The 2019 College Football Playoff Semifinal at the PlayStation® Fiesta Bowl and Cheez-It® Bowl

Since its inaugural kickoff in 1971, the Fiesta Bowl has become an Arizona tradition to our local community and to our out-of-state visitors who will be traveling to the Valley of the Sun this holiday season.

It doesn’t matter whether you want to cheer on your favorite team/band from the stands or work behind the scenes as one of the more than 3,000 volunteers, this year’s bowl season will once again offer something special for everyone.

This season will be one of the most exciting schedules the organization faced, with three top-tier events across the Valley in a 24-hour timeframe. Estimated attendance for all three events combined could top more than 200,000 people.

The marquee events include two major college football postseason games in the Cheez-It® Bowl and College Football Playoff Semifinal at the PlayStation® Fiesta Bowl, with the Desert Financial Fiesta Bowl Parade, presented by Cheez-It sandwiched in between.

Every ticket purchased for both the PlayStation® Fiesta Bowl and the Cheez-It® Bowl help support Fiesta Bowl Charities, which has given $15.5 million to the Arizona community in the last nine years through charitable giving.

Follow the PlayStation® Fiesta Bowl on Facebook, and the Cheez-It® Bowl on Facebook

Get information about purchasing tickets and a complete list of volunteer opportunities

Mike Nealy, Executive Director

Mike Nealy is the executive director of the Arizona Sports Foundation and the Valley of the Sun Bowl Foundation, community-based organizations that operate the PlayStation® Fiesta Bowl, Cheez-It® Bowl, Fiesta Bowl Charities and numerous community events throughout the state.

Patrick Barkley, Chairman of Board

Patrick Barkley, who first became involved with the Fiesta Bowl in 1998, joined the Yellow Jacket Committee in 2000 and served as Yellow Jacket Committee Chair for the 2008-09 season. For the last two seasons, he was the Board Chair-Elect and was a member of the Executive Committee for four years. Barkley contributed and had leadership roles with a wide-range of committees, including game operations, sales commissioner, recruiting commissioner and as a team liaison.

Get information about purchasing tickets and a complete list of volunteer opportunities

The Art and Science of Digital Marketing, SEO, and Social Media

Eric Olsen, Fasturtle Digital

Eric Olsen is founder of Fasturtle Digital, a leading provider of digital marketing solutions. The team is comprised of talented website designers, SEO specialists, social media, and email marketing experts. Through website design, search engine optimization, social media, and more, they generate leads, brand awareness, and validation for their clients. They specialists in helping small-medium size businesses, non-profit organizations, and service industry professionals. Since 2000, Fasturtle has successfully delivered the most innovative and cost effective tools to expand your brand online.

Connect with Eric Olsen on LinkedIn, and follow Fasturtle Digital on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Amanda Sett, Fasturtle Digital

Amanda Sett is Creative Director of Fasturtle Digital.

Connect with Amanda Sett on LinkedIn, and follow Fasturtle Digital on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Young Global Leaders

This episode of Valley Business Radio is brought to you by the Global Chamber, a unique, growing and collaborating community of CEOs, executives, and leaders taking on global business in 525 metro regions around the world. The Global Chamber provides information, connections, and mentoring for leaders to capture global business opportunities. Connect with their resources and tens of thousands of members and followers worldwide to accelerate your success and improve your business, our region and the world.

Follow the Global Chamber on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Get tickets for the Global to Local Innovation Summit: Sustaining Growth on December 10, 2019 in Scottsdale, AZ

Ali Anderson, Squire Patton Boggs

Ali Anderson is a corporate attorney in the Phoenix office of Squire Patton Boggs, where she advises clients on mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and financial services matters. She has been instrumental in state, national, and international business transactions valued at more than $4 billion.

A native Arizonan who graduated top of her class from Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University, Ali spent time working for the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, Senator Jon Kyl in Washington, DC, and the U.S. Embassy in The Hague. After graduation, she was awarded a Fulbright grant and spent two years in South Korea. There she served as a cultural ambassador, researcher, and instructor to over 650 students, was a special assistant to the Executive Director of the Korean-American Educational Commission, and was a liaison to the U.S. Embassy in Seoul.

Ali went on to receive her law degree from Northwestern University in Chicago and serve as editor-in-chief of the Journal of International Law and Business. Her legal career began in Washington, DC with a leading international law firm, Paul Hastings, LLP. Since returning to Phoenix, she has participated in the State Bar of Arizona’s Bar Leadership Institute (2019) and Valley Leadership Advance (2017), and was recently named Young Global Leader of the Year by the Global Chamber (2019).

Connect with Ali Anderson on LinkedIn, and follow Squire Patton Boggs on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Anibal Abayneh, Africa Fest USA & Cafe Lalibela

Anibal Abayneh is founder and Executive Director of Africa Fest USA and CEO of Lalibela Healthy Foods, an offshoot of Café Lalibela, a top-rated Ethiopian restaurant in Tempe, Arizona.

Anibal grew up in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and worked there as a videographer for more than a decade. He owned and operated a video production company and was a cameraman and editor at Orion Video Production. In 2006, Anibal migrated to Canada, where he set up a production company, Leyu Entertainment Inc. in Calgary, Canada. After taking a break to work in the oil industry, Anibal moved to the US in 2013 and started managing Café Lalibela, his family’s restaurant in Tempe. In January 2018 he opened a food processing company, Lalibela Healthy Foods LLC, to expand the Lalibela line to mainstream markets like Whole Foods Market and Natural Grocers.

Being an active member of community, Anibal tries to give back as much as possible. In 2017 he created a non-profit organization called African Fest USA, to educate, serve and entertain people in Phoenix, Arizona and to promote African culture through music, film, arts, fashion and foods. African Fest USA is an independent collaborative of professionals for the advancement of African culture. Culturally and entertainment focused, African Fest USA invites and encourages artists, and other professionals to showcase their work and contribute to the ongoing conversation and action across the diaspora. From family stories told to children, to the written stories, entertainment is part of many cultures across Africa, with distinct stories in each country. The cultures, identities, and people of Africa are holders of a unique individual and continental story. Africa’s story is yet to be told on a global stage. African Fest USA can play a critical part in introducing African culture to the citizens of Arizona.

Connect with Anibal Abayneh on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Follow Africa Fest USA on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Follow Cafe Lalibela on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Tina Sweis, social impact consultant

Tina Sweis is a social impact consultant with over a decade of experience directing youth engagement programs, establishing creative problem solutions, developing curriculum, and connecting people with their passion. Tina believes that every successful partnership starts when you pair an individual’s passion and skills with an environment that is ideal for their growth.

Tina earned an MA in American Studies and has served in a variety of roles in her home country of Jordan, most notably as Youth Advisor for the Prime Minister of Jordan. She is a Board Member of the NewThink Theatre-Festival in Jordan and a Board Member at Phoenix Modern, a free public school and learning community in Phoenix, Arizona.

Connect with Tina Sweis on LinkedIn, and follow Phoenix Modern on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Get tickets for the Global to Local Innovation Summit: Sustaining Growth on December 10, 2019 in Scottsdale, AZ

US-Mexico Business Opportunities

This episode of Valley Business Radio is brought to you by the Global Chamber, a unique, growing and collaborating community of CEOs, executives, and leaders taking on global business in 525 metro regions around the world. The Global Chamber provides information, connections, and mentoring for leaders to capture global business opportunities. Connect with their resources and tens of thousands of members and followers worldwide to accelerate your success and improve your business, our region and the world.

Follow the Global Chamber on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Get tickets for the Global to Local Innovation Summit: Sustaining Growth on December 10, 2019 in Scottsdale, AZ

Indira Jeffrey, EKATAR USA

Indira Jeffrey is a partner and business development consultant with EKATAR All In One Marketing, a 360° marketing company headquartered in Guadalajara, Jalisco Mexico. A banking and finance professional and passionate entrepreneur, Indira’s 22-year business and academic career has spanned the US, Mexico, Latin America and Europe. She has launched two successful start-ups focused on Economic Development that serve corporate, non-profit, start-up, SBO, and entrepreneurial clients across a spectrum of industries such as education, food & beverage, and aerospace.

Founder of iGlobal Business Consulting and partner with EKATAR USA, Indira is also the Adjunct Director for the Global Chamber Guanajuato Chapter, in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. Previously she spent 16 years in banking and finance with Fortune 500 companies (Charles Schwab, JP Morgan Chase, and HSBC Mexico), where she held several roles ensuring compliance with department policies, procedures, objectives and strategies, as well as adherence to applicable State Federal and US Regulations including OFAC, FDIC, AML and the Bank Secrecy Act.

In August 2017, Indira participated in the Arizona-Mexico trade mission whose goal was to create bridges not walls between the state of Arizona and Mexico. The group of 70 people, including 35 Arizona government representatives and 35 business owners, met with Mexico City and the state of Guanajuato key representatives, and Secretary of International Relations, among others. On April 2018 Indira Jeffrey organized the first binational International Trade Masters Series event in Mesa, AZ. The goal of this event was to present to the public the different areas of the international trade, and to promote the commerce relations between Mexico and USA.

Indira is an active member of the Global Chamber, Phoenix Minority Business Development Agency, Thunderbird Alumni Association, and Toastmasters. She holds a Global MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management & Tecnologico de Monterrey, Bachelor’s Degree in International Business (University of Guanajuato), Certificate in Business Affairs (Group Sup in France), and an Arizona State University Small Business Leadership certificate. She speaks English, Spanish, and French.

Connect with Indira Jeffrey on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram, and follow EKATAR All In One Marketing on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

Gabriela Castro, Trade in Motion

Gabriela Castro is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Trade in Motion, a business development consulting firm that specializes in assisting and supporting small and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) to enter or expand into the Mexican, American and Canadian markets. Incorporated in Arizona, the firm offers integrated services ranging from initial market research through personalized meeting assistance. Some areas of expertise managed are international business development, business support, business contacts, personal business assistance, and specialized outsourcing of technical services.

Trade in Motion prepares and trains the companies which are not market ready to do business in Mexico, the United States and Canada; drafting business plans and creating a market entry strategy for them. Trade in Motion identifies opportunities for companies and their relevant sectors and supports companies who would like to open shop in North American countries utilizing TIM’s different partners who are experts in their fields, including a law firm, accountants, technicians, etc. The sectors that Trade in Motion manages in the North American market are mining, advanced manufacturing, automotive, aerospace and clean technologies. The sector in which they have the most expertise and experience is the mining sector.

Gabriela Castro has extensive experience in business administration, commercial affairs, foreign and international trade, research and analysis, and market development, focused on client service. She has fifteen years of experience developing new business ventures and cultivating relationships with clients and contacts in the private sector and Federal and State governments. During her tenure at the Embassy of Canada to Mexico, Gabriela worked in various sectors such as mining, automotive, infrastructure, manufacturing, construction, energy, oil and gas, information and communications technology, and education. She supported Canadian companies to enter the Mexican market, providing services such as market intelligence and profiling, key contacts as well as market potential assessment.

Fluent in Spanish, English, and French, Gabriela holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management and Administration from Hautes Études Commerciales/Montréal University in Canada.

Connect with Gabriela Castro on LinkedIn and Twitter, and follow Trade in Motion on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Eduardo González, 258 Consulting

Eduardo González is President at 258 Consulting, a Phoenix-based firm that helps companies on both sides of the US-Mexico border to find solutions for their sourcing, manufacturing, and sales expansion goals. 258 Consulting takes its name from the 258 stone monuments or obelisks that were placed in the mid-1800s to mark the border between Mexico and the US. These monuments lined the boundary from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. Before there were walls and fences, the only thing marking the border were these stone monuments. 258 Consulting believes that walls and fences are not the solution while recognizing that the two countries are business partners and that together they can continue being a great force that can strive in the ever more competing international markets.

258 Consulting provides manufacturing in Mexico and supply chain development solutions for foreign companies seeking to establish a manufacturing presence in Mexico. Their target client base includes:

• US or foreign Manufacturing companies
• US or foreign companies that do not necessary manufacture themselves but outsource their products from Contract Manufacturers Partners (CMP)
• Service providers in the US looking to source software development, call centers, or other services from Mexico
• Established US companies that currently manufacture or have their supply chain in China, outside the US, or in the US
• Manufacturing companies looking to move or expand where we can provide site selection services
• Mexican companies looking to explore the US market for their products or services

Eduardo has an extensive experience of more than 20 years in business development and supply chain support, assisting Mexican companies with their international sales and helping foreign companies to identify new suppliers, assisting in contract negotiations with manufacturers and finding solutions for their supply chain needs. He has helped also foreign companies establish manufacturing operations in Mexico and find suppliers to source their manufacturing needs or services, in the advanced manufacturing sector (aerospace, automotive, medical device), as well as in the other industries, such as: food processing, fresh food and meat, retail sector, tourism and IT, among others.

Eduardo served as Deputy Trade Commissioner of ProMéxico in Phoenix, AZ from September 2015 to March 2019. ProMéxico was Mexico’s agency responsible for coordinating strategies aimed at strengthening Mexico’s participation in the international economy, supporting exporting firms from Mexico and coordinating activities aimed at attracting foreign investment. (The agency and all of its international offices were closed at the end of 2018, effective March 2019).

Additionally, he has vast experience in international markets. Before his appointment at the ProMéxico office in Arizona, Eduardo served as State Director for ProMéxico in the Mexican state of Baja California and had several responsibilities while working for Mexican Export Development Bank (Bancomext) in The Netherlands and in Mexico.

Connect with Eduardo González on LinkedIn and Twitter, and follow 258 Consulting on LinkedIn.

Get tickets for the Global to Local Innovation Summit: Sustaining Growth on December 10, 2019 in Scottsdale, AZ

Coaching, Training, and Leadership Development for Restaurant Owners and Staff

David Scott Peters

David Scott Peters is a restaurant coach, consultant, speaker, and trainer who teaches restaurant operators how to cut costs and increase profits with his trademark Restaurant Prosperity Formula. David has taught thousands of restaurants how to use operational systems and create a hospitality-based company culture to skyrocket their profits. He travels the world teaching his formula to restaurant owners, food distributors and a variety of hospitality groups. In addition, he is developing a set of online courses accessible to anyone interested in learning how to run a successful restaurant and a coaching program. In his past businesses, he used his formula to rescue a multi-unit restaurant sports bar chain from bankruptcy and helped the owners sell it for a profit. He built a restaurant management software from the ground up based on his formula and sold it to a group of investors that included satisfied software users.

David uses a no-BS style to teach and motivate restaurant owners to take control of their businesses and finally realize their full potential. Independent restaurant operators of single and multi-unit operations, as well as food distributors and consultants, can use his training courses to learn the operational systems every restaurant must understand and use to be profitable, especially in today’s economy of rising prices and wages.

Connect with David Scott Peters on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Water Resource Management

The basis of “water scarcity” is quite simple. When there is increasing demand for a finite resource that, in turn, has diminishing supply, then ultimately, we all have to deal with scarcity issues. In the case of water, this does not mean your faucet will go dry. It doesn’t mean that we will have to suddenly stop all economic growth. Scarcity typically means it will become tougher to acquire, become more expensive, and there will be growing competition for the resource. This holds true for water. The solution to scarcity is not fear, but strategic planning and smart water resource management.

Ron Fleming

Ron Fleming is President and Chief Executive Officer of Global Water Resources, a water resource management company that owns, operates and manages water, wastewater and recycled water utilities in strategically located communities, principally in metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona. Global Water Resources deploys an integrated approach called “Total Water Management” to manage the entire water cycle by owning and operating the water, wastewater and recycled water utilities within the same geographic areas in order to both conserve water and maximize its total economic and social value.

Global Water Resources uses Total Water Management to promote sustainable communities in areas where they expect growth to outpace the existing potable water supply. Their model focuses on the broad issues of water supply and scarcity and applies principles of water conservation through water reclamation and reuse. Their basic premise is that the world’s water supply is limited and yet can be stretched significantly through effective planning, the use of recycled water and by providing individuals and communities resources that promote wise water usage practices.

Ron joined Global Water in 2004, crossing over from the construction industry where he worked on numerous large-scale heavy civil infrastructure projects throughout Arizona. From 2004 to 2006, he served as Senior Project Manager of Engineering and Construction. From 2007 to 2014, he served as General Manager, Vice President, and Chief Operating Officer. He assumed his current role as President and Chief Executive Officer in January 2015.

Ron has more than 16 years of related management and utility experience, including serving on numerous industry and community board of directors. He is on the Board of Directors of the Maricopa Economic Development Alliance.

Connect with Ron Fleming on LinkedIn, and follow Global Water Resources on LinkedIn.

Ben Graff

Ben Graff with Quarles & Brady is an established Arizona land use and zoning attorney with extensive experience in government relations and Arizona politics. He authored one of the first Planned Unit Development applications approved by the City of Phoenix and has become one of the preeminent attorneys furthering creative downtown infill development. As an Arizona native with deep roots in local politics and experience influencing strategic decisions related to land use policy, Ben’s successful practice is sustained through his connections with the development community, planning staff, neighborhood leaders, appointed officials, and elected officials in towns, cities, and counties throughout Arizona.

In 2004, Ben was appointed by Governor Janet Napolitano to serve a two-year term on the Arizona Board of Regents. He continues to serve as a Regent Emeritus, providing guidance and feedback regarding our state universities’ initiatives and strategic planning. On November 8, 2016, Ben was elected by the Maricopa County voters to serve a six-year term on the Central Arizona Water Conservation District (Central Arizona Project) Board of Directors.

Ben earned a BA from the University of Arizona and a J.D. from the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. He is the namesake for the Benjamin Graff Award for Excellence in Public Service, University of Arizona, which was established in 2005.

To hear more of his story, listen to Ben’s previous appearance on Valley Business Radio in April 2019.

Connect with Ben Graff on LinkedIn, and follow the Central Arizona Project on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.