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Phoenix Business Journal
ASU's Dillingham dismisses skeptics who predict poor Big 12 finish
LAS VEGAS – In its second year under coach Kenny Dillingham, the Arizona State football team looks to continue building a culture, even while it adapts to a new conference, the Big 12.<\p> Dillingham participated in the Sun Devils’ first Big 12 Football Media Day at Allegiant Stadium on July 9 along with four of his players: defensive back Xavion Alford, offensive lineman Leif Fautanu, running back Cameron Skattebo and defensive lineman Clayton Smith.<\p>
‘Something to prove’: ASU men’s basketball rebuilds for Big 12
TEMPE – After a disappointing 2023-24 campaign, ASU men’s basketball is looking to the future. The Sun Devils have utilized the transfer portal ahead of the 2024-25 season and acquired a trio of four- and five-star commits that could make the Sun Devils a formidable force in their Big 12 Conference debut.<\p> The buzz around the Tempe campus centers on five-star commit Jayden Quaintance. The 6-foot-9 center, who played at Word of God Christian Academy (Raleigh, North Carolina), was a top prospect for schools like the University of Kentucky and Florida. However, the top center in the 2024 class chose the desert as his new home with coach Bobby Hurley taking the reins of his highly skilled rim control.<\p>
Phoenix creates commission to keep city in sports spotlight
Phoenix is no longer the country's largest city without a sports commission focused on the intersection of sports and business in the region.<\p> The city of Phoenix and Visit Phoenix, Greater Phoenix’s convention and visitors bureau, have come together to for the Phoenix Sports & Events Commission.<\p>
White House opens competition for advanced chip packaging RD
The U.S. Department of Commerce is launching a federal funding competition for research and development related to semiconductor chip advanced packaging.<\p> The Department of Commerce plans to invest $1.6 billion in project proposals across five areas of research and development: equipment, tools, processes and process integration; power delivery and thermal management; connector technology; chiplets ecosystem and co-design/electronic design automation.<\p>
How Arizona farmers are going solar
WASHINGTON – For 31 straight days last summer, temperatures in Phoenix hit or topped 110 degrees, the longest such streak ever. That searing Arizona heat dehydrates crops and evaporates water the state needs to conserve.<\p> Creating shade is one way to combat the problem.<\p>
Troon acquires caddie tech and management company, adding to busy year
Scottsdale-based Troon, an international golf and hospitality management company, is making another major acquisition to boost its caddie services division.<\p> Troon announced on July 8 that it has acquired Lincoln-based CaddieNow, which allows Troon to offer caddie services and solutions to private clubs, public courses and resorts based on a property’s needs. CaddieNow’s caddie management solutions and programs are added to Troon’s family, which now includes 15 different brands. <\p>
Mortgage lender to cut 73 East Valley workers
Pennsylvania-based Newrez LLC has notified the state of Arizona that it intends to lay off 73 workers at its Tempe facility.<\p> This move follows other Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN letters, filed in Colorado and Florida to acknowledge layoffs in those states. Newrez has now laid off 569 employees in Arizona, Colorado and Florida between May 2024 to August 2024, according to WARNTracker.com.<\p>
Dutch Bros signs huge East Valley office lease
Dutch Bros Inc. has found its home for a corporate office in Arizona. <\p> Dutch Bros (NYSE: BROS), which is based in Grants Pass, Oregon, has signed a full-building lease at Liberty Center at Rio Salado — a business park in Tempe — according to industry sources and multiple second quarter office market reports by brokerage firms with a presence in Phoenix. Dutch Bros will occupy 136,426 square feet at 1930 W. Rio Salado Pkwy, in the same building that was once home to the headquarters of Tempe-based online car retailer Carvana Co.<\p>
Phoenix offers cash for restaurants to reduce food waste
The city of Phoenix is giving away thousands of dollars to downtown restaurants to help them reduce food waste.<\p> The city’s Office of Environmental Programs is expanding it Project Reduce Program to a second phase, making microgrants of up to $2,000 available to restaurants in downtown Phoenix to implement simple, convenient and innovative food waste prevention solutions.<\p>
Lucid shares pop on strong EV deliveries
A short statement issued Monday by electric vehicle maker Lucid Group Inc. had a big impact on its share price, which gained nearly 8%.<\p> Newark, California-based Lucid Group (Nasdaq: LCID), which produces its Lucid Air luxury electric sedans at a plant south of Phoenix in Casa Grande, said it produced 2,110 vehicles during the quarter and delivered 2,394 EVs during the three months ending on June 30.<\p>
CopperPoint Insurance names CEO as board chair
CopperPoint Insurance Companies, a multistate commercial insurance company headquartered in Phoenix, said Monday that Marc Schmittlein, the firm's president and CEO, will succeed Ken Kirk as executive chairman of the board of directors.<\p> Schmittlein was elected as executive chair at the company’s June 25-26 board meeting. He joined CopperPoint as CEO in 2016. Since that time he has overseen an organizational transformation, taking the company from $255 million in gross written premiums and $3.6 billion in total assets in 2016 to $715 million in gross written premiums and $5.2 billion in total assets in 2023. <\p>
East Valley city to review Dallas data center developer's plans
More than six years after acquiring nearly 70 acres of southeast Mesa land, CyrusOne is set to have its plans for a data center campus considered by the city.<\p> Mesa's design review board will hear a proposal on July 9 for Dallas-based CyrusOne's five-building campus that would bring more than 1.4 million square feet of new data center development online near the intersection of Elliot and Ellsworth roads. Each of the buildings would be two stories apiece and span 290,023 square feet, according to drawings submitted to the city of Mesa. <\p>
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