he made the decision to retain former owners Phil and Pam Wilber and change the company name to CP Graphics.

Th e new team immediately began working to bring the commercial printer into the age of technol-ogy, concentrating on both off set and digital printing, website development, marketing and graphic design. Walker added a handful of employees to help carry out his plan to increase products and services.

“We do asset management, working with companies with multiple locations to create logos, videos, print ads and manage web environments,” Walker said.

Although he wouldn’t name any specifi c clients, approximately 40 percent of CP Graphics’ business is from out of town. Many are large, national companies.

“A lot are in the fi nance industry and in the technology industry,” he added.

CP Graphics also handles direct mail, which Walker said has changed quite a bit in recent years. Technology allows for more targeted and individualized direct mail marketing. For example, using its own database, a business can match postcards advertising diff erent products to specifi c customers, depending on their interests and past buying habits. All can be sent out in one mailing.

In the traditional printing realm, CP Graphics produces posters, announce-ments and business cards and has the capability for foil stamping and embossing. It has a binding department and prints books and magazines.

While only two years old, CP Graphics has already acquired another company. Walker purchased and moved the formerly

San Diego-based ScoreboardWhiz.com to Tucson in May of this year and hired local employees to support the division.

Th e company creates golf scorecards and scoreboards for tournaments in the U.S. and Europe. Clients include United States Golf Association, Ladies Professional Golf Asso-ciation and “a lot of other associations and country clubs,” Walker said.

Th e acquisition is in line with his strategy to expand product off erings, which in this case could include printed materials such as fl iers and menus.

“Th e pricing model is very attractive to the industry,” Walker noted. Standard practice has been for tournament directors to hire calligraphers to fi ll out scoreboards. But ScoreboardWhiz.com can save money by pre-printing scoreboards in calligraphy font. “It makes it quicker and it’s great looking.”

Walker is fast becoming an expert on acquisitions in the printing trade. Th is

month, he was part of a panel that spoke on post-merger integration during the NAPL conference in Washington, D.C.

Even before the golf company acquisi-tion, CP Graphics began experiencing tremendous growth in a short time.

“We had 30 percent growth in 2011 and 65 percent in the fi rst half of 2012,” Walker said. He attributes this not only to having a range of products, but also to listening to his customers.

“Last November, we polled our higher-volume clients to fi nd out what we’re doing well and not. A lot of initiatives this year came from those conversations. We’re pro-active,” he said.

Despite many clients being located hundreds of miles away, Walker believes it’s important to have personal interaction with them.

“We make a point to visit. We need to have a face, shake hands. We also do online

demos and use Skype to meet them. We embrace technology to grow and we do it as effi ciently as possible,” he said.

He’s never shied away from diving into a new business, even during diffi cult economic times, because he believes in himself and the possibilities he envisions for the future of the industry.

“Some of the greatest accomplishments happen in a downturn,” he said. “We saw (buying the companies) as an opportunity, he said. “Shops were closing because people were not looking for ways to increase value-add to their clients. Th ere’s a demand for what we’re doing and we’re excited about our growth.”

PROFILE

BIZ FACTS

CP Graphics1635 S. Research Loopwww.cpgraphics.netwww.scoreboardwhiz.com(520) 722-0707

Jake Walker, president of CP Graphics stands near a printing press in their production area of the building in Tucson.

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Jake Walker, president of CPGraphics points to an example of some of their company’s work be-ing done in their production room. The company is located in Tucson, Ariz.


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WOMEN IN BUSINESS

Riding a motorcycle can be a lot like running a business

I met my fi rst motorcycle on the day I met my husband. He wasn’t my husband at the time nor was it the fi rst motorcycle I’d ever seen, but it was my fi rst experience with a pitch black, chrome-piped, loud Harley Davidson motorcycle. Did I mention loud?

I like to say that my husband came as a complete package – wit, charm, intelli-gence, humor, good looks – on a motor-cycle. So, I became part of the package as a passenger. After a couple of years, I learned to ride. After another year or so, we rode 7,000 miles cross-country, my fi rst time as a solo rider. A few years ago, I rode complete-ly solo from Arizona to Oregon and back; in part, to prove I could.

After almost 10 years of riding solo, I’ve covered more miles by bike than car, and experiencing adventures on the road I’d never imagined.

What’s interesting is how my experi-ences as a woman who rides a motorcycle have paralleled my experiences as a woman who’s owned a business for more than 10 years now. Each endeavor entails a bit of risk, some adventure, and many learning opportunities along the way.

Just as business ownership comes with its own set of unwritten rules, so does riding the road. It’s interesting how many of these are the same. Consider...

Bikers: Acknowledge other riders with a wave. Courtesy never goes out of style.

Business: Acknowledge your clients. Not only does it tell them you’re aware, but you care.

Bikers: Stop to help another rider. Someone will always stop to help you. Business: Good deeds paid forward will bring you much in return, whether from clients, staff , colleagues, or business associates.

Bikers: When riding as a group, don’t ride directly behind the rider in front. Th e view isn’t that great and you can’t see the road ahead.

Business: As a business owner, your path won’t always be clear. Learn to shift your position for maximum perspective.

Bikers: Wherever possible, get out in front, but not at the expense of those behind you.

Business: A leader without followers is not a leader.

Bikers: Don’t back uphill into a parking spot. It doesn’t make you look any cooler.

Business: Don’t re-invent the wheel. Use your time and energy wisely.

Bikers: Always put your kickstand down before dismounting.

Business: When you do drop the ball — and you will — remember…kickstand down.

Along with the rules of the road, come the lessons learned in business and on the

highway. In my case, some of these lessons have an annoying habit of being repeated regularly.

Biker: If your mouth is open, you will eat bugs.

Business: If you’re doing all of the talking, you’re

not listening.Biker: Gentle raindrops feel like biting

nails at 70 miles per hour. Business: What may seem trivial to you,

may be your client’s greatest concern.Biker: Deer will choose to cross the road

in front of you.Business: Some obstacles are unavoid-

able. Always have a Plan B.Biker: You will forget to put your

kickstand down when no one is around to help you pick up the bike.

Business: We all experience personal failures. Isn’t it more important that you took the risk?

Biker: You will manage to unintentionally drop your bike in front of 50 beer-drinking, tattooed, entertainment-seeking bikers.

Business: A sense of humor is critical.Biker: If you clean your windshield, it

will rain.Business: Otherwise known as Murphy’s

Law.Biker: Th e shortest day is the fi rst one,

the longest one is the last one.Business: Owning a business is a

marathon, not a sprint. Biker: Every ride that ends with you still

upright and in one piece is a grand one!Business: Business ownership is a

journey fi lled with milestones. Don’t forget to celebrate the daily successes.

A fi nal few words for my fellow female compatriots – business owner, motorcycle rider, rock climber, household commander, teacher, chef - the choice is ours to make. Do what you love and you will love what you do. No, it won’t always be easy. Yes, we will fail on occasion. But when you grab those metaphysi-cal handlebars and point that imaginary wheel in the direction you want to go, you are taking control of your own destiny. And that, my friends, is the greatest lesson to be learned.

Contact Mary A Keysor, principal human

resource strategist with élan Benefìts, at www.

elanbenefi ts.com or (520) 990-7202. Keysor

belongs to the Greater Tucson Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), whose members contribute this monthly column.

MARY A. KEYSOR

GOOD BUSINESS


org or at the Chicago Store, 130 E. Congress St. and 5646 E. Speedway, or the 17th Street Market, 840 E. 17th St. Proceeds from the event will go to the Tucson Musicians Museum’s mentor-

ship program.

ArtDavis Dominguez Gallery, 154 E. Sixth

St., opens its 37th season with a show titled “Take Five — Interpreting the Land-scape,” featuring four artists; Charlotte Bender, Th omas Chapin, Duncan Martin and Phillip Melton along with guest artist Diane Meyer. Th e show will be up through Nov. 3.

Also currently on display at Obsidian Gallery, 410 N. Toole Ave., is a two-person ceramic show with work by Jill Marleah Bell and Barbara Reinhart. It will be up through Oct. 14.

Contact Herb Stratford at herb@

ArtsandCultureGuy.com. Stratford teaches

Arts Management at the University of Arizona.

He appears weekly in Inside Tucson Business.

HERB STRATFORD

ARTS & CULTURE

A “Celebration of Music and Culture,” hosted by the Tucson Musicians Mu-seum, will take place from 4-7 p.m. Sunday (Sept. 30) in the Leo Rich Th eater at the Tucson Convention Center, 260 S. Church Ave, where 11 Tucson musicians will be inducted this year.

Th is is the sixth annual event honoring Tucson’s amazing musical talent and eventually the museum hopes to honor its inductees in a permanent location, but for now they throw this party once a year.

Th is year’s inductees are jazz musi-cians Brian Bromberg and David Bromberg, rock musician Bobbie Kimmel, percussionist Black Man Clay, Spanish guitarist Domingo DeGrazia, folk musician Ned Sutton, gospel music leader the Rev. Amos Lewis, violinist David Rife, blues and zydeco musician Sidney George, country music performer Rosemary Koshmider, mariachi guitarist Carlos Bedoya Saldivar. Two people will be inductee, posthumously; drummer Howard Bromberg and guitarist Norman Douglas Sholin.

Sunday’s musical celebration will include live music performances, including inductees Brian and David Bromberg, and a silent auction. Th e Tucson Junior Strings will perform in the lobby before the event.

Tickets are $40 each and are available online at www.tucsonmusiciansmuseum.

11 to be inducted into museum as part of musical celebration

OUT OF THE OFFICE

MICHAEL LURIA

MEALS & ENTERTAINMENT

Resort or not, Epazote isworth a visit from locals

On one hand, owner Ashford Hospitality Trust hasn’t exactly made a secret of the fact that it has been trying to fi nd a buyer for the Hilton El Conquistador Golf & Tennis Resort in Oro Valley. On the other hand, it has been busy with renovations like soft changes to the décor in the lobby, the addition of a new 11,000 square-foot state-of-the-art conference center to cater to groups from 10 to 75 and last but not least, the resort has redone its dinner-only restaurant, which opened this month as Epazote Kitchen + Cocktails.

Th e restaurant is named after the Mexican herb Epazote, which has a strong, pungent and earthy fl avor and is often used in Mexican and Southwestern cooking. Formerly named La Vista, the restaurant space has been completely renovated for a Southwestern experience that includes locally sourced and sustainable products on its menu.

From Arizona grass-fed beef, regionally grown produce, local beers and Arizona wines, diners will fi nd a lot of ingredients that speak to this region. Th ose infl uences are evident with unique dishes such as the goat milk mashed potatoes that go along with the smokey beef short ribs.

Entrees include the aforementioned beer short ribs, a roast pork tenderloin with a sundried cherry barbeque, Santa Fe chicken enchilada, vegetarian casserole and a big bison burger with red onion jam, bacon, asadero cheese and chile spiced fries.

For dessert, while I would have pre-

ferred ice cream over the whipped cream garnish, the Epazaote peach cobbler with an oat crumb topping was everything a post-dinner sweet should be.

Th e décor in Epazote is clean and contemporary

without being Southwest “kitschy,” which may appeal to some tourists but can wear thin for us locals.

With the change of seasons bringing in cooler termperatures, my recommendation is to dine on the patio. It’s a great way to enjoy an evening breeze and you can’t beat the up-close and personal views of Pusch Ridge.

It may be part of a resort, but Epazote is a great spot for us locals to enjoy a dinner out.

Dinner is served daily from 5-10 p.m. and there’s a “social hour” — known elsewhere as a happy hour — served from 4-6 p.m. Sundays through Th ursdays.

• Epazote Kitchen + Cocktails in the Hilton el Conquistador Golf and Tennis Resort, 10000 N. Oracle Road, Oro Valley — epazotekitchen.com — (520) 544-1705

Contact Michael Luria at mjluria@

gmail.com. Meals & Entertainment appears

weekly in Inside Tucson Business.

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Non-stop destinations. Connections around the world.Alaska, American, Delta, Southwest, United, US Airways

What’s cookin’ with your travel plans

for the holidays?

U.S. airports fi nd there’s money to make going local

Tucson’s airport has one local name

Inside Tucson Business

OTG Management, the Phila-delphia-based company holding concession contract at Tucson International Airport, made an at-tempt to go local when it took over in 2006, opening outlets of Ike’s Coff ee and Taco Bron.

Th ere are still two Ike’s loca-tions in Tucson but Taco Bron closed its last city location in 2007. Th e airport location, on Con-course A, is still in operation.

OTG’s concession contract comes up for review in 2014.

By David Hatfi eldInside Tucson Business

By the end of this year, Phoenix Sky Har-bor International Airport will fi nish up half of a two-year project to makeover conces-sions in its Terminal 4 and it includes a de-cidedly local bent.

McDonald’s, Burger King and Pizza Hut are still there but right next to them, travel-ers have the option of going to versions of Fox Restaurant Concepts’ Blanco Tacos and Tequila and even Tucson-based Sir Veza’s Taco Garage, among others.

Next year, Sky Harbor will add an out-let serving beers from Tempe’s Four Peaks Brewing Company, along with Joe’s Real Barbecue from Gilbert, Los Taquitos Mexi-can Grill from Ahwatukee Foothills and Matt’s Big Breakfast from Phoenix.

And once Terminal 4 is made over, Paula Kucharz, terminal concessions manager at Sky Harbor, says the plan is to continue on into Terminals 2 and 3 as existing contracts expire.

Th e airport, which is operated but not subsidized by the City of Phoenix, decided to split the 10-year concession contracts in Terminal 4 into two bids. Th e contracts, worth an estimated $650 million in sales, were won by HMS Host, Bethesda, Md., a company that has concession contracts in 100 airports worldwide, and SSP America, based in Leesburg, Va., which operates in about 40 airports in the U.S. and touts its ef-forts to at getting local brands into its loca-tions.

In these days of fl ight cutbacks and air-port security, food and beverage conces-sions are among the few revenue sources where airports are seeing increases.

San Francisco International Airport re-ports its concession sales excluding rental cars were up 12 percent for the fi scal year ended June 30 to $329.4 million. Th e airport credits much of the increase to its revamped — and award-winning — concessions re-fl ecting Bay Area culture. Sales in the two terminals where the upgrades have been fi nished are 22 percent higher than in the other two terminals.

Going the other direction this past year was Los Angeles International Airport where concession revenues dropped 5.4 percent to $277.3 million. Food and beverage revenues, alone, were down 11.7 percent. Recognizing its concessions are the source of numerous complaints, Los Angeles World Airports, the division of the city that runs LAX, has set out on an aggressive plan to improve its conces-sions.

Higher revenue from concessions serves another purpose; it helps reduce the costs airlines pay to use airports. Across the U.S.,

airlines’ share of airport operating costs has dropped to about 40 percent on average from 70 percent.

At Sky Harbor, Kucharz says it’s too early for quantitative data from the change in concessions but she says anecdotally, con-cessionaires say they are pleased with sales as well as customer feedback.

A benefi t for travelers that may also be helping boost sales is that all of the new concessions at Sky Harbor are following a “street pricing policy” in which the prices charged at the airport are the same as at the restaurant’s other location in the Phoenix metro area.

Contact David Hatfi eld at dhatfi [email protected] or (520) 295-4237. Inside Business Travel appears the fourth week of each month in Inside Tucson Business.

Scottsdale-based restaurant company Fox Restaurant Concepts opened Blanco Tacos and Te-quila in Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

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train called TerminaLink connects all terminals, post-security. Best bites: Unless you’re in the mood for a doughnut – the local chain Shipley’s Donuts has a location in the Terminal B Food Court – you

better hope your connecting fl ight requires you to got to another terminal. In Terminal C Urban Cave is a trendy bar and food place and Le Grand Comptoir is a full service restaurant that are both near Gate 29. In Terminal E Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen is near Gate 2 and celebrity chef Cat Cora’s Kitchen is near Gate 10.

LAS VEGASLet’s face it, in Las Vegas they want you to spend money gambling, not eating food, even at McCarran airport where the “local”

phenomenon hasn’t hit. The only truly home grown brand in the airport is chocolate candy maker Ethel M. To/From Tucson: Southwest uses both the B and C concourses, which are interconnected post security. Best bites: With no Vegas names in sight, the best option is an outlet of the Phoenix-based restaurant Blue Burrito Grill, near Gate 25 on

the C Concourse. Otherwise one of the few unusual offerings in the airport is a place called Burke in the Box by nationally-known chef David Burke but it’s in the D Concourse, which is tricky to get to from Southwest’s gates, and may be too risky if time is a concern.

LOS ANGELES Admitting it was receiving numerous complaints about the embarrassing state of food concessions, Los Angeles World Airports, which

oversees Los Angeles International, has put out requests for proposals for new operators. The makeover is still a work in progress and, judging from trips through the airport this month, no effort is being spent on effi ciency or training employees. The Encounter Restaurant in the iconic “futuristic” building in the center of the airport is outside security.

To/From Tucson: American uses Terminal 4, Southwest uses Terminal 1, and United Express uses Terminal 8, with other United fl ights extending into Terminals 5, 6 and 7. The United terminals are interconnected post security, the others are not.

Best bites: Considering that things are still chaning, this is the best of what’s currently available: In Terminal 4, an outlet of the San Diego-based chain Sammy’s Woodfi red Pizza is across from Gate 43. In Terminal 1 a sandwich outlet of the local La Brea Bakery is in the Food Court. And in United’s Terminal 7, there’s another outlet of LaBrea Bakery and a Wolfgang Puck Express across from each other in the Food Court area.

MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAULThe Twin Cities airport has won awards for its concession offerings, including one last year for best new concept, Surdyk’s (see below).To/From Tucson: When it’s offering non-stop fl ights – they’ve been suspended until Oct. 1 – Delta uses the A, B, C, D, F and G Concourses

in Terminal 1, also known as the Lindbergh Terminal. While all of the concourses within the terminal are interconnected post security, the airport’s two terminals are separated.

Best bites: Surdyk’s Flights, near the C gates in the Terminal 1 Mall, is an offshoot of a liquor, cheese shop and deli that’s been in downtown Minneapolis since 1934 serving gourmet sandwiches, salads and cheese boards – either grab-and-go or in a sit-down setting; Axel’s Bonfi re, in the mall near checkpoint 3, is an outlet of a Minnesota chain serving rotisserie chicken, steaks and fi sh; and, if you’ve got time there’s Ike’s Food and Cocktails, on the Mall across from checkpoint 1, a retro upscale bar that’s known for its Bloody Mary’s served with a beer back. Coffee made from locally roasted beans is available at Dunn’s Coffee on the C Concourse.

PHOENIX Sky Harbor this year launched a makeover of its concessions in Terminal

4 to bring a mix of regional and local brands with the familiar national brands.

To/From Tucson: US Airways uses Gates on the A and B Concourses of Terminal 4. And while all of the Concourses in Terminal 4 are accessible post security, a central Food Court is not.

Best bites: A couple of Fox Restaurant Concepts, Blanco Tacos and Tequila and Olive and Ivy (which is in Scottsdale) can be found near Gate A5, separated by an outlet of the local Modern Burger; Scottsdale’s Cowboy Ciao, which combines Tex-Mex and Italian, is open near Gate B26. Tucson’s Si Veza’s Taco Garage and an outlet of Cartel Coffee are open near Gate C13 (a Southwest Airlines gate).

SALT LAKE CITYSalt Lake City International is wrapping up a makeover of its concessions,

though it wasn’t entirely focused on going local. A long-time local gift shop concession was replaced with a national operator.

To/From Tucson: Delta uses Concourses B, C and D. All fi ve of the airport’s concourses are interconnected post security.

Best bites: In a state known for strict liquor laws, the airport’s shining local effort is Squatters Pub Brewery near Gate 3 on the C Concourse which has a history dating back to just after Prohibition. It’s not local but, Cat Cora’s Kitchen opened this month on the B Concourse.

SAN DIEGO For a city that calls itself America’s Finest City, for this endeavor its Lindbergh airport is anything but fi ne. Food upgrades are promised for

next year and it looks as if there’s been at least a token effort to go local.To/From Tucson: Southwest uses Terminal 1 but Gates 1 and 2 have separate security from Gates 3 through 10, which means you may

not be able to avoid a trip through security.Best bites: If you’re forced to go through security and you have the time, leave the airport. Island Prime and C Level are less than a quarter

mile away, across Harbor Drive. Promising things to come in 2013 include an outlet of the downtown San Diego Banker’s Hill Restaurant and Bar in the center of the area for Southwest’s Gates 3-10 and a pub featuring craft brews from San Diego’s 30th Street near Gates 1 and 2.

SAN FRANCISCOCity-run San Francisco International has long emphasized local and sustainability and this year won awards for its food offerings in the

newly renovated Terminal 2, which reopened last year, and the International Terminal.To/From Tucson: United mostly uses Terminal 3, but a few domestic fl ights arrive and depart from gates 24-38 in Terminal 1. Check-

in, security and baggage claim for all domestic United fl ights is done at Terminal 3. The airline provides a shuttle to Terminal 1. There is also a connector in the secured area between Terminal 3 and the International Terminal. Otherwise none of the airport’s terminals are interconnected.

Best bites: In Terminal 3, the brewer of Anchor Steam has a place near Gate 70 and a small Bay Area chain called Yankee Pier featuring New England-style seafood is near Gate 72. In the International Terminal the top choices are Ebisu Japanese Cuisine and Sushi Bar and the Burger Joint, both in the Food Court. And if you’re among those sent over to Terminal 1, Perry’s, near 42 could make up for the hassle, though it isn’t on the same concourse as United’s gates. Perry’s has dark-wood décor and features old-school food and, in the day, the original downtown location was known as a singles bar.

SEATTLE The Port of Seattle has been so eager to go local, it took some heat earlier this year when it quickly approved a contract with local

hamburger chain Beecher’s but stalled before ultimately approval a contract with McDonald’s.To/From Tucson: Alaska Airlines’ gates are on the C and D Concourses and in a satellite building connected to them by an automated

train system. Best bites: Anthony’s, a Seattle-based fi sh restaurant chain that dates back to 1969 (different from the Anthony’s in San Diego), is in the

Central Terminal and has huge picture-window views of … the airport. Nearby in the Central Terminal, is Dish D’Lish, a soup, sandwich and salad place from a well-known Seattle chef, Kathy Casey, and Ivar’s Seafood Bar is an outlet of a local chain that dates back to 1938 known for its chowders.

ALBUQUERQUESunport awarded a master contract to an Albuquerque fi rm 15 years ago and it still holds it to this day. Although there are a couple of

national brands, most of the food offerings are connected to local establishments. Unfortunately, the best restaurant in the airport, a branch of the local chain Los Cuates, is outside security.

To/From Tucson: Southwest uses the A Concourse though both of the airport’s main concourses are interconnected, post-security. Best bites: Tia Juanitas serves New Mexican food, Route 66 Lounge serves its namesake local microbrew and, if you looking for a cup of

coffee, Comida Buena serves the locally roasted Red Rock. All three are in the connector area between the A and B concourses.

ATLANTAIn spite of a legal battle involving the Federal Aviation Administration

investigating how the Georgia Deport of Transportation airport considered disadvantaged businesses in awarding concession contracts, Hartsfi eld-Jackson International Airport offers some good representations of local food with more to come in the next two years.

To/From Tucson: Delta uses the A, B, C and D Concourses and are interconnected with all concourses via the Plane Train.

Best bites: One Flew South, on the E Concourse, is an upscale restaurant featuring new takes on Southern fare as well as sushi, and an outlet of Paschal’s Southern Cuisine, an Atlanta institution since 1947, is on the A Concourse. New local restaurants should open on the B Concourse by May 2013.

CHICAGO MIDWAYBeing Chicago’s second airport may have helped Midway avoid the all-

cookie cutter approach to food vendors. The city-run Chicago Airport System is in the process of rebidding about a third of Midway’s concession space so there will be some changes next year.

To/From Tucson: Southwest uses both the A and B concourses; all concourses are interconnected, post security.

Best bites: Manny’s, a cafeteria and delicatessen that’s been in downtown Chicago since 1942, is on the A concourse and Potbelly Sandwich Works, an old-school sandwich shop that originated in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, is on the B concourse. If you’ve got time to spare, Harry Caray’s Seventh Inning Stretch, in the Food Court near where the concourses come together, is a full-service sit-down restaurant serving steaks, seafood, as well as burgers and salads.

CHICAGO O’HARE

Though it’s only beginning to show, the city’s Chicago Airport System is making a concerted effort to get better representation of local establishments at the airport.

To/From Tucson: American is in Terminal 3, using gates on the G, H, K and L concourses, all of which can be accessed without going through security. Going to other terminals requires exiting the secured area.

Best bites: TV food chef Rick Bayless, owner of Frontera Grill and Topolobampo in Chicago, has opened Tortas Frontera near gate K3, offering versions of the grilled Mexican sandwiches as well as molletes, soups, salads and a guacamole bar. B.J.’s Market & Bakery, a Chicago south side soul food restaurant, is in the Food Court on the K Concourse. Garrett Popcorn, a local chain of fl avored popcorns, has a location near Gate H2. It’s not Chicago, but if you’ve got time to spare, there’s a sit-down Wolfgang Puck Café – not the usual “express” version at other airports – in the connector area between the K and L concourses.

DALLAS-FORT WORTHThe DFW Airport Board is in the midst of a $2.3 billion renovation project called the Terminal Renewal and Improvement Program (TRIP)

that is actively seeking local concession operators. Terminal A is currently under construction and Terminal B is next, due to fi nished in 2015. Terminal D, being the newest, already has some interesting local options.

To/From Tucson: American uses Terminals A, B, C and D, all of which are accessable via the Skylink automated train service that connects all of the airports terminals, post security.

Best bites: Cousin’s Barbecue, a Dallas-based Texas-style barbecue chain that’s been around since 1983, has locations near Gate 27 in Terminal B and near Gate 28 in Terminal D, and Lo Bodega Winery serves wines from Texas near Gate 24 in Terminal D. If you have extra time, Reata Grill, near Gate 33 in Terminal D, is an outlet of Fort Worth restaurant that combines Soutwestern and Creole food with a traditional Texas steakhouse for such things as tenderloin tamales.

DENVER Ever since it opened in 1995, Denver International has made a big deal of trying to show off Colorado and that includes its food

concessions. To/From Tucson: United uses the B Concourse and Southwest is on the C Concourse. All three of the airport’s concourses are interconnected

by an underground train (make sure you don’t go in beyond Concourse A to avoid leaving the secured area). Best bites: Fort Collins-based New Belgium Brewing, maker of Fat Tire, near Gate 80 on the B Concourse serves top-notch bar food with

its brew. A Denver-based caterer, Pour La France, has a location on the B Concourse in the Center Core area near the entrance from the train. If you’ve got time to spare, the classiest place in the entire airport may be Lounge 5280 (the Mile High City is 5,280 feet above sea level) is on the mezzanine level at the Center Core of the B Concourse and has huge lists of wine and cocktail choises, 10 Colorado-inspired drinks. Food selections are mostly appetizers and small plates intended to go with drinks.

HOUSTON About eight years ago, Bush Intercontinental Airport started a push to upgrade its food concessions, though the emphasis wasn’t

necessarily on local; the argument being international travelers are more inclined to patronize names they recognize. To/From Tucson: United (Continental) most often uses gates in Terminal B but its operations extend into Terminals A, C, D and E as well. A

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Making connections with good airport food Inside Tucson Business

Th e trend among airports to improve concessions is good for air travelers.

With the help of business journals and other news media, Inside Tucson Businesschecked out what travelers from Tucson can expect in connecting cities.

Our criteria were simple. We only checked what’s available within the secure area of the airlines fl ying non-stop from

Tucson. After all, the last thing anyone wants to do these days is make a needless extra trip through security.

Th e emphasis was on fi nding some-thing local and good.

It should also be noted that in most cases, the airport version of a restaurant is often run by a company that holds a con-cession contract with the airport, not by the restaurant itself.


GET ON THE LISTNext up: Franchises, Employment agencies

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

• Oct. 5: Home builders, Custom home builders, Largest apartment complexes

• Oct. 12: Franchises, Employment agencies

• Oct. 19: Alarm system companies, Security firms, Insurance agencies and brokers, Property casualty insurance

• Oct. 26: Women-owned businesses • Nov. 2: Chambers of commerce,

Business and trade organizations If your business fits one of these catego-

ries, now is the time to update your profile. Go to www.InsideTucsonBusiness.com and click the Book of Lists tab at the top of the page. New and unlisted businesses can cre-ate a profile by following the directions.

The Book of Lists is a year-round ref-erence for thousands of businesses and

BRIEFSindividuals. To advertise your business, call (520) 294-1200.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Center for Innovation announces new companies

Th e Arizona Center for Innovation (AzCI) has admitted four startup companies into its fall 2012 Mentored Launch Program.

Th e new clients are: • DemeteRx Pharmaceuticals, an early

stage biotechnology company developing human cancer therapeutics derived from natural products.

• D’Mention Systems, a company devel-oping a software system to facilitate activity between University students and host orga-nizations.

• Legionnaire Credit Solutions (LCS) LLC, which is developing an innovative solution to help customers improve their credit scores.

• Puretex Hygienics, which is focused on developing and manufacturing eco-friendly personal care products for the worldwide market.

Mentored Launch is a program of busi-ness development that assists start-up companies through a series of workshops, seminars and networking events. Th e com-panies also receive individual coaching from mentors experienced in technology innovation, product development and busi-ness management.

Th e companies will work out of spaces at AzCI’s Innovation Center in the UA Tech Park, 9040 S. Rita Road.

PUBLIC SAFETY Insurers give San Manuel Fire Dept. $5K grant

Independent Insurance Agents & Bro-kers of Arizona (IIABAZ) and Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company are awarding a $5,000 grant to San Manuel Fire Depart-ment to purchase new fi re hoses.

Th e fi re department will replace worn out, defective water supply hoses and quick attack hand-held lines.

Th e IIABAZ solicited and received nu-merous grant nominations from indepen-dent insurance agents throughout Arizona for local fi re departments in need. Th e Ma-honey Group helped identify the San Manu-el Fire Department as one in need for funds in the grant application.

Th e grant is part of a nationwide phil-anthropic program funded by Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company. Th e program is designed to provide needed equipment, training and educational tools to local fi re departments and burn prevention organi-zations.

Since 2004, Fireman’s Fund has issued grants to nearly 1,900 diff erent organiza-tions totaling more than $29 million — in-cluding more than $310,000 in Arizona.

HEALTH CARECarondelet relocation to west side underway

Carondelet Heart and Vascular Institute has announced plans to complete the fi rst phase of its planned relocation to the Caro-ndelet St. Mary’s Hospital campus by early November.

In April, Carondelet Health Network an-nounced plans to relocate the institute from the campus at 4888 N. Stone Ave., to the west side campus at 1601 W. St. Mary’s Road.

Carondelet plans to invest $17 million to build the institute’s new home at St. Mary’s Hospital. Th at work is well underway and construction is expected to be completed by May 2013.

Surgeons, clinicians and care teams will be in place and set to perform their fi rst open heart surgery at St. Mary’s on Nov. 7.

Th e Carondelet Heart & Vascular In-stitute at St. Mary’s Hospital will include a dedicated Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit, a specially appointed hospital wing with all-private rooms for the care and re-covery of cardiovascular patients, inpatient and outpatient cardiac rehabilitation ser-vices, new cardiovascular operating suites, new catheterization labs, electrophysiology and cardiac testing area.

Patients will continue to be cared for at Ca-rondelet Heart and Vascular Institute’s River and Stone facility until early November.

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE Scottsdale developer boosts old Sendero Pass project

A 516-acre parcel in the “path of growth” directly across from Ryan Air Field has been acquired by a Scottsdale investor/developer for $2.84 million. Th e property is part of the large 837-acre Sendero Pass Master Plan that will be developed as a residential, com-mercial and industrial mixed use project.

Known as Sendero Pass 516, the site is lo-cated at west Valencia Road and south Victor Drive, just south of Ryan Air Field at 9698 W. Ajo Highway. Th e seller was Tucson 516 LLC, based in Las Vegas. Th e buyer was SBH Sen-dero LP of Scottsdale, an affi liate of Sunbelt Investment. Th e transaction was handled by Will White of Land Advisors Organization.

“Th is is really good for the southwest side, a rebirth of old plans dormant since about 2006,” said White. “Sunbelt is an ex-tremely talented, experienced developer that will breathe some life into the area.”

Pima County has identifi ed Sendero Pass as a designated location that is expected to ex-perience a signifi cant growth in population.

POLITICSTucson Chamber PAC endorses candidates

Th e Tucson Metro Chamber’s Southern Arizona Business Political Action Commit-tee has issued its endorsements for the Nov.


Now your business can tell Inside Tucson Business about new hires, promotions and special awards online. Go to www.insidetucsonbusiness.com and click the “People in Action” button. From there you can submit your announcement and we’ll publish it online and in print.

{TELL US ONLINE}

PEOPLE IN ACTION

NEW HIRES

The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain has hired Daniel Mangione to executive pastry chef. A native of California, Mangione has advanced degrees in baking and pastry arts. He joins The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain from The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, D.C. and The Ritz-Carlton, Georgetown, where he served as executive pastry chef.

Neurosurgeon Ali A. Baaj, MD, a specialist in minimally invasive spine surgery, has joined the University of Arizona Department of Surgery as assistant professor and director of the Spinal Neurosurgery Program. He brings to Southern Arizona new minimally invasive spine surgical techniques for patients with disorders of the spine and spinal cord. In addition to minimally invasive spine surgery, Baaj is trained in complex spinal reconstruction and the surgical management

of spinal tumors and adult deformities. His clinical interests include spinal oncology, complex thoraco-lumbar and sacro-pelvic reconstructions and minimally invasive spine procedures. Baaj recently completed a spinal neurosurgical fellowship at Johns Hopkins University with emphasis on spinal column tumors. Baaj obtained his medical degree from Boston University, and neurosurgery residency training at the University of South Florida in Tampa. He also completed a research fellowship in spinal biomechanics at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix.

Catalina Foothills School District Foundation has hired Betsy T. Green as executive director. Green has more than 25 years of experience in marketing and development management. She most recently was director of development for Gabriel’s Angels of Southern Arizona. She also worked for 15 years

with KMSB-TV in Tucson where she was director of business development. Green has a B.S. in education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Catalina Foothills School District Foundation is an independent non-profi t organization founded in 1983 to provide support to the Catalina Foothills Unifi ed School District No. 16. The group has raised more than $1 million for the school district’s students in the last three years.

The University of Arizona College of Pharmacy has hired Dr. Eli Chapman as an assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. Chapman came to UA from the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif. His research interests include macromolecular machines, drug discovery and small-molecule drug discovery. Chapman teaches principles in drug discovery, design and development. He has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the

University of California at Berkeley, a master’s degree in chemistry from Columbia University in New York and a doctorate in chemistry from the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif.

The University of Arizona College of Pharmacy has hired Dr. Marcella Hoyland as an assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science. She has a joint appointment as an internal medicine pharmacist at The University of Arizona Medical Center – University Campus. Hoyland has clinical interests in internal medicine and nephrology. Her academic interests include creating simulations and case-based learning scenarios for pharmacy

students. She teaches within the pharmacotherapy sequence. Hoyland holds a doctorate degree from West Virginia University School of Pharmacy.

The Tucson Junior Strings Board of Directors has hired Nancy Whitlock as a business manager. Whitlock will be responsible for leading the strategic growth and business management of the organization. Whitlock has more than 15 years of leadership experience with non-profi t organizations and 25 years of management experience in the corporate sector. Whitlock studied at the University of Illinois, the Appraisal Institute and earned a bachelor’s of fi ne arts from Cranbrook in

Bloomfi eld Hills, Michigan.

AWARDS

Lewis and Roca has announced that six of the fi rm’s Tucson-based attorneys have been named to the 2012 Super Lawyers Business Edition. They include: Frank S. Bangs Jr., Robert M. Charles Jr., John N. Iurino, Andrew D. Schorr, Lewis D. Schorr and S.L. Schorr. The 2012 Super Lawyers Business Edition is a resource that features attorneys selected in 2011 to the Super Lawyers list from 29 specifi c business practice areas.

PROMOTIONS

Wells Fargo has announced that John Gibson has been named area president for Wells Fargo in Southern Arizona. In his new role, Gibson will be responsible for 582 team members and 42 banking stores with $2.5 billion in deposits. Gibson began his career with Wells Fargo in 2005

as a teller and since that time has been a personal banker, service manager and store manager. Gibson most recently served as district manager for Greater Tucson Metro where he was responsible for 275 team members and 17 stores. He earned bachelor’s and a master’s degrees in business administration from Arizona State University and currently is enrolled in the Pacifi c Coast Banking School at the University of Washington.

ELECTIONS

Loose, Brown and Associates attorney Jesse R. Callahan has been elected a member of the Pima County Bar Association Board of Directors. Callahan is a 2007 graduate of the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law and an active member of the Volunteer Lawyers Program and Phi Beta Kappa. Callahan is an associate attorney at Loose, Brown, & Associates, P.C., where he works in both the

Phoenix and Tucson offi ces. His primary areas of practice include bankruptcy and commercial litigation, with an emphasis on construction law related issues.

C. Bradley Vynalek, an attorney with Quarles & Brady, has been elected president of the University of Arizona’s Law College Association. The association provides support in fi nancial assistance, fund-raisers and alumni activities. Vynalek has a law degree from the University of Arizona.

CERTIFICATIONS

Bogutz & Gordon, P.C. attorney, Ana Perez-Arrieta, has been certifi ed by the State Bar of Arizona as a specialist in estate and trust law. Perez-Arrieta is one of only 10 lawyers in Tucson to receive the certifi cation. She joins fellow Bogutz & Gordon attorneys Craig Wisnom and Benjamin Burnside with this distinction. Ana joined Bogutz & Gordon, P.C. in October 2011.

MARCELLA HOYLAND NANCY WHITLOCK JOHN GIBSONALI A. BAAJ ELI CHAPMAN JESSE R. CALLAHAN

6 general election.For the Arizona Corporation Commis-

sion, the group bypassed the three incum-bents up for reelection and instead en-dorsed the three challengers: Democrat Marcia Busching and Republicans Susan Bitter Smith and Robert “Bob” Burns.

Among contested state legislative races, the chamber endorsements are:

District 9: Democrat Steve Farley over Republican Tyler Mott for Senate. Democrat Victoria Steele and Republican Ethan Orr over Mohur Sarah Sidhwa for the House.

District 10: Democrat David Bradley over Republican Frank Antenori for Senate. Democrat Bruce Wheeler and Republican Ted Vogt, over Todd Clodfelter and Stefanie Mach for House.

District 14: Republican Gail Griffi n over Democrat Patricia Fleming for Senate. Re-publicans David Gowan and David Stevens over Robert Leach and Mark Stonebraker for the House.

Th e chamber PAC made endorsements in two of the four contested Pima County supervisors races: Republican Ally Miller in District 1 over Democrat Nancy Young

Wright and incumbent Democrat Ramón Valadez over his Republican challenger James Kelley in District 2.

It’s only other county-wide endorse-ments went to incumbents in two races: County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez, a Dem-ocrat, over Republican Bill Beard and Coun-ty Treasurer Beth Ford, a Republican, over Elaine Richardson, a Democrat.

To receive an endorsement, candidates were interviewed by the chamber’s Candi-date Evaluation Committee, which is made up of fi ve registered Democrats, fi ve regis-tered Republicans and four registered Inde-pendents.

EDUCATION/RESEARCHUA study seeks better breast cancer treatment

University of Arizona Cancer Center re-searchers seeks participants for a study de-signed to determine if a compound found in broccoli can enhance the health-promoting eff ects of the breast cancer drug Tamox-ifen in women at risk of developing breast cancer or those previously treated for early-

stage breast cancer.Since receiving a $3 million grant from

the National Cancer Institute in 2011, UACC researcher Dr. Cynthia Th omson and her team have recruited about 50 women who are taking Tamoxifen for the DIME study.

Enrollment will continue through De-cember 2013 with a goal of 170 partici-pants.

Tamoxifen is an accepted treatment for breast cancer.

Th omson, a professor of Health Promo-tion Sciences in the Mel and Enid Zucker-man College of Public Health at the Uni-versity of Arizona, notes that data from diet studies of people who have a higher intake of cruciferous vegetables – caulifl ower, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi and broccoli – suggest that intake may reduce the risk of certain cancers, including breast, colorec-tal, bladder and possibly prostate.

Study participants will be asked to take the supplement or placebo for 18 months and complete periodic clinical evaluation visits.

For more information about the DIM study, call Julie West at (520) 321-7748.

HUMAN RESOURCESPima County gets $1.25M for veterans training

Pima County has received a $1.25 mil-lion federal grant to help train veterans in Southern Arizona.

Th e U.S. Department of Labor grant was awarded to the Pima County One-Stop ca-reer centers. Th e county operates the Kino Veterans Workforce Center, which is fo-cused on helping unemployed veterans.

Th e grant will fund training in fi elds in-cluding software and computer services, construction, auto mechanics, security, lo-gistics, nursing, physical and occupational therapy, hospitality and the culinary arts, among others.

Pima County won the only Arizona grant in this round of awards.

Eleven grants totaling $11.53 million were awarded on a competitive basis to or-ganizations in 10 states.

Th e winning agencies are familiar with


Alan Michaels and KWFM part ways; station off the air for days By David Hatfi eldInside Tucson Business

Radio station KWFM 1330-AM — for-merly KJLL “the Jolt” — stopped broadcast-ing late the morning of Sept. 20, although it continued to stream its mostly progressive talk programming until some point late in the day Tuesday this week when even that stopped.

Separately Alan Michaels, who had been operations manager since February, said he and the station had parted ways. He said he didn’t know why the station was off the air, saying it happened after he had left.

“Right now, I’m just looking for the next opportunity,” Michaels said, adding he thought it may be be diffi cult to stay in ra-dio, but he’s leaving all doors open.

“Th e one thing I would really like to be known is that I went in there with the best of intentions and I believed we could really do something good,” Michaels said.

In January, the station changed its brand-ing from the Jolt to the Star. Hiring Michaels in February fed rumors of an impending change in formats from talk to music.

Michaels now says he was making plans to convert the format to a personality-driv-en music station playing hit songs from the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s. He planned to do the morning show himself — something he had been known for when he worked for Clear

Channel’s oldies format station, Cool. Be-yond that he said he had found a local mid-day personality who agreed to come over to the station.

Initially, Michaels said he had hoped to have the format change in place in April but that got delayed and then, due to various subsequent complications, the change was never green-lighted.

Although Michaels says he wished he could have pursued the format change. He says he gave up a good position with a tech fi rm to go to work at KWFM. “I just have a passion for radio,” he said.

Although it didn’t work out, he says he doesn’t want to come off sounding like he has a case of sour grapes. He wouldn’t even say whether he felt he had been fi red or quit, acknowledging only that he and the station had parted ways.

Meanwhile, KWFM remained off the air for a sixth consecutive day Wednesday. Th e receptionist who answered the phone at the station was adamant that the station would return the air but she didn’t know when. Th e station could be heard when she placed my call on hold on Wednesday, although online streaming was not functioning.

Th e station was off the air Sept. 20 when former Tucson City Councilman Steve Leal came in to do his talk show at noon Sept. 20. Although it wasn’t broadcast he went ahead and taped and was told it would air when-

MEDIA

ever the station resumed broadcasting.

UA game on Ch. 11 So much for my theory last week that

University of Arizona Wildcats fans might fi nally fi nd themselves outraged Oct. 6 over the impasse between the Pac-12 Networks and DirecTV to make a deal. Th e conference announced this week the Wildcats game at Stanford that day will be shown live on Fox. So not only is it not necessary to have the Pac-12 Network that weekend to see the game in Tucson, you won’t even need cable or satellite as the game will be shown live on KMSB 11. Kickoff is at noon.

Names in newsA management position is opening up at

the Arizona Daily Star where managing Teri Hayt is leaving to become an executive edi-tor for GateHouse Media and its eight publi-cations in Ohio, which includes three dailies: Th e Repository in Canton, the Times-Reporterin New Philadelphia and the Independent in Massillon along with three weekly entertain-ment publications and two free shoppers in the state. Earlier this month, Hayt was elect-ed an offi cer in the Associated Press Media Editors organization which puts her in line to be president in 2016. Hayt is due to start her new job Oct. 15.

Debbie Wagner, who spent all but fi ve

years of her 33-year media career in Tucson, is out as president and market manager of Clear Channel’s seven-station radio group in San Diego. She was replaced without expla-nation this month. Wagner had been Clear Channel’s Tucson market manager for fi ve years before she was tapped by the company in December 2008 to go to San Diego. Among her claims to fame while in Tucson was launching the “Johnjay and Rich” morning radio show that is now based in Phoenix and airs on eight other stations. Th is summer Wagner was named one of Radio Ink maga-zine’s Most Infl uential Women for 2012.

Monday was the last day on the job for Tammy Vo, a reporter and weekend anchor who had been at KGUN 9 since January 2008. Her husband, KGUN’s former week-end sports anchor Jake Knapp, left the sta-tion earlier this year for Phoenix where he’s now working for Gannett.

Valerie Cavazos is the new weekend news anchor on KGUN. She joined the sta-tion a year ago. Previously in her career Cavazos had been a morning co-anchor at KOLD 13 for nearly six years until October 2004 before leaving to start her own multi-media fi rm.

Contact David Hatfi eld at

dhatfi [email protected] or (520) 295-4237.

Inside Tucson Media appears weekly.

the areas and populations to be served, and have demonstrated that they can adminis-ter eff ective programs, Solis said.

Th e county has received grants as part of this program since 2006, with 1,667 veterans placed into private sector jobs.

Metro Chamber partners with Eff ortlessHR

Th e Tucson Metro Chamber and Ef-fortlessHR have entered into a partnership which will off er chamber members access to a human resource information system at a discounted rate.

Eff ortlessHR is an Internet-based hu-man resource program built specifi cally for small and mid-sized businesses that need an easy-to-use way to set up and manage their employees. Eff ortlessHR’s services are designed to help the busy small business owner better organize and communicate with their employees.

CIVICMedical foundation to award nonprofi t grants

Th e Tucson Osteopathic Medical Foun-dation has re-launched the Trustee Awards, a microgrant program that will give $1,000 each month to a diff erent non-profi t orga-nization working to improve community

health. Th e fi rst award will be given in January,

however applicants can submit proposals now at www.tomf.org.

Th e previous version of the Foundation’s Trustee Awards was less frequent but fund-ed many organizations including the Com-munity Food Bank, Children’s Museum Tucson, and Arizona Th eatre Company.

NONPROFITSFood Bank gets $40kfrom Fry’s Food Stores

Th e Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona has received a $40,000 donation from Fry’s Food Stores.

Th e donation comes from Fry’s “Bring-ing Hope to the Table” annual cause-mar-keting program partnership. Since 2006 the program has directed over $25 million in cash and food to local food banks across the country.

Fry’s 2012 “Bringing Hope to the Table” campaign raised nearly $154,000.

TUCSON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 2012 PASSENGER STATISTICS

Airline passenger traffi c through Tucson International Airport in August was up 2.5 percent to 281,383 from 274,583 in August 2011. The increase tipped the year’s passenger totals back over to an increase for the year over 2011. The August increase came despite airlines reducing capacity at the airport 6.2 percent from a year ago. Through eight months of 2012, passenger numbers are up 0.2%. This chart shows each airlines’ passenger totals and market share so far for 2012 compared to the fi rst eight months of 2011.

Jan.-Aug. 2012 Jan.-Aug. 2011 Change

Airline Nonstop destinations

Passengers Market Share

Passengers Market Share

Passengers %

Southwest 838,828 34.3% 823,848 33.8% +14,980 +1.8%Albuquerque, Chicago Midway, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego

American 573,469 23.4% 547,704 22.4% +25,765 +4.7%Chicago O’Hare, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles

United (Continental)

354,855 14.5% 334,348 13.7% +20,507 +6.1%

Denver, Houston Intercontinental, Los Angeles, San Francisco

US Airways 273,906 11.2% 290,079 11.9% -16,173 -5.6%Phoenix

Delta 269,957 11.0% 264,262 10.8% +5,695 +2.2%Atlanta, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Salt Lake City

Alaska 81,423 3.3% 72,014 3.0% +9,409 +13.1%Seattle

Frontier 53,796 2.2% 109,092 4.5% -55,296 -50.7%Discontinued service as of May 18

Total 2,446,234 2,441,347 +4,887 +0.2%

Source: Tucson Airport Authority

Airline totals include passengers on branded fl ights operated by contracted carriers: American (includes American Eagle), Delta Connection (SkyWest), United Express (ExpressJet and SkyWest) and US Airways Express (Mesa and Sky-West).


SPECIAL EVENTS

Employment Law Breakfast Briefi ngTuesday (Oct. 2) 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. Westward Look Resort 2450 E. Ina Rd. Contact: Shirley Wilka [email protected] or (520)792-2250www.tucsonchamber.orgPresented by Fennemore Craig, learn how to protect yourself from costly NLRB charges and ADA complaints

SAHBA Fall Home and Garden ShowFriday (Oct. 5) through Sunday (Oct. 7)10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. SundayTucson Convention Center 260 S. Church Avenue Contact: Amy McReynolds, [email protected] or (520) 795-3025$8 for adultswww.sahbahomeshow.com

Candidate forumTuesday (Oct. 9)6 to 8:30 p.m.Pima Community College West Campus--Proscenium Theater 2202 W. Anklam Road Contact: Shirley G. Muney, [email protected] or (520) 327-7652Candidate forum for Congressional District 3 organized by The League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson, Pima Community College and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Tucson Meet Yourself Folklife FestivalFriday (Oct. 12) through Sunday (Oct. 14)11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday11 a.m. to 6 p.m. SundayDowntown Tucson 7 sites spanning 60 acres off Church Avenue Contact: Echo Surina [email protected] or (602) 332-9445www.tucsonmeetyourself.org

8th Annual Tucson Record ShowSunday (Nov. 11)9 a.m. to 3 p.m.Las Cazuelitas Event Center 1365 W. Grant Road Contact: Bruce Smith [email protected] or (520) 622-0104Cost: $4Dealers from all over the Southwest will be selling vinyl, tapes, CDs and

music memoribilia. Dealer tables are $35.

REGULAR MEETINGS

Annuity Investment SeminarsCommon mistakes of annuity ownersEvery Tuesday 3:30 p.m. Bookmans 6230 E. SpeedwayInformation: (520) 990-0009

Arizona Business Leads of Tucson NorthEvery Wednesday except the fi rst Wednesday of the month7:30 to 9:00 a.m.Mimi’s Café 4420 N. Oracle RoadInfo and RSVP: [email protected]

Arizona Real Estate Investors AssociationSecond Tuesday, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.Windmill Suites 4250 N. Campbell RoadInformation: (480) 990-7092 or www.azreia.org Cost: Free, members, $15 nonmembers pre-registered ($20 door)

Arizona Small Business AssociationSO/HO (Small Offi ce/Home Offi ce Community) First and Third Wednesdays 8:15 to 9:30 a.m.ASBA conference center, 4811 E. Grant Road, Suite 262Information: www.asba.comCost: Free to ASBA members

Avra Valley Community Council Monthly meetingsFourth Tuesday of every month, 6 p.m.Halberg Center 15790 W. Silverbell RoadContact: Carlie Page at (520) 682-5139 or Luis Castaneda at (520) 682-6619

BNI Executive Partners ChapterBusiness Network InternationalEvery Wednesday, 1 to 2:30 p.m.Tucson Osteopathic Medical Foundation 3182 N. Swan RoadRSVP: Phyllis Daugherty (520) 405-5659

BNI Leading Edge ChapterBusiness Network InternationalEvery Tuesday, 7 to 8:30 a.m.Viscount Hotel 4855 E Broadway RSVP: Earl Yousey (520) 229-7718

BNI Givers Gain ChapterBusiness Network InternationalEvery Friday 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.El Parador, 2744 E. Broadway RSVP: Chuck Zaepfel (520) 740-0911

BNI Northwest ChapterBusiness Network InternationalEvery Thursday7 to 8:30 a.m. Home Town Buffet, 5101 N. Oracle RoadRSVP: Audrey Sharpe (520) 405-1405

Tucson Night Out First Tuesday MixerFirst Tuesday of the month5 to 7 p.m. McMahon’s Prime Steakhouse, 2959 N. Swan RoadInformation: www.tucsonnightout.com

BNI Peak Performers Business Network International Every Tuesday11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Grill at Hacienda Del Sol, 5601 N. Hacienda Del Sol Road RSVP: Rochelle Riley (520) 297-9067

BNI Platinum Chapter Business Network InternationalEvery Thursday11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Loop, 10180 N. Oracle Road RSVP: Rose Ann Weaver (520) 818-3673

BNI Sunrise Success ChapterBusiness Network InternationalEvery Thursday7 to 8:30 a.m. Miguels, 5900 N. Oracle RoadRSVP: Alexcis Reynolds (520) 690-6576

BNI Professional Partners ChapterBusiness Network InternationalEvery Wednesday11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.Tucson Country Club, 2950 N. Camino PrincipalRSVP: Kevin Wood (520) 260-3123

Business Principals of TucsonFirst and third Thursdays7 to 8 a.m.The Hungry Fox, 4637 E. BroadwayRSVP: Steve Dunlap at (520) 622-0554

Casas Adobes Rotary ClubEvery Wednesday7 to 8 a.m.La Paloma Country Club, 3660 E. Sunrise DriveInformation: www.casasadobesrotary.org

Catalina Tucson RotaryWeekly meeting of the Catalina Tucson Rotary ClubEvery FridaynoonViscount Suites Hotel 4855 E. Broadway Info: Steve Pender [email protected] or (520) 745-6500Cost: $20www.catalinarotary.org

Cienega Rotary ClubEvery Tuesday5 to 6:15 p.m.Del Lago Golf Club 14155 E. via Rancho Del LagoInformation: http://cienegarotary.org

ConnectionsMonthly contacts luncheonFirst and third Wednesdays11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.McMahon’s Prime Steakhouse 2659 N. Swan RoadRSVP: Cindy Morgan at (520) 403-8798 or [email protected]: $16 includes lunch

Conquistador ToastmastersEvery Wednesday7 to 8:30 p.m.ASBA conference center 4811 E. Grant Road, Suite 261Contact: Saul Silven at (520) 885-3497 RSVP: requested for guestsCost: guests free

Desert Stars ToastmastersEvery Tuesday, noon U of A Science & Tech Park Building 9040, Room 2216Contact: Jim Eng (520) 663-9118 or [email protected]

Information: www.Desertstars.freetoasthost.com

Entrepreneurial Mothers AssociationMonthly luncheonFirst Thursday11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.Old Pueblo Grill60 N. Alvernon WayInformation: Sherry Goncharsky, [email protected]

Financial Workshops for WomenEvery Tuesday at 6 p.m. Barca Financial Group 5470 E. Speedway Suite A106Information: www.barcafi nancial.com

Foothills Optimist ClubFirst and third Wednesdays, noonMacayo’s Restaurant7360 N. Oracle RoadInfo and RSVP: (520) 744-5927

Foothills Rotary ClubEvery Friday, noonMetropolitan Grill7892 N. Oracle RoadRSVP: Eric Miller, (520) 979-1696

The Foothills Club of Tucson Second Friday 12:30 to 2:30pmHacienda Del Sol5501 N. Hacienda Del Sol RdContact: Leslie Hargrove(520) 445-9237www.foothillscluboftucson.com

Fountain Flyers ToastmastersEvery Tuesday6:30 a.m.Coco’s Restaurant7250 N. Oracle RoadInformation: Cheryl at (520) 730-4456Cost: Free to visit

Got a business challenge, 30 minutes & 20 bucks?Every Tuesday and Thursday 8 to 9 a.m.Savaya Coffee Market 5530 E Broadway Ste.174 Info: Dale Bruder, Dynamic Strategist [email protected] (520) 331-1956 www.dalebruder.com $20

Group Referral Organization networking group First and third WednesdaysLuna Bella2990 N. Swan Road Suite 145www.grotucson.com

GRO IISecond and fourth ThursdaysSam Hughes Championship Dining

446 N. Campbell Ave. Suite 150Info: www.grotucson.com

Independent Business Networking Tucson “IBNT”Second and fourth Tuesdays El Parador2744 E. Broadway RSVP: Jennifer Row at (520) 603-3315 or [email protected]: First time is free

Inside ConnectionsSecond and fourth Wednesday, 7:15 a.m.Home Town Buffet5101 N Oracle RoadRSVP: Eric Miller at (520) 979-1696

Institute of Management AccountantsThird Thursday, (September through May) 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.Old Pueblo Grille60 N. Alvernon WayRSVP: Gale McGuire (520) 584-3480 or [email protected]

International Association of Administrative ProfessionalsSan Xavier Chapter monthly dinner & professional development meeting Every third Wednesday, 5:30 to 8 p.m.Sheraton Four Points Hotel1900 E. SpeedwayRSVP: Kay at [email protected] or (520) 883-1819Cost: $18 members, $20 nonmembers, includes dinner

“Real Estate Investment Plan”Keller Williams Southern Arizona1745 E. River Road, Ste. 245Third Tuesday 6 p.m.Workshop for individuals considering investment RSVP by noon Mondays (520) 909-9375

Kiwanis Club of Oro ValleyWednesdays, 7 a.m.Holiday Inn Express 10150 N. Oracle RoadInfo: [email protected]: $8

LeTip MidtownEvery Tuesday, 7:01 to 8:31 a.m.El Parador Restaurant 2744 E. BroadwayRSVP: (520) 296-9900 Cost: $10

LeTip TucsonExecutives Chapter meetingEvery Tuesday, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.Macayo’s Mexican Kitchen 7360 N. Oracle RoadRSVP: (520) 299-9600, [email protected]

CALENDAR

Submissions: Deadline for calendar submissions is 10 days prior to publication. Post your event online at www.insidetucsonbusiness.com/calendar. Email any questions to [email protected].

{YOUR EVENT HERE}

A complete calendar listing is atA complete calendar listing is at

InsideTucsonBusiness.com


FINANCEFINANCEYOUR MONEY

Some ideas to consider to beprepared for the ‘fi nancial cliff ’

As an investor, you can sometimes still feel you’re at the mercy of forces beyond your control. Th is may be especially true these days, when the Federal Reserve has warned of an approaching “fi scal cliff .”

What can you do in the face of such a dire prediction?

First of all, you need to understand what led to the Fed’s remarks.

Here’s the story: Some $1.2 trillion in spending cuts are scheduled to begin in 2013 while, simultaneously, the Bush-era tax cuts — including the reduction in capital gains and dividend taxes — are set to expire.

Th is combination of spending cuts and higher taxes could take $600 billion out of the economy, leading to a possible recession — and maybe something much worse, at least in the eyes of the Fed.

Still, there’s no need for panic. Despite the political infi ghting, Congress is

likely to reduce the “cliff ” to a smaller bump, though it probably won’t happen until after the Nov. 6 election.

But as an investor, you may need to be prepared for two signifi cant events: market volatility, at least in the short term, and higher taxes, probably for the foreseeable future.

To combat market volatility, you need to own a broadly diversifi ed portfolio that can handle “bumps,” “cliff s” and other rugged investment terrain. Th is means you’ll need a mix of stocks, bonds and other securities that are suitable for your needs.

Keep in mind though, that while diversifi -cation can reduce the impact of market volatility, it cannot guarantee profi ts or protect against losses.

You may also need to “rebalance” your portfolio to ensure that it’s still aligned with your goals, risk tolerance and time horizon, despite the impact of volatility.

Now, let’s turn to taxes. Even if taxes on income, capital gains and

dividends do rise, they will still, in all likelihood, be much lower than they’ve been at various points in the past.

Nonetheless, you may want to consider a variety of steps, including the following:

• Take advan-tage of tax-deferred vehicles.

Contribute as much as possible to your traditional IRA, your 401(k) or other employer-sponsored retirement plan, and any education savings accounts you may have, such as a 529 plan.

• Consider converting your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA.

A Roth IRA provides tax-free earnings, provided you don’t start taking withdrawals until you’re 59½ and you’ve had your account for at least fi ve years. Be aware though, that this conversion is taxable and may not be appro-priate if you don’t have money readily available to pay the taxes.

• Consider municipal bonds. If you’re in one of the upper tax brackets,

you may benefi t from investing in “munis,” which pay interest that’s free of federal taxes, and possibly state and local taxes as well.

Not all these choices will be suitable for your situation, of course. Before taking action on these items, consult with your tax and fi nancial advisors. Give these options some thought because they may prove helpful in keeping your fi nancial goals from going “over a cliff .”

Contact Tim Beithon, a fi nancial advisor

with Edward Jones, at Tim.Beithon@edward-

jones.com or (520) 546-1839. Beithon’s offi ce is at

9525 E. Old Spanish Trail, Suite 111.

TIM BEITHON

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

Company Name Symbol Sept. 26 Sept. 19 Change52-Week

Low52-Week

HighTucson companiesApplied Energetics Inc AERG.OB 0.04 0.04 0.00 0.03 0.37CDEX Inc CEXIQ.OB 0.02 0.02 0.00 0.01 0.10Providence Service Corp PRSC 12.69 13.02 -0.33 9.36 15.94UniSource Energy Corp (Tucson Electric Power) UNS 42.30 40.80 1.50 34.28 42.71

Southern Arizona presenceAlcoa Inc (Huck Fasteners) AA 8.89 9.47 -0.58 7.97 11.66AMR Corp (American Airlines) AAMRQ 0.10 0.41 -0.31 0.20 3.33Augusta Resource Corp (Rosemont Mine) AZC 2.78 2.76 0.02 1.48 4.06Bank Of America Corp BAC 8.81 9.29 -0.48 4.92 10.10Bank of Montreal (M&I Bank) BMO 58.78 59.77 -0.99 50.95 61.40BBVA Compass BBVA 7.83 8.43 -0.60 5.30 9.94Berkshire Hathaway (Geico, Long Cos) BRK-B* 88.33 88.95 -0.62 69.07 89.24Best Buy Co Inc BBY 17.59 17.94 -0.35 16.25 28.53BOK Financial Corp (Bank of Arizona) BOKF 58.66 59.03 -0.37 45.07 60.00Bombardier Inc* (Bombardier Aerospace) BBDB 3.64 3.64 0.00 3.30 4.93CB Richard Ellis Group CBG 18.55 19.50 -0.95 12.51 21.16Citigroup Inc C 32.51 34.18 -1.67 21.40 38.40Comcast Corp CMCSA 35.12 35.38 -0.26 19.72 36.90Community Health Sys (Northwest Med Cntrs) CYH 28.53 29.37 -0.84 14.61 29.59Computer Sciences Corp CSC 31.93 33.54 -1.61 22.19 34.74Convergys Corp CVG 15.36 16.06 -0.70 8.49 16.55Costco Wholesale Corp COST 101.00 101.88 -0.88 78.41 103.51CenturyLink (Qwest Communications) CTL 41.23 42.18 -0.95 31.16 43.43Cvs/Caremark (CVS pharmacy) CVS 47.83 47.71 0.12 32.28 48.69Delta Air Lines DAL 9.16 9.37 -0.21 6.64 12.25Dillard Department Stores DDS 72.94 78.76 -5.82 40.01 79.23Dover Corp (Sargent Controls & Aerospace) DOV 58.87 60.58 -1.71 43.64 67.20DR Horton Inc DHI 20.90 22.22 -1.32 8.03 22.79Freeport-McMoRan (Phelps Dodge) FCX 39.28 41.54 -2.26 28.85 48.96Granite Construction Inc GVA 28.20 29.57 -1.37 17.52 30.88Home Depot Inc HD 59.17 59.47 -0.30 31.03 60.58Honeywell Intl Inc HON 59.44 61.28 -1.84 41.22 62.00IBM IBM 204.00 206.43 -2.43 168.88 210.69Iron Mountain IRM 33.61 33.65 -0.04 27.10 34.18Intuit Inc INTU 57.97 58.63 -0.66 44.82 62.33Journal Communications (KGUN 9, KMXZ) JRN 5.34 5.59 -0.25 2.69 5.85JP Morgan Chase & Co JPM 40.24 41.34 -1.10 27.85 46.49Kaman Corp (Electro-Optics Develpmnt Cntr) KAMN 35.74 36.44 -0.70 25.73 37.17KB Home KBH 13.90 13.16 0.74 5.02 15.65Kohls Corp KSS 51.39 53.46 -2.07 42.72 56.66Kroger Co (Fry's Food Stores) KR 23.51 23.99 -0.48 20.98 24.83Lee Enterprises (Arizona Daily Star) LEE 1.49 1.50 -0.01 0.49 1.81Lennar Corporation LEN 34.64 36.26 -1.62 12.14 38.27Lowe's Cos (Lowe's Home Improvement) LOW 30.00 29.59 0.41 18.55 32.29Loews Corp (Ventana Canyon Resort) L 40.96 41.72 -0.76 32.90 42.86Macerich Co (Westcor, La Encantada) MAC 57.30 60.25 -2.95 38.64 62.83Macy's Inc M 37.75 39.04 -1.29 24.38 42.17Marriott Intl Inc MAR 39.01 40.90 -1.89 25.56 41.84Meritage Homes Corp MTH 37.99 39.73 -1.74 13.68 42.59Northern Trust Corp NTRS 46.41 47.83 -1.42 33.20 49.68Northrop Grumman Corp NOC 66.19 66.90 -0.71 50.13 70.20Penney, J.C. JCP 24.55 29.09 -4.54 19.06 43.18Pulte Homes Inc (Pulte, Del Webb) PHM 15.30 16.43 -1.13 3.29 17.47Raytheon Co (Raytheon Missile Systems) RTN 57.59 58.15 -0.56 38.68 58.68Roche Holdings AG (Ventana Medical Systems) RHHBY 47.19 48.08 -0.89 36.50 48.20Safeway Inc SWY 15.99 16.46 -0.47 14.73 23.16Sanofi -Aventis SA SNY 43.55 44.22 -0.67 31.61 44.97Sears Holdings (Sears, Kmart, Customer Care) SHLD 54.84 61.60 -6.76 28.89 85.90SkyWest Inc SKYW 10.53 10.75 -0.22 6.25 14.32Southwest Airlines Co LUV 8.92 9.06 -0.14 7.15 10.05Southwest Gas Corp SWX 44.45 43.92 0.53 34.55 46.08Stantec Inc STN 34.65 35.17 -0.52 21.09 36.28Target Corp TGT 63.83 65.01 -1.18 47.25 65.80TeleTech Holdings Inc TTEC 16.83 17.17 -0.34 14.04 18.66Texas Instruments Inc TXN 27.57 28.69 -1.12 26.06 34.24Time Warner Inc (AOL) TWX 44.64 45.51 -0.87 28.43 46.56Ual Corp (United Airlines) UAL 20.16 20.69 -0.53 15.51 25.84Union Pacifi c Corp UNP 118.92 125.05 -6.13 77.73 129.27Apollo Group Inc (University of Phoenix) APOL 28.75 29.62 -0.87 25.77 58.29US Airways Group Inc LCC 10.50 10.97 -0.47 3.96 14.51US Bancorp (US Bank) USB 33.95 34.34 -0.39 21.84 35.15Wal-Mart Stores Inc (Wal-Mart, Sam's Club) WMT 74.19 74.37 -0.18 51.29 75.24Walgreen Co WAG 35.82 35.81 0.01 28.53 36.85Wells Fargo & Co WFC 34.42 35.25 -0.83 22.61 36.60Western Alliance Bancorp (Alliance Bank) WAL 10.22 9.99 0.23 4.99 10.43Zions Bancorp (National Bank of Arizona) ZION 20.37 21.15 -0.78 13.18 22.81Data Source: Dow Jones Market Watch

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

BBB of Southern Arizona • 520-888-5353 • 5151 E. Broadway Blvd., Ste. 100 • Tucson, AZ


INSIDE REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION

By Roger YohemInside Tucson Business

Coldwell Banker’s August Residential Market Report provides further evidence the Tucson region’s real estate market continues to make slow, steady gains. Based on a year-over-year analysis, each governmental jurisdiction within the region has posted improved performance.

In the city of Tucson, there have been 7,489 sales year-to-date, 8 percent ahead of last year’s 6,930. On average, homes sold four days faster in the city than in August 2011.

Th e August selling price per square foot was $95, up from $83 a year ago. Th e measure indicates the direction of property values since the mix of high and low-end sales impact median and average sales prices, according to Malcolm MacEwen, CEO of Coldwell Banker.

Th e median sales price in Tucson was $142,000, up 23.5 percent from $115,000 in August 2011. Th e average sales price was $177,702, up 16 percent from $153,185 a year ago.

In Oro Valley year-to-date, there have been 514 sales, 23 percent more than last year’s 419. Th e median sales price was $240,459 up 14.5 percent from $210,000 in August 2011.

Year-over-year, the average sales price rose 12 percent from $256,579 to $287,172. Th e selling price per square foot was $127 compared to $120 a year ago.

In Sahuarita, home sales have dropped to 334 year-to-date, from 380 for the same period a year ago. Th e August days-on-market was 135, up from 89 days a year ago.

Th e median sales price was $138,000, a

$10,000 increase from August 2011. Th e average sales price of $156,643 was 11 percent higher than the August 2011 level of $140,735. Th e selling price per square foot was $73 compared to $70 a year ago.

In Marana, August sales were 340 compared to 328 a year ago and the average selling time has lengthened from 108 to 128 days.

Last month, the $180,000 median sales price rose from $172,000 in August 2011. Th e average sales price of $270,231 was 42.5 percent higher than the $189,578 in August 2011. Th e selling price per square foot increased 36 percent to $120 from $88 a year ago, according to Coldwell Banker.

Architecture weekArchitects will look “back to see the

future” during Southern Arizona Architec-ture Week, starting Saturday (Sept. 29) and running through Oct. 7. In recognition of the state’s centennial, the Tucson chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) will present a series of lectures, mall exhibits, a home tour and other activities.

Th ree public events kick off the celebra-

Housing performance scores stronger in all submarkets

THE PULSE: TUCSON REAL ESTATE

9/17/2012 9/10/2012

Median Price $145,000 $145,000Active Listings 4,256 4,202New Listings 383 399Pending Sales 346 351Homes Closed 182 183Source: Long Realty Research Center

tion Saturday: “CanStruction,” at 9 a.m. at Park Place

Mall, 5870 E. Broadway, features architect and engineering offi ces competiting to design and build sculptural installations using only canned food, which will then remain on display at the mall through Oct. 7.

“KidStruction” Awards at noon at Sears Court in Park Place, honors middle school students who designed and built structures on a 12 inch-by-12 inch base using only business cards, toothpicks and glue using the theme “Celebrating Arizona’s Centennial.”

A two-hour walking tour of Barrio Libre (Viejo) starts at 9:30 a.m. at Cushing Street Bar, 198 W. Cushing St., hosted by John Messina who will talk about the origins, style and typology of buildings in the neighborhood, one of the two oldest in Tucson.

Information about events for the entire week are online at www.aiasouthernarizona.org .

Down payment help Up to $15,000 in down payment assis-

tance to buy a home is available for resi-dents who meet certain income and loca-tion criteria. Th rough the Pima Neighborhood Investment Partnership, a collaboration among Pima County, the City of Tucson and seven nonprofi ts, funding is available through Nov. 30.

Individuals and families with up to 120 percent of the average Pima County house-hold income may qualify. For a couple, that can be as high as $58,000. For a family of four, income is capped at $72,500. Buyers must contribute a minimum of $1,000 of their own funds.

Th e eligible homes are generally South of 22nd Street. In 2010, Pima County received $22 million in federal stimulus funds to

make foreclosed and vacant homes in the target area energy effi cient, available and aff ordable.

For program details: go to www.pnip.org or call (520) 243-4663.

Th ree under 200After years of listings that often exceed-

ed 300 homes in zip codes across the region, August’s residential data off ered another good metric indicating the real estate market is holding steady. Inventory levels are 30 percent lower than they were a year ago and only three zip codes had 200 or more homes for sale.

Gone, hopefully for good, are the days of more than 3-0-0. Here to stay, hopefully, are the days of under 2-0-0.

With 3,564 listings in August, the most inventory was in zip code 85739 with 219 units, according to the Tucson Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service. Th e neighborhood is along North Oracle Road from Catalina State Park to the junction of State Routes 77 and 79.

Next was the Green Valley zip code 85614 with 209 units; followed by 202 houses in 85750 in the Sabino Canyon area.

Th e Realtors reported three areas sold all their listings in August. Extra sales were highest in zip code 85706 where 32 homes sold in a zone of 25 listings. Th e area is near Tucson International Airport, around Drexel Road and Alvernon Way.

In zip code 85714, the Midvale Park area along Drexel Road west of Interstate 19, eight homes were listed and nine sold. One extra home also sold in zip code 85741, the area from I-10 east to La Cholla Boulevard between Cortaro Farms Road and River Road. Th ere, 53 homes sold with 52 listings.

Due to timing issues, it is possible to sell more homes than are offi cially listed for sale.

Sales and leases• Old Pueblo Rentals LLC purchased

the 11-unit Cameo Place Apartments, 1151 N. Sonoita Ave. for $515,000 from Baran Family Trust, represented by Kent Simpson and MaryLou Th ompson, Tierra Antigua Realty Downtown. Th e buyer was represented by Andrew Ford, Coldwell Banker.

• McDonald’s USA leased 29,000 square feet at 1795 W. Ajo Way from WPW Invest-ments LLC, represented by Terry Dahl-strom, Volk Company Commercial Real Estate. McDonald’s demolished a former Blockbuster Video store at the site and is building a 3,500 square foot restaurant, to open in November. Brian Harpel, the Harpel Company, represented McDonald’s.

Email news items for this column

to [email protected]. Inside Real Estate &

Construction appears weekly.

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Program Current Last WeekOne

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30 YEAR 3.50% 3.75%APR 3.63% 3.875%APR 4.95% 4.95% 3.50%

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3/1 ARM 2.75% 3.00%APR 2.88% 3.125% APRThe above rates have a 1% origination fee and 0 discount . FNMA/FHLMC maximum conforming loan amount is $417,000 Conventional Jumbo loans are loans above $417,000Information provided by Randy Hotchkiss, National Certifi ed Mortgage Consultant (CMC) Hotchkiss Financial, Inc. P.O. Box 43712 Tucson, Arizona 85733 • 520-324-0000MB #0905432. Rates are subject to change without notice based upon market conditions.

9/25/2012

Roge

r Yoh

em

By almost every measure, housing market is showing year-to-date improvement


It didn’t seem like it at the time, but one of the smarter things I did in my life was serve eight years — 1991-1994 and 1999-2002 — on the Catalina Foothills School District No. 16 school board. I met a lot of people doing wonderful things for those who will become our leaders.

People who say things categorically about the decline of public education haven’t seen the work of the educators I’ve met who are challenging students in ways I suspect those saying those things couldn’t possibly fathom.

In recent years Arizona educators, like many of the rest of us, have had to do more with less. And it’s not as if they had that much to begin with. I remain concerned about the state of education in Arizona.

So why am I having so much trouble fi nding it within myself to support Proposition 204 on the Nov. 6 ballot?

If passed, it would make permanent a temporary sales tax due to expire May 31, 2013. Arizona’s state sales tax rate would remain at 6.6 percent instead of dropping to 5.6 as it’s scheduled to do.

But unlike the temporary tax, which directs money to fund education, Proposition 204, which is estimated to raise $1 billion in its fi rst year, guarantees only $125 million of that would go to K-12 education for infl ation adjustments.

Th e largest chunk, $500 million, would go to helping schools meet their “assessment and accountability” requirements — some-thing needed in these days when students spend so much time being tested. Except Proposition 204 uses the words “may use the monies,” which begs the question how else may the money be used?

Another $150 million would go to funds for education account-ability and improvement, education learning and accountability and for university scholarships, operations and infrastructure. And although the words accountability show up in the names of those funds, there is little accountability in how those monies would be spent.

Th e fi nal $220 million from Proposition 204 wouldn’t even go to education; $100 million would be spent on public transportation and roads, another $100 million would go to a family stability and self-suffi ciency fund and $25 million would go to a children’s health insurance fund.

Th e anti-tax crowd is right to point out that Arizona’s state sales tax is the second highest in the U.S. But they’re not right when they say school funding has increased over the last decade or when they cite a state Auditor General report that says just 55 cents of every tax dollar gets into the classroom.

What they conveniently leave out is that the state has diverted money away from public education in recent years. And the Auditor General doesn’t consider jobs such as librarian or those directly responsible for curriculum delivery as “classroom” jobs, even though they can have as much to do with student perfor-mance as any teacher.

I do agree with state Treasurer Doug Ducey who says Proposi-tion 204 is bad public policy. At the same time though, what do we do when we have bad public policy makers at the state Capitol?

Th at can’t be fi xed by having voters pass a proposition that would let lawmakers off the hook on education so they can continue to squander the state’s money elsewhere.

Contact David Hatfi eld at dhatfi [email protected]

or (520) 295-4237.

EDITORIAL

DAVID HATFIELD

BIZ BUZZ

Prop. 204 would letLegislature off hook

EDITORIAL

Postal Service cuts sweetheart dealSometime after the fi rst of the year, the U.S. Postal

Service is planning to shut down its Tucson mail sorting facility at 1501 S. Cherrybell Stravenue and begin trucking all mail 100 miles north to Phoenix where it will be sorted and then, if it’s to be delivered to a Tucson address, trucked back for delivery.

Postal Service offi cials say they’ll be able to continue delivering mail just as they have in the past under this scenario for a few months before another cutback kicks in later in the year. Th en, fi rst-class mail deliveries will take a day longer in transit, though they say all mail should still be delivered within three days, just as it is now.

Th ough the dates may be new information, most Tucsonans already know the basics of that story as the Postal Service struggles to stave off a projected $18 billion defi cit by 2015.

It’s hard to see how that will happen. When word fi rst came out almost a year ago about the sorting facility shutdown, it was suggested that about 300 jobs would be on the line. Th at was later cut in half and is now said to be 147 jobs. But none of those jobs is being cut, all will be reassigned, says the Postal Service.

Service industry fi rms don’t achieve savings cutting service without cutting employees.

So would you like to know the latest idea from the U.S. Postal Service? Th is one is supposed to generate revenue.

Th ey want to deliever more mail you never asked for. Yes, more junk mail.

In August, the Postal Regulatory Commission agreed to give discounts of up to 36 percent to Valassis Direct Mail. Th is is the fi rst time the Postal Service has cut this kind of exclusionary deal with a single private entity at the expense of competitors in the same fi eld. Other direct mail advertisers, who can’t have the same deal, will pay up to three times as much to send the same

advertisements. Th e newspaper industry is up in arms, because the

Postal Service deal gives Valassis a government subsidy to undercut rates. (We’ll point out that Inside Tucson Business isn’t directly aff ected by the deal because we don’t currently have any advertisements of the type Valassis carries but that’s not to say the situation couldn’t change in the future.)

Th is deal also hurts any business that uses direct mail and that includes small local retailers who can’t get the same deal from the Postal Service.

Beyond that, the deal raises questions about the business acumen of those making decisions at the U.S. Postal Service. Consider that the Postal Service ran up losses totalling $5.2 billion for the quarter ended June 30. Th e three-year deal with Valassis is projected to bring in nearly $15 million. Yes, the losses for three months was billions, with a “b,” the hoped-for revenue for three years is millions, with an “m.”

Th e Postal Service has previously granted volume discounts for mass mailings from companies including Capital One Services Inc., Bank One Corp., Discover Financial Services Inc., and Bank of America Corp. Th e guideline under which those agreements were made were that had help the Postal Service improve fi nances, enhance operations and not unreasonably harm the marketplace.

Th at hasn’t turned out to be the case. As of 2006, the Postal Service was required to report the results of such deals. Ann Fisher, spokeswoman for the Postal Regula-tory Commission, told the Associated Press that the eight volume discount agreements in eff ect from 2007 to 2011 lost $20.9 million.

Th is is the kind of decision-making that cost Tucson it’s mail sorting facility.

Where’s Congress?


OPINIONBUSINESS INK

It’s OK to lie, honest, the U.S. Supreme Court says soIt’s offi cial: the First Amendment that

protects free speech now includes the right to lie. Fib. Deceive. Tell falsehoods. Hon-estly, the U.S. Supreme Court says it’s true.

Th is summer, Th e Supremes ruled it is legal to lie about being a war hero. Th eir decision crushed the little-known Stolen Valor Act of 2006. Th e act made it a federal crime for a person to falsely claim, fake or lie about having received military honors.

Th e case focused on Xavier Alvarez, a public offi cial in Pomona, Calif. After winning election to a local water board, he boldly claimed to be a 25-year Marine and Congressional Medal of Honor recipient. Neither was true and he was the fi rst person charged and convicted under the law.

Alvarez pleaded guilty but appealed. Ultimately, the Supreme Court justices declared the act unconstitutional and simply put, said there is a broad, general First Amendment right to lie.

Th e ruling opens the door to a new government entitlement program: Truth Fabrication. (To enroll, get in line behind the gamblers, golfers, fi shermen, dieters, red-light runners, unfaithful spouses, Madison Avenue advertising executives, and Harvard University plagiarists.)

If you accept the court’s logic, it’s not much of a stretch to see what’s coming. Fraud is now regarded as “free speech.”

Say it ain’t so.Look for Ponzi

scheme swindler Bernie Madoff to petition the courts for a Get Out of Jail Free card. In Chicago, voter fraud will come out of the shadows as “freedom of expression” and dominate pop

culture across America. On Wall Street, bonuses for fi nancial fraud will be written into the employment contracts of brokers.

Protected “free speech” makes it OK to lie to get a home mortgage or to dupe a bank to borrow money. (In Tucson, that’s so yesterday.) To safeguard your credit, insist that MasterCard remove the cost of those four new iPhones from your account.

Even though you bought them as Christmas presents, just lie and deny. No special conditions apply, not even having to cross your fi ngers behind your back.

“Free speech” now protects fabricating a résumé or job application to advance your career. When challenged by the human resources director, just act incredibly indignant. Who is he or she to question your triple major in Rocket Science,

Bio-nuclear Genetics, and Euro-Economics at Idaho’s prestigious Moose Creek Community College?

Based on the decree, does the First Amendment now give you the right to impersonate a mall cop and arrest city workers for alleged on-the-job impropri-eties? Does it grant your neighbor the privilege to pilfer your mail to commit identity theft?

Th e High Court’s “no fraud, no foul” thinking also suggests that it is an unalien-able right to lie about being a legal U.S. citizen and to vote without a photo ID. Even worse, will terrorists hide behind “freedom of expression” to someday blow up America’s elementary school busses because they hate the color yellow?

And Lord knows how rampant welfare and Medicaid fraud already is. So now, are those frauds legit?

Where will the abuse of free speech stop?As if this nation and community isn’t

contentious and un-civil enough, brace yourself for an escalation of rhetoric on issues such as growth boundaries, the Rosemont Copper mine, NIMBYs, SB 1070, taxes, unemployment, Fast and Furious, and the assassination of a U.S. ambassador in the Middle East.

Here’s a thought: If lying were against the law, politics would be illegal. Washing-

ton, D.C., would still be a swamp and Clint Eastwood wouldn’t be talking to a chair.

Th anks to the Supremes, why believe anything you hear, read or see? Truth as a moral and ethical value has been forever weakened and tainted. Low standards have been given a free pass.

Don’t think the federal ruling will aff ect you? How will you know what to believe? Clearly, the permission to lie will change how news is presented:

KGUN 9 On Your Side… if you tell the truth.

KOLD News 13 is Live, Local, Late Breaking with the latest high-tech equip-ment… except a lie detector.

CNN: Th e Worldwide Leader in News… that we can’t verify.

104.1 Th e Truth with Jon Justice… calling out the liars.

Fox News: Fair and balanced… bias.Th e New York Times: All the news that’s

fi t to print… from our political agenda.And at CBS News, let’s just say that Dan

Rather abused the First Amendment long before the Supreme Court.

Contact Roger Yohem at ryohem@

azbiz.com or (520) 295-4254. His Business

Ink appears biweekly and weighs in on local

political, social and business issues.

ROGER YOHEM

SPEAKING OUT

Whether you vote early or at the polls, vote!Ballots for the Nov. 6 general election

will be mailed to early voters Oct. 11. Th e Pima County Recorder’s Offi ce recom-mends the completed early ballots be mailed no later than Nov. 1. Procrastinators can drop them off at any polling location on Election Day.

Th is is an important election. Voters will choose the President of the United States for the next four years, a new U.S. Senator, congressional representatives, state legislators, county offi cials, plus three of the fi ve seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission.

Th e ballot will include nine state propositions, plus a number of local issues including members of the Pima Commu-nity College governing board as well as several school board races. Within the city, voters will also be asked to approve selling up to $100,000 in bonds for road repairs.

Voters have until Oct. 9 to register to vote in the November election. Anyone who has changed his or her address, political party, or name is required to re-register. You can do this online at www.servicearizona.com . Some libraries and government offi ces have voter registration forms for those who prefer to register in

person.County

Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez says that typically just over half of Pima County voters vote early.

What happens to those early ballots after they are mailed back to the Recorder’s Offi ce?

Signatures are verifi ed by a bipartisan team and the signed envelope is separated from the ballot. Th e ballot then goes to the Division of Elections where it is electronically tabulated. Political party representatives are notifi ed and can come to monitor this process.

Can a person learn whether or not a ballot has reached the Recorder’s Offi ce? Yes. A voter can track the ballot from its arrival at the Recorder’s Offi ce to signature verifi cation and on to the turnover for tabulation with the Division of Elections.

Any citizen can go to www.recorder.pima.gov and then to “ballot status.” Th e

voter can type in his or her name and birth date to see if the ballot has arrived. A person can continue to track the ballot from signature verifi cation to its arrival at Elections for tabulation.

If there is a problem with verifi cation of the signature, the voter will be called, using the phone number the voter wrote on the ballot affi davit. A follow up letter will be sent if the signator is not reached by phone.

When soldiers and others are working overseas, they can still vote. Th e ballots are sent electronically encrypted. Right now this cannot be done for all voters.

Because so many people now vote early, the number of Pima County precincts has decreased from 288 from 417 in 2010.

Arizonans going to the polls must show proof of citizenship in order to vote. Possible identifi cation includes a valid Arizona driver’s license, tribal enrollment card with photo, state or local government ID card with photo, or any two of the following: Arizona vehicle registration, Indian census card, property tax statement, vehicle insurance card, or current utility statements from two diff erent utilities.

Following the 2010 census, Arizona’s

legislative and congressional districts were redrawn. New Pima County voter registra-tion cards were mailed out in June.

It is a good idea to check to be sure that a person wanting to vote has the updated voter registration card. It will refl ect precinct, Board of Supervisors district, legislative district, and congressional district information. Th ose living in a city will also have ward information.

If the registration card is out of date or lost, it is important to call the County Recorder’s offi ce to ensure a new card is on fi le. Th e phone number is (520) 724-4330. Recorder staff can advise callers about this.

Th e right to vote is precious. Early ballots have made it convenient to vote. However, the voter has some responsibility to follow through on being properly registered and to be aware of acceptable identifi cation if choosing to vote at the polls.

Contact Carol West at [email protected]. West served on the Tucson City Council from 1999-2007 and was a council aide from 1987-1995.

CAROL WEST


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

STAFFPUBLISHERTHOMAS P. [email protected]

EDITORDAVID [email protected]

STAFF WRITERROGER [email protected]

STAFF WRITERPATRICK [email protected]

STAFF RESEARCHERCELINDA [email protected]

WEB PRODUCERDAVID [email protected]

LIST COORDINATORJEANNE [email protected]

ART DIRECTORANDREW [email protected]

ADVERTISING DIRECTORJILL A’[email protected]

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE LAURA [email protected]

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVEALAN [email protected]

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVEDAVID WHITE [email protected]

INSIDE SALES MANAGERMONICA [email protected]

CIRCULATION MANAGERLAURA [email protected]

EDITORIAL DESIGNERDUANE [email protected]

CARTOONISTWES HARGIS

InsideTucsonBusiness.com

• Letters to the editor — Opinions on business-related issues or coverage of is-sues by Inside Tucson Business are encour-aged and will be published. Submit letters to the editor via email at [email protected]. Letters also may be mailed to Letters to the editor, Inside Tucson Business, P.O. Box 27087, Tucson, AZ 85726-7087. Let-ters must include the writer’s name and telephone number. Inside Tucson Business reserves the right to edit and may not print all letters that are received.

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Do you intend to patronize down-town restaurants and bars?

OPINIONGUEST OPINION

Unfair tomato trade with Mexico threatens Southern Arizona jobsGreenhouse tomato growers across the

United States, including EuroFresh Farms and others in Arizona, may be out of business soon and several thousand American jobs lost if an outdated tomato trade agreement between the U.S. and Mexico is not withdrawn.

Th e 1996 agreement between the U.S. Department of Commerce and Mexican tomato growers was enacted to suspend an anti-dumping investigation into alleged predatory marketing practices. Th e agreement set a minimum “reference” price for tomatoes at 21 cents per pound. Unfortunately, minimal enforcement combined with Mexico’s lower labor costs and government subsidies have caused a massive increase in the volume of tomatoes exported to the U.S. over the past 16 years.

When the agreement was enacted, fi eld production was the main growing method in both countries. Th e greenhouse tomato business was virtually nonexistent in 1996. Greenhouse technology is considered a superior and sustainable growing method, resulting in year-round availability of high quality, safe and great tasting tomatoes. Investments in technology are signifi cant. Combined with higher U.S. employee wages, strict regulations and safety standards, production costs are approxi-mately 61 cents per pound or almost three

times higher than the current reference price.

While the U.S. greenhouse growers can happily compete with Mexican imports on the basis of quality, taste and food safety, it is

appalling to see that many tomatoes are imported into the U.S. as hothouse or greenhouse, while in fact they are grown in facilities that are not remotely akin to what is considered a greenhouse in the rest of the world. Farms operated by EuroFresh and most of its U.S. competitors are high-tech, fully enclosed glass and steel structures with automated irrigation and climate control features. Produce is grown in a controlled, clean and worker-friendly environment. In contrast, the typical “protected agriculture” facility in Mexico consists of plastic tunnels or tarp providing little protection from disease, weather, pests or animals. To sell this produce as “greenhouse grown” is misleading at best and potentially a huge risk to public health.

Ultimately, what is at stake is the ability to produce our own food in the U.S. rather

than rely on imports from elsewhere, over which we have little control in terms of food safety and ethical and environmen-tally responsible production methods. It is disheartening to see that so many politi-cians favor foreign producers and import-ers rather than support domestic food production, local farmers and U.S. jobs.

Earlier this month, U.S. tomato growers, sellers, distributors and others met in Florida during the 37th Annual Joint Tomato Conference. Th ey focused on the trade agreement and its hard-hitting repercussions. Reggie Brown, manager of the Florida Tomato Committee, told the Naples Daily News that U.S. tomato production will cease if the government does not step in right away.

As U.S. tomato profi ts continue to decline, industry leaders, lawmakers and other supporters have asked the U.S. Department of Commerce to do away with the agreement. Th e department is expected to make a decision as early as January.

Some lawmakers in Arizona have written letters in support of local growers, including state Sen. Gail Griffi n, R-Hereford, who urged the Department of Commerce to protect U.S. growers by reestablishing fair trade. She stressed the urgency of the situation, as have many others.

Th e issue is critical to Arizona because

several U.S. growers, such as EuroFresh Farms, pay taxes here and employ hundreds of Arizonans. Located in Willcox, EuroFresh Farms is one of the largest tomato green-house operations in the world. It contributes $209 million annually to Arizona’s economy and employs more than 1,100. With so many residents already unemployed and a weak state budget, cutting millions in taxes and adding thousands to the unemployment line will only hurt Arizona further.

Other states, such as Florida, Texas and California with large tomato production facilities also face millions in lost taxes and thousands of lost jobs.

EuroFresh Farms urges Southern Arizona residents to write to the U.S. Commerce Department in support of the domestic tomato industry and all those employed by U.S. growers in Arizona and across the country.

Send letters of support to: Th e Honorable Rebecca Blank, Acting Secretary of Commerce, U.S. Department of Commerce, Offi ce of the Secretary,1401 Constitution Ave., NW,Washington, D.C. 20230

It’s time to once again level the playing fi eld, and support U.S. tomato growers and the jobs they create.

Frank van Straalen is chief fi nancial

offi cer at EuroFresh Farms, Willcox.

FRANK VAN STRAALEN

STAFF

mately 61 cents per pound or almost three to


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6th Annual Page, Arizona

Antique Tractor Pull & Machine ShowOctober 5-7, 2012

at Big Lake Trading Post, 1501 Hwy 98 at Coppermine Rd.

Info: [email protected]

Friday: Test, Tune, Weigh-in & SetupSaturday & Sunday:

• Tractor Parade & Pull• Old Iron Displays

• Demonstrations, Vendors

Saturday Auction 2 pm

AUCTIONOctober 13, 2012 - Saturday - 9:00amFreeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Mine, Inc.18550 South La Canada Dr. - Sahuarita, Arizona

(I-19-Exit 69 Duval Mine Rd, W to La Cañada Dr and Right 8 Mi.)

Look for Signs!

Large selection of pick-ups, ATV’s, forklifts, generators,loaders, boom trucks, dump trucks & much, much more!

For further information call Charles F. Dickerson, Inc. International Auctioneers

Ofc: 575-526-1106 Cell: 575-644-7445Photos/Lists/Directions/Webpage: www.cfdauction.com

Inside Tucson Business has more readers than the Daily Star

Weekday Employment Classifi eds.*

Call 623-2350 to place your ad today.

*Media Audit Feb-Mar 2010

Hiring?

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MORE BUSINESS LEADERS READ INSIDE TUCSON BUSINESS THAN ANY OTHER TUCSON BUSINESS NEWS SOURCE.*

Call 623-2350 to place your ad today.


2012

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DON’T MISS THE OPPORTUNITY TO CONGRATULATE THESE RECIPIENTS at the 2012 Women of Infl uence breakfast celebration!

EVENT DATE: Friday, November 16th | LOCATION: Tucson Marriott University Park

REGISTRATION: 7:00 am | BREAKFAST & PRESENTATION: 7:30 am – 9:30 am

$50 per seat or a table of 10 for $500

RSVP by noon on November 12, 2012

Carmen BermudezGinny ClementsCarolyn ComptonValerie DiazColleen EdwardsJacquelyn JacksonRaena Janes

Kathleen "Rocky" LaRoseBarbara LaWallLori MackstallerJeannette MareKelle MaslynJane McCollum

Linda McNultyKaren D. MlawskyCindy ParseghianJane PoynterBarbi ReuterNeelam SethiAmber Smith

Read all about this year’s 20 Women of Infl uence in the October 26th

special issue of Inside Tucson Business

To PURCHASE TICKETS go towww.insidetucsonbusiness.com/

womenofi nfl uence or contact Jill A’Hearn at 295-4236

For ADVERTISING information in the Women of Infl uence SPECIAL PUBLICATION, contact Jill A’Hearn [email protected].

WOMENINFLUENCE

9TH ANNUAL

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inside tucson business 09/28/2012

Documents

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