by: Stephanie Gonzalez, CEO & Managing Partner photo by: Jeff Beene Last week our good friend, Bernie Espinosa, invited us to attend an event at Capital Grille in Scottsdale. By ‘us to attend’ I mean Brian and me. The event was hosted by Lawyer’s Title & GPEC. GPEC is the Greater Phoenix Economic Council. I have heard of GPEC for many years but my hands-on knowledge of inner workings is limited. I had some great take-aways from the 60-minutes we spent with Colleen Schwab, SVP of Marketing & Communications at GPEC, that I want to share! Take-away #1 – Where we’ve been… I have lived in Phoenix Arizona for 15 years and did not know (AKA, have not taken the time to learn) some basic facts about Arizona and Metro Phoenix. Arizona was established and founded on February 14, 1912. The growth of our big, beautiful State stumbled along from 1912 to 1929; until the advent of the A/C funnily enough. Did you know we possess more than 800 regional lakes? Huh….who knew? Maricopa is the fastest growing county in the US. Phoenix is the 5th largest city. Over the past 20 years we have further solidified our local job competencies and are often found on the leading edge with financial services, information and high tech (or tech-adjacent industries). We are host to 144,000 jobs who average $69,000 in annual income – and with an average home price of $290,000, this allows for a healthy rate of current residents to attain the American dream of home ownership. We definitely have room to improve our local pride, and I think local businesses, communities, and organizations like North&Co. are trying to do their part to introduce fun ways to help residents establish roots and build morale, camaraderie and pride. Take-away #2 – Where we’re going…. Prior to last week I was completely unaware that we had an organization like GPEC that helped promote the growth of both our State and city. Due to some bad press “Phoenix Descending: Is Boomtown USA Going Bust?” Terry Goddard demanded that we stay proactive and excise any economic hardships or decay. GPEC was founded in 1989. GPEC is the investment promotion agency to market and champion our growth for attracting quality businesses and high wages. GPEC is partially funded by, and supports, 22 local communities and a growing population of almost 5M. Every day, the GPEC Executive Team (which includes Colleen Schwab) creates proactive outreach to make sure we grow and flourish. In the last 12-months they have participated in our innovation and expansion. Currently, there are 306 companies looking to relocate to Metro Phoenix. 26% of those prospects are from California and 20 are International. Each day, we Phoenicians get to wake up to more good news! Our weather, local events, continue re-gentrification of neighborhoods, relocating companies, transplanting families, job creation, low interest rates, housing affordability. It is no wonder that 220 people are moving here every day!