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February 2012 Published for SEAGO Member Entities and Strategic Partners Vol. 2, No. 2
Arizona — 100 Years Later
Industries That Aided Statehood Success Still Regional Mainstays
By Gary Dillard
It took decades for the Arizona Territory to get its heart’s desire — statehood.
No matter how much effort — and rhetoric — was put into the quest, Eastern
legislators continued to find reasons for denial.
The most famous story, most likely apocryphal, about the Eastern outlook on
continued on page 6
Regional Centennial Celebrations
Cochise County’s Centennial Celebration will begin at
12:30 p.m. on the 14th with a luncheon for officials from
around the county. Speaker will be Rebecca Orozco, history instructor from Cochise College. At 2:14 there will
be fireworks in the parking lot and the county will join
in a statewide ringing of bells.
In Sierra Vista, the Henry F. Hauser Museum is reopening with an assortment of displays and guest speakers
illustrating life in the Sierra Vista area at the time Arizona was granted statehood. The Historical Society has
published a booklet, available online, titled “Our Little
Corner of Cochise County 1912.”
N
ew
Graham County is sponsoring
sle
tte
a parade on Saturday, Feb. 11, on
Co
r
Main Street in Safford, starting
mm Pris spo
ns
m
at 11 a.m. The theme is
or
Gr Next unic
:
“A Century of Progress.”
e
With the news of statehood coming from the pen of President Taft, Bisbee
residents took to their automobiles and raced around downtown celebrating.
The battle for statehood had begun long before the towns of Southeastern
Arizona were incorporated. (Photo courtesy of Bisbee Mining Museum.)
Greenlee Historical Museum,
299 Chase Creek St. in Clifton,
will be celebrating the centennial
on Feb. 19 with a “birthday party”
from 2-4:30 p.m.
en
M a
lee ont tions
Co h:
un
ty
Warren, The City Beautiful
Bisbee-Area Community Seeking Placement on Historic Register
By John Charley
Mention the City of Bisbee, Arizona and
the majority of people immediately visualize the well maintained historic mining
town of houses and commercial buildings
clinging to hills and canyons in an almost
magical way.
However, there is another section of Bisbee that holds an equally prominent place
in the history of Arizona and the nation:
Warren.
The Warren District, the first planned
community in Arizona was designed by the
famed American city planner Warren Manning.
Using the principles of the City Beautiful Movement with a goal of providing a
safe, clean and holistic living alternative to
the highly industrialized town of Bisbee,
Manning created a series of streets, underground utilities, electric trolley car system,
a grand central park, and a mix of craftsman style homes that fan out and converge
at the Warren Baseball Park.
The Warren Baseball Park may be America’s oldest professional baseball field and
the oldest consecutively used ballpark in
America.
Role in 1917 deportation
In addition, Warren is the site of the 1917
Bisbee deportation of copper miners and
citizens; a major event in the nation’s labor
history that reached all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States.
The Warren neighborhood continues to
play a vital role in the City of Bisbee and
with the assistance of the Arizona State Historic Preservation Office, community volunteers and Ryden Architects has prepared
a submission to the Secretary of Interior for
the Placement of Warren on the National
Register of Historic Places.
Today Warren is home to Bisbee City
Hall, the Copper Queen Community Hospital, Chiricahua Community Health Center, the Boys and Girls Club and the nearby
Bisbee Municipal Airport.
Each year Warren plays host to the City’s
Fourth of July celebration, the Farmers
Market at Vista Park on Saturdays and the
continued on next page
The Turning Point Monthly, February 2012, page 2
What is a Foreign Trade Zone?
By A’kos Kovach
After a brainstorming session a few
months ago, I began researching Foreign
Trade Zones (FTZ) and found literally hundreds of reasons and thousands of examples
of what an enormous economic impact an
FTZ has to offer.
First some background — An FTZ is a
geographical area, adjacent to or near a
Port of Entry (such as Naco, Nogales and
Douglas.)
Commercial merchandise, both domestic and foreign, receives the same Customs
treatment as if it were outside the commerce
of the United States. What does this mean?
Merchandise of every description may
be held in the FTZ without being subject to
customs duties or other ad valorem taxes.
FTZs were created by the Foreign Trade
Zones Act of 1934, which intended to “expedite and encourage foreign commerce” in
the United States. There are only about 250
general-purpose FTZs and over 450 subzones approved.
Warren . . .
Annual Bisbee Blues Festival.
Given this combination of history and
current community activities it is the hope
of the City that this national honor will inspire new economic opportunities, increase
property values and promote a quality of
life that was originally envisioned in 1906.
Is issued at the beginning of each
month by the SouthEastern Arizona
Governments Organization Economic
Development District.
118 Arizona Street, Bisbee, AZ 85603
(520) 432-5301,
economicdevelopment@seago.org
To subscribe, visit www.seagoedd.org
A’kos Kovach, publisher and editor
Margaret Dillard, copy/graphics editor
Items for publication are welcomed from
SEAGO member entities and strategic
partners. Copy must be submitted at
least 7 business days prior to
the end of each month.
Or, in other words, FTZs are few and far
between and present great opportunity and
value to the communities they serve. There
are only seven FTZs in Arizona.
What sort of value?
Businesses that are currently importing
or exporting know the value of relief from
inverted tariffs; duty exemptions on re-exports; weekly entry savings and duty deferral.
Or, in simple terms — Customs duty is
deferred until merchandise is imported
from a Foreign Trade Zone into the United
States.
So, instead of companies having substantial monies tied up in Customs duties on
their inventory, they have use of that money
for other purposes.
If the merchandise is sent overseas or to a
neighboring country like Mexico or Canada then there are no fees, because the merchandise never “entered” the United States.
Further, here in Arizona, businesses located in a FTZ or sub-zone are eligible for
up to an 80 percent reduction in state real
and personal property taxes!
These savings are substantial and thus
attract important trade operations, ware-
housing, manufacturing, assembly, etc. to
FTZs.
FTZs attract both local and foreign investment, often adding hundreds of new
jobs and millions of dollars in payroll dollars which then have an economic impact
multiplier that surges throughout a community or region.
An active, well-organized, properly
managed FTZ will attract new employers,
increase sales tax collections, bed tax and
serve as an economic catalyst.
Keep your eye on these pages for more
news about FTZs in the SEAGO region.
Questions? Comments? Economicdevelopment@seago.org
Click here for the Nogales International’s
story about the men above and FTZ 60.
ACA Launches Arizona STEP Program
With funding under a grant from the U.S.
Small Business Administration (SBA) and
matching funds contributed by the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA), ACA has
launched Arizona’s State Trade and Export
Promotion (STEP) program, which will be
undertaken with public and private sector
partners in Arizona.
The STEP program will assist Arizona
small businesses (defined as those with less
than 500 employees) to enter export markets for the very first time or to expand into
new markets.
This will enable these businesses (which
account for 98% of the businesses in Arizona) to increase their revenues via international sales and to thereby be even more
significant engines for job creation and economic growth in Arizona.
ACA’s STEP program will be offering a
number of services and tools to Arizona
small businesses as they go global for the
first time with their sales or enter new in-
ternational markets.
Through various types of technical assistance/capacity building and levels of financial assistance, the continuum of services
and tools offered under the STEP program
include:
• Export readiness assessment of your
small business;
• Export education and counseling for
your company so that you can be informed
and equipped for success on the international stage (this will be done via education/training workshops, seminars and
webinars);
• Assistance with market selection strategy for your company so that it explores
and enters markets that are best suited for
your product or service; and
• Assistance to your company with development of international marketing materials, including brochures and websites
(and translation, if necessary.)
Get more details and forms
The Turning Point Monthly, February 2012, page 3
County unemployment continues to drop
Regional Events
By Robert Carreira
According to figures released by the Arizona
Office of Employment and Population Statistics,
adjusted for seasonality by the Cochise College
Center for Economic Research, Cochise County’s unemployment rate in December declined
from 8.1 to 8 percent, its lowest level since November 2009.
Statewide, the unemployment rate in December stabilized at 8.7 percent. According
Feb. 7, 8-3, Pinal Partnership is presenting the “Renewable Energy Economic Summit and Conference” in Casa
Grande. Information.
Feb. 11, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., Douglas Williams House will hold an opening reception for its new exhibit, “Douglas in the
Electrified Generation of the 1920s.”
Feb. 11, 6-9 p.m. at the Copper Queen
Library in Bisbee, the Friends will host
the 21st annual Valentine’s Day Chocolate Tasting. Cost is $10 per ticket.
to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, national unemployment dropped from 8.7 to
8.5 percent, its lowest since February 2009.
City-level seasonally adjusted unemployment rates for December were: Benson,
14.1 percent; Bisbee, 8.9 percent; Douglas,
12.3 percent; Huachuca City, 11.6 percent;
Sierra Vista, 4.9 percent; Tombstone, 5.5
percent; and Willcox, 12.2 percent.
Read more about unemployment
Feb. 16, 11:30 a.m., Douglas School
Office, 12th and A, Jerry V. Proctor,
Deputy to the Commanding General,
Fort Huachuca, will present “Fort Huachuca Update and Future Vision.” $10
per person. RSVP to (520) 456-6818.
Feb. 22, from 9-noon, Cochise College SV Campus will host an SBA Lending Fair in Room 900. Five banks are
scheduled to attend. Admission is free.
Feb. 29, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Patagonia
Town Hall, Local First Arizona is presenting a class on “Search Engine Optimization.” On March 1, 8-10 a.m., there
will be a class on “Social Media.” Admission is free.
March 1, 11:30 a.m., Patagonia Library, “The Value of Buying Local” will
be the topic of a brown-bag lunch and
discussion with Kimber Lanning of Local First Arizona. Admission is free.
Online Articles
➢ Incubation Inc.: Arizona Center for
Innovation moves to upgraded facilities,
expands programs to help startups get off
the ground.
➢ The Arizona Daily Star’s article on Arizona and the UAS opportunity.
The Turning Point Monthly, February 2012, page 4
Rural Businesses Using Local Talent To Build Online Presence
Slowly but steadily, businesses, nonprofits and governments in the SEAGO region
are learning the value of a strong online
presence.
Many of those who haven’t had this exposure are now dipping their toes in the water
— though some are jumping in bodily —
and those with an existing website or blog
are upgrading to the latest technologies.
In the midst of this information/marketing paradigm shift is Bisbee-based Prism
Communications, which has been providing traditional and “new media” solutions throughout the region for the past 20
years.
“My passion is video,” says owner Margaret Dillard, “which is at the heart of both the
traditional media — television — and the
new — YouTube and its feeds to websites,
blogs, social media and mobile devices.”
Her partner in the business is husband
Gary Dillard, who has been a newspaper
and magazine editor in the region for most
of his life.
He, too, has adapted the written word to
the different venue of new media.
“With a magazine, once you publish,
that’s it. With the internet, you can continually update and add new information after
getting almost instantaneous input from
readers,” he said. “It doesn’t get any better
than that.”
Rural doesn’t mean remote
While Southeastern Arizona may be rural, it doesn’t have to be remote. With the
advent of high-speed internet, the region’s
attractive lifestyle has drawn numerous
business owners who can live here and work
and do business anywhere in the world.
And those who had, or who are opening,
brick-and-mortar business are quickly seeing the opportunity to market and spread
their businesses to a much wider audience.
Cochise College and its Small Business
Development Center have been quick to
support this transition and on a timeframe
that has paralleled Margaret’s move of her
business into website design, social media,
online video and similar fields.
Mark Schmitt, director of the SBDC, approached Margaret early in 2011 to teach
classes on the various subjects of doing
business online.
At earlier seminars Schmitt had put together, Margaret had presented on the sub-
Some of
Prism Communications’
recent websites
Town of Patagonia
SEAGO EDD
True Power Effect
CCAH Cake Auction
ject of video in marketing, drawing on her
skills gain in years of producing the Focus
on Bisbee project for Channel 2 in Bisbee
and Cochise County TV, a local-interest
program that ran throughout the region.
Schmitt knew that Margaret had expanded into online development as the market
had begun to grow locally and she and Gary
agreed to present classes on social media,
blog development, video and the like.
Strong interest in video
“I was amazed at the interest in using
Facebook and LinkedIn for marketing and
using WordPress to develop blogs,” she said.
“But what really astounded me was the interest in do-it-yourself video.
“Video can be expensive to make, but
with an inexpensive Flipcam — or even the
camera on your iPhone — you can create
exciting content for your online presence.
“It requires relatively little training to
take advantage of free or low-cost software
to make really adequate videos,” she said.
Margaret started making website using
high-end software such as Adobe’s DreamWeaver, but the learning curve was too
steep to allow any but the most dedicated
website builders to take advantage of its almost limitless functions.
“Most people, we have found, have pretty
basic expectations about their web pres-
ence: They want someone else to set it up,
but they want the day-to-day changes to be
simple enough to do in-house.
“With these criteria in mind, we’ve move
almost all of our development over to WordPress, a blogging platform that is responsible for more sites on the internet than any
other content management system.”
Prism Communication still builds sites
for most of its customers, and for a few it
even manages day-to-day changes, “but
most businesses and non-profits really like
the fact that they can do all the changes
themselves, from something like posting
new hours to writing about new product
lines and services,” Margaret said.
Times, they are a-changin’
Margaret says that because technology is
changing so fast that she and Gary spend
about 1 hour on their own education for
each 3 they spend working with customers.
“We’re currently working out ways that
both businesses and communities as a
whole can take advantage of QR, or quickresponse, codes, which you can find everywhere in the bigger cities.
“Now that most businesses are ready for
PC-based business, we have to move them
on along to mobile devices, such as cell
phones and pads, so they can stay current
with their customers’ needs.
The Turning Point Monthly, February 2012, page 5
continued from page 1
the value of the arid West came about when
one statehood advocate — variously attributed in different narratives — said that all
Arizona needed was water and a few good
people. An Easterner, also variously named,
replied: “Sir, that’s all Hell needs!”
When success finally came in the months
leading up to that celebrated day when
President William H. Taft finally signed the
legislation, Feb. 14, 1912, it was in no small
part due to the yeoman efforts of many people in what is now the SEAGO region.
And it was the industries that still contribute extraordinarily to the area’s success
that played an undeniable role in getting
Congress to change its mind.
Crime across the border
From times before Arizona became a
part of the United States, and before a border even existed, the region was rife with
the illegal type of commerce. Trade routes
generally ran north-south, because that was
the trending of the mountain ranges.
Once a border was created, this crime
was even more prevalent. The most famous
historic event in the region, the “Gunfight
at the O.K. Corral,” has in its origin hints of
cattle rustling in Mexico by those considered the “bad guys” at the gunfight.
Arizona finally create a Ranger corps to
combat this crime. Legislated into being in
1901, the Arizona Rangers were mandated to have their headquarters in the most
crime-striken part of the state. Over its
nine-year life, the group was always on the
border, at Bisbee, Douglas and Naco.
But it got the job done and undoubtedly
that was noticed in Washington.
Marvellous minerals, like this malachite from Bisbee, were found at mines throughout
the region and were displayed at many world’s fairs, drawing attention to the riches of
Arizona. (Photo courtesy of Roger Weller, geology instructor at Cochise College.)
There was good trade, too. Though Mexico had sought east-west rails to cross the
mountains and unify the nation, U.S. railroad builders had driven them north-south,
because Mexico had resources and the
United States had markets. (This would be
a major factor leading to the Revolution in
1910, but that’s another story altogether.)
These rails came up through Nogales in
the 1880s and later into Douglas, bringing
great agricultural and mineral wealth. In
the ensuing 100 years, little has changed.
Man, that mineral wealth
Arizona produced important amount of
silver as early as the Civil War — that’s why
the area became a territory. Sylvester Mowry’s mine near Nogales and Patagonia did
its share in winning that war (and a huge
silver mine is now being planned nearby.)
But the great wealth was — and still is
— in copper. Beyond just the real wealth,
the state was aided by the perception that
traveled the world in the form of fabulous
mineral speciments from the Morencis and
Bisbees of the territory.
These minerals, when displayed at world’s
fairs, were great calling cards for Arizona’s
plea for statehood.
Let’s not forget the Army
From soon after the Gadsden Purchase in
1853, military bases were established in the
region, first near Nogales, then in Graham
and Cochise Counties as well.
While these early bases were a burden
on the Eastern taxpayer, later bases such
as Fort Huachuca were important to the
nation’s overall military policy, especially in
defending the border during the Mexican
Revolution.
There are many reasons why Arizona became a state, but southeastern Arizona’s rich
history makes for strong bragging rights.
The Turning Point Monthly, February 2012, page 6
Resolutions of Support
By Akos Kovach
Remember the theme from the first
“Rocky” movie? It was a contemporary orchestral compilation — with lots of horns
— escalating excitement, building to a crescendo with piano and voice leading the
charge “to the top.”
That music, written by Bill Conti,
“branded” the movie and left an indelible
memory of Rocky Balboa jogging through
the streets and eventually climbing 70-plus
stairs leading to the entry of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The SEAGO Region has faced incredible
challenges lately, both internal and external
problems, an economic meltdown, population losses — the list is lengthy.
But as we learn the many Rules of Life,
the number of times you are knocked down
does not matter; what does matter is how
quickly and how often you pick yourself
up.
Just as in the first Rocky movie, we are at
a crossroad. Should we continue doing the
same old things the same old way and hope
for a new result?
While Rocky did “go back to the basics,”
he also listened to good advice and educated himself, putting mistakes and bad choices behind him.
With the help of others, Rocky faced his
problems and shortcomings, and with hard
work and determination he conquered his
“circumstance” and rose “to the top.”
Our demons have taken the form of unemployment, increasing poverty and decreasing population.
Tourism and bed tax dollars have dwindled. Road repair dollars, CDBG and Housing programs have been severely cut.
But opportunity is knocking at the door.
As Albert Einstein once wrote, “There are
two ways to live: You can live as if nothing
is a miracle; you can live as if everything is
a miracle.”
Case in Point: HR 1540 — legislation
signed into Law as the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
The NDAA mandates that the FAA integrate Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)
into the National Airspace System (NAS).
To accomplish this mission, the FAA must
select 6 national test ranges to gather data
and work through the safety issues of flying
Arizona Members of Congress sent a
support letter for an Arizona-based FAA
Test Range on Jan. 30. To see how they
worded their support, visit the SEAGO
EDD blog.
remotely piloted aircraft alongside piloted
aircraft.
It must use criteria such as the size and
availability of non-exclusionary airspace,
proximity to restricted airspace, military
operating areas, border patrol operations,
other airspace uses like general aviation
activity, weather for continuous testing,
VFR operations, geography, elevation and
climate.
Pfc. James Leaverton, left, became the
10,000th Unmanned Aerial System
Operations graduate since the program started in 1986. He receives his
wings from Jerry Proctor, Deputy to
the Commanding General, U.S. Army
Intelligence Center of Excellence. Photo by Beatrice Richardson of the Sierra
Vista Herald. For the complete story,
visit the newspaper’s website.
Benson Termed Ideal for UAS Test, Development Site
Jerry V. Proctor, Deputy to the Commanding General, U.S. Army Intelligence
Center and Fort Huachuca, left, talks to
Kevin Oberg of Benson during a recent
presentation by Proctor about the suitability of the Benson airport for an Unmanned
Aerial Systems test site.
The presentation was made at a meeting
of the Benson/San Pedro Valley Chamber
of Commerce.
For the complete story, visit the San Pedro Valley News-Sun website.
Benson airport scores No. 1
Whose airport came out No. 1? Benson,
Arizona!
What does this mean? Job creation and
capital infusion. Hundreds of new high
quality, high-salaried jobs primary jobs
plus hundreds of support jobs.
This includes the multitude of private
contractors who will need to locate nearby
in order to facilitate testing of Next Gen radar, air traffic control panels, training pilots
and testing.
You can help. The Arizona Commerce
Authority is gathering letters of support.
Every city and town, each county, councils
of government, etc. can add their voice to
the chorus.
We support new job creation, we support the selection of the Benson Municipal
Airport as one of the six FAA national test
ranges.
Just as Rocky determined to reshape his
future, the SEAGO Region can now reshape
our future. Act now, you have it in your
hands to reshape and diversify our economy for generations to come.
Questions? Want to learn more? Contact:
economicdevelopment@seago.org
The Turning Point Monthly, February 2012, page 7
Lawton-Fort Sill Economic Development Corporation
Group Tours Ft Huachuca, Meets with Sierra Vista Officials
A commitment to excellence
is not just a mission statement
to the 40 some representatives
that recently flew from Lawton,
Oklahoma to Sierra Vista.
This trade delegation came
to learn and share as they have
done several times over the past
few months across our great nation.
This group does not resemble
the image or definition of a traditional Chamber of Commerce
— the LFSEDC is incorporated
and organized to promote and
advance commercial, industrial, recreational, agricultural,
health, educational, social and
professional activities of the
people of the Lawton-Fort Sill
community in southwestern
Oklahoma.
Their objectives include:
1. Collecting and compiling information of value to the
growth and welfare of the Lawton Fort Sill area.
2. Encouraging and aiding
the development of existing
business and industry, and establishing viable economic development programs.
3. Affirming the friendship
between Lawton and Fort Sill,
and furthering the interests of
the area.
Visit their website and you
find tourism, local attractions,
dining, lodging, entertainment,
reasons to relocate, and much
more — all of which points to
the positive energy created by
teamwork.
The two-and-a-half day visit,
January 25-27, was extremely
well planned and organized.
Kudos to the planning team
in Lawton and Fort Sill as well
as here at Ft Huachuca and Si-
Living Sustainably: It’s Your Choice
Would you like to live more
sustainably?
Are you unsure of what it
might mean?
Is all the information out
there confusing?
The new NNSLE course
“Living Sustainably: It’s Your
Choice” can help.
It’s now online at the Cooperative Extension Service.
To enroll in this class, first go
to campus.extension.org.
Second, create an account or
use your existing account.
To create an account click on
“Create new account” and fill in
the information requested.
If you already have an account, look to the left and enter
your username and password to
login.
When you create a new account you should receive an
email confirming the account
creation within an hour or so.
Follow the instructions in the
email to enable the account.
If you do not get a confirmation email please email moodlehelp@extension.org for help.
Once you are logged in you
will see a list of course categories; click on the category
“Community and Economics,”
then scroll down until you see
“Living Sustainably: It’s Your
Choice.”
Click on this and you will be
taken to the course to enroll.
The Turning Point Monthly, February 2012, page 8
erra Vista.
The itinerary kept attendees
moving from one location to
another, while providing them
with critical content on how the
private sector and civilians can
best be educated about the type
and level of support any Army
base needs in order to remain
economically vibrant.