CaliberPulse

Watch the full presentation We are experiencing dramatic shifts in consumer behavior. Consumer behavior is changing rapidly and it’s difficult, but not impossible, for brands to keep up with them and adapt accordingly. It takes a constant eye on consumer trends and adjusting marketing strategies as needed to reach audiences.  The reality is that the […]

Last week I attended a presentation by Dr. Lattie Coor, chairman and CEO of the Center for the Future of Arizona and Arizona State University president emeritus, and learned some meaningful statistics about Arizona residents that communicators will find valuable when engaging with Arizona audiences. These facts were published recently in a state-level report on Arizona’s civic health prepared by the center, with help from the National Conference on Citizenship, a Congressionally chartered organization that publishes America’s Civic Health Index (1).

After a long month of controversial legislative decisions putting Arizona in the national media hot seat, some welcome positive news emerged: Tucson came in as number 19 on Forbes’ list of “America's Most Innovative Cities.” Tucson’s rankings, as reported by the May 27 Arizona Daily Star: • 31st for technology and science jobs • 27th for creative jobs • 16th in patents per capita • 45th in venture investments per capita. The ranking puts Tucson is the company of San Jose, Calif., was at the top of the list, followed by Austin, Texas; Raleigh, N.C.; San Francisco; and Seattle. Phoenix or New York did not make the top-20.

The Tucson Gem, Mineral & Fossil Showcase, which will bring thousands of buyers, sellers and treasure hunters from around the world to Southern Arizona through Feb. 14, will remain a Southern Arizona tradition and economic rainmaker. Fears that the Tucson Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show, commonly referred to as “the gem show,” will leave Tucson are “unfair” and “unrealistic,” said Kimberly Schmitz, director of communications and public relations for the Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau. One of Tucson’s premier events, the showcase packs an annual $100 million wallop into the local economy. On its heels: Accenture Match Play Championship, La Fiesta de los Vaqueros (the Tucson Rodeo) and Spring Training. (The Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies leave Tucson for a new spring training facility east of Phoenix in 2011.)

The Burlington Coat Factory, setting up shop in El Con Mall, and the Casitas on Broadway, being built east of Campbell Avenue, are optimistic indicators of one of Tucson’s major, albeit rundown, thoroughfares. The Broadway Corridor stretching east from Downtown is pockmarked with dated, dingy buildings. Renovating a decades-old building can be cost prohibitive and some parking lots are actually parking slivers. However, the retailer and the senior housing facility point to the potential of the corridor. Burlington Coat Factory took a 10-year lease on 65,000-square-feet of former Dillard’s space in El Con Mall, 3601 E. Broadway Blvd., according to the CoStar Group, a commercial real estate information company. Burlington is expected to open in March in space that was vacant for more than 10 years.

Gov. Jan Brewer’s proclamation — “Arizona is open for business” — should be a rallying point for Arizona businesses. “Government can’t create jobs … only the free market can,” said Brewer as she laid out an agenda packed with economic development specifics in her State of the State Luncheon/Address Jan. 12 at the Tucson Convention Center. Overarching comments on state budget and a looming $5 billion deficit dominated the first half of her speech, but during the second half she spoke passionately of shoring up the economy through private sector involvement. Brewer cited several economic accomplishments or “strategic wins.” On the top of her list: Suntech Power, China’s largest solar panel manufacturer, which plans to begin production of its first American plant near Phoenix in the third quarter and it plans to eventually employ 200.