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  #61  
Old Posted Jan 21, 2010, 3:28 PM
Buckeye Native 001 Buckeye Native 001 is offline
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Originally Posted by Vicelord John View Post
He probably didnt mean record wise
Bingo.
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  #62  
Old Posted Jan 24, 2010, 2:49 AM
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nbrindley nbrindley is offline
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So, I basically only ever lurk on this forum anymore, little time to participate. But I stumbled on this photo a few weeks ago that I thought was amusing. It's from the Vauxhall website (Vauxhall is GM's British subsidiary), listed under the promotional photos for the Vauxhall Zafira.

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  #63  
Old Posted Jan 24, 2010, 3:09 AM
Buckeye Native 001 Buckeye Native 001 is offline
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What the hell is a German car company doing using the Coliseum as a background? Was David Hasselhoff performing there one night?
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  #64  
Old Posted Apr 20, 2010, 3:54 AM
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This is from a few days ago and not strictly 'development' but whatever:

Quote:
Phoenix Suns considering a D-League team in Prescott Valley
7 comments by Paul Coro - Apr. 14, 2010 09:55 PM
The Arizona Republic
SALT LAKE CITY - Arizona could have a second pro basketball team.

The Suns are interested in starting a D-League franchise in Prescott Valley with a "hybrid" affiliation, which would give the Suns full control of basketball operations if they cover the expenses of player, coach and trainer salaries and travel for three years. A Prescott Valley office would run the business side, like sales, marketing and game operations.


The team would play at Tim's Toyota Center, a 4-year-old venue that seats 4,810 for minor-league hockey and has suites.

The upside for Phoenix would be to have a closer relationship, in proximity and control, than it has had in its affiliations with Albuquerque and Iowa. The Suns have been affiliated with Iowa since 2008, sharing the team with the Chicago Bulls. The Suns sent rookies Taylor Griffin and Earl Clark to Des Moines this season but likely would have had Clark play D-League games more if the affiliate had been closer.

Suns officials would not comment on the idea, but they would be able to pick coaches and players with a hybrid affiliation that would cost about $1 million over three years. The Rockets are the model team for the idea after running Rio Grande Valley's basketball operations this season.

The Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio and Oklahoma City own D-League franchises outright and place them close by, with the Lakers' team also in Staples Center and the Spurs' and Thunder's teams a short drive away in Austin and Tulsa.
I really hope this happens, Id definitely check out some games while up in the Prescott area.
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  #65  
Old Posted Sep 7, 2010, 8:07 AM
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Quote:
NAU-Yavapai in Prescott Valley offers cheaper college degrees

2 comments by Anne Ryman - Sept. 7, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

PRESCOTT VALLEY - Northern Arizona University is making the state's boldest move yet to confront the problems of rapidly rising tuition and a shortage of residents with bachelor's degrees.

NAU offers lower cost, year-round classes


The university has opened a new regional college in Prescott Valley where students can earn bachelor's degrees in three years without having to move to Flagstaff, Phoenix or Tucson.

NAU-Yavapai is an innovative, year-round college with tuition and fees that are 41 percent less than those at NAU in Flagstaff. The new college may one day become the state's fourth university.

Located in a wing of the new Prescott Valley Public Library, the college is part of a larger redesign of the state university system by the Arizona Board of Regents. The goal is to provide more lower-cost options in hopes of increasing the percentage of Arizona adults with bachelor's degrees.

The share now stands at 25.3 percent for adults who are 25 and older, compared with 27.5 percent nationally, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau figures. The subpar percentage could hurt the state as it tries to diversify its economic base beyond retail and construction, experts say.

Other redesign efforts under way at NAU, Arizona State University and the University of Arizona include offering more degrees online and making it easier to transfer community-college credits.

NAU-Yavapai, which opened last week, is the first brick-and-mortar initiative. It will be watched closely by prospective students as well as state legislators.

The NAU-Yavapai approach appeals to people like David Pearce, 42, who lives in Prescott and makes his living crafting horseshoes. Although it's a good job, being a farrier is hard, physical work, and he is looking for other career options as he gets older.

He has a wife and three children, and picking up and moving to Flagstaff to pursue a bachelor's degree is not an option he wants to pursue. Living in a dorm and taking four or more years to earn a degree holds no appeal, either.

"I don't need any exploration. I know where I want to go," said Pearce, who is pursuing a bachelor's in community development and sustainability at NAU-Yavapai.

Keeping costs low

NAU-Yavapai is housed in a 12,000-square-foot wing of the new library. The building's soaring center spire was inspired by nearby Glassford Hill, a once-active volcano and well-known Prescott Valley landmark.

The steel-and-glass structure is a departure from the traditional college campus. Redwood planks cover the ceilings. The bathrooms sport frosted glass and polished concrete floors. A rooftop patio offers bird's-eye views of the Bradshaw Mountains.

There are no dorms, no bookstore and no meal plans. The college keeps its costs low by eliminating extras.

"We don't intend to field a football team," said Susan Johnstad, the college's executive officer.

Tuition and fees are $4,500 a year, compared with $7,667 at the Flagstaff campus.

Students here have a choice of only three bachelor's degrees, developed with an eye on jobs that meet the surrounding area's workforce needs: service-industry management, community development and sustainability, and entrepreneurship.

Classes are Tuesdays and Thursdays, instead of five days a week. Students take only three courses at a time, with each course compressed into 10 weeks instead of 16-week semesters. Students go to school year-round, getting a week or two off at a time for a total of seven weeks. The accelerated schedule allows them to finish a bachelor's degree, with 120 credits, in three years.

New students enter five times a year: August, October, January, March and May, with the first group of 15 students starting classes last week.

All the current students live in Yavapai County, and about two-thirds are recent high-school graduates.

The college is a partnership among the university, the local community college and Prescott Valley.

The town, about 12 miles northeast of Prescott, built the library on donated land with Yavapai College paying for the education wing. NAU rents the space.

During the first year, students are taught by Yavapai College faculty; upper-division courses will be taught by NAU faculty.

University officials expect enrollment to be modest the first year, totaling 100 to 150 students, but to at least double the second year.

NAU President John Haeger said he is convinced there is a great need for university programs in the Yavapai County area and wouldn't be surprised to see enrollment climb to 5,000 in a decade.

"My feeling is, at some point in the future, this could be a fourth university," he said.

The result of pressure

Martika Flores, 19, of Prescott Valley, was taking community-college classes at Yavapai College and had planned to transfer to NAU. She changed her mind when she learned about NAU-Yavapai because it was less expensive and she can finish faster. She plans to use her bachelor's degree in service-industry management to help her family run their two Mexican restaurants.

NAU-Yavapai is partly the result of political pressure on the regents to offer cheaper alternatives. In recent years, the regents have responded to state funding cuts with steep tuition hikes at NAU, ASU and UA that have angered students and parents.

Regents Chairwoman Anne Mariucci said Arizona is at a turning point in higher education.

The state's budget crisis has resulted in extraordinary financial pressure while university enrollment has continued to increase. It's impossible to remain status quo and maintain quality, so the regents are looking for ways to reinvent education, she said.

More campuses planned

ASU and UA also are walking the path of lower-priced degrees at separate campuses.

ASU is planning a network of colleges called Colleges@ASU that will offer a limited number of bachelor's-degree programs. University officials are in discussions with Payson and Lake Havasu City about locating colleges there and have talked with officials in half a dozen cities in the Valley.

The concept depends on cities or other groups providing the space, which has been challenging in a struggling economy.

UA's strategy focuses on community colleges.

This fall, students can earn bachelor's degrees in education at Pima Community College's Desert Vista campus in southwest Tucson and the West campus in central Tucson without going to UA's main campus. As at NAU-Yavapai, students are taught by a combination of community college and university faculty.

Location is key

Bringing education closer to students is key, said Mike Proctor, dean of UA's Outreach College.

And for some students, distance makes the difference.

Courtney Tenakhongva lives with her parents in Camp Verde and has a 1-year-old daughter. She is unable to move away from home to go to college, and the thought of attending school online doesn't appeal to her. She prefers the classroom.

The 17-year-old was planning to get an associate's degree at Yavapai College but changed her mind after she found out about NAU-Yavapai.

If all goes as planned, three years from now, she will have a bachelor's degree.

"A bachelor's degree at 19? It makes me feel good about myself," she said.



Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articl...#ixzz0ypRjQPiW
Welp this is good I suppose. It seems to me Yavapi County/the Prescott area could certainly stand to have a college of their own, hopefully this will grow into that.
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  #66  
Old Posted Oct 4, 2010, 5:40 PM
Vicelord John Vicelord John is offline
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Theystarted on the biomedical bldg overnight.

Also the 7/vb intersection is being replaced.
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  #67  
Old Posted Apr 3, 2011, 7:02 PM
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http://www.azbex.com/archives/view/a...concerns_loom/

Quote:
ASU Payson Scores Key Victory, State Budget Concerns Loom
by Pete Aleshire on Apr, 01 2011

The House Education Committee Friday unanimously approved SB 1997, which has already won approval from the full Senate.

The new law would give the Arizona Board of Regents the legal ability to form a “separate legal entity” (SLE) — the key to Payson’s effort to build and operate a college campus for 1,000 to 6,000 students.

SB 1997 holds the key to the complicated framework for financing and operating the campus.

Evans and other backers of the project have been working for more than two years to come up with a way for Payson to build the campus and related facilities, like a convention hotel and a research park. Payson officials had to find a way to take advantage of up to $500 million in donations and promised loans, while protecting Payson taxpayers from liability and not drawing on ASU’s nearly exhausted capacity to use bonds to finance the campus.

The plan that emerged relies on setting up the campus and related facilities as a world unto itself, operating as a Separate Legal Entity (SLE). The town council would serve as the board for a newly created district for the roughly 300-acre campus. The SLE could buy land, levy taxes, build facilities and enter into contracts — but just within that little world.
This seems like good news, new higher education options across are state are definitely needed and a good thing. While I'd rather Payson have their own independent college/university, perhaps a ASU-Payson is just a bridge to that as an end goal.
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  #68  
Old Posted Apr 13, 2011, 2:35 AM
gymratmanaz gymratmanaz is offline
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ASU and Civic Space Park news. There are new signs stating that the extension north of the park is going on now. They are adding landscaping and stairs and extending the park north to the old post office loading dock. It is not a major amount added but the look should make the park even more nice looking since it will blend right up to and around the ASU Student Union (Post office). They also mention sun shade structures.

Anyone have a rendering of what it will look like????
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  #69  
Old Posted Apr 13, 2011, 2:08 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gymratmanaz View Post
ASU and Civic Space Park news. There are new signs stating that the extension north of the park is going on now. They are adding landscaping and stairs and extending the park north to the old post office loading dock. It is not a major amount added but the look should make the park even more nice looking since it will blend right up to and around the ASU Student Union (Post office). They also mention sun shade structures.

Anyone have a rendering of what it will look like????
Sounds good, I haven't seen a rendering.

Just to note, this is the Arizona State development thread, as in development going on throughout the state but not in either the Phx or Tucson metroplexes. Not Arizona State as in ASU
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  #70  
Old Posted Jul 8, 2011, 11:42 AM
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I just read about this ASU campus in Payson proposal.

But I'm really wondering how the board of regents/state/universities decide who builds campuses where. Payson seems like a place that should be taken care of by NAU. Was it decided that payson was part of ASU's "zone" or is this all ad-hoc and the universities build campuses wherever they want based on who gets there first?
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  #71  
Old Posted Jul 8, 2011, 5:31 PM
Tempe_Duck Tempe_Duck is offline
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Originally Posted by AJphx View Post
I just read about this ASU campus in Payson proposal.

But I'm really wondering how the board of regents/state/universities decide who builds campuses where. Payson seems like a place that should be taken care of by NAU. Was it decided that payson was part of ASU's "zone" or is this all ad-hoc and the universities build campuses wherever they want based on who gets there first?
ASU is the only college doing something like this. It is part of the Colleges@ASU. It is designed to be smaller and cheaper 4 year school around the state. There is talk of Payson, Lake Havasu and a couple others I can't remember.

So to answer your question, as far as I know, ASU's "zone" is the entire state.
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  #72  
Old Posted Jul 8, 2011, 5:50 PM
Buckeye Native 001 Buckeye Native 001 is offline
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I'm a bit surprised NAU hasn't set up a satellite campus in Payson. They seem to have campuses everywhere else across the state...
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  #73  
Old Posted Jul 8, 2011, 7:37 PM
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I know from their Lake Havasu campaign site they choose the location because the city has grown larger than Flagstaff and are estimating that the student body would be around NAU's numbers around 30-40 years.

Isn't there something of late that Brewer vetoed that has short of stalled Payson site for now?
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  #74  
Old Posted Jul 8, 2011, 10:17 PM
Tempe_Duck Tempe_Duck is offline
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Originally Posted by MegaBass View Post
I know from their Lake Havasu campaign site they choose the location because the city has grown larger than Flagstaff and are estimating that the student body would be around NAU's numbers around 30-40 years.

Isn't there something of late that Brewer vetoed that has short of stalled Payson site for now?
Yeah, she vetoed the bill that would have allowed either ASU or Payson (Can't remember which) to create a Separate Legal Entity. What SLE does or doesn't do I have no clue.
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  #75  
Old Posted Jul 8, 2011, 10:33 PM
Buckeye Native 001 Buckeye Native 001 is offline
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Has there been any more talk about the possiblity of NAU's Yuma Campus becoming its own separate university, or is that concept dead as the legislature continues to find new and unusual ways to marginalize the state's public education system? There's hasn't been much talk of anything up here in Flagstaff, although I'm not sure why there would be since we're an afterthought.
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  #76  
Old Posted Jul 9, 2011, 2:25 AM
AJphx AJphx is offline
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Originally Posted by Tempe_Duck View Post
ASU is the only college doing something like this. It is part of the Colleges@ASU. It is designed to be smaller and cheaper 4 year school around the state. There is talk of Payson, Lake Havasu and a couple others I can't remember.

So to answer your question, as far as I know, ASU's "zone" is the entire state.
well if the regents think these less expensive 4 year colleges are a good idea, why aren't NAU and UA planning these colleges too... and NAU can run the ones in northern az where it is already established?
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  #77  
Old Posted Jul 9, 2011, 6:51 AM
Tempe_Duck Tempe_Duck is offline
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Originally Posted by AJphx View Post
well if the regents think these less expensive 4 year colleges are a good idea, why aren't NAU and UA planning these colleges too... and NAU can run the ones in northern az where it is already established?
I completely agree. ABOR seems to ignore NAU, make UA look "prestigious", and make ASU educate the entire state.
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  #78  
Old Posted Aug 2, 2011, 12:49 PM
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Quote:
Arizona submits 2015 Super Bowl bid

NFL team owners to decide the winner in October

22 comments by Rebekah L. Sanders - Aug. 1, 2011 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

The envelope carrying Arizona's bid for Super Bowl XLIX will be delivered to the National Football League on Monday, the deadline for organizers to prove why the Valley should host the championship game in 2015.

Tampa is also competing.

"I think this is the most solid bid we've ever submitted," said attorney Mike Kennedy, who chairs the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee. "We have the benefit of experience. We've done this before. And it came together very well."


It's good news for local football fans and tourism-related businesses, already cheering the start of the Arizona Cardinals season after the recent resolution to the NFL lockout and the acquisition of the team's new quarterback, Kevin Kolb.

"We have football back, and we have a quarterback. And for Glendale, we hope it's Super Bowl season," Kennedy said.

NFL team owners are expected to review the two bids and pick a winner in October.

The economy has made it more difficult in recent years for the host committee to garner support. The committee declined last year to bid for the 2014 game, citing economic concerns.

Kennedy said committee Executive Director Winnie Stolper and her assistant pounded the pavement last week to secure the final 2,000 hotel rooms to meet the NFL requirement of 19,000 dedicated rooms.

Kristen Jarnagin, spokeswoman for the Valley Hotel & Resort Association, said hotels sometimes are reluctant to commit to rates set by the NFL so far in advance. "It's not always great business sense. Sometimes you can make more money not having a contract," she said.

But Jarnagin said most hotels want to help attract the Super Bowl.

"It does bring in quite a bit of business," she said.

Arizona faces a tough opponent. Tampa has hosted Super Bowls in 1984, 1991, 2001 and 2009, compared with Arizona's two in 1996 and 2008.

"They'll be formidable competition, but I'm confident. I like our chances," Kennedy said.

Some Glendale leaders objected to the costs of the game.

Since hosting the 2008 game at University of Phoenix Stadium, the Glendale City Council has supported other Super Bowl bids, but not without debate.

Super Bowl XLII generated a $500 million windfall statewide, according to a study commissioned by the host committee. But a Glendale-commissioned study showed the city spent $2.2 million more than the sales taxes it collected.

The NFL's demands grow more "invasive" every year, Councilwoman Joyce Clark recently said.

Clark, who was in the council minority voting against the bid, listed specifications such as free use of the stadium for nearly two months, final cleaning of the stadium and equipment. The NFL doesn't pay state or local levies such as payroll, sales, use and occupancy taxes.

"The city of Glendale should not be expected to pay the Super Bowl's costs without recompense when it benefits the entire region," she said.

Kennedy agreed the NFL's requirements are more stringent this year and likely will be more expensive for the Valley to host. But others are helping to foot the bill, he said, and the benefits are widespread. The state plans to waive some taxes for the NFL, while Phoenix and Scottsdale are expected to kick in money for public safety and other costs.

Glendale, unlike in 2008, would retain a portion of sales taxes collected from the stadium to fund public safety, transportation and stadium infrastructure.



Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/sports/card...#ixzz1TsKVuw00
Well keep our fingers crossed, hopefully we get this. Tampa has had twice as many Super Bowls as we've had and they had one more recently, so it only seems fair that we should get the 2015 game.
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  #79  
Old Posted Aug 2, 2011, 4:10 PM
Leo the Dog Leo the Dog is offline
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Another super bowl in AZ would, no doubt, be great for the city.

Quote:
But a Glendale-commissioned study showed the city spent $2.2 million more than the sales taxes it collected.
This is a problem with attracting another super bowl to Glendale. Everyone stayed and partied elsewhere. (Scottsdale/Tempe and parts of Central Phx.)
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  #80  
Old Posted Aug 5, 2011, 4:30 PM
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Casa Grande 'world trade center' complex set to open soonby Caitlin McGlade and Lindsey Collom - Aug. 5, 2011 06:34 AM
The Arizona Republic.

CASA GRANDE - A massive wholesale shopping complex is expected to open soon in Pinal County, bringing with it at least 300 foreign investors and their families looking to make a home in America.

To stay, they have to help boost the local economy.

Chinese investors, real-estate companies and local government officials have completed plans for a 1.5 million-square-foot business center, to be called Phoenix Mart.

The project's estimated cost is $150 million, and its developers' stated goal is to make it a "world trade center of sorts" by hosting 2,000 vendors, many from China.

The complex will be a one-stop shop for businesses seeking supplies or products to sell, according to the developer, Scottsdale-based AZ Sourcing LLC.

AZ Sourcing bought the land from a private owner in 2010.

Tenants on site will use storefronts to sell six categories of merchandise: consumer products for men, women and youths, automotive products, "home and hotel" products, and food.

A convention center at the mall will host regular trade shows so participating small businesses can share their products with national and international companies, said Adam Hood, a senior associate with commercial-real-estate brokerage Colliers International in Phoenix, which has been hired to identify and book tenants.

The general public also will be able to shop alongside business owners.

"It's kind of a new beginning for the city, county and the state of Arizona," said Casa Grande Mayor Robert Jackson at a news conference Wednesday.

AZ Sourcing also plans to add new businesses at nearby Tanger Outlet Mall in Casa Grande to complement the wholesaler lineup at Phoenix Mart.

One hotel-supply business is already set to move in by the end of the year, said Jeremy Schoenfelder, executive vice president of AZ Sourcing.

While AZ Sourcing and Colliers International are aiming to fill tenant slots with American companies, the project plan also calls for hundreds of immigrant investors with hefty pocketbooks. Those investors can obtain U.S. residency for themselves and their immediate families based on legislation passed in 1990.

The law, enabling what are known as EB-5 visas, allows immigrant investors to obtain green cards if they fulfill certain economic-development goals.

Generally, a foreign national must invest $1 million in a business endeavor to be a candidate, but the requirement is reduced to $500,000 in specially designated areas that have unemployment rates at least 1.5 times the national average.

The law states that each foreign investor must also create or save at least 10 full-time, local jobs.

If an EB-5 candidate does not fulfill those goals within two years, he or she does not earn permanent residency.

The program has grown in popularity over the past few years, with as many as 1,955 applications vying for a project during the 2010 fiscal year, compared with 776 three years before.

The U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services approved more than 1,360 applications in 2010.

Also that year, 768 investors applied to earn their permanent residency, but 56 of them failed to meet goals and were denied. About 270 were approved, and the rest are still pending, according to Department of Homeland Security records.

The EB-5 program has spurred an estimated minimum of 31,160 jobs and accumulated more than $1.5 billion in investments since it began in 1990, according to federal records.

Critics of EB-5 say the program allows people to "buy their way into the country" on the premise of creating jobs for Americans. But those employment opportunities often don't materialize, said Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based Federation for American Immigration Reform.

"Very often, these are businesses that don't create jobs for anyone else except for someone who made the investment and their immediate family," Mehlman said.

"A lot of economically depressed areas are pretty desperate, and anybody who is willing to come in and invest anything, they get excited about it, even if (the benefit) isn't all that much."

The clock is already ticking for Phoenix Mart investors, so construction crews will aim to have the center up and running by the end of 2012. They will likely break ground late in first-quarter 2012.

If the Casa Grande project works, 3,000 job opportunities - that's 10 per investor - should open. These might include anything from sales-clerk to tech-support to administrative positions. Officials are estimating that another 4,000 or more direct or indirect jobs might crop up as well, including construction and maintenance positions to build the structure.

"These are people who are looking for a place to raise their families, invest in their future," said Elizabeth Mann, president of AZ Sourcing.

She said many of these families speak English, but the county and the city are preparing for a language-barrier problem to arise fairly soon.

The law does not limit the investors to living in Casa Grande, but officials are having discussions with high schools about initiating a Mandarin-speaking teacher and have also looked into having a Mandarin-speaking staffer in city government, said David Snider, a Pinal County supervisor.

The city offered no incentives to bring in Phoenix Mart. Officials chose Casa Grande because it met the unemployment-rate requirement, because of its location between Tucson and Phoenix and because of the convenience of the railway nearby the site, Schoenfelder said.



Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/community/p...#ixzz1UAlZXauT
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