How Public-Private Partnerships Foster Innovation E35
Public-private partnerships play a pivotal role in Arizona’s economic development and positioning the state as an attractive place for technology companies to do business. So, what are some of the partnerships contributing to Arizona’s continued growth?
The February 2023 episode of the Arizona Technology Council’s AZTechCast podcast featured experts including Ryan Hendrix, general manager of the ASU Cloud Innovation Center; Shelbe Hunsaker, southwest region public policy manager at Amazon Web Services; and Vic Narusis, executive vice president of business development at the Arizona Commerce Authority. These leaders joined Steve Zylstra, president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council, and Karen Nowicki, president and owner of Phoenix Business RadioX, in discussing the collaborations between industry, government and education shaping Arizona’s future.
In this hour-long episode, the panel of three experts started by discussing the momentous month that February 2023 has been for Arizona’s economic development between the Super Bowl, Waste Management Open and Barrett Jackson, among other signature events that attracted tourists to the state from far and wide. On top of that, TSMC recently announced that they are deepening their investment in the state to the tune of $40 billion and thousands of new jobs being created. With this exorbitant growth in mind, the panel set their sights on the public-private partnerships that are working behind the scenes to continue making Arizona an even more attractive place to do business.
Arizona State University is a public University of higher education.
Ryan Hendrix earned his BSM and MBA from the University of Phoenix and has worked in higher education for nearly 2 decades. Professional interests and experience include Project Management, Agile/Scrum, Business Development, Smart Cities and Cloud Technologies.
Prior to his current role Ryan managed the ASU Technology Office Cloud Migration Program. Ryan is currently the Partnership Portfolio Manager for the Enterprise Technology Office (ETO) and General Manager of the ASU Smart City Cloud Innovation Center (CIC).
The CIC is a partnership between the ASU ETO and Amazon Web Services working with local community leaders to solve pressing urban challenges with technology.
Connect with Ryan on LinkedIn.
Since 2006, Amazon Web Services has been the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud. AWS has been continually expanding its services to support virtually any workload, and it now has more than 200 fully featured services for compute, storage, databases, networking, analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), mobile, security, hybrid, virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR), media, and application development, deployment, and management from 99 Availability Zones within 31 geographic regions, with announced plans for 12 more Availability Zones and four more AWS Regions in Canada, Israel, New Zealand, and Thailand.
Millions of customers—including the fastest-growing startups, largest enterprises, and leading government agencies—trust AWS to power their infrastructure, become more agile, and lower costs. To learn more about AWS, visit aws.amazon.com.
Shelbe Hunsaker is a Regional Public Policy Manager for Amazon Web Services (AWS), based in Arizona, covering six states in the southwest. Shelbe has eight years of experience working within the state and local political scene. During that time, she has garnered extensive knowledge in community engagement, state procurement and policy development that has translated to successful advocacy and public policy.
Shelbe started her career in political campaigns, managing 12 successful municipal campaigns in 2016. She also acted as the project manager for the David & Gladys Wright House Foundation, overseeing a successful digital strategy campaign in 2017 that was later awarded “Best Earned Media Around a Single Event” by the National Campaigns & Elections’ Reed Awards.
As a lobbying consultant in Arizona, Shelbe advocated for various policy initiatives in healthcare, transportation, education and technology. Her passion for public policy led her to AWS where she has continued to advocate for policies that foster innovation and improve the over citizen experience through the utilization of technology.
Throughout her experiences, Shelbe has established strong rapport within the Arizona political community naming her one of the 2019 40 under 40 rising stars in Arizona politics and a nominee for the best Lobbyist under 40 in 2020.
Connect with Shelbe on LinkedIn.
The Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) is the state’s leading economic development organization with a streamlined mission to grow and strengthen Arizona’s economy. The ACA uses a three-pronged approach to advance the overall economy: recruit, grow, create – recruit out-of-state companies to expand their operations in Arizona; work with existing companies to grow their business in Arizona and beyond; and partner with entrepreneurs and companies large and small to create new jobs and businesses in targeted industries.
Victor Narusis leads the Business Development Team of the ACA and is responsible for bringing businesses to Arizona and assisting companies already in Arizona to grow and thrive. Daily activities include site selection, coordination of local communities, utilities, education, workforce, and logistics partners to identify and solve business needs and management of ACA’s Foreign Trade/FDI and Film/Digital Media teams.
In previous roles, Victor has served Economic Development for over twenty years in various capacities including the State of Illinois as Deputy Director of the Business Development Team; the Village of Huntley, Illinois as the Business Attraction Coordinator; the Delta Regional Authority of Illinois as Delegate and Executive Board Member; the McHenry County Economic Development Corporation as Vice President & Treasurer; the Woodstock Chamber of Commerce as President of Real Estate Development.
Additional expertise includes six years as partner at Centerville Properties-Site Selection and Entitlement and 18 years in Commercial Banking with major US and regional banks including US Bank, Bank One. He has served as Lead Analyst and on lending teams dedicated to serving the lending and other financial needs of medium and large businesses.
About AZ TechCast
AZ TechCast is dedicated to covering innovation and technology in Arizona and beyond.
Through the art of connected conversation, AZ TechCast’s guests will share their expertise, success stories, news and analysis about the region’s leading startups, companies and emerging technologies, as well as the latest industry trends and critical issues propelling the state’s growing technology ecosystem.
About Your Hosts
Steve Zylstra serves as president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council, a role he assumed in 2007. He is responsible for strategy, operations, finance and policy development. Zylstra is a vocal spokesman for the value technology can provide in raising social and economic standards in Arizona.
Zylstra serves on numerous councils, committees and boards, was named “Leader of the Year, Technology,” by the Arizona Capitol Times, and “Most Admired Leader” by the Phoenix Business Journal. In addition, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of science in technology from the University of Advancing Technology in Tempe, Ariz.
Zylstra earned a bachelor’s degree in automotive engineering technology from Western Michigan University.
Karen Nowicki is a successful author, speaker and the creator of Deep Impact Leadership™ and SoulMarks Coaching™. She is a two-time recipient of the prestigious national Choice Award® for her book and personal development retreat. Karen was crowned the first-ever “Mompreneur of the Year” Award in 2010 for the southwestern states. She was recognized for her leadership, business acumen, and work-life balance.
Karen has been an expert guest on regional TV and radio shows, including Fox Phoenix Morning Show, Sonoran Living, Good Morning Arizona, The Chat Room, and Mid-Day Arizona. She has been a regular contributor to many print and online magazines – publishing articles and blogs for business and education.
In addition to working with private coaching clients, Karen is also the Owner & President of Phoenix Business RadioX. The Business RadioX Network amplifies the voice of business – serving the Fortune 500,000, not just the Fortune 500. Phoenix Business RadioX helps local businesses and professional associations get the word out about the important work they’re doing to serve their market, profession, and community.
Of all the experiences Karen has had the privilege of participating in over her vast career, she shares that Phoenix Business RadioX is a pinnacle adventure!
Connect with Karen on LinkedIn and follow Phoenix Business RadioX on Facebook and Instagram.
Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Bianca Buliga is a trilingual first-generation American of Romanian ethnicity. A marketing professional with experience in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors, Bianca currently works as Director, Marketing & Communications for the Arizona Technology Council.
Previously, Bianca worked as Marketing Communications Lead at Proctorio, a learning integrity platform that offers remote proctoring software ensuring exam integrity for learners around the world.
Bianca also worked as Senior Marketing Manager at SEED SPOT, a social impact incubator that educates, accelerates, and invests in impact-driven entrepreneurs creating market-based solutions to social problems. In January of 2020, Bianca was selected as an awardee of the Mandela Washington Reciprocal Exchange Program and traveled to the African island of Mauritius to run entrepreneurship programming for 15 impact-driven ecopreneurs on behalf of the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Bianca has also completed comprehensive consulting projects for IBM, ESAN Business School, and the Peruvian government, and interned at the Arizona House of Representatives and U.S. Embassy in Bucharest, Romania.
Bianca earned her Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from Northern Arizona University in 2014 and her Master’s degree in Global Affairs and Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in 2017. She is an avid reader, yogi, and world traveler always planning her next trip.
Connect with Bianca on LinkedIn.
About Our Sponsor
The Arizona Technology Council, Arizona’s only statewide organization serving the technology sector, fosters a climate of innovation to enhance technology in Arizona.
A trusted resource in strengthening Arizona’s technology industry, the Council proactively eliminates impediments that companies face, accelerates the entrepreneurial mindset in the state’s expanding innovation ecosystem, and works to create a destination for companies to be, thrive and stay.
Follow Arizona Technology Council on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
