The Arizona Statesman, bringing you all the Arizona news and events from the week you need. Hosted by 3 free market friendly Gen Z鈥檚 speaking on today鈥檚 current issues with expert guest commentary. In last week’s inaugural episode Joe Pitts, Program Director for the Arizona Junior Fellows program at the Arizona 小红帽直播app Foundation joined us to talk about the 小红帽直播app’s new programs.

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Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey joined Glenn Hamer, Arizona 小红帽直播app of聽Commerce and Industry聽president and CEO, on stage for a Fireside Chat at the 小红帽直播app’s Legislative Forecast Luncheon last Friday. Ducey gave an exclusive preview of Monday’s State of the State address, confirming聽his commitment to keep taxes and regulations low in Arizona and make it easier for people to open, operate and expand their businesses in the state.

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The Arizona 小红帽直播app of Commerce and Industry hosted its annual Legislative Forecast Luncheon on Friday, offering members of the business community the chance to meet with and hear from the governor and state legislators about the most pressing issues for the state.

Susan Anable, chair of the Arizona 小红帽直播app executive board of directors and vice president of public affairs for Cox Communications, welcomed 1,200 guests during the event at the Arizona Biltmore hotel in Phoenix.

鈥淎s I stand here reflecting today on the year ahead, as we kick off 2020 as a state, it strikes me that there鈥檚 some irony 鈥� the irony of the frustrations that we as a business community face today 鈥� and they are truly indicators of how successful our economy is, and how strong our growth is right now,鈥� Anable said.

鈥淎s businesses, we have an ever-tightening labor market, low unemployment, more-than-ever jobs to be filled to keep up with a booming economy; it鈥檚 harder than ever,鈥� she said.

New businesses and new residents 鈥� including employees, students and retirees 鈥� are entering the state at a rapid pace, tightening the labor market and making it more challenging to get building and construction permits, she said.

鈥淎nd there鈥檚 money to fight over: I don鈥檛 envy the job of the governor and the legislators who have to figure out how to spend those surplus revenues that we haven鈥檛 seen in a very long time,鈥� Anable said. 鈥淏ut don鈥檛 get me wrong; these are good problems to have, and I鈥檓 grateful for them.鈥�

The highlight of the luncheon was a fireside chat with Gov. Doug Ducey hosted by Glenn Hamer, president and CEO of the Arizona 小红帽直播app.

鈥淗ow鈥檚 the economy?鈥� Hamer asked to start off the discussion.

鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty good; it鈥檚 pretty good,鈥� Ducey said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 booming, and in addition to the growth that we鈥檙e seeing, I would say the biggest difference is our economy is diversified.

鈥淲e鈥檝e got more manufacturing jobs in the state of Arizona today than construction jobs, so this is all very positive,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd I think the future is bright 鈥� blue skies ahead.鈥�

Ducey said he鈥檚 not losing any sleep about a possible recession, because the Arizona state government is prepared for it.

鈥淭he first time [I spoke at the Legislative Forecast Luncheon] we had a $1 billion deficit, and our state was still coming through the Great Recession,鈥� he said. 鈥淭oday, we鈥檙e in a completely different position. We鈥檝e planned ahead.鈥�

Ducey said an eventual economic downturn is inevitable and often unexpected.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been able to repeal a lot of regulations; we have not been able to repeal the law of economics,鈥� he said.

But $1 billion in the state鈥檚 Rainy Day Fund, lower debt and a balanced budget will make any future recession easier to navigate, he said.

Ducey said the state鈥檚 reputation has also improved since the Great Recession, turning Arizona State University from 鈥渢he No. 1 party school in the country鈥� into 鈥渢he No. 1 most innovative university in the nation.鈥�

The state economy has contributed to that as well, he said.

鈥淚f you look at Arizona when the Recession did come, and we were so dependent on homebuilding and construction, it was seen as an economic basket case,鈥� Ducey said. 鈥淭oday, we鈥檙e seen as a jobs juggernaut, and we鈥檙e locking down companies and cutting ribbons and making announcements like never before. So, that reputation and brand of the state really matters.鈥�

The governor said he is looking forward to a productive legislative session in 2020 that is 鈥渂risker鈥� than normal.

鈥淲e want to give the appropriate time to conduct the people鈥檚 business, but I don鈥檛 think we have to spend more time than is necessary,鈥� he said.

Public education for kindergarten through 12^th grade is another major topic for the upcoming session.

鈥淲e鈥檙e always going to talk K-12 education, and of course we鈥檙e going to complete the teacher pay raise 鈥� the 20×2020 teacher pay raise will be completed in this next budget,鈥� Ducey said. 鈥淚 think we can also talk about how we have some targeted spending where it鈥檚 needed most. We have such great examples in the state of Arizona of public schools 鈥� both district and charter 鈥� that are excelling, and we鈥檙e doing this in all parts of our state 鈥� not just Maricopa and Pima, but our rural areas and lower-income areas 鈥� and taking those best practices and finding the right way to structure the funds so that we can replicate that.鈥�

Ducey said he made a promise when he was first elected that he would lower or simplify taxes every year he is in office, and he said he remains committed to that pledge.

When asked about his legacy after office, the governor said he has too much to do in his remaining days 鈥� 1,085 as of the State of the State address 鈥� to have 鈥渢he legacy discussion.鈥�

鈥淚f you think these first five years have been transformative to our state, you should have the same expectation for what happens in these next three years, and that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e going to kick off on Monday afternoon,鈥� he said.

The luncheon ended with a panel discussion between four Arizona legislators, hosted by Arizona 360鈥檚 Lorraine Rivera. All four panelists noted education as a pivotal issue for 2020.

House Minority Leader Charlene Fernandez, D-Yuma, said House Democrats would like to see a raise in pay for public school teachers and support staff.

鈥淭his is an issue that, when we鈥檙e knocking on doors throughout Arizona, the people that we talk to, no matter who they are 鈥斅爓hether it be a mom with a child in a play pen right behind her or a 75-year-old man that comes to the door 鈥斅爐hey tell us that they want to see significant investments in public education, and that is the message we鈥檙e taking back,鈥� Fernandez said.

Speaker of the House Rusty Bowers, R-Mesa, said the state鈥檚 Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs across the state have provided a very important function by increasing graduation rates and helping kids focus on the important aspects of school, both academically and socially.

鈥淏ut CTED is supposed to bring us something at the end, that these kids can be ready to plug into a working economy, which we all in the room have expressed interest in having, and more employees,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o, getting the jump on that is always important to us.鈥�

Bowers said the way additional CTE funding is structured is 鈥渧ery critical鈥� but that he will look at outcomes to determine how to proceed.

There are 14 CTE Districts, or CTEDs, across Arizona.

Senate Minority Leader David Bradley, D-Tucson, warned that any budget surplus could quickly be eaten up by paying off the capital needs of K-12 and higher education institutions. Instead, he proposed the Legislature stop making tax cuts that could damage long-term education goals.

鈥淭here are needs that are enormous, and we have to stop the cuts in order to start to attend to those needs,鈥� Bradley said.

Senate President Karen Fann, R-Prescott, said her one-on-one conversations with members of the state Senate of all parties revealed that education is the No. 1 priority for 2020 鈥� especially K-12 鈥� and right behind that is infrastructure.

鈥淲e know that for goods to move, for us to have a good economy, that means we have to have a good infrastructure system with our highways. So, I think those two are going to be right at the top of the agenda,鈥� Fann said.

In response to a question from Rivera about higher education funding, Fann said state legislators had met with the Arizona Board of Regents and lobbyists for higher education to learn more about their request for additional funding for state universities.

鈥淚 think the number was somewhere close to $200 million that they want, and we know that investing in education is huge; it鈥檚 very important,鈥� Fann said.

One thing to watch out for, though, is separating ongoing funding with one-time funding in order to protect the state鈥檚 robust economy, she said.

鈥淲e cannot afford to be put in the position where we allow too much ongoing funding, and then that recession hits and we cannot sustain it,鈥� Fann said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to be very, very careful about figuring out how to spend that money.鈥�

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Hawaiian Airlines celebrated its new IT Center in Tempe with a traditional Hawaiian blessing ceremony Monday.

The 15,000-square-foot facility first opened its doors at the Hayden Ferry Lakeside multi-use development at Tempe Town Lake on July 1, 2019.

The formal Hawaiian blessing of the airline鈥檚 first tech-centric office space outside of Honolulu was preceded by words from corporate and local leaders.

鈥極hana鈥� means family

鈥淭his is very much a tradition for us,鈥� said Peter Ingram, president and CEO of Hawaiian Airlines. 鈥淥ne of the things that鈥檚 really important for us as we branch out to this new facility is to make sure that all of you that have joined our 辞丑补苍补听know that you are very much a part of the Hawaiian Airlines team.鈥�

Ohana is the Hawaiian word for 鈥渇amily.鈥�

The airline has more than 7,300 employees, about 90 percent of whom work in or around the corporate headquarters in Honolulu, according to Ingram.

Ingram told his Tempe employees he wants them to feel just as comfortable working for Hawaiian Airlines as their counterparts in the Pacific, and 鈥減art of that is bringing the tradition of the blessing.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檝e had the pleasure in my going-on-15 years at Hawaiian of being a part of a lot of blessings as we鈥檝e brought in new facilities and new aircraft and started new ventures,鈥� he said.

John Jacobi, senior vice president of information technology (IT) for Hawaiian Airlines, spoke next, remarking about how quickly the office had grown since opening in its current space.

鈥淣ow, we鈥檙e about 60 strong, so we鈥檝e created ohana of 60 great individuals here,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd I鈥檒l tell you, every time I come here the energy of this place just gets me fired up, and it鈥檚 such a pleasure to be a part of this.鈥�

Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell, also in attendance, said Tempe is a city of choice and that he was glad Hawaiian Airlines chose his city.

鈥淵ou could have picked anywhere to locate,鈥� he said. 鈥� is the No. 1 job creator and industry, not only in this state but in Maricopa County, so having your IT office here for Hawaiian Airlines really does make sense.鈥�

Ingram credited Mitchell and Kevin Sullivan, executive vice president of sales and client services for the Arizona Commerce Authority, for their help opening the new office.

鈥淎s the mayor mentioned, you have choices,鈥� Sullivan said. 鈥淭he location, the amenities and the accessibility to ASU is tremendous.鈥�

The blessing

Keoni Martin from the Hawaiian Airlines community relations team introduced the formal Hawaiian blessing.

鈥淭he first thing in the blessing is the chant, and the one thing I want to recognize is the native people of this place in Arizona and say 鈥榓濒辞丑补鈥� to the natives and thank you for your hookipa, your hospitality here on this land,鈥� Martin said.

Martin pointed to a large wooden bowl:

鈥淚n the koa bowl, we have water, and we all need water to survive; it sustains life,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have Hawaiian salt 鈥� paakai 鈥� and that鈥檚 to preserve: To preserve everything about the blessing, to preserve鈥� all of the mana, or the energy that we鈥檙e all sharing with each other today.鈥�

Simple, yet elegant

After the blessing, employees and visitors were led into the IT Center itself 鈥� a clean, modern, open workspace with panoramic views of Tempe Town Lake and a cafeteria that looks out across the lake at Papago Park and Camelback Mountain beyond it.

Ingram said the proximity of the offices to reminds him of downtown Honolulu, where the buildings overlook the airport (and the airline鈥檚 headquarters) and onlookers can see planes taking off before banking out over the ocean.

He said the idea of an IT office in another state has been a topic of conversation, especially because robust tech talent is difficult to come by in Hawaii, where Hawaiian Airlines is already one of the largest private employers.

鈥淲e鈥檝e supplemented that by bringing in a lot of contractors through third-party developers and different service providers,鈥� he said.

But outside contractors are expensive; talented,聽in-house employees are much more valuable to a company looking to completely modernize and integrate its tech platforms. Ingram and his team decided to finally take the plunge.

鈥淲e looked at a lot of things, including livability, access to technology talent, places where there might be some people with airline experience,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd as we stacked up all of those and started to build a relationship with Arizona State University, the Greater Phoenix area really rose to the top of the list.鈥�

Tempe鈥檚 proximity to ASU sealed the deal, and Ingram said he 鈥渃ouldn鈥檛 be happier.鈥�

‘The high-tech stuff’

Jacobi said the company needed specific technology talent 鈥� 鈥渟ome of the high-tech stuff.鈥�

Hawaiian Airlines has been revamping its customer interfaces to create a better user experience and stay competitive with other airlines.

鈥淢ost of it鈥檚 been around integrations 鈥� getting unlike systems to talk to each other,鈥� Jacobi said. 鈥淎nd then, too, our customer touch points: The mobile, the kiosks, the web, and those kinds of things, to improve the guest experience.鈥�

But the company needed 鈥渄ifferent ponds to fish in,鈥� according to Ingram.

Jacobi said Hawaiian Airlines hired , an Irish-owned multinational professional services company, to help analyze what city would work best for an IT Center in terms of cost of living, skill sets of workers, local government, community, universities and more 鈥� and Tempe rose to the top.

鈥淲e get some really good technical talent that are employees instead of contractors,鈥� Jacobi said. 鈥淏asically, our development arm and our technical kind of skill sets are going to be located here 鈥� developers, testers and stuff like that 鈥� the people that interface with the business are going to primarily be in Honolulu.鈥�

Hawaiian [Airlines] culture

Ingram said Hawaiian Airlines has 鈥渁 strong culture and a tightknit sense of ohana.鈥�

鈥淭hat is something that we鈥檝e recognized over the last couple of years as we expand and grow and add new people to the organization and expand geographically,鈥� he said.

The company went through an exercise last year to seek out some of its best employees who exemplify the airline at its optimal standards. The findings helped determine the company鈥檚 key values, Ingram said.

Moving forward, the company will be focused on four ideals: 惭腻濒补尘补, which means caring; hookipa, which means hospitality; 濒艒办补丑颈, or togetherness and unity; and 辫辞鈥檕办别濒补, which is about striving for excellence.

鈥淭he four of those, when we do those, and we鈥檙e all focused on that as our core values 鈥� I think we鈥檝e got an unstoppable team and we can really do great things together,鈥� Ingram said.

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In 2019’s聽final episode of “Request To Speak,”聽host Garrick Taylor, executive聽vice president聽of the Arizona 小红帽直播app of Commerce and Industry, asks his guests for their “Arizonan of the Year” 鈥� anyone from the state who they feel has had a significant impact on Arizona residents. Featuring Bob Charles, director of First Strategic; Jessie Armendt, Compass Strategies senior associate; and Lorna Romero, owner and founder of Elevate Strategies.

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This special end-of-the-year episode of 鈥淗am(m)er Time!鈥� features Arizona 小红帽直播app of Commerce and Industry president and CEO Glenn Hamer, Health System Alliance of Arizona executive director Jennifer Carusetta and economist Jim Rounds discussing the economic impact hospitals have in Arizona. Spoiler alert: it鈥檚 a big number.

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Next up on “Request To Speak,” host Garrick Taylor asks his guests about their predictions for 2020, including the presidential election, a U.S. Senate race and聽the Arizona Cardinals. Featuring guest panelists: Bob Charles, director of First Strategic; Jessie Armendt, senior associate at Compass Strategies; and Lorna Romero, owner and founder of Elevate Strategies. Join us again tomorrow!

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On the latest episode of “Request To Speak,” Garrick Taylor, executive vice president of the Arizona 小红帽直播app of Commerce and Industry, welcomes a panel of political experts to discuss what happened in the world in 2019 鈥� for better or for worse. Featuring guest panelists Bob Charles, director of First Strategic; Jessie Armendt, senior associate at Compass Strategies; and Lorna Romero, owner and founder of Elevate Strategies. Stay tuned for Episode 8: Predictions for 2020.

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Ralph Romero first got involved with the Arizona-Mexico Commission in 1979, and his expertise about the cross-border relationship is unparalleled. Romero has represented Arizona governors and the director of the state Department of Economic Security in both the U.S. and Mexico. He was appointed to the Arizona-Mexico Commission鈥檚 Education Committee in 1995, where he has fought for quality education and cooperation from both sides of the border ever since. Romero now works as a private consultant and recently opened his own consulting firm, USAMEX International, LLC.

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In this episode of Ham(m)er Time, Arizona 小红帽直播app of Commerce & Industry president and CEO Glenn Hamer sat down with Alex Berenson, former New York Times reporter and author of Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness and Violence,聽before a fundraising breakfast for the Scottsdale-based nonprofit . Berenson鈥檚 book explains his belief that marijuana use, especially from a young age, can lead to psychosis and mental illness, including schizophrenia, as well as violent tendencies.

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