By City of Chandler Staff

The city of Chandler is developing a niche in the tech industry, and is laser-focused on the jobs those businesses bring to the community. During his State of the City address, Mayor Jay Tibshraeny announced that the city’s 2012 economic development efforts attracted, created or retained 3,600 jobs; the second highest number in the city’s history.

The city acts as a strategic partner with businesses, setting the stage for Chandler to lure such industry giants as the General Motors Innovation Center, Intel, ebay/PayPal and Infusionsoft. Chandler is earning increased recognition for the Price Corridor, a premier employment corridor with the infrastructure, workforce, open space and amenities that creative, high-tech companies require. Also, housing stock ranging from urban apartments to traditional neighborhoods and agrarian settings give companies a broad range of choices for their employees.

Chandler was recently named 4th in the country in startups per capita and has a broad strategy to nurture small business success. The city developed the Innovations Science & Technology incubator, and has partnered with Gangplank, a collaborative workspace in Downtown Chandler. In addition, TechShop is scheduled to open this fall in partnership with ASU’s Chandler Innovation Center, an engineering and technology-based education and research hub. TechShop is part of the entrepreneurial movement to allow individuals and early stage companies access to specialized equipment to further their product and design prototypes. The partnership will give students from ASU’s College of Technology and Innovation the ability to see their education in action, and bring up to 1,000 people to the city’s already vibrant Downtown.

The city of Kingman is readying to welcome a new employer: an assisted living project that will result in approximately 50 new jobs for the area. Check out this article from the Daily Miner for more on the project and a photo of Mayor Salem welcoming the organization to the community.

http://www.kingmandailyminer.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=55513

Mayor Georgia Lord
City of Goodyear

A frenzy of fans and tourists have returned to the Grand Canyon State for a fun-filled time of year that arrives with the anticipation of the holiday season:

Another spring training season has begun as thousands of fans are converging in Arizona to see their favorite Major League Baseball Team.

A tradition that began with the Cleveland Indians and New York Giants more than 65 years ago, half of baseball’s teams – 15 – today call Arizona their spring training home.

Spring training has boomed into one of the state’s largest tourism draws, generating $422 million a year in annual revenue just during the baseball season alone, according to the results of an economic impact study conducted by Elliot D. Pollack and Company and released by the Cactus League and the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority in December. Overall, spring training facilities around the Grand Canyon state generate $632 million a year, that’s including the off-season events held at the facilities.

Goodyear Ballpark – home to the Cincinnati Reds, baseball’s oldest professional team, and the Cleveland Indians – the first team in the Cactus League, was voted the best place to see a spring training game by readers of the Phoenix New Times two of the last three years.

So, while baseball fever is catching on, catch a game in the Cactus League and see all there is to see in the Grand Canyon State.