The full article has recently been published in the Casa Grande Valley Newspapers’ TriValley Dispatch. A link to the article is: Coolidge: Eye on the future with a business-friendly attitude

Additionally, an abbreviated version of the article was printed in the Arizona Republic’s Southeast Valley community newspapers and posted on their website: azcentral.com

Please take a moment to read a great article from an out-of-area perspective on the City of Coolidge. You may even discover something new that you may not have known about our neighboring community.

Have a wonderful day!

Technical information:

Household data:       (202) 691-6378  *  cpsinfo@bls.gov *  www.bls.gov/cps

Establishment data:   (202) 691-6555  *  cesinfo@bls.gov *  www.bls.gov/ces

Media contact:         (202) 691-5902  *  PressOffice@bls.gov

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION — JULY 2010

Total nonfarm payroll employment declined by 131,000 in July, and the unem- ployment rate was unchanged at 9.5 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statis- tics reported today. Federal government employment fell, as 143,000 temporary workers hired for the decennial census completed their work. Private-sector payroll employment edged up by 71,000.

Household Survey Data

Both the number of unemployed persons, at 14.6 million, and the unemployment rate, at 9.5 percent, were unchanged in July. (See table A-1.)

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for adult men (9.7 per- cent), adult women (7.9 percent), teenagers (26.1 percent), whites (8.6 per- cent), blacks (15.6 percent), and Hispanics (12.1 percent) showed little or no change in July. The jobless rate for Asians was 8.2 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

In July, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and

over) was little changed at 6.6 million. These individuals made up 44.9 per- cent of unemployed persons. (See table A-12.)

The civilian labor force participation rate (64.6 percent) and the employment- population ratio (58.4  percent) were essentially unchanged in July; however, these measures have declined by 0.6 percentage point and 0.4 point, respec- tively, since April. (See table A-1.)

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes re- ferred to as involuntary part-time workers) was essentially unchanged over the month at 8.5 million but has declined by 623,000 since April. These in- dividuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job. (See table A-8.)

About 2.6 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force in July, an increase of 340,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally ad-justed.) These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were avail- able for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the

4 weeks preceding the survey. (See table A-16.)

Among the marginally attached, there were 1.2 million discouraged workers in July, up by 389,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally ad-

justed.) Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.4 million persons marginally attached to the labor force had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsi- bilities. (See table A-16.)

Establishment Survey Data

Total nonfarm payroll employment decreased by 131,000 in July, reflecting the departure of 143,000 temporary Census 2010 workers from federal government pay- rolls. Total private employment edged up over the month (+71,000). Thus far this year, private sector employment has increased by 630,000, with about two-thirds of the gain occurring in March and April. (See table B-1.)

Manufacturing employment increased by 36,000 over the month. Motor vehicles and parts had fewer seasonal layoffs than normal for July, contributing to a season- ally adjusted employment increase of 21,000. The industry had added 32,000 jobs in the first 6 months of the year. In July, employment in fabricated metals rose by 9,000. Manufacturing employment has expanded by 183,000 since December 2009.

Health care added 27,000 jobs in July. Over the past 12 months, health care em- ployment has risen by 231,000.

In July, employment in transportation and warehousing edged up by 12,000. Since a recent low in February, transportation and warehousing has added 56,000 jobs.

Mining employment rose by 7,000 in July, with the gain concentrated in support activities for mining. Mining has added 63,000 jobs since October 2009.

Employment in professional and business services was little changed (-13,000) in July. The number of jobs in temporary help services showed little movement (-6,000) over the month.

Employment in financial activities continued to trend down in July, with a decline of 17,000. So far this year, monthly job losses in the industry have averaged 12,000, compared with an average monthly job loss of 29,000 for all of 2009.

Construction employment changed little (-11,000) in July; 10,000 construction workers were off payrolls due to strike activity.

Employment in other private-sector industries, including wholesale trade, re- tail trade, information, and leisure and hospitality showed little change in July.

Government employment fell by 202,000 in July, largely reflecting the loss of 143,000 temporary workers hired for Census 2010. Employment in both state and local governments edged down over the month.

In July, the average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.1 hour to 34.2 hours. The manufacturing workweek for all em- ployees increased by 0.1 hour to 40.1 hours, following a decrease of 0.5 hour in June. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.1 hour to 33.5 hours in July. (See tables B-2 and B-7.)

Average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 4 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $22.59 in July. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 1.8 percent. In July, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees increased by 2 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $19.04. (See tables B-3 and B-8.)

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for May was revised from +433,000 to +432,000, and the change for June was revised from -125,000 to -221,000

This team has committed to remove problem areas within 24 hours of reporting, if  they have the paint and color match of the buildings or walls. They have established a relationship with Sherwin Williams of Casa Grande with the assistance of Karen Moore (520.316.0745 office, 520.252.6886 cell), to purchase paint at a greatly reduced price.

Please contact Brian Duncan at (520) 568-9098 if you need to utilize this service.

May 4, 2010

Graduating ASU Seniors – Helping Maricopa Use “Tourism for the Public Good”

PHOENIX – An exciting partnership between ASU and the City of Maricopa is helping the City investigate ways to better their community by harnessing the power of tourism. Tourism is the largest industry in the World and this spring an ASU class in Tourism Development and Management has been researching the opportunities for its growth using the resources of the city of Maricopa.

Under the guidance of Professor Tim Tyrrell, the ASU class of 55 juniors and graduating seniors studied Maricopa as a case study in a tourism research methods course. The project looked at how eight different resources of the City could provide opportunities for future tourism development.

The findings of the research teams were presented to Mayor Smith, Vice Mayor Murphree and five members of the Maricopa Chamber of Commerce on May 4. Opportunities for the City identified by the students included serving current Maricopa residents and business travelers better, anticipating imminent growth in transportation systems, and forming stronger collaborations with the Ak-Chin community.

Terri Kingery, (Executive Director, Maricopa Chamber of Commerce) said of the project:

“The partnership developed with ASU during the development of this Tourism Project, will be instrumental in our Communities success in developing and promoting tourism in Maricopa which has become a key component in our City’s Economic Development strategy.”

Mayor Tony Smith of Maricopa said “Tourism and higher education are critical elements to be developed in the City of Maricopa.  By partnering with the Chamber of Commerce and ASU, we will accelerate our progress towards identifying the assets that promote Maricopa’s proud history and vision for a prosperous future.”

ASU Presentation

Power Point Presentation

The project was the first step in the tourism planning process and is expected to continue in the fall by another class in the School of Community Resources and Development under the guidance of Professor Rhonda Phillips.

The Maricopa Chamber of Commerce and Maricopa Town Council were the primary sponsors of the project. ASU sponsors included the College of Public Program (designer Felipe Ruiz) and the Megapolitan Tourism Research Center (which Dr. Tyrrell is the director).  A PowerPoint show and downloadable pdf report are available at http://MTRC.asu.edu/Presentations .

The Megapolitan Tourism Research Center is devoted to studying the role of tourism in community development in order to strengthen its contribution to viable economic, social and environmental systems, especially in megapolitan regions around the world. The center is part of the School of Community Resources & Development, located in the College of Public Programs at the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus. For information, visit: http://mtrc.asu.edu/portal.

Photos on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/43854577@N06/sets/72157623993752476/show/with/4579181571/

Image 1.

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SOURCE:

Tim Tyrrell
Professor, School of Community Resources and Development
Director, Megapolitan Tourism Research Center

602-496-0156
timt@asu.edu

MEDIA CONTACT:

Carey Ballard

Assistant Director, Student and Academic Affairs, ASU College of Public Programs

Carey.ballard@asu.edu, 602-496-0411

Contact: LaTricia Woods, Public Information Officer
Phone: 520/316-6816

City of Maricopa Researching Maricopa Meadows Issue.

Maricopa, Ariz. (May 6, 2010) – The City of Maricopa became aware of citizen concerns regarding potential problems with the soil conditions in the Maricopa Meadows subdivision in the latter part of March of this year. Since then, staff has been working to gather and review documents from the archives of the City and Pinal County that may provide further information regarding soil conditions in that subdivision. These documents have, so far, not yielded any conclusive information about the issue in question. To better understand the issue, the City recently engaged the services of a geotechnical engineering company to prepare an independent, scientific study of the soils in that area. The results of that study are expected in approximately 30 days.

We want the residents of Maricopa to know that the City is not only aware of this potential issue but is working diligently to gather information concerning this matter. If you are concerned about this problem on your property, we encourage you to do your own additional research as it pertains to your specific home and determine what potential remedies are available to you.

We will keep the citizens of Maricopa informed of the progress of our research, the research findings and any conclusions produced on the basis of those findings. In the meantime, if you have any questions or any additional information that you feel will be helpful to the City of Maricopa, please contact LaTricia Woods, Public Information Officer, at 520/316.6816 or latricia.woods@maricopa-az.gov. If you have a question of a technical nature, please submit it to http://ask.maricopa-az.gov and a member of staff will contact you.

President/CEO

I just had the privilege of attending a speaking engagement featuring Michael Crain; who as you may or may not know is scheduled to be our May 19^th Keynote Speaker.  Needless to say I found his topic timely and right on the money!

In my position I have the opportunity to go to a lot of seminars and hear a lot of speakers so when I say that I had more than a few Ah ha moments today I really mean it!

Here are a few bullet points to outline what you can expect on May 19^th.

• How to get through the next 24-36 months by making minor refinements to what you are already doing
• Optimism is the oxygen to your possibilities and cynicism chokes it.
• How much time are you investing in YOUR development
• What type of people do you surround yourself with – Can’t & Won’t, Can’t & Willing Can & won’t  or Can & Willing’s

For more you will just have to come to the event!  Mike has been helping businesses become successful with his proven techniques for over 15 years and has written a book on customer service.

Please follow the following links for additional information.

Video

Press Release

The Program

Business After 5

Maricopa Veterans Center

Thank you to the Maricopa Veterans Center for hosting us last night!  They did a fantastic job with the remodeling and sprucing up of the old Library Building.  The Center also serves as a museum of sorts with VFW & American Legion member donated memorabilia.  Center Coordinator Jack McClain proudly gives you a tour and explains the history of various items on display.  They even have the original bell from the Enlisted Men’s Club in DaNang, Vietnam!

Service groups, self help groups  and other community organizations can rent meeting space at very low cost.  The funds earned from these fees are placed directly back into the facility for this like continued maintenance, utilities and insurance.

Thanks to the donation of  raffle items from Maricopa Chamber Member’s, Coyote Trails Bed & Breakfast, Ride Arizona, Benchmark Home Loans and Balance Personal Training,  we were able to donate back over $200!

Special Guest on hand was our May 19, 2010 Keynote Speaker, Micheal Crain to give us a sneak peak of the upcoming event.  Anyone interested in more information can contact the Chamber or follow this link…

Maricopa, AZ

Arbonne Office in Rancho El Dorado
43370 W Rio Bravo Dr
Maricopa, AZ 85138

520-705-0998

The Maricopa Chamber of Commerce was honored to facilitate another exciting Grand Opening!  Jolene Miller, Local Distributor for Arbonne International, opened her office/showroom in true Chamber fashion.  This event also featured special guest speaker Jenelle Adams, Arbonne guru to showcase the products.

In addition to Jolene and her guest speaker the following Chamber Ambassadors and  members were on hand to show their support. Ambassador Bob Gillespie, Ambassador Suzie Miller, Ambassador Cynthia Morgan.  Chamber Members, Jill Smith, Rita Schmidt.

March 24, 2010

Contact: Terri Kingery

520-568-9573

Maricopa, Az……The Maricopa Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce that Frito Lay has donated all the tortilla chips needed for the upcoming 6^th annual Salsa Festival.  This is a wonderful donation and will help defray some of the cost for the event.  Other business sponsors are Waste Management and Orbitel Communications.

This event is from 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., Saturday, April 24, at Pacana Park.  The event is free and families can enjoy games, live entertainment, business and craft vendors, food & drink and sample and vote on their favorite salsa.  There are a few vendor spaces available and if anyone is interested they can contact the Chamber by calling 520-568-9573 or visit our website at www.maricipachamber.com