CHAMBER ALLIANCE PROMOTES WEST VALLEY BUSINESS INTEREST TO STATE LEGISLATORS by Alexis J. Glascock, Attorney, Fennemore Craig
T
he West Valley is growing exponentially! As the government relations attorney representing the West Valley Chambers of Commerce Alliance (WVCCA), it is very exciting to watch this organization’s tremendous impact on the future of business development in the Valley. This past year was marked by a number of businesses that moved to the West Valley. These included the purchase of Westgate by BIG YAM and the nearby construction of several new hotels, restaurants and retail stores, the opening of Microsoft’s new data resource center, and Swire Coca-Cola’s launch of a new manufacturing facility to produce Red Bull, among other companies moving to the West Valley. This past year I had the privilege of advocating for the six West Valley Chambers of Commerce as they created a strong united voice at the Capitol. These chambers of commerce include Buckeye, Glendale, Peoria, Southwest Regional (Litchfield Park, Goodyear, Avondale and Tolleson), Surprise Regional (Sun City, Sun City West, El Mirage and Youngstown), and Wickenburg. Prior to the beginning of the legislative session, I arranged meetings with CEO of the Glendale Chamber of Commerce Robert Heidt and both the President of the Arizona Senate, Karen Fann, and the Speaker of the House,
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Rusty Bowers. At these meetings, both President Fann and Speaker Bowers mentioned they were very pleased to have the insight of the WVCCA on important business issues affecting the West Valley and the state. Together this past legislative session, the WVCCA worked hard to support pro-business legislation, such as the Drought Contingency Plan, increasing funds for education from kindergarten through technical training, community college and the university level, capturing sales tax revenue for out-of-state online retail sales, new anti-fraud measures in initiative petition signature-gathering process, improving access to health care insurance plans for small businesses and numerous other issues that directly impact the business community. In addition, the WVCCA is continuing to work closely with the West Valley legislators during the interim before the next legislative
session to facilitate the creation of legislation that will advance business interests in economic development, education and workforce readiness, transportation, taxation and other issues that strongly impact businesses in the West Valley communities. Moreover, both the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce sought the support of the WVCCA on various matters throughout the Legislative Session. We look forward to partnering with them again on various pro-business issues in the next Legislative Session. Overall, working with the WVCCA CEOs is an honor and a privilege. They are an ideal client because they are extremely knowledgeable and understand what it takes for businesses to thrive in their cities. We are looking forward to working together again on important legislative issues during the 2020 Legislative Session.
THE EDUCATION EDITION • FALL 2019