inside tucson business 04/06/12

More nasty voicesHome foreclosures nearly double sales figures

Page 22

PushingboundariesOro Valley looks to annex Ina, Oracle area

Page 9

Your Weekly Business Journal for the Tucson Metro Area

WWW.INSIDETUCSONBUSINESS.COM • APRIL 6, 2012 • VOL. 21, NO. 45 • $1

THE GOOD LIFE, AND TACOS

PAGE 6

ITB’s own Dan Gibson shares his insights as a

future food contest judge

SPACE RACECommercial real estate market has lifted off the bottom

Car rental fi rms drop airport bids by 38%Inside Tucson Business

Another example of just how hard the economic recession has hit some industries came this week when the Tucson Airport Authority board ap-proved proposals for new fi ve-year contracts with car rental fi rms, which could drop revenue to Tucson Inter-national Airport by as much as 38 per-cent in the fi rst year.

Under the previous fi ve-year con-tract, which was bid in 2007 before the recession hit, the seven car rental

agencies at the airport will pay almost $8.2 million for the 12 months ending July 31. Under the new fi ve-year agree-ment, the car rental companies are guaranteeing a minimum of $5.1 mil-lion in the fi rst year that starts Aug. 1.

Dick Gruentzel, chief fi nancial offi cer of the airport authority, said most likely the fi rst year’s amount will exceed that $5.1 million because lan-guage in the contracts with car rental companies stipulates that their mini-mum guarantee must be at least 85 percent of what was paid the previous

year.Under the new agreements, the

same seven car rental brands — Hertz, Enterprise, Avis, Budget, National, Alamo and Dollar — will be represent-ed at the airport. Th rifty also bid but it wasn’t included among the new con-tract because there is room for only seven agencies on site and it had the lowest minimum guarantee.

As the high bidder, guaranteeing a minimum of more than $1 million per year, Hertz gets the fi rst choice of counter space and the largest facili-

ties at the airport. Th e other fi rms bid guarantees of under $1 million per year with Dollar off ering the least, at less than $500,000 per year.

In addition to the minimum guar-antee, car rental agencies lease their space from the airport and collect a $4.50 per rental contract customer fa-cility charge that goes to the airport. In this fi nal year of the previous contract the airport expects to collect $1.8 mil-lion in leases from the car rental com-panies and more than $1.1 million in customer facility charges.

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John Yarborough (left) and Dave Carroll of Romano Real Estate at Plaza Colonial.

2 APRIL 6, 2012 INSIDE TUCSON BUSINESS

APRIL 6, 2012 3InsideTucsonBusiness.com

Public Notices 6Meals and Entertainment 8Arts and Culture 8Sales Judo 10 Inside Media 11 People in Action 12Calendar 17

Briefs 18-19Lists 20Finance 21Real Estate &Construction 22-23Biz Buzz 24Editorial 24Classifieds 27

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CARTOONISTWES HARGIS

Th e Space Race: Commercial building leases rocket upward

NEWS

By Roger YohemInside Tucson Business

Insiders are calling it “the space race,” lingo for describing a rush to rent com-mercial real estate. Since January, activity has “rocketed” up.

Th e uptick has touched all commercial real estate markets except heavy industrial and manufacturing. Th ose two sectors are continuing to struggle while absorption for offi ce, retail, health care and profes-sional services space improves.

Th e swing is so evident brokers are in

unanimous agreement that the commer-cial real estate market in the region has fi nally lifted off the bottom.

“We’re seeing the worst is over, there has been a lift,” said Bruce Romano, presi-

Move-up tenants have fi lled Class A sites such as Plaza Colonial, represented by John Yarborough (left) and Dave Carroll of Romano Real Estate.

see SPACE page 4

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Four Points closes to be renovated into Aloft

Starwood Hotels and Resorts this week confi rmed it is converting the Four Points By Sheraton Tucson University Plaza into Aloft Tucson University. As part of the change, the hotel on the southeast corner of Speedway and Campbell Avenue has closed and will undergo a total renovation gutting the building back to its girders.

Th e plan is to reopen it as a 150-room Aloft in early 2013, according to an an-nouncement Wednesday by Craig Martin, general manager.

Speculation that the hotel would be con-verted fi rst surfaced three years ago when Starwood announced it was introducing the Aloft brand but it has been delayed due to various issues, including ownership of cer-tain parcels and demolition.

In the meantime, Starwood has opened 55 Aloft hotels around the world. Th ey fi t into a category that used to be called lim-ited service similar to what Courtyard is to Marriott. In this case, Aloft would be the limited service version of Starwood’s W ho-tel brand.

In that vein, Aloft hotels have a modern and industrial-infl uenced design of the ho-tels feature free-fl owing open spaces with lots of tech features including high-speed Internet access throughout, touch-and-go self-service kiosks and what’s called an elec-tric w xyz bar featuring music played by live and virtual DJs. Th ey also have active social spaces, swimming pools, gyms and quick-serve snacks, salads and sandwiches.

City, police to send alarm owners notice of fees

Th e Tucson Police Department says it has begun notifying security alarm owners of the city’s new annual fee for fi re alarms.

Although the fee schedule went into ef-fect April 1, there was no requirement for alarm owners to pay it before that date as police offi cials worked to set up the system.

Information about the fee is on the po-lice department’s website — http://cms3.tucsonaz.gov/police/alarm-education. Th e city will also send notices by mail to alarm owners.

So far, about 300 alarm owners have paid the annual fee of $20 to register, according to a police spokesperson.


dent of Romano Real Estate. “Th ere is shifting optimism, a perception that things are going to get better. Th e fear is gone, the fear of the economy getting worse.”

Romano said small “mom and pop” businesses are leaving their home offi ces and garages to rent space. Th at is “a strong fi rst sign” of a rebound. Others are trying new ventures. Also emerging are young retirees and serial entrepreneurs launch-ing clothing, crafts or jewelry shops.

“It’s not big established companies opening two more locations. What’s im-portant is the fact that there is any expan-sion at all,” he said.

Romano’s focus is on the shopping center, offi ce/condo offi ce, and light in-dustrial sectors. His fi rm manages about 50 properties and handles leases in 30 others.

As the recession played out, there were many businesses that moved to take ad-vantage of opportunities. Elements Home Décor did just that, relocating from 6380 E. Grant Road to Plaza Colonial at 2870 E. Skyline Drive.

“Th ey got an A location at a B rental rate, something not achievable in a good economy. A year ago, they couldn’t make that deal,” said Romano, who handles Plaza Colonial, which is now 100 percent occupied.

Since January, business people appear more willing to invest again.

“Th ere’s always been money on the sidelines. But until they perceived that the economy and conditions improved, that money was stagnant. Th ere is a defi nite uptick in the market, renewed optimism,” said Brian Harpel, president of the Harpel Company that specializes in retail space.

Grocery anchors and drug stores have made the biggest impact in this sector.

“Well-positioned corners are in de-mand. Values have recovered and in some cases, exceed prices seen at the height of the market,” said Harpel. “At the top of retail food chain are Walgreens and the c-stores: Circle K and QuikTrip. After the top three is a precipitous drop.”

Picor on industrialIndustrial specialist Rob Glaser of

Picor Commercial Real Estate said the manufacturing sector “has a pulse, but nothing signifi cant.” He agreed with oth-ers that more industrial jobs are needed so the “signifi cantly higher pay will trickle down and benefi t” other sectors.

“It’s very expensive to do business in California, too much regulation is a fi nan-cial burden. Some are starting to look at Tucson again. It’s a trend to be pursued the next few years,” he said.

However, Glaser was quick to point out that Tucson’s solar manufacturing com-panies “are vulnerable.”

“Our advantage is in developing the solar technology, that has more poten-tial here. Th e manufacturing can be done

Since January, Bill DiVito of Grubb & Ellis has seen more multiple offers for buildings that will be owner-occupied.

Business parks are a specialty of Rick Kleiner (left) and Rob Glaser of Picor. They represent Presson Corporation’s properties that house 350 small businesses.

SPACE continued from page 3

NEWS

As money comes off the sidelines, Brian Harpel of The Harpel Company believes there is renewed optimism for commercial building sales.

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Tucson’s unemployment rate improves to 7.8%

With about 3,700 more Tucsonans work-ing in February, the region’s unemployment rate dropped 0.1 percent to 7.8 percent, ac-cording to the Arizona Offi ce of Employ-ment and Population Statistics. Th e drop was even more pronounced from February 2011 when Tucson’s unemployment rate was 8.7 percent.

Tucson’s unemployment is not season-ally adjusted so month-to-month compari-sons are not as easily made as year-to-year comparisons.

Most of the gains came in three areas; lei-sure and hospitality was up 1,100 jobs, state government and education grew by 600 jobs, and health services was up 400 jobs.

Arizona’s statewide unemployment rate, which is seasonally adjusted, remained unchanged for February 8.7 percent. Th e national unemployment rate also was un-changed in February at 8.3 percent.

State offi cials said that overall, the em-ployment situation in Arizona continues to gradually improve and some industries are starting to an increase in momentum.

Air Force ‘boneyard’ planes to be auctioned

What is expected to be a record amount of scrap metal from decommissioned mili-tary aircraft stored at the “boneyard” at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base is to be auc-tioned off this month.

Government Liquidation, a contractor to the U.S. Department of Defense will ac-cept bids on its website — www.govliqui-dation.com — from 9 p.m. Tuesday (April 10) through 5 a.m. April 13 on the end-of-life aircraft including F-111 Aardvarks, C-5 Galaxies, F-15 Eagles, C-130 Hercules, S-3 Vikings and A-4 Skyhawks that will be sold as 27 million pounds of ferrous and nonfer-rous scrap metal in the form of parts made of aluminum, steel, titanium and other met-als. Th e planes have been stripped of their components. Th ey are considered top grade aerospace metals.

Tucson No. 31 destinationfor U-Haul moves in 2011

When it comes to using U-Haul to move more than 50 miles, Tucson ranks as the No. 31 most popular destination in the U.S. While the region made the company’s list of top 50 destinations on the latest list, the rank is down from No. 28 last year.

Phoenix ranked No. 14 both years.Th e listing is part of the annual U-Haul

National Migration Report and is based on more than 1.6 million transactions. It con-siders every city in the country, regardless of size.

Th e top fi ve cities this year are Houston, Orlando, Las Vegas, Chicago and San Anto-nio. Tucson ranked just behind Portland, Ore., and just ahead of Queens, N.Y.


elsewhere, cheaper than here,” he said. “Th at reality is what makes high-end man-ufacturing like B/E Aerospace so valuable. Th ey can’t move from Tucson to Asia or Mexico.”

Rick Kleiner, also with Picor, has ob-served “a huge shift” recently, that buyers and sellers “are on the same page.” Look-ing back at how the recession destroyed their business peers, “now we have both parties understanding where they need to be fi nancially.”

“We’re even seeing some sales but it takes a lot of time to get there,” he said.

For more than six months, Kleiner had a listing for a “distressed” offi ce building at 7042 E. Broadway at the southwest cor-ner of Kolb Road. Th ere was little interest in it until early 2012 when activity picked up. Th e property has now been bought for $240,000 by Stewart Title for its own use.

“Th e client was focused on a particular location and didn’t want to go elsewhere. To their credit, the buyer and seller both hung in there to get what they both need-ed. It took six weeks to negotiate,” he said.

In the category of business parks, Picor represents Phoenix-based Presson Cor-poration in Tucson. Presson is the largest owner of business parks in the Tucson region with eight sites housing 350 small business tenants. Most of the sites are on major traffi c corridors such as Midway Business Park, 4500 E. Speedway, and Broadbent Business Park, at West Grant Road and Interstate 10.

“Th ey are the litmus test for activity,” Glaser said. “Late in the recession, small businesses in business parks were devas-tated. In the last two months, Broadbent is now 100 percent occupied.”

Glaser also credits a surging stock mar-ket for the “space race.” Th ere is a defi nite improvement, “but leasing is not yet off the charts.”

Grubb & Ellis dealsSince late 2011, the biggest offi ce sector

shift has been longer leases. Grubb & Ellis vice president Tari Auletta has seen more activity across all general offi ce sectors.

“Because they have more overall con-fi dence, clients are not afraid of signing long-term leases. One or two-year leases are becoming three or fi ve-year leases,” she said.

On the sales side, brokers are once again getting multiple off ers on some properties, added vice president Bill DiVito.

For various reasons, more companies are buying their own buildings. Certainly, a good deal is a factor; plus the realization that new construction costs are high; de-velopment permits are often delayed; and impact fees are a deterrent.

“Some want a good deal before the good properties go away. Others have outgrown their space. And there are cases where a building is only for sale, not lease, so they’ll buy it and fi gure out something later,” DiVito said.

Th e Space Race: A landlord’s perspective

DiVito currently has multiple off ers on a high-tech building that will be user-owned. He also has three clients consid-ering industrial research buildings.

“Each is good business acumen, they realize we’ve hit rock bottom,” he said.

CBRE recession fatigueCBRE executive Buzz Isaacson, who

specializes in downtown offi ce space, tempered his enthusiasm for the overall commercial market.

Th ere is upward movement “but we’re not rockin’ and rollin’ like it used to be,” he said.

He believes the increase is due to pent-up demand, that business people are tired of the bad economy and looking for signs of good news. As people monitor the economy, they have decided conditions are better now than a few months ago.

“Th ere is good anecdotal evidence that

Andy Seleznov over-sees leases for 2.4 million square feet of Larsen Baker space.

we are in the early stages of some sort of recovery. People are tired of being on the sidelines. As their leases expire or space requirements change, they are at a point where they have to make some tough de-cisions for their businesses,” he said.

“I’ve heard it called recession fatigue. People need to feel better about their busi-nesses,” he added.

Of all the brokers, Isaacson best char-acterized the big picture. “More activity” means landlords and brokers are seeing more inquiries, more appointments to view properties, more detailed data being requested, and more strategic negotiating by all parties to make a deal.

For a sampling of the higher sales and leas-

ing activity, see the listings on Page 22 in

Inside Real Estate & Construction. Contact

reporter Roger Yohem at ryohem@azbiz.

com or (520) 295-4254.

Inside Tucson Business

Th e Larsen Baker fi rm, 6298 E. Grant Road, owns about 50 commercial properties in Southern Arizona totaling 2.4 million square-feet of space. Th e buildings are a mix of street-side retail and offi ce space to power centers with multiple anchor tenants.

Th e real estate company does it all: develops, re-develops, owns, operates, manages and leases properties.

As landlords, leasing director Andy Seleznov has seen rental activity gain momen-tum since January and has “several contracts in the pipeline.”

“From the stats I’ve seen, there is a lot of confi dence that consumer confi dence is up. Th at makes retailers interested,” he said. “Th e economy changed things, especially in strip plazas. We’re seeing non-traditional retail and more varied-use taking space.”

Th ose atypical transactions have included renting to hair salons, dental groups, and urgent care ventures. Typical space needs are 1,000 to 2,000 square feet. Few large na-tional companies are looking to expand.

To attract tenants, Larsen Baker adapted to the changing market. At its Crossroads Festival, on the northeast corner of East Grant and North Swan roads, tenant accom-modations trumped tenant improvements.

Th e abandoned Buddy’s Grill building was divided to accommodate Paradise Bak-ery. Th at still left 2,000 square-feet of vacant space.

“As landlords, we realized we had to be more fl exible. If we don’t downsize and split the building, we would not have signed the bakery,” said Seleznov.

NEWS

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This Week’s Good NewsBest license plate

Th e Automobile License Plate Collectors As-sociation has named Arizona’s Centennial plate the best new license plate design of the year.

Th e association said its members voted and picked Arizona’s plate from among nine that were introduced last year based on two judging criteria: overall attractiveness of the design and legibility as a tool for public safety and law en-forcement.

Th e plate was designed by P.S. Studios graph-ic design and advertising in Phoenix.

The Tucson

INSIDERInsights and trends on developing and

ongoing Tucson regional business news

Airport stance on F-35s Amidst the public debate over the Air Force’s

proposal to possibly locate F-35 training facili-ties at the Arizona National Guard’s 162nd Fighter Wing at Tucson International Airport, some may have noticed the Tucson Airport Au-thority has been quiet on the subject.

One who did is a member of the airport au-thority, which prompted an explanation by Chairman Tom Zlaket at this week’s authority board meeting.

If a decision is made to bring the F-35s to the airport, “we will welcome them, we will provide for them, we will do everything we can for them,” but he said the airport authority doesn’t feel it’s appropriate to take a position at this time on whether the F-35s should come.

However, that hasn’t stopped Zlaket, an at-torney and former justice on the Arizona Su-preme Court, from taking a personal stand on the issue. He said he has personally written let-ters in support of bringing the F-35s to Tucson.

UA Wildcats top Kentucky OK, so Kentucky won the NCAA men’s bas-

ketball championship this week. By one mea-sure, those Wildcats don’t compare to the Uni-versity of Arizona Wildcats when it comes to basketball. What? You say the Arizona Wildcats weren’t even invited to the tournament this year.

We’re not talking about that. We’re talking about a study put out by an assistant professor of fi nance at Indiana University-Purdue Uni-versity Columbus that calculated the intrinsic worth of Division I college basketball programs as if they could be bought and sold like profes-sional sports franchises.

According to Ryan Brewer’s research, Ken-tucky ranked No. 16, worth $73.7 million. Ari-zona is No. 5, valued at $110.4 million. Th e only other Pac-12 team to make the top 20 was UCLA at No. 17, valued at $73.5 million.

At No. 1 is Louisville, worth $211.5 million, followed by Kansas, which beat them in the fi -nal four, worth $146 million.


Corrections

NEWS

By Dan GibsonInside Tucson Business

Once I was like you, dear reader. I en-joyed tacos. I ate them for nourishment and enjoyment, sometimes choosing fl our, sometimes corn, mixing up the meats, try-ing diff erent salsas and toppings. Th en, one day, in a magical burst of providence, I was transformed.

I transcended the ranks of ordinary peo-ple (perhaps you know some of them) who just eat delicious food, living in the moment as the fl avors of Mexico fl ew by my taste buds. Not that you’ll ever know, but life on the other side of the judging fence is amaz-ing.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have not actually worked as a taco judge yet, since my debut in that capacity will be at the inaugural Tucson Taco Festival, to be held at Rillito Downs on April 28th. However, even a few weeks before the day when delicious meats accompanied by expertly chosen toppings, presented in handheld form by a thin slice of griddled dough will be brought to me to apply my expert grading, my entire perspective on tacos has changed.

I haven’t started bringing a magnifying glass to Taqueria El Rapido on 99-cent taco day, but I feel I have some responsibility to the offi ce I have been chosen to hold.

I’m not entirely familiar with how our le-gal system works, but I imagine judges prob-ably oversee everyday decisions with a little extra gravity because of their appointed po-sition. Th ey probably bang the gavel down when they decide who’s supposed to do the dishes at home. I certainly would.

Th is isn’t to say that I’ve gone mad with power, demanding special treatment at lo-cal taquerias, sending back plates that fail to meet my exacting standards. Instead, I try to think about what makes a taco great: the texture and fl avor of the meat, how the tortilla holds up under the weight of the top-pings, etc.

Surely, this is a subjective exercise, but there is something to be said for trying to understand what exactly makes something great.

I’ve had absurdly expensive tacos that I

puzzled over what exactly I was paying for, and I’ve had four tacos and a Mexican Coke for $5 that seemed like a culinary revela-tion.

I’ve learned that one thing I love about the taco is that the medium provides a framework for nearly anything, but still, there’s hardly anything I enjoy more than a carne asada taco and a salsa bar.

Th e Tucson Taco Festival is an off shoot of the Arizona Taco Festival, held up in Phoe-nix yearly, which is a little befuddling to me, considering it was an challenge to fi nd a great taco during the fi ve years I spent living in the area. Now that the taco festival con-cept has come home to Tucson, a city with a dizzying number of great places to fi nd Mexican food, I’m proud to be a part of it.

If you see someone at Pico De Gallo seemingly over, examining his lunch in the next few weeks, say hello. I’ll be there, strict-ly for research purposes, of course.

Contact web producer Dan Gibson at [email protected] or (520) 295-6449.

Dan Gibson, taco judge, contemplates his fortuitous side career and the perks that come with it.

My amazing life as a taco judge BANKRUPTCIESChapter 11 - Business reorganization Julie Mamatou Zakari, 9121 E. Autumn Sage St. Principal: Julie Mamatou Zakari, debtor. Assets: $431,857.00. Liabilities: $761,023.24. Largest creditor(s): Bank of America, Simi Valley, Calif., $179,500.00; Nationstar Mortgage, Lewisville, Texas, $138,070.00 and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Frederick, Md., $124,961.00. Case No. 12-06522 fi led March 29. Law fi rm: Eric Slocum Sparks

James C. Counts Sr., 3931 Vista De La Cima. Principal: James C. Counts Sr., debtor. Estimated assets: More than $100,000 to $500,000. Estimated liabilities: More than $50,000 to $100,000. Largest creditor(s): Not fi led. Case No. 12-06697 fi led March 30. Law fi rm: Eric Slocum Sparks

FORECLOSURE NOTICES Eagle Peak LLC 2840, 2851, 2920, 2930, 2940, 2950, 2960, 2980, 3000, 3005, 3010, 3020, 3025, 3030, 3040, 3045, 3050, 3055, 3060, 3061, 3067, 3073, 3079, 3080, 3085, 3090, 3095, 3100, 3110, 3120, 3125, 3130, 3140, 3150, 3160, 3170, 3180, 3190, 3195 and 3200 N. Camino Cascabel and 2984, 2985 and 2995 N. Placita Preciosa (Lots 1-42, A and B and adjacent parcel) 85749Tax parcel: 205-39-001S and 205-39-0380 through 205-39-0810 Original Principal: $3,109,986.00 Benefi ciary: Donald D. Hedberg, as trustee of the Hedberg Revocable Trust, Lake Geneva, Wis. Auction time and date: 1:30 p.m., June 20, 2012 Trustee: Samuel S. Chang, Lewis & Roca, 40 N. Central Ave., Suite 1900, Phoenix

Sonoran Elements Development Group LLC 2251 N. Dragoon St. 85728 Tax parcel: 115-19-018B6 Original Principal: $320,000.00 Benefi ciary: First Bank, Houston, Texas Auction time and date: 11:30 a.m., June 19, 2012 Trustee: Cal-Western Reconveyence Corporation, 525 E. Main St., El Cajon, Calif.

Blake Hunter Phillips Inc. 2577 N. First Ave., Unit 6, 85719 Tax parcel: 107-14-43406 Original Principal: $139,500.00 Benefi ciary: Bayview Loan Servicing, Coral Gables, Fla. Auction time and date: 11:30 a.m., June 15, 2012 Trustee: Jason P. Sherman, Shapiro Van Ess and Sherman, 3300 N. Central Ave., Suite 2200, Phoenix

LIENSState liens (Liens of $1,000 or more fi led by the Arizona Department of Revenue or Arizona Department of Economic Security.)Native Tucson Builders LLC, 6601 E. Grant Road, Suite 111. Amount owed: $24,813.29.

Mechanic’s liens (Security interest liens of $1,000 or more fi led by those who have supplied labor or materials for property improvements.)Fidelity Mechanical Contracting Inc. against Smith Food & Drug Centers Inc. Amount owed: $15,762.20. Richard McAvoy Tile against Smith’s Food & Drug Centers. Amount owed: $3,941.00. Rio West Development & Construction Inc. against Noble Investment Real Estate Holdings LLC. Amount owed: $28,283.96.

Release of mechanic’s liens Ace Asphalt of Arizona Inc. against CRS DQ Holdings LLCE2 Power & special Systems Group Inc. against Park Mall LLCTucson Flooring Concepts against Plaza at Williams CenterAllied Acoustics Inc. against Living Hope Family Church Inc.P&B Mechanical Inc. against Campbell Avenue Shopping Center LLC and Riley-Tucson LLCHaugebak Construction Company Inc. against Fry’s Store #36 and Gold Canyon Plaza

PUBLIC NOTICESPublic notices of business bankruptcies, foreclosures and liens filed in Tucson or Pima County and selected filings in Phoenix. Addresses are Tucson unless otherwise noted.

BIZ FACTS

Tucson Taco FestivalTeams are welcome to enter for the chance to win a share of $5,000 in cash and prizesSaturday (April 28)11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Rillito Downs 4502 N. First AvenueAdmission: $10Events include taco eating contest, tequila tastings, chile eating contest and Lucha Libre wrestling. More information at www.tucsontacofestival.com or (480) 466-0579.

• Tucson Realty & Trust is the fee-based managing member and listing agent for Eagle Peak LLC, a 141-acre planned development near Redding-ton Pass that has been noticed for foreclosure. Contrary to a report in the March 30 issue, Tucson Realty & Trust nor any of its affi liate companies are investment partners in Eagle Peak. A separate entity, the Amos Group, whose principal is George “Hank” Amos III, president and CEO of Tucson Realty & Trust, is an investment partner in the project with majority owner Hedberg Revocable Trust, Lake Geneva, Wis., which initiated the foreclo-sure following a decision not to complete development of the site.

• Tucson Medical Center has been using magnetic resonance imaging goggles for children’s surgery since 2009. A report in the March 30 issue in-correctly said the recently acquired goggles now also in use at Diamond Children’s at University of Arizona Medical Center were the first in Tucson.

• The headline on the “Your Money” column in the March 30 issue should have read “Communicating with bank is key in commercial loan modifi cations.” The word “in” was missing in the printed issue.

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GOP saves former foe PattersonBy Hank StephensonInside Tucson Business

PHOENIX — Republicans in the state House of Representatives found themselves in the unlikely position this week of defend-ing former Democrat Rep. Daniel Patterson from calls by his previous party’s leaders for an immediate expulsion — twice.

Democrats attempted to toss Patterson out of the House of Representatives Tuesday after the release of an ethics report claim-ing the Tucson representative continually harassed, threatened and intimidated law-makers, legislative staff and lobbyists at the Capitol, among a myriad of other concerns.

But Republicans, in a standing vote, shot down the motions made by Rep. Steve Far-ley, D-Tucson, and Rep. Chad Campbell, D-Phoenix, to expell Patterson immediately.

“We have a responsibility to make sure due process is upheld,” said Rep. Ted Vogt, R-Tucson, after the vote.

Republicans instead passed a substitute motion by Vogt, chair of the House Ethics Committee, to hasten the Ethics Commit-tee proceedings, and give Patterson until Tuesday (April 10) to respond to the report before sending the committee reccomenda-tion to the full House.

It would take a two-thirds vote by the House to kick Patterson out of the Legisla-ture.

Th e report called for Patterson’s expul-sion, citing a long of personal, professional and possibly legal problems facing the law-maker, including:

• A broad-based distrust and fear of him by members and staff

• A legacy of ignoring House rules, deco-rum and professionalism

• Verbal abuse and harassment and physical threats of those who disagree with him

• Past and continued violation of court orders

• A history of dishonesty and lying about bills

• Frequent marijuana use• Manipulation of his former campaign

manager and girlfriend Georgette Escobar into recanting her domestic violence allega-tions via Facebook

• Seeking sex from a lobbyist in exchange for his vote.

Patterson called the report a political-ly-motivated fi shing expedition that was pieced together from annonymous sources with a predetirmined outcome in mind: his political lynching.

“It’s not my intention to intimidate any-one,” Patterson said. “I think people who know me know that I have a pretty direct approach to things at the Capitol and some-times I take a strong position, but I also think there are some people at the Capitol who have some thin skins.


Arizona Th eatre Company concludes its 2011-2012 season with “Red,” a 2010 Tony award-winning play that depicts conversations between abstract expres-sionist painter Mark Rothko and his assistant.

In the play, the artist wrestles with both a large commission and issues concerning art and commerce.

It opens Saturday (April 7) and runs through April 28 at the Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave.

Invisible Th eatre, 1400 N. First Ave. at Drachman Street, is presenting “Th e Blonde, Th e Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead,“ April 11-29.

Th e play, a Southwestern stage pre-miere, tells the story of a cheating husband, a nosey neighbor and circumstances that get out of hand quickly. Star Betsy Kruse Craig, portrays seven diff erent characters with their takes on the events of one fateful day.

ArtTwo art exhibitions of note include a

show of work by artist Emilia Arana at Conrad Wilde Gallery, 439 N. Sixth Ave. Arana whose paintings are built up over time and feature intriguing layers of color and motion, are mesmerizing.

Obsidian Gallery, 410 N. Toole Ave. in the Historic Depot, has an exhibit of work by Mary Fischer and Patricia Sannit on display through May 12. Fischer’s architec-tural sculptures are delicate and beautiful renderings of architectural landmarks, while Sannit’s ceramic works speak of mysterious cultural artifacts and rituals.

Ballet fundraiserBallet Tucson presents its 15th annual

Urban Picnic from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 15 at La Encantada, 2905 E. Skyline Drive. Th e event features a gourmet picnic lunch, enter-tainment and a live and silent acution or art and artist-designed lunchboxes.

What began as a downtown fund-raiser for art space develop-ment now benefi ts Ballet Tucson. Tickets are $45 each and can be purchased at www.ballettucson.org.

FilmIt feels like a rerun week at the multi-

plex. First. the blockbuster romance fi lm “Titanic” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet is being re-released in 3D.

Th en, there is the next chapter in the low-brow “American Pie” series, this one called “American Reunion,” which promises to feature more cringe-worthy behavior from the original cast as their characters return home for a high school reunion.

But all is not lost as the Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway, is off ering up two highly acclaimed fi lms, “Jiro Dreams of Sushi,” about a famed 85-year old sushi chef, and “Pina,” an amazing documentary about the late German choreographer Pina Bausch.

Contact Herb Stratford at herb@

ArtsandCultureGuy.com. Stratford teaches

Arts Management at the University of

Arizona. He appears weekly in Inside

Tucson Business.

ARTS & CULTURE

ATC, Invisible Th eatre wrap

up their seasons this month

OUT OF THE OFFICEMEALS & ENTERTAINMENT

Th e weather should be perfect for Easter Sunday Brunch al fresco. With a high of 91 degrees — and, as I heard someone tell an out-of-town friend at the grocery store, that can be depressing because those of us who live here know what comes next.

So, get out and enjoy it while you can.

In earlier years, I might have said you’re too late if you haven’t made Easter brunch reservations but, considering the economy, you might fi nd some of these available and to your liking. Each one takes advantage of the outdoors in some way.

• Arizona Inn, 2200 E. Elm St. — www.arizonainn.com — (520) 325-1541. A four-course plated meal served from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. for $55 for adults or $30 for children, which includes champagne or sparkling cider.

• Dakota Cafe & Catering, 6541 E. Tanque Verde Road in Trail Dust Town — www.dakotacafeandcatering.com — (520) 298-7188. Both brunch and lunch menu items will be served from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with entree prices ranging from $19 to $24.

• Hacienda Del Sol, 5501 N. Hacienda del Sol Road — www.haciendadelsol.com — (520) 529-3500. Is serving Easter brunch from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Cost is $55 for adults, $27.50 for those ages 6 to 14.

• JW Marriott at Starr Pass Resort, 3800 W. Starr Pass Blvd. — www.jwmarriottstar-rpass.com/ — (520) 791-6064. Easter brunch in the Signature Grill starts at 9:30 a.m. with the last seating at 3 p.m. Cost is $55 for adults, $25 for children 6 through 12.

• Lodge on the Desert, 306 N. Alvernon Way — www.lodgeonthedesert.com — (520) 325-3366. A brunch buff et including a prime rib carving station and seafood will

be served on the patio (and restaurant) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Cost is $49 for adults, which includes a mimosa, and $29 for children 6-14.

• Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain, 15000 N. Secret Springs Drive, Marana — www.ritzcarlton.com — (520) 572-3000. Core Kitchen & Wine Bar is serving a holiday-themed brunch for $65 for adults, or $30 for children.

• Tohono Chul Tea Room, 7366 N. Paseo del Norte in Tohono Chul Park — www.tohonochulpark.org/wordpress/dine/tearoom — (520) 797-1222. Easter brunch off ering ham, chicken, lamb and mahi mahi

served from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.. Cost for adults is $28.95, children ages 5 to 10 are $14.95.

• Westward Look, 245 E. Ina Road — www.westwardlook.com/tucson-restau-rant/gold — (520) 297-1151. Gold restau-rant is serving a three-course brunch from a special menu. Cost is $49 for adults and $12 for children.

Brunch at MaynardsAnd, starting Sunday (April 8) Maynards

Market + Kitchen is introducing a new weekend brunch menu which after this weekend it will be serving from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. both Saturdays and Sundays. Th e menu features creations such as red velvet pancakes, smoked pork shank confi t and foraged mushroom galette.

• Maynards Market + Kitchen, 400 N. Toole Ave. in the Historic Depot — www.maynardsmarket.com/ — (520) 545-0577

Contact Michael Luria at mjluria@gmail.

com. Meals & Entertainment appears weekly in

Inside Tucson Business.

Perfect weather, enjoy Easter brunch outdoors while you can

MICHAEL LURIA HERB STRATFORD


Oro Valley plans southward annexationBy Patrick McNamaraInside Tucson Business

Oro Valley is looking to expand its south-ern municipal limits.

Th e town fi led paperwork with the Pima County Recorder’s offi ce for a proposed an-nexation of 107 acres northwest of the inter-section at Ina and Oracle roads in an area bounded by Ina Road on the south, Oracle Road on the east, Paseo del Norte on the west and Chapala Drive on the north.

Tohono Chul Park is the largest parcel in the proposed annexation area, which also in-cludes a handful of vacant properties and 11 residential parcels. St. Odilia Catholic Church is also in the annexation area as are nine com-mercial properties.

Th e commercial properties, however, would not generate large sums of tax revenue for the town.

“We don’t think this will be a huge wind-fall for the town,” Kevin Burke said, an assis-tant to Oro Valley’s interim Town Manager Greg Caton.

Burke said the town has conducted a study of the sales-tax generating potential of the area, but was unable to discuss the details because the report was presented to the town

council in a closed executive session. Ge-nerically, however, Burke said the estimated fi nances would fi gure slightly in the town’s favor if the annexation was to go through as proposed.

Th e annexation could pave the way for a further southward push in the future. Doz-ens of commercial and retail properties line much of Oracle Road south to Orange Grove Road, including Casas Adobes Plaza, Plaza del Oro and La Toscana Village.

Last year Oro Valley amended its general plan to extend its planning boundaries south to Orange Grove Road.

Th e planning boundaries also were pushed west to Th ornydale Road. Th e stretch from Ina to Th ornydale also holds many com-mercial and retail properties, including Foot-hills Mall, which the town made an unsuc-cessful bid to annex in 2006.

Burk said extending the town’s planning area does not necessarily mean it has plans to annex all the areas within the boundaries.

But as a town without a property tax, Oro Valley has few means to raise new revenue. Capturing additional sales taxes through an-nexation is one way. Th e town would also get a greater share of state shared revenue from state sales and gas taxes along with vehicle

NEWS

licensing fees.Burke said in addition to the normal pub-

lic safety and road maintenance obligations Oro Valley would take on through its latest annexation proposal, the town has agreed to improve the badly degraded stretch of Northern Avenue that runs north and south between Oracle and Tohono Chul Park.

Th e town also has considered annexing a 562-acre piece of Arizona State Land De-partment property between Shannon and Th orndale roads south of Tangerine Road. Th at proposed annexation would bridge the gap between Oro Valley and Marana, giving the two a common boundary at Th ornydale Road.

Th at proposal, however, remains in the planning stages as the state Land Depart-ment contends with recent budget cuts and layoff s.

Th e same holds for a much larger an-nexation plan called Arroyo Grande the town worked on through much of 2007 and 2008. Th e 14-square mile state-land property stretches north from Oro Valley to the Pinal County line.

Meanwhile, Oro Valley has begun notify-ing property owners in the Ina and Oracle area of its proposed annexation. A public

hearing is scheduled for the April 18 Oro Val-ley Town Council meeting.

More than 50 percent of property own-ers representing more than 50 percent of the assessed valuation of the area would have to agree. Following that, a majority vote on the town council would solidify the annexation.

Contact reporter Patrick McNamara at

[email protected] or (520) 295-4259.

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SALES JUDO

How to design a compensation plan to ‘ARM’ your revenue producersContinuing our series on attracting,

retaining and motivating — in another word, ARMing — your revenue producers, this week let’s explore just how much you can aff ord to pay revenue producers so you stay in business and make it profi t while the stay “ARM”ed.

By way of a quick review, ARM is a function of job fi t, dollar compensation, recognition, management style, support, culture and wild card, the details of which were in the fi rst column in the series (Feb. 3 issue of Inside Tucson Business).

Th e starting point for designing a sales compensation plan is to assign a targeted amount of annual compensation for an “average” producer and the end of her or his fi rst year of employment. Th e targeted amount shouldn’t be arbitrary. Usually it can be obtained during the normal interviewing process from producers who work for competitors or from colleagues in companies that hire similar producers. Th e targeted amount will vary from market to market, depending upon the cost of living.

In the example chart the targeted amount was found to be $100,000 (row 8).

Th e next step is to decide what part of the targeted amount should be fi xed and what part should be variable. In this case, since these particular producers must prospect for new accounts most of the time, 75 percent of compensation is variable and is driven by production (rows 2, 4 and 11). After the fi rst year these producers have a base salary of $25,000, roughly $2,000 per month, so 25 percent of their compensa-tion is fi xed (rows 6 and 10).

It was decided not to have 100 percent of their compensation come from commis-sions alone due to a number of factors. Th e size of the average sale is large, which would result in “choppy” payouts of commissions. In some months a producer might receive a huge commission and in other months get little or nothing. Th is

uneven fl ow can place a lot of stress on produc-ers and their families and that could lead to high rates of voluntary and costly turnover.

Th e next step is to determine the range of

revenues a normal group of producers is likely to generate each year (rows 1 and 2). Our example shows a range of revenues that begins at $1.5 million (column A) and grows by increments from $500,000 to a high of $3.5 million (column E). Th is range of revenues also takes into account the variability of revenue potential in diff erent territories and the time needed to ramp-up revenues from new producers. For exam-ple, a new producer may only generate $1.5 million during her or his fi rst year in a new territory, and this may actually represent good to very good performance.

Revenues of $2.5 million (column C) and a 3 percent commission (row 3) produce total compensation of $100,000 (row 8), 100 percent of the targeted compensation (row 9). Th is represents good solid performance at the start of a producer’s second year on the job.

In this particular case the plan designer believes 15 percent of the company’s producers will only generate $1.5 million of revenue per year and will achieve 70 percent of their targeted compensation (rows 1, 2 and 9). Th at’s largely due to the presence of new producers rather than to poor performance.

Th e next 15 percent will generate $2 million, achieving 85 percent of their targeted compensation.

Th e 25 percent of producers in the middle will generate the mean amount $2.5

million and achieve targeted compensa-tion.

Continuing across (column D), the next 25 percent will produce $3 million, receive a bonus of $15,000 for doing so and exceed the target by 30 percent.

Finally, the top 20 percent of the team will generate $3.5 million, receive a bonus of $30,000, exceeding the compensation target by 60 percent.

In this model the plan designer opted to provide bonuses to high performers to encourage as large a percentage of the sales team as possible to produce these higher levels of sales, as well as to recruit high performers away from other companies.

As you read this, you might be thinking, “Th is is fi ne in theory but can we aff ord this?” Well, let’s fi nd out.

In this example the cost of goods sold is about 40 percent of revenues. If a Producer generates an average of $2.5 million in revenues (column A), $1 million of labor and materials (row 9) will be consumed. If you add the producer’s compensation on top of that (row 6), then $1.1 million will have been consumed to produce a net

variable contribution of $1.4 million (row 10) per producer per year.

Th at’s good, but is it good enough?In this case the company has fi xed costs

of $20 million and a pretax profi t goal of $10 million (rows 11 and 12), resulting in the need for $30 million of net variable contribution. Under these circumstances it would take $54 million of revenues (row 13) and a sales force of 21 average producers (row 21) to hit this goal. Likewise, 15 to 18 above average producers could accomplish the same results.

So this compensation plan should work well, provided that producers are properly selected and trained and that they come up to speed fairly rapidly to generate $2.5 million of revenues each year.

In the next column (April 20), I’ll cover how to build a fi rst year compensation planfor new producers as they ramp-up revenues to this fi gure.

Contact Sam Williams, president

of New View Group, at swilliams@

newviewgroup.net or (520) 390-0568. Sales

Judo appears the fi rst and third weeks of each

month in Inside Tucson Business.

SALES

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SAM WILLIAMS

A SALES COMPENSATION PLAN This is an example of a sales compensation plan by the amount of revenues generated..

1. % of sales team that achieves these revenues

Below target On target Above target A

15%B

15% C

25% D

25%E 25%

2. Producer’s annual rev-enues

$1.5 million $2 million $2.5 million (mean)

$3 million $3.5 million

3. x Sales commision % 3% 3% 3% 3% 3%

4. = $ sales commission $45,000 $60,000 $75,000 $90,000 $105,000

5 + Bonus 0 0 0 $15,000 $30,000

6. + Annual base pay $25,000 $25,000 $25,000 $25,000 $25,000

7. = Total compensation $70,000 $85,000 $100,000 $130,000 $160,000

8. Targeted compensation $100,000 $100,000 $100,000 $100,000 $100,000

9. % Attained 70% 85% 100% 130% 160%

10. Fixed sales cost compen-sation percentage

36% 29% 25% 19% 16%

11. Variable sales cost com-pensation percentage

64% 71% 75% 81% 84%

12. Percentage of cost of goods sold

40% 40% 40% 40% 40%

13. $ cost of goods sold $600,000 $800,000 $1 million $1.2 million $1.4 million

14. Net variable contribution $830,000 $1.115 million $1.4 million $1.67 million $1.94 million

15. Non-sales fi xed costs $20 million $20 million $20 million $20 million $20 million

16. Pre-tax profi t goal $10 million $10 million $10 million $10 million $10 million

17. Total revenues goal $54 million $54 million $54 million $54 million $54 million

Number of producers needed to reach goal

36 27 21 18 15


MEDIA

Nielsen shakes up Tucson TV market with latest ratings By David Hatfi eldInside Tucson Business

Just when it seemed the quarterly TV ratings for the Tucson market might be getting predictable, Nielsen Media Research released its latest data shaking things up.

Th e fi rst thing most media types check out are how local newscasts fared with viewers and in these ratings, taken Feb. 2-29, KVOA 4 is clearly back into ratings contention among targeted 25-to-54 year-old viewers.

Th e NBC affi liate’s newscasts have the most viewers in the targeted demographic weekdays at noon, 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. CBS affi liate KOLD 13, which has been No. 1 most often in recent years, held on for wins at 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. weekdays.

In the early-morning hours it’s a split, with KOLD winning the 5-6 a.m. hour and KVOA taking the 6-7 a.m. hour and when the two hour combined, the average is a statistical dead heat (KOLD’s number rounds up but it’s by the narrowest of margins, accounting for only about 200 viewers).

Meanwhile, ABC-affi liate KGUN 9’s newscasts drew the short straw this time, with ratings for most newscasts down from a year ago for close, but third-place, fi nishes in each of the weekday newscast time slots.

Going beyond the basic ratings them-selves, Nielsen’s latest data also suggests we Southern Arizonans did a few things diff erently this February.

While the month is always a busy one when it comes to outside-the-home activities, this February’s weather appears to have made it even more so. Overall TV viewership didn’t set many records this February, though some time periods were aff ected more than others.

For instance, the numbers of people watching prime time and late-night TV were comparable to what they were a year ago and in November but early evening viewership was off by as much 10 percent.

And clearly, there weren’t many early-risers — or at least early-risers who turned on their TVs.

Compared to February 2011, 45 percent fewer viewers between the ages of 25 and 54 turned on their TVs before 6 a.m. Neverthe-less, all three stations were close with fewer than 1,300 viewers ages 25-to-54 separating the three stations in the early morning.

In other news ratings, the impact of KOLD taking over the newscasts on Fox-affi liate KMSB 11 didn’t register much in this fi rst time out, most likely due to the fact that they took eff ect just one day before Nielsen began taking these ratings.

Viewership for the 9 p.m. Fox 11 newscast was in keeping with ratings the station had posted previously. And the new Fox 11 “Daybreak” program at 7 a.m. registered

numbers comparable to what the station had been doing previously with the Phoenix-originated morning show “Good Morning Arizona.”

For the stations that were winners in these latest ratings or, for that matter stations that didn’t do so well, there’s not much time to relish the success or sulk about the loss, Nielsen is due back for the next four-week ratings survey starting April 26.

Prime time top 10So what are Southern Arizonans’ favorite

prime time shows? Here’s what Nielsen says were the 10 most

popular series in February among 18-to-49 year-olds (the demographic the networks use), with estimated average number of viewers:

1. “Modern Family,” 8 p.m. Wednesdays, KGUN 9 - 34,265

2. “Th e Voice,” 7 p.m. Mondays, KVOA 4 - 33,375

3. “Th e Offi ce,” 8 p.m. Th ursdays, KVOA - 25,365

4. (tie) “NCIS,” 7 p.m. Tuesdays, KOLD 13 - 24,920

“Criminal Minds,” 8 p.m. Wednesdays, KOLD - 24,920

“How I Met Your Mother, 7 p.m. Mondays, KOLD - 24,920

7. “Grey’s Anatomy,” 8 p.m. Th ursdays, KGUN - 24,475

8. “Big Bang Th eory,” 7 p.m. Th ursdays, KOLD - 23,140

9. “2 Broke Girls,” 7:30 p.m. Mondays, KOLD - 22,250

10. “Smash,” 9 p.m. Mondays, KVOA - 21,360

If you’re keeping score that’s fi ve for CBS, three for NBC and two for ABC — one of the best showings in recent years for NBC but one of the more disappointing for ABC and Fox.

In fact, Fox only had one series ranked in the top 20, “American Idol” at 7 p.m. Wednes-days on KMSB 11, which tied for No. 17 with an average of 17,355 viewers 18-49 years-old.

Th ose “American Idol” ratings are happen-ing all across the country. Th e series, now its 11th season, is no where near the ratings powerhouse it once was an Fox offi cials have publicly stated they’re looking for ways to pump some fresh energy into the series.

Contact David Hatfi eld at

dhatfi [email protected] or (520) 295-4237.

Inside Tucson Media appears weekly.

TUCSON TV NEWS RATINGS Viewers 25-54* Household share * Trend*

Feb

2012

Nov

2011

Feb

2011

Feb

2012

Nov

2011

Feb

2011

5-7 a.m. Monday-Friday

KOLD 13 News 13 This Morning 1.2 1.8 2.9 15.9% 19.6% 21.7%

KVOA 4 News 4 Tucson Today 1.1 1.3 1.4 15.9% 15.1% 17.0%

KGUN 9 Good Morning Tucson 0.9 1.6 0.8 14.6% 14.5% 10.4%

7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Monday-Friday

KVOA 4 Today Show 2.2 1.9 3.7 20.8% 21.3% 24.2%

KOLD 13 Good Morning America 1.6 1.3 0.6 15.6% 14.3% 10.7%

KGUN 9 Early Show 1.3 0.8 1.6 11.3% 9.8% 12.5%

KMSB 11 Fox 11 Daybreak ** 0.3 0.2 0.2 2.3% 2.5% 1.4%

11 a.m. Monday-Friday

KGUN 9 Morning Blend 0.1 0.2 0.2 2.0% 4.1% 3.8%

Noon Monday-Friday

KVOA 4 News 4 Tucson 0.8 0.8 1.0 14.3% 18.4% 15.4%

KOLD 13 News 13 0.6 1.0 0.9 17.8% 14.0% 13.4%

4 p.m. Monday-Friday

KVOA 4 News 4 Tucson 1.0 0.7 0.7 8.7% 10.2% 6.3%

KOLD 13 News 13 ** 0.6 0.9 2.3 6.5% 7.8% 14.2%


KOLD 13 News 13 2.1 3.6 3.2 16.2% 14.3% 15.3%

KVOA 4 News 4 Tucson 1.4 1.4 2.6 14.1% 15.7% 19.0%

KGUN 9 KGUN 9 News 1.0 1.4 1.7 11.9% 14.8% 13.4%

5:30 p.m. Monday-Friday

KVOA 4 NBC-Brian Williams 2.3 2.3 2.8 18.8% 17.0% 21.7%

KOL 13 CBS-Scott Pelley 1.9 3.8 3.0 15.1% 15.0% 13.1%

KGUN 9 ABC-Diane Sawyer 1.1 1.5 1.5 11.1% 14.0% 12.3%


KVOA 4 News 4 Tucson 1.7 1.6 2.4 11.9% 10.9% 12.3%

KOLD 13 News 13 1.6 2.7 2.8 11.0% 10.7% 10.7%

KGUN 9 KGUN 9 News 0.9 1.5 1.8 7.5% 11.0% 8.7%


KMSB 11 Fox 11 News 1.4 1.1 1.7 3.8% 3.6% 5.5%

KWBA 58 KGUN 9 News-CW 0.2 0.2 0.5 0.6% 0.7% 2.3%


KOLD 13 News 13 4.5 4.4 3.4 22.1% 22.4% 19.8%

KVOA 4 News 4 Tucson 3.1 2.8 2.6 16.2% 12.7% 14.2%

KGUN 9 KGUN 9 News 2.4 3.2 2.3 10.8% 15.0% 10.8%

* Viewers 25-54: Each whole rating point represents an estimated 4,230 viewers ages 25-54 in February 2012 and November 2011 and 4,520 viewers in February 2011. Household share: Percentage of households watching TV.Trend:Year-over-year 25-54 ratings changes of more than 15 percent or at leat 0.4 of a ratings point..

** Fox 11 Daybreak replaced Good Morning Arizona eff ective Feb. 1. News 13 at 4 p.m. replaced Oprah Winfrey in September 2011.


A Celebration of Marketplace Excellence

Dale DautenAuthor of six books,

including The Gifted Bossand The LaughingWarriors

Key

note

Spe

aker

Tom McNamaraKVOA Anchor

Mas

ter

of C

erem

onie

s

Title Sponsor

FurtherInstructions Needed

PEOPLE IN ACTIONas Life Care Centers of America’s Saguaro Region vice president. Prior to that appointment, he worked for Arizona Baptist Retirement Centers in several positions, including vice president of operations and executive director of several of the company’s buildings.

AWARDS

Four students from Pima Community College have been recognized nationally for their efforts in the 2012 Coca-Cola Community College Academic Team scholarship competition. Adam James was named a 2012 Coca-Cola New Century Scholar for earning the top rating in Arizona in the scholarship competition. He will receive a $2,000 scholarship. Maya

Swainson has been named a Coca-Cola Gold Scholar and will receive a $1,500 scholarship. Sharon Buhs and Lorre Laws also were named Coca-Cola Silver Scholars. Each will receive a $1,250 scholarship.

NEW HIRES

La Cañada Care Center has hired David Kafora as executive director. Before joining La Cañada Care Center, Kafora served

with a concentration on human resources.

Ginger Switzer has been hired as a sales resource offi cer with National Bank of Arizona. She is responsible for developing new and enhancing existing customer

relationships through networking, community involvement and referrals. Her primary focus will be with Women’s Financial Group and not-for-profi t customers. She has several years of experience in business development in the Tucson community with an emphasis in commercial construction.

PROMOTIONS

Old Pueblo Community

Services has promoted Ellen Langer to director of fi nance where she will manage all of the organization’s accounting duties. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. Langer also has worked as an auditor for the Comptroller of the State of Texas.

ELLEN LANGERGINGER SWITZER

Now your business can tell Inside Tucson Business about new hires, promotions and special awards online. Go to www.insidetucsonbusiness.com and click the “People in Action” button. From there you can submit your announcement and we’ll publish it online and in print.

{TELL US ONLINE}


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ON GUARD

BBB celebrates 100 years of building trust If you asked me to use one word to

describe what the Better Business Bureau is all about I would say, “trust.” Building and maintaining trust between both businesses and consumers is at the core of what BBB does. It’s our fundamental mission — and one we continue to carry forward as we celebrate our 100th anniversary this year.

BBB was founded by a group of advertis-ing executives who looked out upon their industry and saw a profession rife with dishonesty — an industry that consumers thoroughly mistrusted. In an attempt to save their beleaguered profession from itself they formed the fi rst Better Business Bureau to help restore the public’s trust in advertising.

Of course these days BBB aims to build and maintain trust in every corner of the marketplace — not only in advertising. Trust is what gets customers in the door, and trust is what keeps them coming back. BBB’s founders realized that trust was the foundation of the marketplace in 1912, and today that hasn’t changed.

However, to many business people the fact that trust is at the center of their business is an obvious truth — almost an afterthought. Th e real challenge for businesses is fi guring out how to foster trust, not just between themselves and their customers, but within their compa-nies as well.

Writing in the Harvard Business Review, Linda Hill and Kent Lineback say the fi rst thing a business needs to realize is how “context sensitive” trust is. Th at is, what do your customers and employees trust you to do in the various contexts of their interac-tions with you? It’s common for business owners and managers to think trust will take care of itself, but Hill and Lineback say it’s actually something owners and managers need to think about deeply.

One reason many owners and managers may not spend a lot of time thinking about building trust is “most of us resist the idea that trust is something you can actively and consciously encourage,” Hill and Lineback write.

Nothing could be further from the truth — trust is something that must be earned constantly throughout a company’s relationships with its customers and employees.

Many of the ways a business cultivates trust will depend on context unique to that particular business, but there are a number of basic steps all businesses can take to help their cause. Writing for Bloomberg Business Week, Michelle Nichols identifi ed fi ve basic ways a business can build trust between itself and its customers:

• Build trust in your company. If your company has any type of certifi cates that attest to the trustworthiness of how you do business, make sure all sales reps carry

color copies. If customers or vendors come to your offi ce, post copies in the reception area of your business. Th ese certifi cates are “silent sellers.”

• Build trust in your products and services. Testimo-

nial letters are a great way to build customer trust in what you sell, especially those letters that describe how life or business changed for the better after a customer bought from you. Make color copies; put them in plastic page protectors, and, again, have all the sales reps carry them and frame them for your offi ce walls, too.

• Build trust in you. Earning a customer’s trust in you as a person starts with the basics. Are you on time? If you say you’ll be there at 9 in the morning and you show up at 9:10, how do you expect your customer to believe you when you say your copier makes 25 copies per minute or your products are within a 0.001 millimeter of the specifi cations?

• Build trust in your marketing. Don’t

GOOD BUSINESS

KIM STATES

TUCSON BBB ACTIVITY REPORT MARCH 2012

Top 10 most complained about industries Complaints Settled

1. Nurseries - plants, trees, etc. 6 16.67%

2. New car auto dealers 5 80%

3. Martial arts supplies and equipment 5 40%

4. Plumbing contractors 4 100%

5. Air conditioning contractors and systems 3 100%

6. Propane gas 3 66.67%

7. Auto repair and service 3 100%

8. Health clubs 3 66.67%

9. Martial arts 3 100%

10. Swimming pool equipment and supplies 2 100%

Top 10 most inquired about industries Inquiries

1. Travel clubs 1,388

2. Air conditioning contractors and systems 1,380

3. Roofi ng contractors 1,329

4. Auto repair and service 1,191

5. Used car auto dealers 1,001

6. Plumbing contractors 951

7. General contractors 934

8. Landscape contractors 755

9. Property management 607

10. Dentists 596

Source: BBB of Southern Arizona

stretch the truth in any of your sales or marketing materials. Customers have their radar on for “sins of omission and commis-sion,” so stick to the truth. Th is applies to all your marketing — materials, sales presen-tations, press releases, advertising, business cards and websites.

• Build trust in your industry. Some-times, entire industries have a bad reputa-tion. Even if you run a trustworthy opera-tion in such an industry, it will be a challenge persuading your customers to trust your industry as well as your particu-lar operation.

For 100 years BBB has strived to bring trust to the marketplace, because when businesses and consumers trust each other everyone wins. On April 26 we have the privilege of celebrating nine companies in our community that foster marketplace trust, through their commitment to ethics, customer excellence and their communities. Th ey’re called the Torch Awards details are online at www.tucson.bbb.org/torchawards.

Contact Kim States, CEO of the Better Busi-

ness Bureau of Southern Arizona, at kstates@tuc

son.bbb.org or (520) 888-6161. Th e BBB website is

www.tucson.bbb.org. On Guard appears the fi rst


Fred Boice: from Arivaca ranch hand to civic leader

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REMEMBERING TUCSONREMEMBERING TUCSON

Th is “merry-go-round” ride was high on an Axtell windmill — one that pumped water a quarter of a mile downhill to the headquarters of the ranch near Arivaca. It was early morning, the wind was calm, and Fred Boice just didn’t take the time to think about putting on the wind-mill brake. Climbing the 33-foot tower to do a repair, a gust of wind suddenly caught him spinning in circles desper-ately grasping hold of one of the fans.

Yes, this is the Fred Boice you probably know. Th e one who served two con-secutive terms as president of the Arizona Board of Regents, was also a president of the University of Arizona Foundation, served on the boards of Junior Achieve-ment, Tucson Airport Authority and Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Com-merce, was a director of Pima Savings and more. But let’s go back a generation.

In 1893, Henry Gudgell Boice, Fred’s father, was born in Independence, Mo. His mother Margaret Tait was a native of Phoenix. Th ey were mar-ried at 5 o’clock in the morning one June day in 1924 to beat the heat.

Margaret Tait’s stepmother Addie was a fi ne seamstress who made delicate undergarments for Margaret’s trousseaux. In those days, colored dyes bled. When people

perspired from the heat, the dye from the garments could be absorbed by the body.

Margaret Tait’s father Fred Tait was a farm hand from Iowa. He eventually bought a thrashing ma-chine, and then a

farm. He sold the land that would become known as the Phoenix’ insane asylum at 25th and Van Buren Street. Today it’s of-fi cially named the Arizona State Hospital.

In 1910, when Margaret’s mother, Anna Behrens, died of tuberculosis, she left Fred Tait with three daughters and a son to raise. Fred wrote an old girlfriend back in Iowa to ask her to “come out and marry me and help raise my family.” Addie Richards agreed.

Fred Tait Boice, born in 1930, was the third child of Margaret and Henry. Prior to Fred’s birth, his older brother had died of pneumonia during early childhood, and his older sister Peggy, who currently lives in Prescott, almost died during childbirth.

MARY L. PEACHIN

y , yple

Fred Boice in 1974.

Courtesy of the Boice family


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Because his mother Margaret had birthing problems, it was decided she should deliver Peggy in Pasadena, Calif.

Henry’s father’s name was Henry Stephen Boice and his mother was Lu Belle Gudgell. In Independence, Mo., the Gudgells had imported the fi rst registered Hereford cattle to America.

Just after the turn of the century, they arrived in Arizona and formed the company of Boice, Gates, and John-son. It would later be known as the Chirichua Cattle Company. Between 1928 and 1930, they leased land on the San Carlos Apache reservation.

When the Apaches asked that their lands be returned, the Chirichua Cattle Company purchased the Eureka ranch, north of Willcox, the Rail X, between Sonoita and Patagonia, the Empire Ranch, Sonoita north to the Rincon Moun-tains, and Arivaca ranch. Th ey gathered 48,000 Herefords from the reservation and moved them to the four ranches.

Henry Gudgell was the oldest of fi ve children. His younger brother Charles ran the Arivaca ranch. Fred, at the age of 11 spent his sum-mers working for Uncle Charlie.

Fred’s family moved to Tucson in 1937. Th ey built a house in El Encanto when it was “in the middle of nowhere.” John Sundt, son of M.M. Sundt, the founder of Sundt Companies, was both their contractor and carpenter. “He drove nails in our house,” Fred Boice recalls.

Fred attended Sam Hughes Elemen-tary, Mansfi eld Junior High, and Tucson Senior High School prior to enrolling at Occidental College in Los Angeles. He graduated with a B.S. in Economics.

When Fred met Ann Kelley at Tuc-son High School, he was disappointed he couldn’t get her attention. She was more interested in the student body president. But his perseverance won out and she later became his wife.

During his college undergraduate years, Boice drove from Tucson to Los Angeles, often giving a ride to Peggy Small, daughter of Bill Small, former publisher of the Tuc-son Citizen. He would drop her off in Cla-remont, east of L.A., where Peggy attended Scripps College. Prior to one return trip to Tucson, a friend told Boice that a gal he knew named Ann was attending Pomona College, also in Claremont. He off ered to pick her up and give her a ride home to Tucson. Unfortunately, she had spent most of the previous night studying, and instead of chatting, she slept in the back seat for the entire ride. Fred had struck out again.

Ann Kelley attended Pomona for two years then transferred to the Uni-versity of Arizona where she received her bachelor’s degree. After obtaining a graduate degree in Education, she taught at a Sopori school near Arivaca for several years before teaching com-ing to Tucson to teach in a preschool.

Fred Boice returned from Occidental College and enrolled at the UA to take

some graduate courses. One day in De-cember 1950, Fred invited Ann to visit the ranch in Arivaca. Two years later to the day, on Dec. 23, 1952, they were married.

Th e following summer the couple moved to the ranch in Arivaca. Th e spin on the windmill took place not too long after they arrived. Another time, while riding “half asleep” on a hot summer day, Boice noticed a hawk circling that sud-denly dove to the ground. He rode over to take a look and saw that the hawk had grabbed a rattlesnake. Th e snake was fl ailing in the hawk’s talons then his fangs struck the hawk and killed it. “You don’t see that happen very often,” he recalled.

Uncle Charlie was a hard driving guy. Boice and the ranch hands woke at 4 a.m., and after a hearty breakfast, usu-ally didn’t return to the ranch house until dark. To quench their hunger and thirst, Boice noticed the ranch hands picked chile pepinos. At the time Boice didn’t know they were sucking them to create saliva and that he shouldn’t chew the hot chiles. As a result, he wound up with a mouth full of sores for a week. “Th at was a hard lesson that I learned.”

Th e Boices had fi ve children. When it came close to her due date for her fi rst child in 1954, Ann drove to Tucson to see Dr. Bill Carrell. Told she was not quite ready to deliver, she returned to the ranch and around midnight, she went into labor.

“It was during a monsoon raining pitchforks, and instead of taking an hour and a half, it took us 11 hours to reach Tucson Medical Center,” Boice says. “Water was fl owing everywhere, roads were washed out, and the Santa Cruz River was cresting the bridge at Continental.”

Before they got to Kingsley Junc-tion, Boice, neighbor Richard Mer-chant and some other men put Ann on a cot and carried her across Batamote Wash. Twenty minutes after she ar-rived TMC, their fi rst son, Henry, was born. Th e other children, born between 1957 and 1962, Mariann, Jennifer, Fred Jr. and Margaret were easier births.

In 1968, the Boices bought a house in Tucson so their children could attend schools. Fred Boice commuted back-and-forth to the ranch. He started the Ameri-can Cattle Company which fed investor cattle in 30 feed yards in nine states. Ultimately they had 100,000 cattle on feed.

Boice became president of the Arizona Cattle Growers, and served on the execu-tive committee of the National Cattlemen Association. Required to spend time in Washington, D.C., he commuted on an American Airlines red-eye fl ight to cut down on the amount of time he was away. When his father was president of the asso-ciation, he had to travel by train, a trip that would 6½ days to Washington, D.C. “Dad would be gone for a month,” Boice said.

In the 1970s, Boice was on the board of directors for Pima Savings and Loan.

REMEMBERING TUCSON

see BOICE page 16


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Jack Sakrison was chairman and other board members included George Bideaux, Frank O’Reilly and Elmer Present. It was a sound fi nancial organization with offi cers Kenny Herman president, Lynn Folger vice president and Larry Brown treasurer.

“Harry Wood, presided over the Univer-sity of Arizona Foundation before my term. One day he asked me if I would consider serving on the Arizona Board of Regents. I thought regents were the wise men of the state, and it would be the pinnacle of com-munity and state service to be appointed. Harry campaigned arduously, but I didn’t get appointed. It was devastating. I was 62 and I thought by the time of the next ap-pointment, I would be too old,” Boice said.

Eight years later in 2002, the governor’s offi ce — with a nudge from regent Jack Jew-ett — called to ask Boice if he would come up to Phoenix, like the next day. “About a week later, I was driving by Randolph Park. Th e cell phone rang and it was Governor Jane Hull asking me to serve on the board of Regents. I told her I would be honored.”

“I thought being a regent was an enor-mous responsibility. I spent at least 20 hours a week reading, attending meetings, and commuting to Phoenix. Th e board’s responsibility includes overseeing 20,000 employees, 100,000 students, and a $4 billion budget. Th ere were times while dealing with the Legislature when I would hear ‘we don’t need all this education, why do we need this research, why can’t we just have a state college,’” Boice recalls.

Since the 1980s, Boice has worked as a bankruptcy trustee. He continues working for the courts managing assets, businesses, and dispute resolutions.

“Th e best thing that ever hap-pened to me was marrying Ann. She is the light of my life. We have a great family, and they all have done an in-credible job with their lives.”

Do you have a historical Tucson story

to share? Contact Mary Levy Peachin at

[email protected]. Her historical columns

appear the fi rst week of each month in Inside

Tucson Business.

Two pages from a 1989 booklet about the Boice family ranch in Arivaca.

Cour

tesy

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oice

fam

ily

REMEMBERING TUCSONBOICE continued from page 15


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CALENDARSPECIAL EVENTS

Tucson Means Business ForumThursday (April 26) 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.Tucson Police Department West Division 1310 W. Miracle Mile RSVP: David Higuera [email protected] or (520) 791-4711http://cms3.tucsonaz.gov/businessDescription: Learn how to do business with and in the City of Tucson. Hear from Mayor Rothschild and other city offi cials. Lunch provided by Blue Willow.

Tucson Dowsers May PresentationSaturday (May 5)1 to 3 p.m. Unity of Tucson 3617 N. Camino BlancoWrap-up gathering for the season includes a panel of experienced dowsers.Contact: Terry Klunk [email protected] or (520) 531-8039$5 suggested donation www.TucsonDowsers.org

REGULAR MEETINGS

Got a business challenge, 30 minutes & 20 bucks?Every Tuesday and Thursday 8 to 9 a.m.Savaya Coffee Market 5530 E Broadway Ste.174 Info: Dale Bruder, Dynamic Strategist [email protected] (520) 331-1956 www.dalebruder.com $20

Group Referral Organization networking group First and third WednesdaysLuna Bella 2990 N. Swan Road Suite 145Information: www.grotucson.com

GRO IISecond and fourth ThursdaysSam Hughes Championship Dining446 N. Campbell Ave. Suite 150Info: www.grotucson.com

Independent Business Networking Tucson “IBNT”Second and fourth Tuesdays El Parador 2744 E. Broadway RSVP: Jennifer Row at (520) 603-3315 or [email protected]: First time is free

Inside ConnectionsSecond and fourth Wednesday, 7:15 a.m.Home Town Buffet5101 N Oracle RoadRSVP: Eric Miller at (520) 979-1696

Institute of Management AccountantsThird Thursday, (September through May) 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.Old Pueblo Grille60 N. Alvernon WayRSVP: Gale McGuire (520) 584-3480 or [email protected]

International Association of Administrative ProfessionalsSan Xavier Chapter monthly dinner &

professional development meeting Every third Wednesday, 5:30 to 8 p.m.Sheraton Four Points Hotel1900 E. SpeedwayRSVP: Kay at [email protected] or (520) 883-1819Cost: $18 members, $20 nonmembers, includes dinner

“Real Estate Investment Plan”Keller Williams Southern Arizona1745 E. River Road, Ste. 245Third Tuesday6 p.m.Workshop for individuals considering investment

RSVP by noon Mondays (520) 909-9375

Kiwanis Club of Oro ValleyWednesdays, 7 a.m.Holiday Inn Express 10150 N. Oracle RoadInfo: [email protected]: $8

LeTip MidtownEvery Tuesday, 7:01 to 8:31 a.m.El Parador Restaurant 2744 E. BroadwayRSVP: (520) 296-9900Cost: $10

LeTip TucsonExecutives Chapter meetingEvery Tuesday, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.Macayo’s Mexican Kitchen 7360 N. Oracle RoadRSVP: (520) 299-9600, [email protected]

LeTip International I-19 Business NetworkersEvery Tuesday, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.Amado Territory I-19 exit 48Information: (520) 591-5500Cost: $15


CORPORATE REAL ESTATE SERVICES3390 N. Campbell Ave., Suite 100 | Tucson, AZ 85719 | 520.881.8180 | FAX 520.881.5844Contact us at 1.800.831.4090 or at www.cotlow.com | Dean P. Cotlow [email protected]

We’ll find what you’re looking for.Because we know the market.And we know the right people.And we’re watching.Carefully. Intently. Constantly.

We’ll find what you’re looking for.Because we know the market.And we know the right people.And we’re watching.Carefully. Intently. Constantly.

GET ON THE LISTNext up: Largest employers in Southern Arizona

Inside Tucson Business is gathering datafor the 2013 edition of the Book of Lists. Cat-egories that will be published in upcoming weekly issues of Inside Tucson Business are:

• April 13: Banks, Credit unions• April 20: Largest employers in Southern

Arizona• April 27: Architectural fi rms, Interior de-

sign fi rms, Engineering fi rms

• May 4: Defense contractors• May 11: Investment capital and lending,

Venture capitalists If your business fi ts one of these catego-

ries, now is the time to update your profi le. Go to www.InsideTucsonBusiness.com and click the Book of Lists tab at the top of the page. New and unlisted businesses can cre-ate a profi le by following the directions.

Th e Book of Lists is a year-round reference for thousands of businesses and individuals. To advertise your business, call (520) 294-1200.

RETAILRetailers return fornational conference

Why do consumers love certain retailers?Industry executives from companies in-

cluding Macy’s, the Home Depot, Walmart, PetSmart, General Growth Partners, Kraft, and Nielsen research will share their formu-las for success next week in Tucson at the 16th Annual Global Retailing Conference.

Terry Lundgren, president and CEO of Macy’s and University of Arizona alumnus,

will open the conference that is a forum for strategies and techniques to better engage and serve customers. Th e university’s cen-ter for retailing is named after Lundgren.

“Our industry is changing quickly, with new practices and technologies emerging at every turn to help us win with customers. Th is conference is designed to provide an in-depth look at some of the leading com-panies that are changing the face of retail-ing, and the ideas that continue to drive their success,” he said.

Among the other CEOs and senior exec-utives scheduled to speak are: Frank Blake,

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of the Home Depot; Robert Moran, of PetS-mart; Steve Church, Avnet; David Calhoun, Nielsen; Michelle Gloeckler, Walmart; Barry Calpino, Kraft Foods; and Sandeep Math-rani, General Growth Properties.

Th e Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retail-ing is part of the University of Arizona’s John and Doris Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences. It brings together the resources and expertise of academia and the retail industry for the purpose of developing strong professionals. About 500 students are enrolled.

Th e conference takes place April 12 and 13 at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort and Spa, 3800 W. Starr Pass Blvd.

Best Buy starts to reveal store closures

After reporting disappointing revenue numbers, Best Buy says it will close 50 of its 1,099 stores in an eff ort cut costs by $250 million this year and by $800 million over the next three years.

Th e company said it would announce specifi c store closures as they are fi nalized. So far, the company has told employees at fi ve stores in its hometown market of Minne-apolis and one store in San Antonio that their stores will close by the end of this year.

Th e company has 25 stores in Arizona, in-cluding three in Tucson and one in Oro Valley.

As part of its plan, Best Buy says it will add

smalleer mobile shops. Currently it has 305 mobile stores and said it anticipates having between 600 and 800 of them open by 2016.

TRANSPORTATION Gas price hikes stall,but it may be temporary

Th e average price for regular gas in Tucson dipped about a penny per gallon over the past week to $3.72½, according to AAA Arizona’s Fuel Gauge Report. Th e statewide average also was down a penny per gallon to $3.89.

But the stability in prices could be short-lived say experts who say many refi ner-ies still haven’t converted to production of summertime blends that requires them to shut down thus limiting gas production.

In the meantime, AAA Arizona reports gas prices have topped $4 per gallon in a rural areas of the state such as Ajo, Camp Verde, Tuba City, Wickenburg and Williams.

ENTERTAINMENT/SPORTSPadres open second season at Kino

Th e Triple-A Tucson Padres opened their 2012 season Th ursday and will continue an eight-game home stand at Kino Stadium, 2500 E. Ajo Way, through April 12.

Th is season, the Padres will play 72 home

games, up from 68 last year. In this fi rst se-ries, they are playing the Fresno Grizzlies through Sunday and then the Sacramento River Cats next Monday through Th ursday. After that the team will go on the road to Salt Lake City and Colorado Springs before re-turning home for a four-game stand against the Salt Lake City Bees April 21-24.

Tickets for Padres home games are for sale online at www.tucsonpadres.com or (520) 434-1367.

LEGALEl Guero Canelo extortionist gets 41 months in prison

A man who pleaded guilty to attempting to extort a popular Tucson restaurant owner was sentenced in federal court.

U.S. District Judge Marvin E. Aspen sen-tenced Eduardo A. Sabori, 36, in federal court in Tucson to 41 months in prison fol-lowed by three years of supervised release.

In September, Sabori pleaded guilty to interfering with commerce by threats or vio-lence in connection with a scheme to extort El Guero Canelo owner Daniel Contreras.

Sabori, who operated a competing restau-rant and hot dog stand, sent letters to Contreras demanding $600,000 to be left in a dumpster at a hotel near Broadway and Wilmot Road.

HEALTH CAREHospital group dropslawsuit against AHCCCS

Th e Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association dropped its lawsuit against the state’s Medicaid program in an eff ort to fo-cus more on developing a partnership with the program, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS).

Th e hospital assocaition had fi led the law-suit in November seeking to stop a 5 percent cut in hospital payment rates from taking eff ect.

“As we look ahead, we know the state and Arizona hospitals will continue to face eco-nomic challenges and we look forward to working with state leaders like Senate Presi-dent Steve Pierce to prepare for the future and grow our state’s economy,” said Laurie Liles, president and CEO of the association.

Monica Coury, assistant director in the Offi ce of Intergovernmental Relations at AHCCCS, said her agency applauds the as-sociation for dropping the lawsuit.

AHCCCS has 1.3 million enrollees who qualify for Medicaid services.

“We want to acknowledge the associa-tion for determining that it is not in the best interest of the hospital industry or the AH-CCCS program to further pursue this litiga-tion, particularly in light of the court’s recent ruling in favor of the state,” Coury said.

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FINANCEYOUR MONEY

How to decide when to start taking Social Security benefi ts

Th e age when one starts Social Security retirement benefi ts can be arguably the most signifi cant factor in the ability to maintain fi nancial security throughout retirement. Unfortunately, some fi nancial advisors erroneously believe the client should maximize years of payments from Social Security, while others focus exclu-sively on a present-value break-even age, or money’s worth, analysis.

In contrast to those, I found an excellent white paper published in the second quarter 2012 issue of Benefi ts Quarterly written by Kenn Beam Tacchino, David Littell and Bruce D Schobel. Th e authors argue that basing the decision on only one way of looking at the question is insuffi cient and propose that practitioners use a compre-hensive decision model that accounts for the net present value, longevity risk and Social Security legal strategies in properly framing the solution.

For a person retiring today, a claiming age of 62 (the earliest possible by law) will give him or her a monthly benefi t equal to 75 percent of the primary insurance amount. If, however, the same individual were to wait until the age of 72 to collect Social Security retirement benefi ts, he or she would receive 132 percent of the primary insurance amount.

If a person claims Social Security at the earliest possible moment, he will receive $1,140 per month. If he defers collecting Social Security benefi ts until age 70 (in 2020), he will receive $2,007 per month.

Authors Tacchino, Littell and Schobel outline a comprehensive seven step checklist as well as a model. (I’m shorten-ing them here due to space limitations.)

1. Factors aff ecting the worker’s retirement benefi t: Benefi t calculation, Earnings, Age benefi ts begin, Automatic increases in benefi ts, Earnings after Social Security have begun, Windfall elimination provision, Tax treatment of Social Security benefi ts.

2. Factors aff ecting spousal retirement benefi ts: Spousal benefi t, Spousal benefi ts beginning early, Dependence on worker’s benefi ts, Spousal benefi ts divorce rule, Eligibility for multiple benefi ts, Timing of application for spousal benefi ts.

3. Factors aff ecting survivor benefi ts for married retirees: Purpose of Survivor Benefi ts, When a widow(er) is entitled to a survivor benefi t, Divorced spouse, Amount of spousal survivor benefi ts, Eff ect of government pensions on survivor benefi ts.

4. Factors needed for a net-present-value analysis: Appropriate discount rate, Life expectancy, Earnings test impact, Taxation of Social Security benefi ts impact,

Factoring in the spousal survivor benefi t, Factor the impact of cost-of-living adjustments, Strategies, Widow or widower strategy, Claim now, claim more later strategy, File and suspend strategy, Triple dip

strategy, Maximize the survivor benefi t strategy, Minimize the “tax torpedo” strategy, Maximizing through suspension-of-benefi ts strategy.

6. Key components of a Social Security education program: Use a comprehensive planning approach, Focus on the desired replacement ratio, Care for surviving spouse, Understand the Social Security annuity advantage.

7. Potential diff erences among clients and their implications: Work and claiming decisions, Key Factors in the claiming decision — the ability or desire to continue working, wealth sources of income outside of Social Security, personal risk tolerance to investing, fi nancial reliance on Social Security, ability to boost Social Security income by working past age 62, age disparity between spouses and the earnings disparity between spouses.

Th e authors then off er a four-step model to help in the process:

1. Change your perceptions through an educational program.

2. Assess funding adequacy3. Carefully assess your op-

tions under Social Security4. Integrate the claiming decision into a

cohesive retirement income plan. Th e concern is the vast majority of

Americans are not properly choosing the optimal start date for Social Security. Fewer than 2 percent claim it at age 70. More than half claim it at age 62. In all probability those numbers could be reversed. Th is model should enable a process that leads to more rational choices.

Read the full article on my website — www.moorefs.com — click on Social Security Claiming Age under “Tools, Articles & Reports.”

Contact Susan L. Moore Vault, president

of Moore Financial Strategies, at susan@

moorefs.com or (520) 296-4464. She also hosts

“Safe Money Strategies” from 6-6:30 a.m.

Saturdays on KNST 97.1-FM/790-AM.

SUSAN MOORE

TUCSON STOCK EXCHANGEStock market quotations of some publicly traded companies doing business in Southern Arizona

Company Name Symbol April. 4 Mar. 28 Change52-Week

Low52-Week

HighTucson companiesApplied Energetics Inc AERG.OB 0.08 0.08 0.00 0.04 0.89CDEX Inc CEXI.OB 0.02 0.02 0.00 0.01 0.10Providence Service Corp PRSC 15.00 15.90 -0.90 8.35 15.94UniSource Energy Corp (Tucson Electric Power) UNS 36.30 36.50 -0.20 32.96 39.25

Southern Arizona presenceAlcoa Inc (Huck Fasteners) AA 9.81 9.83 -0.02 8.45 18.47AMR Corp (American Airlines) AMR 0.50 4.88 -4.38 0.20 6.96Augusta Resource Corp (Rosemont Mine) AZC 2.35 2.88 -0.53 2.65 5.58Bank Of America Corp BAC 9.20 9.75 -0.55 4.92 13.88Bank of Montreal (M&I Bank) BMO 59.18 59.70 -0.52 51.83 66.64BBVA Compass BBV 7.40 7.86 -0.46 7.02 13.01Berkshire Hathaway (Geico, Long Cos) BRK-B* 81.05 81.78 -0.73 65.35 86.91Best Buy Co Inc BBY 22.95 26.62 -3.67 21.79 32.85BOK Financial Corp (Bank of Arizona) BOKF 55.24 56.63 -1.39 43.77 59.59Bombardier Inc* (Bombardier Aerospace) BBDB 4.03 4.18 -0.15 3.30 7.29CB Richard Ellis Group CBG 19.03 19.99 -0.96 12.30 29.88Citigroup Inc C 35.04 37.06 -2.02 21.40 46.90Comcast Corp CMCSA 29.32 29.92 -0.60 19.19 30.41Community Health Sys (Northwest Med Cntrs) CYH 23.02 22.16 0.86 14.61 41.09Computer Sciences Corp CSC 29.00 30.52 -1.52 22.80 51.43Convergys Corp CVG 13.30 13.37 -0.07 8.49 14.55Costco Wholesale Corp COST 89.04 90.62 -1.58 70.22 92.10CenturyLink (Qwest Communications) CTL 38.58 38.65 -0.07 31.16 43.49Cvs/Caremark (CVS pharmacy) CVS 44.31 44.60 -0.29 31.30 45.88Delta Air Lines DAL 10.48 10.00 0.48 6.41 11.60Dillard Department Stores DDS 63.55 62.84 0.71 38.99 64.50Dover Corp (Sargent Controls & Aerospace) DOV 63.01 61.57 1.44 43.64 70.15DR Horton Inc DHI 14.31 15.91 -1.60 8.03 16.45Freeport-McMoRan (Phelps Dodge) FCX 38.03 37.36 0.67 28.85 58.75Granite Construction Inc GVA 28.29 29.09 -0.80 16.92 30.49Home Depot Inc HD 49.85 49.91 -0.06 28.13 50.42Honeywell Intl Inc HON 60.15 60.75 -0.60 41.22 62.28IBM IBM 206.05 207.29 -1.24 157.13 210.69Iron Mountain IRM 28.78 28.60 0.18 27.68 35.79Intuit Inc INTU 59.38 59.51 -0.13 39.87 62.33Journal Communications (KGUN 9, KMXZ) JRN 5.22 5.47 -0.25 2.69 5.99JP Morgan Chase & Co JPM 44.41 46.27 -1.86 27.85 47.80Kaman Corp (Electro-Optics Develpmnt Cntr) KAMN 34.70 34.26 0.44 25.73 38.40KB Home KBH 8.60 9.29 -0.69 5.02 13.12Kohls Corp KSS 51.98 48.97 3.01 42.14 57.39Kroger Co (Fry's Food Stores) KR 23.54 24.19 -0.65 21.14 25.85Lee Enterprises (Arizona Daily Star) LEE 1.16 1.23 -0.07 0.49 3.47Lennar Corporation LEN 26.64 27.67 -1.03 12.14 28.28Lowe's Cos (Lowe's Home Improvement) LOW 31.27 31.22 0.05 18.07 31.57Loews Corp (Ventana Canyon Resort) L 39.71 39.63 0.08 32.90 44.46Macerich Co (Westcor, La Encantada) MAC 57.53 56.98 0.55 38.64 58.09Macy's Inc M 40.90 40.04 0.86 22.50 41.26Marriott Intl Inc MAR 37.66 38.05 -0.39 25.49 38.83Meritage Homes Corp MTH 26.24 28.79 -2.55 13.68 29.32Northern Trust Corp NTRS 47.04 47.53 -0.49 33.20 52.57Northrop Grumman Corp NOC 61.45 0.71 60.74 49.20 70.61Penney, J.C. JCP 35.66 36.17 -0.51 23.44 43.18Pulte Homes Inc (Pulte, Del Webb) PHM 8.48 9.48 -1.00 3.29 9.69Raytheon Co (Raytheon Missile Systems) RTN 52.44 52.52 -0.08 38.35 53.00Roche Holdings AG (Ventana Medical Systems) RHHBY 43.44 43.98 -0.54 34.02 45.65Safeway Inc SWY 20.12 20.17 -0.05 15.93 25.43Sanofi -Aventis SA SNY 37.68 38.79 -1.11 30.98 40.75Sears Holdings (Sears, Kmart, Customer Care) SHLD 63.02 68.99 -5.97 28.89 87.66SkyWest Inc SKYW 10.83 11.29 -0.46 10.47 16.92Southwest Airlines Co LUV 8.38 8.36 0.02 7.15 12.44Southwest Gas Corp SWX 42.68 42.59 0.09 32.12 43.64Stantec Inc STN 31.10 31.85 -0.75 20.96 32.79Target Corp TGT 57.82 58.16 -0.34 45.28 58.95TeleTech Holdings Inc TTEC 16.15 16.01 0.14 14.10 22.39Texas Instruments Inc TXN 32.16 33.33 -1.17 24.34 35.98Time Warner Inc (AOL) TWX 36.92 36.29 0.63 27.62 39.24Ual Corp (United Airlines) UAUA 21.43 21.89 -0.46 15.51 26.84Union Pacifi c Corp UNP 108.38 107.91 0.47 77.73 117.40Apollo Group Inc (University of Phoenix) APOL 36.58 38.54 -1.96 37.08 58.29US Airways Group Inc LCC 7.86 7.79 0.07 3.96 10.35US Bancorp (US Bank) USB 31.31 31.82 -0.51 20.10 32.23Wal-Mart Stores Inc (Wal-Mart, Sam's Club) WMT 60.26 61.19 -0.93 48.31 62.63Walgreen Co WAG 33.30 34.75 -1.45 30.34 45.34Wells Fargo & Co WFC 33.88 34.47 -0.59 22.58 34.59Western Alliance Bancorp (Alliance Bank) WAL 8.39 8.71 -0.32 4.44 9.20Zions Bancorp (National Bank of Arizona) ZION 21.08 21.80 -0.72 13.18 24.92Data Source: Dow Jones Market Watch

*Quotes in U.S. dollars, except Bombardier is Canadian dollars.


INSIDE REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION

By Roger YohemInside Tucson Business

Home foreclosure fi lings in Pima County outpaced foreclosure sales during the fi rst quarter by nearly a 2-1 ratio, keeping op-timism in check for the new construction industry.

Year-to-date, 2,527 trustee’s sale notices have been issued compared to 1,342 fore-closure sales. Although the pace of notices has slowed moderately, down 5.9 percent year over year, sales have plunged 34.6 per-cent during the same period.

In the 2011 fi rst quarter, there were 2,052 foreclosure sales and 2,685 notices issued. A trustee’s notice is the fi rst step in the fore-closure process. It notifi es owners that their property is in default and scheduled to be sold at public auction.

Th roughout the year, notices are pro-jected to continue to decline. About the end of the third quarter, the timeline ends to re-set the last wave of fi ve-year adjustable rate mortgages that caused many of the prob-lems in the housing market.

Th e new data is from the Pima County Recorder’s Offi ce (see table).

Lennar, Long partnerLennar Homes has partnered with Long

Realty Company to sell out two subdivisions with a small remaining inventory of homes and lots.

At Suncrest at Gladden Farms, Long Re-alty will represent Lennar to close out 15 lots and four homes in various stages of produc-tion. Suncrest is at North Tangerine Farms Road and West Moore Road, Marana.

At Sycamore Park, fi ve homes remain, priced from $197,990 to $228,990. Th e sub-division is located one mile south of Inter-state 10 off Kolb Road.

SAHBA Home ShowSouthern Arizona’s largest and longest-

running Spring home show opens next weekend, featuring a convention hall full of home improvement and remodeling ideas. Th is year’s Southern Arizona Home Builders Association (SAHBA) Home & Patio Show is April 13-15 at the Tucson Convention Cen-ter (TCC), 260 S. Church Ave.

Th e event’s sponsors and major exhibi-tors include Mattress Firm, Patio Pools & Spas, Kinetico Water Systems, Southwest Gas, and Home Depot Home Services. Free public parking will be available at all TCC lots, compliments of SAHBA.

Th e SAHBA Central “Ask the Experts” exhibit will feature professional remodel-ers and members of SAHBA’s Green Build Council to off er free advice on home im-provement and sustainable building ideas. Members of SAHBA’s Certifi ed Custom Builder’s Council also will help people put together an action plan to make their dream

Pima County foreclosures: Notices double the rate of sales

home a reality.Show hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. April 13

and 14; and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. April 15. Dis-count admission coupons and details are online at sahbahomeshow.com.

Sales and leasesSince January, there has been a notable

increase in commercial real estate leases (see Th e Space Race: Commercial building leases rocket upward on pages 3-5.) Th e change has brokers in agreement that the region’s commercial market has lifted off the bottom. Th is is a sampling of recent transactions:

• Brian K. Scott and Linda M. Scott Trust purchased a 4,122 square foot indus-trial building at 2560-2602 E. Ganley Road for $245,000 from Alan Farmer G Trucking Inc. Th e transaction was handled by Ron Zimmerman, Grubb & Ellis.

• Campbell & Prince Property LLC pur-chased a 2,980 square-foot medical offi ce at 1637-1643 E. Prince Road for $190,000 from JEHT LLC, represented by Harlan Stork, Re-alty Executives. Th e buyer was represented by Andrew Sternberg, Oxford Realty Advi-sors.

• TMC Holdings Inc. purchased a 1,759 square foot medical offi ce building at 5225 E. Knight Drive for $180,000 from Dr. and Mrs. William Fosdick. Th e transaction was handled by Tom Knox and Rick Kleiner, Pi-cor Commercial Real Estate Services.

• Fiesta Avenue Property LLC pur-chased 3.38 acres of land at 6415 S. Fiesta Ave. for $159,000 from Crimson Associates, represented by Brandon Rodgers, Picor Commercial Real Estate Services.

• Ron Cox, Cox Electric, purchased a 1,568-square-foot building at 3132 E. 46th St. for $120,000 from Kayco Properties, represented by Stephen Cohen, Picor Com-

WEEKLY MORTGAGE RATES

Program Current Last WeekOne

Year Ago12 Month

High12 Month

Low

30 YEAR 4.00% 4.25%APR 4.13% 4.375%APR 4.95% 4.95% 3.88%

15 YEAR 3.50% 3.625%APR 3.50% 3.875% APR 4.22% 4.22% 3.16%

3/1 ARM 3.00% 3.375%APR 3.00% 3.375% APRThe above rates have a 1% origination fee and 0 discount . FNMA/FHLMC maximum conforming loan amount is $417,000 Conventional Jumbo loans are loans above $417,000

Information provided by Randy Hotchkiss Financial Inc. Tucson, AZ (520) 324-0000. MB #0115327. Rates are subject to change without notice based upon market conditions.

4/3/2012

THE PULSE: TUCSON REAL ESTATE

3/26/2012 2/20/2012

Median Price $145,000 $127,500Active Listings 6,066 5,977New Listings 388 363Pending Sales 444 477Homes Closed 399 224Source: Long Realty Research Center

Notices of Trustee’s Sales Pima County Recorder Foreclosures

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012January 346 699 882 863 975 705February 276 598 1,016 982 762 918March 305 661 1,154 1,089 948 904April 300 700 1,093 985 721 May 396 720 991 890 748 June 377 742 1,002 862 693 July 419 721 1,063 1,111 666 August 503 814 1,130 1,067 917 September 394 782 1,008 1,090 797 October 483 921 948 1,019 816 November 540 675 859 829 754 December 475 923 1,038 876 636 Total 4,814 8,956 12,148 11,663 9,433 2,527 Monthly avg. 401 746 1,015 972 786 842

mercial Real Estate Services.• United Health Care Services leased

81,835 square feet at 9040 S. Rita Road, Suite 1500, in the University of Arizona Science Technology Park from Campus Research Corporation. Th e transaction was handled by Peter Douglas and Brandon Rodgers, Pi-cor Commercial Real Estate Services.

• Trane U.S. leased 16,795 square feet at 2155 N. Forbes Blvd., Suite 104, from Forbes Tucson LLC, represented by Rob Glaser, Pi-cor Commercial Real Estate Services.

• TPS Builders LLC leased 12,664 square feet at 2699 E. Valencia Road from Palice Investments 2699 LLC, represented by Rob Glaser, Picor Commercial Real Estate Ser-vices. Paul Hooker, also with Picor, repre-sented the tenant.

• SizeWise Rentals LLC leased an 8,000 square foot building at 1956 E. Silverlake from Cherrylake Partners LLC. Th e trans-action was handled by Russell Hall and Ste-phen Cohen, Picor Commercial Real Estate Services.

• Tuesday Morning Inc. leased 7,164 square feet at 3981 E. Grant Road from TNP SRT Northgate Plaza Tucson LLC, repre-sented by Debbie Heslop, Volk Company Commercial Real Estate.

• Granite Construction leased 5,768 square feet at 721 N. Fourth Ave. from R&R Enterprises, represented by Tom Knox, Pi-cor Commercial Real Estate Services.

• Latrikunda Transport Services LLCleased 5,175 square feet at 3450 S. Broad-mont Drive from Tin Cup Properties LLC. Ron Zimmerman, Grubb & Ellis, handled the transaction.

• Eye Associates Ltd. leased 4,683 square feet at 6130 N. La Cholla Blvd. from HCP/Utah LLC, represented by Rick Kleiner and Tom Knox, Picor Commercial Real Estate Services.

• Chopstix Asian Diner leased 4,500 square feet at 3820 S. Palo Verde Road, Suite 101, from Palo Verde Trust Partners LLC, represented by Rob Glaser and Paul Hooker, Picor Commercial Real Estate Services.

• National Bank of Arizona leased 4,364 square feet at 1985 E. River Road, Suite 121, from Campbell Avenue Group LLC, repre-sented by Richard Kleiner, Picor Commer-cial Real Estate Services. Kawa & Associates, Phoenix, represented the tenant.

• Presson Midpoint LLC, represented by Rob Glaser and Paul Hooker, Picor Com-mercial Real Estate Services, leased space at 3921 E. 29th St. to: RCCG Glory Tabernaclefor 4,277 square feet in Suites 301-304; and Deluxe Marketing Inc. for 1,505 square feet in Suite 402.

• Arizona Rent To Own leased 4,158 square feet at 815 E Grant Road from JAG-OR, represented by David Carroll, Romano Real Estate Corporation.

• Air Express International USA leased 4,000 square feet at 2949 E. Elvira Road from


INSIDE REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTIONHolualoa Tucson Airport Inc., represented by Bill Divito, Grubb & Ellis. Th e tenant was represented by Stephen Cohen, Picor Com-mercial Real Estate Services.

• Traditional Bakery Inc., doing busi-ness as Paradise Bakery & Cafe, leased 3,900 square feet at 4821 E. Grant Road from Cross-roads Canada LLC, represented by Andy Seleznov, Larsen Baker. Alan Tanner and Paul Schloss, CBRE, represented the tenant.

• APN Builders Inc. leased 3,850 square feet at 2102 N. Forbes Blvd., Suites 101-102, from East Park VI Holding Company LLC, represented by Rob Glaser, Picor Commer-cial Real Estate Services.

• Oncology Institute of Hope & Inno-vation leased 3,750 square feet at 6565 E. Carondelet Drive from Tucson Medical Investors, represented by Rick Kleiner and Tom Knox, Picor Commercial Real Estate Services.

• Surety Acceptance Corporation leased 3,672 square feet at 4400 E. Broadway from 4400 Tower LLC, represented by Michael Gross, Tucson Realty & Trust. Bruce Suppes, CBRE, represented the tenant.

• Systech International LLC leased a 3,600 square foot building at 1121 W. Grant Road, Suites 407 and 408, from John Schmidt, represented by Stephen Cohen and Russell Hall, Picor Commercial Real Es-tate Services.

• Foot Technologies LLC leased a 3,600 square-foot building at 1121 W. Grant Road, Suites 405 and 406, from Sloat Family Part-nership. Stephen Cohen and Russell Hall, Picor Commercial Real Estate Services, handled the transaction.

• GeoSystems Analysis leased 3,264 square feet at 2015 N. Forbes Blvd., Suite 106, from Broadbent Square LLC, repre-sented by Rob Glaser, Picor Commercial Real Estate Services.

• Choice Rent to Own LLC leased 3,200 square feet at 3923 N. Flowing Wells Road in Flowing Wells Plaza from the Orchards at Arizona II LLC, represented by David Dut-son, CBRE.

• Richard and Sally Burke leased a 3,120 square foot building at 4175 S. Fremont Ave. from Doubletree Investments. Th e trans-action was handled by Stephen Cohen, Rus-sell Hall and Paul Hooker, Picor Commer-cial Real Estate Services.

• Ismile/CMS PLLC leased 2,826 square feet at 4600 S. Park Ave., Suite 6, from Ohio Street Building No. 2 Ltd. LLC. Th e landlord was represented by Rob Glaser with Picor.

• Oak N’ More leased 2,700 square feet at 1637 W. Grant Road from Rodgers Hoge Partners. Brandon Rodgers and Paul Hook-er with Picor handled the transaction.

• Shaw Facilities Inc. leased 2,532 square feet at 333 E. Wetmore Road, Suite 180, from Aslan III 333 E. Wetmore LLC, represented by Richard Kleiner of Picor. Th e tenant was represented by Buzz Isaac-son with CBRE.

• Exhaust Works leased 2,400 square feet at 5294 N. Casa Grande Highway, Suite 110, from Tucson Sunset Industrial Plaza, represented by David Carroll of Romano

Real Estate Corporation. • Martha McSally Political Offi ce leased

2,400 square feet at 8060 E. 22nd St., Suites 136-140 in the Parkview Place Shopping Cen-ter from 8060 E. 22nd Street LLC. Th e land-lord was represented by Greg Furrier and Jeff Zellet, Picor Commercial Real Estate Services.

• Centennial Contractors Enterprises Inc. leased 2,400 square feet at 1801 S. Al-vernon Way, Suites 101 and 102, from Pres-son Midpoint LLC, represented by Rob Glaser and Paul Hooker, Picor Commercial Real Estate Services.

• DNA Personal Training leased 2,332 square feet at 3305 N. Swan Road from Camp Lowell I LLC, represented by Dave Dutson of CBRE. Th e tenant was represented by Jean Barclay of Oxford Realty Advisors.

• Christian Youth Th eater leased 2,300 square feet at 210 W. 5th Street, Suite 4 from Rodgers Investment Fund One, represent-ed by Brandon Rodgers of Picor.

• Swat Fitness leased 2,233 square feet at 3820 S. Palo Verde from Palo Verde Trust Partners LLC, represented by Rob Glaser of Picor. Th e tenant was represented by Jean Barclay of Oxford Realty Advisors.

• Weight Loss Institute of Arizona leased 2,135 square feet at La Cholla Medical Cen-ter, 6261 N. La Cholla Blvd., from Healthcare Trust of America, represented by Howard Schwiebert with Th e Plaza Companies.

• Seeing Machines Inc. leased 2,120 square feet at 2420 W. Ruthrauff Road, Suite 120, from Presson Scottsdale, represented by Rob Glaser with Picor.

• Domino’s Pizza leased 2,000 square feet at 5460 E. Speedway (Speedway-Cray-croft Plaza) from Larsen Baker, self-repre-sented by Andy Seleznov. Th e tenant was represented by Aaron LaPrise of Th e Harpel Company.

• M3 Engineering & Technology leased 2,000 square feet in River Crossing at the northeast corner of west River Road and north La Cholla Blvd., from W.M. Grace De-velopment, represented by Craig Finfrock of Commercial Retail Advisors.

• Ideal Rehabilitation LLC leased 2,000 square feet at 1020 S. Harrison Road from BSH Investments LLC, represented by Buzz Isaacson and Alan Tanner of CBRE. Th e ten-ant was represented by David Hammack of Volk Company Commercial Real Estate.

• Yellowbook Inc. leased 1,982 square feet at 3931 E. Paradise Falls from Chase Group LLC, represented by Andrew Stern-berg and Virginia Land of Oxford Realty Ad-visors. Th e tenant was represented by Bob Rieden of Lee & Associates.

• Open Care Dental Valencia leased 1,960 square feet at Mission Manor Shop-ping Center, 5530 S. 12th Ave., from GS Properties Management, represented by Robert Nolan of Oxford Realty Advisors.

• HRC Medical Centers leased 1,932 square feet at 2055 W. Medical Hospital Drive, from Windrose Northwest Profes-sional Plaza PR, represented by Bruce Sup-pes and David Volk of CBRE. Th e tenant was represented by Michael Coretz of Com-mercial Real Estate Group of Tucson.

As values recover, premium parcels are in high demand.

Phot

o by

Rog

er Y

ohem

• Green Valley Robin’s Nest leased 1,907 square feet at 18805 S. I-19 Frontage Road, Suite A-111 in Sahuarita from Sun Life As-surance Company, represented by Greg Furrier and Rob Tomlinson with Picor.

• Salazar Law Firm leased 1,897 square feet at 1 E. Congress, Suite 110 from Holua-loa Congress LLC, represented by Tom Nie-man of Picor.

• Saguaro Physicians LLC leased 1,868 square feet at 9356 E. Rita Road from TMC Holdings, represented by Rick Kleiner and Tom Knox, Picor Commercial Real Estate Services.

• Rebecca Sanford State Farm Insur-ance leased 1,850 square feet at 5655 E. River Road from Larsen Baker, self-repre-sented by Andy Seleznov. Aaron LaPrise, the Harpel Company, represented the tenant.

• W.M. Michael Cochran MD leased 1,846 square feet at 140 W. Duval Mine Road, Green Valley, in Valley Verde Center, from CJR Investments, represented by Da-vid Carroll, Romano Real Estate.

• Academy for Certifi cation of Vision Rehabilitation and Education Profes-sionals leased 1,540 square feet at 4732 N. Oracle Road from Oracle Offi ce Park Asso-ciates LLC, represented by Ike Isaacson of CBRE. Th e tenant was represented by Gary Best of Keller Williams.

• Goodwill leased 1,500 square feet at 11931 N. 1st Ave. in Oro Valley from CTW-FVP LLC, represented by Craig Finfrock of Commercial Retail Advisors. Barry Kitay of Whirlygig Properties represented the tenant.

• Heather Lindquist leased 1,485 square feet at 43 S. 6th Ave. from Rich Rodgers Central Inc., represented by Brandon Rod-gers of Picor.

• Gaetana’s Salon & Spa leased 1,200 square feet at 8060 E. 22nd St., Suite 112, from 8060 E. 22nd Street LLC & D Ragel Enterprises LLC. Th e landlord was repre-sented by Greg Furrier and Jeff Zellet, Picor Commercial Real Estate Services.

• Performance Sports Th erapy leased 1,219 square feet at 310 N. Wilmot Road from Healthcare Trust of America, rep-resented by Howard Schwiebert, the Plaza Companies.

• Steve Smith Family Enterprises leased 1,182 square feet at 3860 S. Palo Verde Road, Suite 312, from Palo Verde Trust Partners LLC, represented by Rob Glaser and Paul Hooker, Picor Commercial Real Estate Ser-vices. Jeff Zellet, also with Picor, represent-ed the tenant.

• Bing’s Boba Tea LLC leased 1,050 square feet at 2040 W. Orange Grove Road, Suite 104, from La Cholla Plaza LLC, rep-resented by David Carroll of Romano Real Estate Corporation.

• Skipco LLC leased 1,000 square feet at 3810 E. 44th St. from RR44 Inc., represent-ed by Brandon Rodgers, Picor Commercial Real Estate Services.

Email news items for this column to

[email protected]. Inside Real Estate &

Construction appears weekly.


When I fi rst got this job as editor of Inside Tucson Business, my inclination was to get rid of the opinion pages. I fi gured covering the facts of business news would be suffi cient. Besides, who cares about opinions on anything? Publisher Tom Lee suggested I rethink that position and we’ve continued to carry opinion columns. Judging from readership surveys and online views, they are some of our most-read items.

Lately, we’ve had a couple of times when there has been a back-and-forth volley between opinions from us or our columnists and political leaders. Th ese are good give-and-take arguments that I think are positive contributions to public discourse.

Th e fi rst time it happened it was over some opinions about Pima County government written by regular contributors Chris DeSimone and Joe Higgins. Th ey resulted in separate rebuttals from county supervisors Ramón Valadez and Sharon Bronson.

Now it has happened again over Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik’s idea to ask voters to possibly reallocate some money from the 20-year regional transportation plan approved by voters in May 2006 so that it can be used for pothole repairs. Two weeks ago, the idea was outlined in an Inside Tucson Business news story reporter Patrick McNamara wrote as well as in Kozachik’s opinion column. Last week, Inside Tucson Business weighed in with an editorial saying that for all the good Koza-chik has brought to the council, this one was a bad idea.

If you know Steve Kozachik, you know he is not one to shy away from a fi ght so the editorial prompted him to write a rebuttal which we’re carrying this week on page 25 in the printed issue.

In it he takes a shot at us saying he thought the editorial was tongue-in-cheek. Kozachik believes every issue should be “reconsider-able” by elected bodies. Basically, our argument is that we draw the line on matters that were approved by voters versus those that were approved by the political body them-selves. Just as with any other bond issue, the $2.1 billion approved by voters for the regional transportation plan should be spent the way it was promised to voters.

It would be opening up a can of worms to start changing the regional transportation plan at this point. Further, what projects would be fair game for consideration? And we didn’t even ask about why municipalities in other parts of Arizona are manag-ing to keep their roads in good condition compared to the pot-hole ridden streets we have — why hasn’t Tucson been maintaining its streets like other cities?

But I’ll let Councilman Kozachik have the last word in his opinion piece.

Up & ComersHere’s something to look forward to next week: Inside Tucson

Business presents the 2012 class of Up & Comers. A special section will be included in the April 13 print edition in which we profi le nine of this region’s young leaders who are making a diff erence.

When it arrives you might want to hold on to it. If ever you start to feel down about the future, these individuals will change that.

Contact David Hatfi eld at dhatfi [email protected]

or (520) 295-4237.

EDITORIAL

DAVID HATFIELD

BIZ BUZZ

On opinion columns and Up & Comers

EDITORIAL

For business sake, vote Dave SittonTwo years ago, Inside Tucson Business endorsed the

election of Jesse Kelly to the U.S. House of Representa-tives from Arizona’s Congressional District 8. It was a mistake. We allowed Democrats to set the agenda for the campaign by railroading out the best Republican candidate, Jonathan Paton.

Th at disheartened us so much we couldn’t bring ourselves to endorse Gabrielle Giff ords, even though she was the better candidate.

But is something similar about to happen again?We aren’t suggesting the Democrats have an

organized eff ort to eff ect the outcome of the Republican primary to benefi t their chosen heir apparent in the special election but, judging from polls Kelly is the front-runner in this year’s race among four candidates.

Readers of last week’s print issue of Inside Tucson Business’s might have noticed the results of the online poll showing that most people expect Kelly will win the primary, followed by Frank Antenori, Martha McSally and Dave Sitton in that order.

Yes, we know online polls are about as scientifi c as asking random 5 year-olds their opinions and the percentages in the poll were laughable but more than a couple of Republican insiders have told us their internal data is somewhat in keeping with the poll.

Democrats couldn’t be happier with such an outcome. All they have to do to win in the general election is press the fact that their man, Ron Barber, ran the district offi ce for Giff ords and he’ll be a shoo-in over Kelly — and probably by an even bigger margin than Giff ords beat him in 2010.

Jeff Rodgers, chairman of the Pima County Demo-crats, acknowledged on KUAT-TV 6’s “Arizona Illustrated” this month that his party helped engineer that showdown two years ago by actively campaigning to defeat Paton in the Republican primary. Paton was the stronger of the two candidates in 2010 and could have beaten Giff ords,

according to some political strategists. It used to be Republican candidates represented the

values of business and commerce. If ever there was a time when those values need a chance to be heard, it’s now when the economy is struggling to recover and too many people are still out of work.

While Kelly talks the party line, he eschews business leaders or getting involved with specifi c business issues.

Going down the list of Republicans, Antenori is an anathema to the business community. In his time in the Legislature he has shown he is willing to throw business interests under the bus if he perceives there is something else to be gained politically. Perhaps, Antenori’s biggest distraction is his demeanor. He regularly has to defend how he says something rather than what he is saying.

McSally brings with her candidacy an impressive résumé outside of politics. As an Air Force colonel she was the fi rst woman to fl y in combat. She has two master’s degrees and has been an instructor. She also gets how Congress works and could be a worthy representative for Southern Arizona.

But it’s Dave Sitton’s candidate that could be the test of whether the business community — especially the small business community — can deliver. Sitton launched his campaign at small businessman Jonathan Landeen’s Cork restaurant and his campaign lists more than 200 small business leaders in the region by name who are backing him.

Sitton has talked specifi cally of his 10-point plan for creating jobs. He also is fi rm on border security.

With just days remaining before the April 17 primary election, time is running out on Republicans to decide which candidate will be able to wrest back the Congres-sional seat Democratic Party leaders believe is theirs. We believe that candidate is Dave Sitton.


OPINIONWAKE UP, TUCSON

To fi x U.S. health care, inject free market principlesAs the U.S. Supreme Court contemplates

the fate of President Obama’s signature piece of legislation, now called Obamacare by even its proponents, we’d like to refl ect on how we got here as a country and how we could turn the page to truly set health care on the right path.

If we’ve learned anything in our 200-year history of capitalism in this country it’s that the free market is the most effi cient way to move goods and services. Th ose free-market principles are nowhere near what we have currently in the U.S. health care system. America leads the world in medical technology, devices and pharmaceuticals but we also spend double what most of the world does in cost per-capita on caring for the sick.

A monopolistic and over-regulated mess — and you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

Th e solution to healthcare reform is complex but the free market can bring about much-needed reforms. Th e current U.S. healthcare market is essentially a heavily regulated monopoly dominated by a handful of insurance carriers. Th ere is an artifi cial market cap set by the federal government in the form of Medicare from which all insur-ance carriers peg their reimbursements.

During the 1980s and 90’s consumers became accustomed to $5 co-pays. Medicine lost its value.

Business takes a wait-and-see approach

With the uncertainty surrounding the Constitutionality and what’s actually in the 2,700-page healthcare bill, business is patiently waiting on the sidelines. Do you hire your 50th employee? Do you hire temps or outsource portions of your operations? Do you expand? If you’re a medical practice do you buy the new $1 million MRI machine or expand operations

at all?Small business surveys taken by the

Arizona Small Business Association (ASBA) echo national small business surveys and point to uncertainty in healthcare as a key concern to operations. ASBA businesses responded that they are holding off on

growth and expansion, not giving raises and or cutting benefi ts and laying off employees are all attributed to health care costs and uncertainty. Many small business owners have realized they have been priced out of the healthcare market.

To fi x health care we must:• Create free market forces that post

pricing and allow the patient to shop and truly understand what they are buying and how much they’re paying for it. Look what price transparency has done to car buying or TVs. People are smarter than we give them credit for, show prices, features and benefi ts and convenience and let the market take over.

• Put doctors, patients and employers closer together and remove the insurance company from basic medical care. Th e insurance company as gatekeeper frus-trates doctors, patients and leaves employ-ers with little if any say in the system. Allowing employers to set up direct relationships with doctors and putting a little more of the price burden on patients will put the market to work.

• Tort reform is critical to stopping the defensive medicine that is practiced just to avoid the possibility of someday a patient could come back and make the doctors life miserable in defending a medical malprac-tice claim. Th e malpractice insurance cost

for a doctor practicing internal medicine in Illinois cost $47,731 per year and in Minnesota cost $3,375. Tort laws encourage or discourage defensive medicine.

• Doctors can and will give of their time to those that can’t aff ord to pay full price. Because of insurance and Medicare policies, contracts and price controls it’s diffi cult to establish sliding fees for service based on need. Why wouldn’t we encour-age providers to help out by off ering a tax credit or cover their medical malpractice fees as an incentive?

No doubt about it health care in Ameri-can is probably the best in the world and by far the most expensive. Th e only way the health care costs come under control is through free-market principles, which is completely opposite of Obamacare.

If the Supreme Court or the next administration doesn’t strike down the law get ready for fewer doctors, less choice, more government oversight and regulation and much higher costs either paid by everyone or added to the national debt.

Contact Joe Higgins and Chris DeSimone at [email protected]. Th ey host “Wake Up Tucson,” 6-8 a.m. weekdays on Th e Voice KVOI 1030-AM. Th eir blog is at www.TucsonChoices.com.

JOE HIGGINS

CHRIS DeSIMONE

GUEST OPINION

Times have changed, RTA money is needed to fi x roadsMy good friends on the editorial page of

Inside Tucson Business (March 30 issue) took some issue with my proposal to have voters consider using Regional Transporta-tion Authority (RTA) money for road repairs. Maybe. I’ve read through their points several times and am still trying to fi gure out if the editorial is satire, and in fact they’re in agreement.

Let’s go through their points:First, the editorial says the regional

transportation plan was an “extraordinary coming together of interests” and because it included so many diverse component parts, it cannot be touched. Good enough, but they also point out that it took four tries to get suffi cient ornaments on the Christ-mas tree so that enough people found something they liked and jumped on board. My suggestion does not tear down the tree, or even remove any of the ornaments. It simply says, let’s see if we might want to change the color or size of some of what’s hanging on the tree — and save taxpayer money. Inside Tucson Business has raised concerns that are similar to mine about bloated Pima County bond packages in the past.

Next, the editorial says that because the city council voted unanimously to adopt the regional transportation plan, it should not be challenged. Really? Inside Tucson Business now embraces a

7-0 Council vote as the standard by which we are to judge the sanctity of a plan or an ordinance. Th is was the point in reading the editorial at which I began to become suspicious that it wasn’t on the up and up.

Th e third point was that even if we dispute some of the projects, none of us should be able to remove any of them (they cite “even the streetcar.”) But remember, nothing in my proposal suggests that we remove anything from the plan. I’m simply asking that we embrace a second look at the scope of what has been proposed and see if there might be more eff ective ways to spend taxpayer dollars while still honoring the spirit of the regional transportation plan.

Th ey say the plan was about capacity, not repairs. Later they say that moving money into road maintenance from the RTA sales tax is “subterfuge.” It’s not subterfuge to suggest a simple reallocation of existing tax dollars to take care of an immediate problem. Th is should be the defi ning issue of this election cycle in our city, and in fact in the region. Fix what we have before building a larger infrastructure that will only increase that maintenance obligation.

Th e editorial says we need to keep our promises, and that the RTA has done “a remarkable job” of staying on task and delivering projects as promised. In fact, the truth is the RTA considers turning a shovel of dirt as having “implemented” a project. Th e voters might have been surprised had they been told that “staying on task” was not completing the work identifi ed in the plan, but merely starting multiple projects all around the region and struggling with another $152 million bond off ering to keep the multiple balls juggling in the air. Inside Tucson Business is about business. Recog-nizing a bad business model should be in their wheelhouse. Overextending and over committing is a bad business model.

Th e derogatory statements about the city being “unaccustomed to keeping promises,” or my suggestion being based on “a politician’s whim” are beneath the level of discourse generally found in Inside Tucson Business.

It’s not “whimsical” to suggest the following: Th e economy has fundamentally changed since 2006 when the regional transportation plan was adopted. Th e road conditions certainly have deteriorated. We need big suggestions to tackle a big problem. Continuing with incremental band-aid approaches is only going to result in the infrastructure of this region deterio-rating to much more signifi cant levels, and the costs for reconstruction becoming so large that following the Inside Tucson Business game plan will force an increase in taxes to address the issue.

Businesses don’t need higher property taxes. Homeowners don’t need higher property taxes. My proposal does not result in either of those.

Contact Tucson City Councilman Steve

Kozachik, who represents mid-town Ward 6, at

[email protected] or (520) 791-4601.

STEVE KOZACHIK


InsideTucsonBusiness.com

Next week’s poll: Do you think you’ll get a pay raise this year?

• Letters to the editor — Opinions on business-related issues or coverage of is-sues by Inside Tucson Business are encour-aged and will be published. Submit letters to the editor via email at [email protected]. Letters also may be mailed to Letters to the editor, Inside Tucson Business, P.O. Box 27087, Tucson, AZ 85726-7087. Let-ters must include the writer’s name and telephone number. Inside Tucson Business reserves the right to edit and may not print all letters that are received.

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Should RTA funding be re-directed to fi x potholes and do street maintenance?

Yes 49% No 51%

Shoulpo

OPINIONGUEST OPINION

Get behind a real change to tackle cross-border crime Th e federal government is not doing its

job in securing the border. Criminal aliens and drug cartels/gangs south of our border have turned Arizona into the gateway for drug shipping into the United States.

Fifty percent of the pot that comes into the U.S. comes through Arizona and, more recently, heroin smuggling has increased as Mexican drug growers expand their cultivation of poppy fi elds to make Mexico the number 2 heroin producer in the world, second only to Afghanistan.

If you don’t believe me, ask Tempe residents about the December 2011 raid which resulted in the arrest of 203 mem-bers of the Sinaloa drug cartel, which owns the Mexico-Arizona drug smuggling routes.

Or how about the March 3 shooting in a club near Arizona State University in Tempe which left 16 people wounded?

Th e shooting has been tied to rival gangs, traditionally the street distributors of the illegal drugs that come across our borders.

Meanwhile, terrorists mingle with all these criminal elements and quietly slip across the border. Some have been captured and arrested, but many have not.

New York Congressman Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security

Committee, testifi ed on March 21 that hundreds of terrorists, mostly Hezbollah, have already entered the United States and are lurking in sleeper cells throughout the nation.

All of Arizona’s border counties except Cochise contain massive amounts of restricted federal land adjacent to the border, including: Coro-nado National Forest, Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, several National Wildlife Refuges, and the Barry Goldwater Air Force Range.

Law enforcement offi cers are not allowed to pursue suspects on these restricted federal lands, which gives the illegal border crossers safe passage for, in some cases, at least 100 miles, not to mention a huge advantage over law enforcement.

Th at’s why some of the most intense intervention and apprehension activity is taking place along Interstate 8, west of Casa

Grande, instead of along the border. A Government Accountability Offi ce

Report (Number 11-38) describes the many roadblocks that get in the way of law enforcement agencies, including not only remote terrain but also federal policy that blocks law enforcement access to federal lands.

Do the drug cartels and human smug-glers ask permission to cross these restrict-ed lands? No. Th ey ignore the law, knowing that no one will stop them.

State agencies do not have the ability to eff ectively counter this widespread illegal activity. Sheriff s are limited to law enforce-ment within their respective counties. Th e Department of Public Safety is not de-signed, focused, or trained to counter this type of activity.

Th e federal government could call out the Arizona National Guard, but they won’t and, if the governor activated the guard, it would drain the state coff ers. He who calls out the guard pays the bill.

For more than six months, a state Senate working group composed of retired military, retired Border Patrol and other experts has been meeting to draft legisla-tion (SB 1083) for an Arizona Special Missions Unit (ASMU) to supplement the

eff orts of law enforcement and state agencies, including county and municipal leaders, in securing the border with Mexico.

Th e ASMU will be a low-cost, well-trained, statewide mobile force with a major focus on cross-border criminal activity and a goal of protecting the lives and property of the citizens of this state.

SB 1083 is so important for the safety and welfare of our citizens. We need the Arizona Special Missions Unit.

I encourage everyone to contact their legislators and the governor to support this legislation. We cannot lose this one.

Contact state Sen. Sylvia Allen,

R-Snowfl ake, at [email protected] or (602)

926-5219.

SYLVIA ALLEN


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