Airpark Advocacy Subcommittee Update

Jim Walker, Chair – The committee members provided encouraging comments to the Scottsdale City Planning Commission which resulted in the approval of the City General Plan. It will be forwarded to the City Council for approval in October. Current projects and issues underway include: promoting the approval of several residential and mixed use projects within the Airpark; involvement in the Scottsdale Chamber and the city’s economic development by members serving in economic development, business retention and business attraction activities; volunteer recruitment for the November 5 - 6, 2011, Scottsdale Airport Air Fair event; and planning of the inaugural Airpark Sci-Tech Festival to be held in early 2012.

A.M. Connect Committee Update

Michele Greenberg, Chair – The committee had another successful AM Connect. We would like to give a huge shout out to Zoe’s Kitchen for hosting a wonderful event. We had over 70 attendees who participated in the “business card bingo” format. There were several new members and first time guests in attendance. We would like to say “THANK YOU” to Sam and Cid Merrill for an awesome 4-minute commercial.  They have so much passion for what they do! The survey results from the event confirmed that those in attendance thought it was a success. Our next AM Connect is on Thursday, October 20, at Mastro’s. Please go to the Chamber website to register and for more details! 

Sterling Awards Comittee Update

Mark Eberle and Dale Fingersh, Chairs – The Sterling committee met on September 12 for a judges training session. There were 23 Judges in attendance. All judges were issued the applications for the categories they were assigned. They were educated to go over these applications and choose the three finalists in their designated category. The four categories are: Big Business, Small Business, Micro Business and Non-Profit. Site visits were scheduled for the finalists in each category for the week of September 19. Honorees will be announced at the Sterling Awards Ceremony on November 29, 2011, to be held at Chaparral Suites. 

EDAC Business Attraction Subcommittee Update

Pete Klute, Chair – At the committee’s most recent meeting on September 22, Jim Mullin, Scottsdale’s Business and Economic Vitality Director, reviewed his organization’s new lineup and the various efforts his department has underway for economic development in Scottsdale. He and the committee discussed how the Chamber and the business community can support those efforts. A draft questionnaire to be used in collecting information on avocations and other information that Chamber members might want to share with prospects considering relocating to Scottsdale was distributed for review and input. Rick Kidder discussed the IDA grant program which might be used to underwrite the production of new marketing materials to be used to assist in attracting new businesses to Scottsdale. Work is underway to prepare a comprehensive proposal to be presented to the IDA board at an upcoming meeting. 

Public Policy Advisory Council Update

Bill Heckman, Chair – Public Policy Advisory Board met on Tuesday, September 20, and had another packed house. Ross Cromarty presented highlights of the upcoming General Plan Update changes. Passed by the City's Planning Commission it now moves in October for consideration by the City Council. PPAC voted to support all recommendations which include designating several higher density zones for future development. The City has already tightened the number of Character Areas from over 20 to now 6 and there is some community concern about having too few to accurately represent Scottsdale’s unique characteristics. 

Representatives of the Cave Creek Unified School District made their case to support their upcoming Bond Override. Charts of how CCUSD compares in testing proficiency and funds per student to other metro area school districts were very impressive pointing out the high quality of their students’ academic success at the lowest cost per pupil of any district including SUSD & PVUSD. PPAC strongly supported the CCUSD Override and it was subsequently endorsed by the entire Board of Directors. 

Rick Kidder covered the planning process and key agreements for the East Valley Chamber of Commerce Alliance (EVCCA) on policy. He noted that to be brought forward for lobbying efforts, all Chambers must vote to support the proposed legislation. If an individual Chamber does not support, it is dropped from the agenda. 

Bill Heckman reported as a member of the City’s 2012 Bond Task Force some history of recent Bond elections. Bond 2000 was voter approved unanimously and is nearly completed. This provided funding for many needed projects that were highly leveraged with County, State & Federal Funds. Total amount of Bond Funds was over $300 Million. Given the dire economy, Bond 2010 was much more conservative but even more leveraged with other funding and still failed. It is believed that combined with the negative economy, lack of marketing effort to explain and support the Bond 2010 caused its failure to resonate with voters. The City is presenting the Task Force with less than 30 out of more than 100 departmental needs as their most urgent and deserving projects that can be eligible for Bond funding. This initial process will be completed by mid-November and we will begin to sort and process our recommendations. He plans to engage PPAC with the specific request for input to take back in finalizing recommendations. Priorities will be to insure Bond projects benefit the entire City, have as much additional leveraged funds as possible, can be completed in three years and support planning priorities and objectives. 

Next meeting is Tuesday, October 18, at 7:30 a.m. in the Chamber Conference Room.

Young Professional Knowledge Council (GET Phoenix) Update

Ann Seiden, Chair – The energy of young professionals is exciting. The GET Knowledge Council continues to grow and strengthen. Several new individuals have stepped up to join the committee or take a leadership role. The breakfast panel about "navigating your career" started a great dialogue between seasoned HR professionals and those who are just getting started in their careers. In September, young professionals attended "GET to Meet" at the MINT in Scottsdale. The informal happy hour was a great way to meet the faces of GET and become involved in a community of young professionals. 

Bloomberg BusinessWeek Names Scottsdale America's 4th Best City!

Ask most people in which city they would most want to live and usually their answer would be shaped by such realities as proximity to their jobs and what they can afford. But suppose you could choose to live anywhere you wanted regardless of cost? What if you could live in a city that offered a wealth of culture, entertainment, good schools, low crime and plenty of green space? Many people might opt for the obvious choices, such as New York or San Francisco, but, great as they are, data reveals there are other cities that are even better.



Businessweek.com spent months working with data that would help us to identify the best cities in the U.S. We looked at a range of positive metrics around quality of life, counted up restaurants, evaluated school scores, and considered the number of colleges and pro sports teams. All these factors and more add up to a city that would seem to offer it all. When we began the process we had no idea which cities would come out on top.

4. Scottsdale
Population: 233,105
A wealthy Phoenix suburb, Scottsdale has the second best schools among cities we ranked, low unemployment, and a high number of park acres per person. More than half of the population has a college degree. Like many other Arizona cities, there is a high foreclosure rate, but Scottsdale bucks the trend with low unemployment.

Read the full article HERE.