ADMIN
TECHNORATI
Maricopa Chamber
Maricopa Chamber Director’s Blog
Maricopa celebrates America’s Independence
Filed Under General
Last modified: July 3, 2009
By Terri Kingery | Email AuthorThe City of Maricopa invites you to celebrate America’s Independence Day at the Great American BBQ.
The event will be full of family fun and events, and will end with a fireworks display.
Where: Pacana Park, 19000 S. Porter Rd.
When: Saturday, July 4, 2009, 6 p.m.
The festivities, which are free* and open to the public, include:
• Fireworks at approximately 9pm
• Water zone
• Food vendors of all kinds
• Dance performance
• Beer Garden
• Live DJ
• Whiffle ball tournament
• Short films/cartoons on the big screen
Don’t worry about parking either. Arizona Shuttle and the City of Maricopa have provided eight park and ride locations to help get you to the event quickly and safely. The shuttle begins at 5:30 p.m. and will pick up passengers at the following locations:
• City Hall
• ACE- ADA access
• Pima Butte Elementary School
• Santa Rose Elementary School
• Butterfield Elementary School
• Tortosa (H & H flag stop)
• Maricopa Wells Middle School
• Maricopa Elementary School
If you have any questions about the event, please call 520/316-6816, or email press@maricopa-az.gov.
Maricopa’s Great American BBQ is sponsored by Great Western Bank, Orbitel Communications,and Suz’s Cruises. Special thank you to DVD Game Depot for providing the movies and cartoons.
*Food and beverages are not included.
Kiosks Available for Business Use
Filed Under General
Last modified: July 1, 2009
By Terri Kingery | Email AuthorMaricopa, Ariz. (June 25, 2009) - On June 16, 2009, the City of Maricopa passed ordinance 09-04 amending section 2207 of Article 22, Sign Provisions. The purpose of the ordinance is to allow commercial developments, local businesses and not-for-profit agencies to be included in the existing City of Maricopa Kiosk Sign Program. This is in response to multiple requests over time by businesses and other groups interested in being part of this directional sign program.
If your business or agency would like to learn more about the program or are interested in submitting an application, please contact: Debbie Oleskow, ALB Industries, at permits@albsigns.com or 480/731-6968 or download the info packet at: http://www.maricopamatters.com/downloads/Kiosk%20Flyer.pdf
Pinal County Comprehensive Plan - Update
Filed Under General
Last modified: June 30, 2009
By Terri Kingery | Email AuthorPlanning Commission Recommends Approval of Plan
The first step in the approval process occurred on February 26, 2009, when the Comprehensive Advisory Committee conducted a public meeting and made a unanimous recommendation, with one abstention, for approval of the Pinal County Comprehensive Plan (February 2009 Public Hearing Draft).
The Pinal County Planning Commission reviewed the Plan in 14 study sessions, several public hearings and on, May 21, 2009, they too recommended unanimously that the Board of Supervisors approve the Plan. As part of the recommendation, the Commission reviewed all comments received, recommending for approval 73 of the 83 submitted changes. To review comment matrices and the Commission’s recommended changes, click here.
Supervisors Schedule Work Session
The Pinal County Board of Supervisors has scheduled a Work Session on the Comprehensive Plan Update. The Work Session is scheduled for July 1, and the meeting will start at 9:30 am. The Board meets in Administration Building A, 31 North Pinal Street, Florence AZ.
This Work Session is designed to allow the members of the Board to discuss dates and topics for review of the Comprehensive Plan. A Public Hearing will be scheduled in the future, and at that time the Board will invite public testimony about the Plan.
Quick Links
Pinal County Comprehensive Plan Website
February 2009 Comprehensive Plan and Comprehensive Plan Matrices
Contact
Jerry Stabley
Planning & Development Director
520-866-6442
A Glimer of Hope?
Filed Under General
Last modified: June 29, 2009
By Terri Kingery | Email AuthorAs seen in the
Arizona Republic
Sunday, June 27, 2009
Written by: Lindsey Collom, Pinal County Reporter
Maricopa arose out of the desert in Pinal County almost overnight, in time for the Arizona housing boom and the painful crash that followed.
Now, it’s showing signs of rising again.
The area once consisted of an Amtrak depot, farms and miles of feedlots for cattle heading to market.
Then, thousands of people priced out of the Valley’s housing market sought refuge 16 miles south of Phoenix at the end of a lonely highway.
Rooftops began to sprout around the feedlots in 2000 and continued to spread as the county issued building permits at a breakneck pace.
Maricopa’s population exploded from about 1,500 in 2002 to more than 35,000 in less than five years, spurred by subprime loans and affordable housing. Maricopa was a picture of everything that was booming about real estate: big, new houses, low mortgage payments, prosperity.
But then came 2007.
Across the country, the mortgage industry began to collapse. In Arizona, Maricopa was among the first to implode.
An epidemic of foreclosures spread across the community. Suddenly, Maricopa was a picture of everything that was wrong with real estate. Houses were abandoned. Home values were in free fall. The closest jobs were miles away. There was hardly anywhere in town to go shopping.
A series of nicknames followed. ABC’s “Nightline” called it the “the poster child for the housing crisis.” “Boomtown mirage,” quipped the New York Times in 2008.
“Some of the negative perceptions in Maricopa just aren’t accurate,” said Danielle Casey, economic development manager.
Or at least, they are out of date.
Housing starts, home purchases and a smattering of new retail stores are green shoots of an economic recovery. To many in Maricopa, they suggest there is a future, that after the bust, a real town may emerge from that boomtown mirage.
Housing comeback
Once again, Maricopa is the home of affordable housing.
Armed with low-interest mortgages and an $8,000 federal tax incentive, people are buying foreclosures and starter homes.
Nearly 1,000 homes sold in Maricopa in the first quarter of 2009, the highest first-quarter sales total since 2006. Combined resales and new-home sales for last year were higher than in 2007. Maricopa officials are hoping that the pace continues picking up this year.
“If you’re interested in a house in Maricopa, this is the ideal time,” said Mike Orr, real-estate analyst with the Cromford Report, which tracks the residential resale market in greater Phoenix.
In May alone, 295 home sales went through, compared with 155 during the same time last year.
Banks sold the most homes in May. About 75 percent were lender-owned, and nearly 13 percent were short sales or homes on the verge of foreclosure. The rest were normal sales.
Maricopa is also offering the cheapest housing prices in the southeast Valley. The current average sale price is $99,633, or about $49 per square foot.
In comparison, the average price in Chandler is $105 per square foot, or about $167,190.
“These homes are selling well below what they cost to construct,” Orr said. “A lot of people are starting to say these are great bargains.”
Slightly fewer than 450 single-family homes in Maricopa were for sale the final week of May. That’s the lowest active-market inventory since July 2007.
“Maricopa seems to be a really nice, burgeoning community,” said Robert Hill, 42, who rents a home in the city’s Meadows subdivision but wants to buy. His family moved from San Diego this year.
Hill called Maricopa a community where his family “can be a part of building instead of being a part of something established.”
Business rising
Not every community sees Walmart as a savior. But for Maricopa, the image of the future is cast in the blue glow of a sign that reads “Always low prices.”
When the store opened May 20, it created 320 jobs and gave Maricopa the chain retailer it needed to keep more money, and sales-tax revenue, in the community. Studies suggest that Maricopa residents spend four-fifths of their money outside the city.
“We’ve been so excited just waiting to get it,” said Kat Grover, 52, one of the first customers at the 24-hour supercenter.
Maricopa issued 135 business licenses in 2004, the year after its incorporation. By the end of 2008, 970 companies were doing business within city limits.
The majority of them are home-based, while a few are storefronts such as Poco Loco Home Decor & Unique Gifts.
Sonja Templeton and her daughter, Dareece Rosales, opened the store on a main drag in 2006 with an inventory of mostly home decor. When the housing market went bust, the mother-daughter team decided it needed a different business model.
“People are walking away from their houses; they’re not fixing them up to make them look good,” Rosales said. “So they’d rather make themselves look better.”
The women reinvented Poco Loco as a boutique in 2008, selling purses, jewelry, apparel, accessories and shoes. The shop still offers home decor and design consulting services but on a smaller scale.
Templeton thinks Walmart will help expand her customer base.
“It’s really going to benefit us because people will stay in Maricopa to shop,” Templeton said. “If they stay here, they’re going to shop here more and they’re going to eat here more.”
Cleaning up
When Molly Farabee’s children go on walks with the neighbors, they play a game: Each one carries a trash bag. They compete to see who can pick up the most trash from the lawns of empty houses.
The casualties of the housing bust are as easy to spot in Tortosa, the subdivision where Farabee lives, as they are across Maricopa. But while the weeds grow tall in places, some say local activism will keep these neighborhoods from ruin.
As the bust arrived, more and more houses fell to foreclosure and went dark. The 2005-07 U.S. Census American Community Survey found that 20 percent of the homes in Maricopa were vacant. The current vacancy rate is thought to be between 15 and 25 percent, according to a city-commissioned report by Elliot D. Pollack & Co.
At the same time, tax revenues fell and the city downsized. It used to employ two code enforcers. Now, Brian Duncan, the city’s senior code-compliance officer, is the only one left to patrol for overgrown lots and other problems.
“When you’re dealing with hundreds of these properties, you just can’t get to them all,” Duncan said.
That’s where neighbors step in.
Residents in the Acacia Crossings subdivision started volunteering to manicure lots and clear weeds.
The Community Services Department took it as a model and launched a program in 2008 called Copa Cares.
Several subdivisions in Maricopa have taken advantage of the free yard-cleanup programs. Homeowners associations need only to gather volunteers, while the city frees up dumpsters for yard waste. ACE Hardware Maricopa provides tools, rakes and shovels to get the job done.
The Villages at Rancho El Dorado, a subdivision of about 1,850 homes, has hosted two Copa Cares events since April 2008. “It inspires neighbors,” said Peggy Chapados, president of the Villages HOA.
On Farabee’s street in the Tortosa subdivision, she said people help each other with their yards.
“I think we all want to live in a beautiful neighborhood,” said Farabee, 30, an eight-year resident of Maricopa. “Regardless of where the economy stands, we want to feel pride in our homes and where we live.”
Obstacles remain
City officials are well-aware that Maricopa faces obstacles as it rises from the ashes of the housing bust. The city needs to overcome budget issues, attract employers and improve transportation.
Meanwhile, the city is trying to expand its services. The first public building, a library, is opening this month, and city officials are still planning on an aquatic center and a permanent City Hall.
Maricopa officials and other leaders say new residents such as Hill continue to move in, and they cite the Maricopa Unified School District’s growth.
An estimated 40 new students are added each month.
The city isn’t out of the woods yet, warns Jay Butler, director of Arizona State University’s Real Estate Center. Butler said time will tell whether Maricopa can truly thrive.
“Do you have the resources to survive?” he said. “Is it getting the revenue needed to supply the services to its citizens at a level that will attract new residents?”
Butler also cautioned that home sales are not a good indicator of growth.
“Just because a house has sold doesn’t mean somebody moved into it.”
City Manager Kevin Evans said officials have re-evaluated city code and “cleaned up” or simplified processes - such as building permits - to make it easier for people and companies to do business in Maricopa.
“For a down economy, we’re busier than heck,” Evans said. “Now, it ain’t all come to fruition yet, but it will. The economy will turn around. We’ve positioned ourselves to be one of the first that starts back up.”
Budget deal reached between Gov. Brewer, lawmakers
Filed Under General
Last modified: June 29, 2009
By Terri Kingery | Email Authorby Matthew Benson and Mary Jo Pitzl
Jun. 26, 2009 01:19 PM
The Arizona Republic
State officials have formally reached a budget deal for 2010, according to the Governor’s Office.
“We have agreement with legislative leaders,” said Paul Senseman, spokesman for Gov. Jan Brewer. Senseman said a tentative deal was reached Thursday evening and cemented in talks with the governor Friday morning.
Details of the agreement remain scarce, but it is said to include roughly $600 million in cuts and funding sweeps, as well as the referral of a temporary tax increase to the November 2009 ballot. If the 1-cent-per-dollar tax is approved by voters, the bulk of the spending cuts would be backfilled.
Putting it mildly, conservative legislators have been cool to the idea of a tax hike. But Senate President Bob Burns, R-Peoria, said he’s comfortable putting the issue to voters. “We need to have the voters tell us,” he said. “We need to put that out there for the voters.” Along with the proposal to hike sales taxes, the agreement includes tax cuts and tax reforms.
Arizona would institute a flat tax, charging no more than 3 percent on all incomes. Currently, tax rates range from 2.59 percent for the lowest income brackets to 4.54 percent for individuals who earn more than $150,000. The rate would not kick in until the 2012 tax year. The budget agreement also includes the repeal of the equalization tax, a property tax that nets $250 million.
The deal, if approved by lawmakers and signed into law by Brewer, would avert a government shutdown that would result from failure to approve a spending plan for 2010 before the fiscal year ends Tuesday. The governor and legislative leaders have been at a stalemate on the budget for weeks, with the biggest sticking points centering on the size and scope of budget cuts needed to close a shortfall estimated at more than $3 billion, as well as the tax increase sought by Brewer.
The House is planning to move the budget accord through a committee hearing later Friday and probably vote the budget on Saturday. Plans in the Senate are unclear. With the deal apparently reached Friday, legislators could vote on as many as 11 trailer bills to amend a budget plan that they approved in early June but never sent to Brewer.
Those trailer bills will include the sales-tax referral, as well as key policy and other changes to the legislative budget. Among the changes, lawmakers have agreed to remove a fiscal maneuver that would have delayed $100 million worth of higher education funding into fiscal 2011. The tactic, known as a rollover, would have saved the state $100 million in 2010 but potentially endangered federal stimulus dollars.
Also, the trailer bills will remove a provision that would have instituted a three-year moratorium on the ability of cities to charge development impact fees. Instead, cities will be told to refrain from increasing their impact-fee rates for a period of two years.
Additionally, cities will lose to the state about $22 million of their share of vehicle-registration fees, but not until the second half of the 2010 fiscal year, meaning after January 2010. Previously, the cities would have lost $45 million in shared license fees. A plan to take the 15 counties’ share of the license fees has been removed and replaced by other maneuvers. Additional details of the budget agreement are expected to be released late Friday afternoon.
Summertime Savings Tips
Filed Under General
Last modified: June 25, 2009
By Terri Kingery | Email AuthorSummertime Savings Tips
With June being the official start of summer (though of course, as an Arizonan, you’ve probably felt summer for a month or more now), many businesses experience a predictable change in their business pattern compared to other months of the year. Some businesses typically pick up in the summer as kids and families go on vacation or seek relief from the heat while other businesses experience a summer slowdown. Whichever way your business swings, being able to save money during this time is a good idea for businesses that are doing well, a critical necessity for those businesses that may be struggling a bit in the down economy. Here are four simple steps that can save most businesses a good deal of money in the long run. Not all of them may work for you, but even implementing one of them could add up to more than $100 in savings over this single summer 2009 alone.
Turn the Sun to Your Avantage
Like a vindictive banshee the summer sun always brings with it much higher electric bills every summer – both at your home and in the office. Air conditioning may be set to higher tolerances at home in order to save money but at the office or wherever it is you entertain customers, sacrificing comfort for a few dollars a day doesn’t seem like a wise move. So if the brighter, hotter sun is going to cost you more by its bright shining, why not turn the tables and use the sun to your advantage? If your business is blessed with an abundance of windows, you can use the natural light provided by the sun to save on electricity by shutting off a few lights. If things get slightly dimmer and you’re worried about customer reaction, point out to them that you are “going green” and saving electricity – that always gets a smile and may just bring some extra positive attention your way.
Kill the Heat Generators
Very few businesses have any reason to use their heaters in the summer but those aren’t the heaters you should be worried about It is other heat-generating items that exist in the common office such as computers. Many businesses have their employees leave their computers on when they leave for the day but don’t think to have them turned off if the employee calls in sick one day or when they go to lunch. Even a computer in standby mode is drawing electricity to preserve information in its RAM memory, and some computers will generate a heat process every so often to keep themselves cool if they heat up. Shutting off systems that are not going to be in use for an hour or more will yield noticeable savings in your electric bill in only one month if you have an office with 10 or more machines. This double-savings; both through saving on electricity directly, and indirectly by not having computers create heat blooms, driving up the temperature and forcing your air conditioner to work harder, is cost-effective and eco-friendly.
Consider Ceiling Fans
Ceiling fans reduce the strain on air conditioner systems by circulating the cooler air around rather than letting it sit in one place. Numerous studies have been done and prove that the energy used by a ceiling fan in its nonstop whirling is always less than the energy saved by not having your air conditioner run as often as long as the fan is strategically and well-placed. And when you go out to buy your ceiling fan, consider supporting a member of the chamber of commerce with your purchase if possible – network and make a friend – perhaps you can arrange for some quid pro quo.
Step Into the Shade
Since you can’t move your office building under a tree for shade, why not bring some shade to the most important part of your office: your employees and the interior building. Tinting your windows if they aren’t already, to a darker shade will add beauty and cool the interior temperature by as much as 10 degrees allowing you to set your thermostat higher and raking in the savings. Another green option, applying a professional tint to your windows will have the effect of reducing glare while not much reducing the overall light in your office.
Sincerely,
Greg O’Keefe
Member
(480)626-2109 Office
(480)703-6005 Cell
(800)631-9913 Toll Free
(480)626-1451 Fax
gokeefe@hrwisellc.com
www.hrwisellc.com
If you wish to opt out of receiving future e-mails from HR Wise, LLC, you may do so by clicking here.
The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009
Filed Under General
Last modified: June 25, 2009
By Terri Kingery | Email AuthorThe American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009
On Friday, February 13, 2009, the House of Representatives and Senate approved the conference report for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. While this report contained a lot of stimulus projects, one item of particular relates very much to the workings of many small and medium-sized businesses as it relates to COBRA Coverage.
If you are an employer with more than 20 employees who offers medical insurance coverage for your employees, you are responsible for extending an offer for COBRA to any employees who are separated from working for you. COBRA allows employees to keep their medical insurance coverage at – until the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act – 100% of the premiums for the insurance having to be paid by the employee. This law passed by Congress
Indications for Small & Medium-Sized Businesses
Of course the task of assembling the documents, the training materials, scheduling events, providing a trained facilitator to meet with your new or current employees would be the job of your well-staffed and qualified Human Resources department. If you are lacking in one, as most small and many medium-sized businesses are, then you can turn to the quality support of a Professional Employer Organization like H.R. Wise to set up your orientations for you at no extra charge for the service. Give us a call today to take advantage of our May bargains for new clients and you could save hundreds in your first year alone.
Sincerely,
Greg O’Keefe
Member
(480)626-2109 Office
(480)703-6005 Cell
(800)631-9913 Toll Free
(480)626-1451 Fax
gokeefe@hrwisellc.com
www.hrwisellc.com
If you wish to opt out of receiving future e-mails from HR Wise, LLC, you may do so by clicking here.
Tax Changes in Arizona
Filed Under General
Last modified: June 25, 2009
By Terri Kingery | Email AuthorTax Changes in Arizona
As you may or may not know, effective May 1st, 2009, Arizona has implemented new state tax levels across the board for all employees that are required to pay taxes. These changes mark an increase in taxes for all taxpayers and no new A-4 form is required in order for the increase to take effect.
The new change simply represents about a 1-2% increase in the amount of state tax that is withheld from every employee’s pay. When filling out an A-4 form, if an employee had checked that they make less than $15,000 per year and wished to have 10% of the federal income tax withheld for state taxes, the new level on the A-4 form that corresponds to that amount is 11.5%. This adjustment should be automatic. Any employee who wishes to adjust their withholding based on this new tax table should be given the opportunity to fill out and submit a newly update A-4 form.
More Tax Increases on the Horizon
This tax increase is something that was in process for nearly six months, and is not a new development in Arizona’s economy. What is new, however are other tax increases considered for the 2009 ballot which may add special taxes for all citizens in order to help with the budget shortfall for 2009-2010.
All businesses are responsible for keeping abreast of these changes that occur either at the state or federal government level on a monthly if not weekly basis. That is why it is important to have a qualified human resources staff at your disposal. If you are interested in learning more about the tax increases, how they affect your employees, or where you can download the new forms, please give us a call at (480) 626-2109.
Sincerely,
Greg O’Keefe
Member
(480)626-2109 Office
(480)703-6005 Cell
(800)631-9913 Toll Free
(480)626-1451 Fax
gokeefe@hrwisellc.com
www.hrwisellc.com
If you wish to opt out of receiving future e-mails from HR Wise, LLC, you may do so by clicking here.
Training for Success
Filed Under General
Last modified: June 25, 2009
By Terri Kingery | Email AuthorTraining for Success
When it comes to keeping happy, healthy and safe employees on your staff, one thing that is generally overlooked by many businesses is the importance of training. Not merely training for their specific job functions, but perhaps cross-training in other, closely related jobs, safety training, and training for team workmanship or other morale-building events. Employees whose employer invests time and energy into teaching them new skills and ways of interacting tend to feel more valuable to their organization, which leads to greater levels of loyalty and productivity.
CROSS-TRAINING
Cross training brings with it a dual purpose in serving both the employer and the employee. It makes the employer both more stable and successful to have a workforce that is capable of filling in the gap for missing employees who call in sick or have to leave their position for whatever reason. It gives the employee a stronger sense of stability and sense of worth to know how to fill in for others as needed. In addition, employees who are cross-trained have a greater sense of the overall organization of a company which will help to make them more effective in the work they produce, knowing how their efforts work with the whole.
SAFETY-TRAINING
Training employees for safety is not something that should be done once and forgotten, but should be, at a minimum, a yearly event. Some employees may tend to gripe about the idea of being trained regularly at safety, but research shows that employees who receive regular training not only produce safer workplaces – saving their employers money, but also that they appreciate that their employer takes the time and money to make sure they are paying attention to safety features in the workplace.
TEAMWORK
Teamwork and team-building events and activities unite a workforce in a way that little else can. Most employees tend to see these events as a little spot of fun in their workday and look forward to the times when team building events come about. Properly organized, these training sessions will get your employees to open up to each other, learn to communicate and understand each other well, and give them more reason to get along and want to stick around in your organization.
For Businesses Large and Small
Whether your business is a professional office environment, or an auto-body shop, whether you employ 5 employees, or 500, there are numerous benefits to be enjoyed by investing in the time to train your employees in various ways. They will find themselves with more drive and energy for you, and you will reap the benefit of a more motivated, safer workforce.
The staff of HR Wise undergoes regular training sessions, not just for their own enrichment, but also in order to understand how better to train others as well. If you are interested in learning more about training programs and how they can even be customized to suit your business there at «Company», please give us a call at (480) 626-2109.
Sincerely,
Greg O’Keefe
Member
(480)626-2109 Office
(480)703-6005 Cell
(800)631-9913 Toll Free
(480)626-1451 Fax
gokeefe@hrwisellc.com
www.hrwisellc.com
If you wish to opt out of receiving future e-mails from HR Wise, LLC, you may do so by clicking here.
Budgeting and Debt Management During Difficult Times
Filed Under General
Last modified: May 12, 2009
By Terri Kingery | Email AuthorCentral Arizona College Small Business Development Center and United Way of Pinal County
Invites you to attend a free class…
Budgeting and Debt Management During Difficult Times
Through careful planning and use of money management skills learned in this seminar, you can feel more confident about your ability to live within your means, handle emergencies, reduce debt and save for the future. Learn how to obtain and understand your credit report, what affects your credit score, and how to negotiate with creditors. Workbook included.
LOCATION: Central Arizona College Classes will be offered on the following dates:
Small Business May 11, 2009
Development Center June 16, 2009
540 N Camino Mercado, Suite 1 July 21, 2009
Casa Grande, AZ 85222 5:30 - 7:30 pm
Dinner at 5:30 Class at 6:00
For more information contact:
United Way of Pinal County
402 E 10th Street
Casa Grande, AZ 85222
520.836.0736
www.unitedwayofpc.org