Awards & Accolades
1. The Arizona Association for Economic Development presented 10 Golden Prospector Awards and five Awards of Merit to recognize excellence, innovation and creativity in economic development at its annual Fall Forum held last week in Flagstaff.
Awards were presented in the following categories:
Economic Development Deal of the Year Golden Prospector Awards
The large population Economic Development Deal of the Year awards went to the City of Scottsdale for retaining Axon Enterprise Inc. in its international headquarters expansion and to the Office of Economic Development at the City of Mesa for recruiting the electric vehicle manufacturer, ElectraMeccanica.
The small population Economic Development Deal of the Year awards were presented to the Economic Collaborative of Northern Arizona and the City of Flagstaff for recruiting Whitehall Industries, and to the City of Prescott for recruiting headquarters and manufacturing operations for CP Technologies.
Economic Development Programs and Processes Golden Prospector Awards
The Office of Economic Development at the City of Mesa for creating the HUUB platform to help small businesses with finance through the pandemic and to the Greater Phoenix Economic Council for its #AZFreeToBe campaign.
The Economic Collaborative of Northern Arizona received a Marketing Brochure Golden Prospector Award for its digital brochure highlighting entrepreneurial resources for start-ups.
Discover Gila County was awarded a Website Golden Prospector Award for its new website that targets visitors from out of state.
The Multimedia Promotion Golden Prospector Award was presented to the City of Surprise for its Virtual Ribbon Cutting project to celebrate businesses that launched during the pandemic.
The Special Event Golden Prospector Award was presented to the City of Avondale for hosting the NASCAR National Championship Watch Party.
The Town of Chino Valley received a Website Award of Merit for creating its first tourism campaign through the newly developed website Discover Chino Valley.
Discover Gila County won a Multimedia Promotion Award of Merit for its social media campaign and #GoWild series.
The City of Goodyear was presented with two Multimedia Awards of Merit for its Shop Local website and for creating a resource guide for small businesses to navigate available funds from both the state and federal government.
The Town of Sahuarita received a Multimedia Award of Merit for the Sahuarita Connects Quarterly Newsletter.
THIS ONE CAN ALSO BE A PULLOUT IF YOU WANT/NEED
2. The Arizona Association for Economic Development presented its annual Economic Development Distinguished by Excellence Awards during its annual Fall Forum held in Flagstaff. Greater Phoenix Economic Council served as the Title Sponsor.
The nine EDDE awards were presented to:
- Best of Arizona Award – America’s Small Business Development Center Network Arizona;
- Economic Developer of the Year, Large Community – Christine MacKay, economic development director, City of Phoenix;
- Economic Developer of the Year, Medium Community – Jennifer Lindley, downtown development manager, Town of Queen Creek;
- Economic Developer of the Year, Small Community – Maggie Tidabeck, economic development project manager, Town of Chino Valley;
- Tribal Economic Developer of the Year – Maria Dadgar, executive director of the Inter-Tribal Council of Arizona;
- Large Organization of the Year – Regional Economic Development Center, Yavapai College;
- Medium Organization of the Year – City of Buckeye;
- Member of the Year – Suzie Boyles, economic development manager, City of Buckeye;
- New Member of the Year – Gregg Martinez, economic development coordinator, City of Page.
The William Lampkin Award for Long Term Excellence in Economic Development was awarded posthumously to Tim Kanavel, former economic development director for Pinal County.
3. Salt River Project once again has earned a Smart Energy Provider designation from the American Public Power Association for demonstrating its commitment to and proficiency in energy efficiency, distributed generation, and environmental initiatives that support the goal of providing safe, reliable, low-cost, and sustainable electric service.
4. The CCIM Central Arizona and CCIM Southern Arizona chapters have recognized seven members who recently earned the Certified Commercial Investment Member designation. The new designees are:
- Thomas Ellixson, Menlo Group CRE;
- Eric Ferber, Cutler Commercial; David Luke, CommLoan;
- Tucker Mackenzie, Hawkins Companies;
- Eli Mastracci, Phoenix West Commercial LLC;
- Jason Triano,Menlo Group CRE, and
- Michelle Cunningham,Fort Lowell Realty.
Company News
5. TerraLane Communities announced its official company launch. TerraLane is bringing high-tech, spacious and maintenance-free living to select Western U.S. markets, beginning with Greater Phoenix. The firm has offices in Scottsdale, AZ and Newport Beach, CA, and is headed by CEO Steven La Terra. With approximately $250M in assets already under development, TerraLane is building more than 1,100 upscale rental homes across five communities in Metro Phoenix within the next two years.
6. Electrical contractor Rosendin will explore the challenges of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the construction industry for its new podcast series called Construction DEI Talks. Rosendin partnered with Granite to produce discussion topics that question common practices, educate listeners, and shift the industry’s culture to be welcoming to everyone. The podcast launched its first episode on October 21st with co-hosts Stephanie Roldan, Rosendin Director of Lean Culture; Jorge Quezada, Granite VP of Inclusive Diversity; and Aby Combs, Granite Inclusive Diversity Business Partner.
Promotions
7. Dan Spitza has been promoted to succeed Rob Pierce as president of Achen-Gardner Construction. Spitza joined Achen-Gardner in April of 1998.
8. Grenier Engineering Inc. has promoted David Gluck to VP.
New Hires
9. Pinal County has appointed James Smith as Director of Economic and Workforce Development. Smith has previously served in economic development roles in Fountain Hills and Chandler.
10. Queen Creek has hired Dave Lipinski as its first Capital Improvements Director.
11. Jason Adair has joined the executive management team of Chamberlin + Associates as VP of Portfolio Operations.
12. Ron Ensley has joined Clayco as Operations Executive in the company’s Phoenix office.
13. Charter Construction Group has hired Dennis Palmer to serve as the company’s VP of Operations.
14. CARR has added Monica Aguayo to its Arizona team. Aguayo will assist clients with new office space, expansions, relocations, acquisitions, and lease renewals. She will also represent healthcare professionals in their office lease or purchase negotiations.
In Memoriam
15. Well-known and regarded Arizona developer and philanthropist Judd Herberger passed away on October 27th at the age of 79. Herberger was known for developing Kierland and many other successful projects, as well as for his support of arts and cultural organizations.