PRESIDENT BRUCE JACOBS started the meeting and noted that SARA GAAR’s husband, Bruce Ehrens, has been diagnosed with a rare form of Leukemia. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. NANCY FARBER was introduced and led the Pledge and an always enjoyable group singing of the Star-Spangled Banner. BOB SHAFF offered the Inspiration and it was based on Birth and Death. It was a nice thought that in each instance, we have the opportunity for a first breath. KHRIS DODGE introduced our guests.
MICHAEL GUYMON introduced our guest speaker, Susan Hyatt Dumon, who is the Senior Vice President of Economic Competitiveness at Sun Corridor, Inc. MICHAEL and Susan worked together before MICHAEL took his leadership role at the Tucson Metro Chamber. Susan first decided that she wanted to live in Tucson while she was attending college in Indiana. She took a trip to Tucson and camped at Saguaro National Park West.
Susan offered background information on Sun Corridor, which is a regional economic development engine for Tucson. Sun Corridor is a non-profit organization and 75% of it’s budget is paid for by private businesses and investors who want growth in our region. Their mission is to “Generate Community Wealth” via businesses that manufacture goods and services that are exported outside of Tucson. Susan noted that no matter where the growth occurs in our region, there is a positive impact everywhere in the region. Sun Corridor focuses on four industry sectors: Aerospace & Defense, Transportation & Logistics, Bioscience & Healthcare, and Mining & Renewable Technologies. She noted that there has been a shift in the businesses that are interested in Tucson since 2019. There has been a decrease in Aerospace and increase in Automotive related businesses. They (Sun Corridor) will assess the opportunities and refocus as needed to ensure the most relevant and best opportunities remain the target. At a given time, Sun Corridor is working on 65 qualified projects with more than 90% of those projects with businesses that have no current presence in the region. They win 10 to 15% of those projects. The main source is Californian companies however there are companies interested in moving to Tucson from many other states as well. Susan will be focusing on the competitiveness of Tucson in the future to ensure we have our best foot forward as we approach new opportunities.JIM LUBINSKI was celebrating his birthday that occurred on July 2nd. He retired on June 30th and has been jet setting since. He said that he’s been working hard at retirement and sounds like a 3-week trip to Europe really challenged him. JERRY SULLIVAN was celebrating his 80th birthday. He showed a photo of when he was 8 and noted that he really hasn’t changed much. Happy Birthday you two!
WES WI
GGINS introduced our newest members SANDRA JOHNSON and SANDRA introduced her husband and Family Member, RAYMOND SMITH. They are realtors and host the IM Realtor Show on KVOI radio AM 1030, Sundays from 3 to 4pm. We’re glad to have them in our club!
CHARLOTTE HARRIS introduced Paul Harris award recipients BOBBY LARSON and his wife, Tracy. BOBBY received his Paul Harris +6 award. Thanks for helping Rotary International, both of you!
KHRIS DODGE held a raffle with the grand prize-winning amount going over $800! The winning card was not drawn and we’ll soon have over $1,000 in the kitty.
ALAN ROGERS offered details on our Social Mixer next Wednesday, August 31st, at Noble Hops at the Double Tree Hotel on Alvernon. PRESIDENT BRUCE noted that U of A Basketball Coach Tommy Lloyd will be speaking to our club on September 21st. All members and guests must register, and the guest fee is $35. It will be a “Red Out.” BRUCE mentioned that our Facebook page is up and running again. Be sure to make comments and share anything from the page that you like. BOBBY LARSON offered some news on the car show. Sponsorships are doing great with special thanks to MARY MARTIN securing all the Media Sponsors. Now, it’s time to sell tickets. That’s our bread and butter.
PRESIDENT BRUCE offered a toast to Tucson and the success of Sun Corridor and we were adjourned.
