Regional Centennial Celebrations

February 2012 Published for SEAGO Member Entities and Strategic Partners Vol. 2, No. 2

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Arizona — 100 Years LaterIndustries That Aided Statehood Success Still Regional Mainstays

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.)

By Gary DillardIt 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

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, his-tory 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 reopen-ing with an assortment of displays and guest speakers illustrating life in the Sierra Vista area at the time Ari-zona was granted statehood. The Historical Society has published a booklet, available online, titled “Our Little Corner of Cochise County 1912.”

Graham County is sponsoringa parade on Saturday, Feb. 11, onMain Street in Safford, starting at 11 a.m. The theme is “A Century of Progress.”

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.

Newsletter sponsor:

Prism

Communications

Next Month:

Greenlee County

The Turning Point Monthly, February 2012, page 2

By John CharleyMention the City of Bisbee, Arizona and

the majority of people immediately visu-alize 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 Bis-bee 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 Man-ning.

Using the principles of the City Beauti-ful 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, under-ground utilities, electric trolley car system, a grand central park, and a mix of crafts-

man style homes that fan out and converge at the Warren Baseball Park.

The Warren Baseball Park may be Amer-ica’s oldest professional baseball field and the oldest consecutively used ballpark in America.

Role in 1917 deportationIn 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 Su-preme 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 His-toric Preservation Office, community vol-unteers 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 Hos-pital, Chiricahua Community Health Cen-ter, 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

Warren, The City BeautifulBisbee-Area Community Seeking Placement on Historic Register

continued on next page

The Turning Point Monthly, February 2012, page 3

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.orgTo subscribe, visit www.seagoedd.org

A’kos Kovach, publisher and editorMargaret Dillard, copy/graphics editor

Items for publication are welcomed fromSEAGO member entities and strategic partners. Copy must be submitted at

least 7 business days prior tothe end of each month.

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 in-spire new economic opportunities, increase property values and promote a quality of life that was originally envisioned in 1906.

Warren . . .

ACA Launches Arizona STEP ProgramWith funding under a grant from the U.S.

Small Business Administration (SBA) and matching funds contributed by the Arizo-na 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 mar-kets for the very first time or to expand into new markets.

This will enable these businesses (which account for 98% of the businesses in Ari-zona) to increase their revenues via inter-national sales and to thereby be even more significant engines for job creation and eco-nomic 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 assis-

tance/capacity building and levels of finan-cial 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 interna-tional stage (this will be done via educa-tion/training workshops, seminars and webinars);

• Assistance with market selection strat-egy 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 de-velopment of international marketing ma-terials, including brochures and websites (and translation, if necessary.)

Get more details and forms

By A’kos KovachAfter a brainstorming session a few

months ago, I began researching Foreign Trade Zones (FTZ) and found literally hun-dreds 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 domes-tic 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 “ex-pedite and encourage foreign commerce” in the United States. There are only about 250 general-purpose FTZs and over 450 sub-zones approved.

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-ex-ports; weekly entry savings and duty defer-ral.

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 substan-tial 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 Cana-da then there are no fees, because the mer-chandise never “entered” the United States.

Further, here in Arizona, businesses lo-cated 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 in-vestment, often adding hundreds of new jobs and millions of dollars in payroll dol-lars which then have an economic impact multiplier that surges throughout a com-munity 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? Economicdevel-opment@seago.org

What is a Foreign Trade Zone?

Click here for the Nogales International’s story about the men above and FTZ 60.

Regional Events

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 Ari-zona and the UAS opportunity.

The Turning Point Monthly, February 2012, page 4

County unemployment continues to dropBy 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 Coun-ty’s unemployment rate in December declined from 8.1 to 8 percent, its lowest level since No-vember 2009.

Statewide, the unemployment rate in De-cember stabilized at 8.7 percent. According

to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, na-tional unemployment dropped from 8.7 to 8.5 percent, its lowest since February 2009.

City-level seasonally adjusted unemploy-ment 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. 7, 8-3, Pinal Partnership is pre-senting the “Renewable Energy Eco-nomic Summit and Conference” in Casa Grande. Information.

Feb. 11, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., Douglas Wil-liams House will hold an opening recep-tion 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 Choco-late Tasting. Cost is $10 per ticket.

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 Hua-chuca Update and Future Vision.” $10 per person. RSVP to (520) 456-6818.

Feb. 22, from 9-noon, Cochise Col-lege SV Campus will host an SBA Lend-ing 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 pre-senting a class on “Search Engine Opti-mization.” On March 1, 8-10 a.m., there will be a class on “Social Media.” Admis-sion is free.

March 1, 11:30 a.m., Patagonia Li-brary, “The Value of Buying Local” will be the topic of a brown-bag lunch and discussion with Kimber Lanning of Lo-cal First Arizona. Admission is free.

The Turning Point Monthly, February 2012, page 5

Slowly but steadily, businesses, nonprof-its and governments in the SEAGO region are learning the value of a strong online presence.

Many of those who haven’t had this expo-sure 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/market-ing paradigm shift is Bisbee-based Prism Communications, which has been pro-viding traditional and “new media” solu-tions throughout the region for the past 20 years.

“My passion is video,” says owner Marga-ret 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 continu-ally 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 remoteWhile Southeastern Arizona may be ru-

ral, 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 see-ing 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, ap-proached Margaret early in 2011 to teach classes on the various subjects of doing business online.

At earlier seminars Schmitt had put to-gether, Margaret had presented on the sub-

Rural Businesses Using Local Talent To Build Online Presence

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 expand-ed 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 in-terest 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 Dream-Weaver, but the learning curve was too steep to allow any but the most dedicated website builders to take advantage of its al-most limitless functions.

“Most people, we have found, have pretty basic expectations about their web pres-

Some of Prism Communications’

recent websites

Town of PatagoniaSEAGO EDD

True Power EffectCCAH Cake Auction

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 Word-Press, a blogging platform that is responsi-ble 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 quick-response, codes, which you can find every-where 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 6

the value of the arid West came about when one statehood advocate — variously attrib-uted 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 peo-ple in what is now the SEAGO region.

And it was the industries that still con-tribute extraordinarily to the area’s success that played an undeniable role in getting Congress to change its mind.

Crime across the borderFrom times before Arizona became a

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.)

part of the United States, and before a bor-der 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 consid-ered 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 mandat-ed 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.

There was good trade, too. Though Mex-ico had sought east-west rails to cross the mountains and unify the nation, U.S. rail-road 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 wealthArizona produced important amount of

silver as early as the Civil War — that’s why the area became a territory. Sylvester Mow-ry’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 ArmyFrom 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 be-came a state, but southeastern Arizona’s rich history makes for strong bragging rights.

continued from page 1

The Turning Point Monthly, February 2012, page 7

By Akos KovachRemember the theme from the first

“Rocky” movie? It was a contemporary or-chestral compilation — with lots of horns — escalating excitement, building to a cre-scendo 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 Philadel-phia Museum of Art.

The SEAGO Region has faced incredible challenges lately, both internal and external problems, an economic meltdown, popula-tion 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 educat-ed himself, putting mistakes and bad choic-es 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 un-employment, increasing poverty and de-creasing population.

Tourism and bed tax dollars have dwin-dled. Road repair dollars, CDBG and Hous-ing 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 De-fense Authorization Act (NDAA).

The NDAA mandates that the FAA inte-grate 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

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.

Benson airport scores No. 1Whose 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 ra-dar, 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 sup-port 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 econo-my for generations to come.

Questions? Want to learn more? Contact: economicdevelopment@seago.org

Resolutions of Support

Benson Termed Ideal for UAS Test, Development SiteJerry V. Proctor, Deputy to the Com-

manding General, U.S. Army Intelligence Center and Fort Huachuca, left, talks to Kevin Oberg of Benson during a recent presentation by Proctor about the suitabil-ity 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 Pe-dro Valley News-Sun website.

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.

Pfc. James Leaverton, left, became the 10,000th Unmanned Aerial System Operations graduate since the pro-gram started in 1986. He receives his wings from Jerry Proctor, Deputy to the Commanding General, U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence. Pho-to by Beatrice Richardson of the Sierra Vista Herald. For the complete story, visit the newspaper’s website.

The Turning Point Monthly, February 2012, page 8

Group Tours Ft Huachuca, Meets with Sierra Vista Officials

Lawton-Fort Sill Economic Development Corporation

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 na-tion.

This group does not resemble the image or definition of a tra-ditional Chamber of Commerce — the LFSEDC is incorporated and organized to promote and advance commercial, indus-trial, 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 compil-

ing information of value to the growth and welfare of the Law-ton Fort Sill area.

2. Encouraging and aiding the development of existing business and industry, and es-tablishing viable economic de-velopment 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-

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.

Living Sustainably: It’s Your ChoiceWould 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 Coop-erative 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 ac-count, look to the left and enter

your username and password to login.

When you create a new ac-count 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 confirma-tion email please email moodle-help@extension.org for help.

Once you are logged in you will see a list of course cat-egories; 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.