With disappearing farmland, an ever-present threat of drought, and limited distribution channels, the summer film series addresses how Arizona farmers are overcoming these issues to bring fresh produce to your table.

With a 2,000-year-old agricultural heritage, Arizona’s Verde Valley locals and visitors can now rediscover their roots through the recently launched “Verde Grown” campaign. A local steering committee comprised of regional municipalities, growers, and producers have partnered with Local First Arizona to launch the new Verde Grown brand with an intent to link food connoisseurs to farmers, ranchers, food producers, and restaurants in the Verde Valley, which includes the cities and towns of Clarkdale, Cottonwood, Camp Verde, Cornville, and other nearby communities.

Local First Arizona is launching the Arizona Economic Recovery Center, with support from Senator Mark Kelly and Governor Doug Ducey, to ensure every corner of the state has the opportunity to build back stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Local First Arizona will host the 3rd Annual Arizona Good Business Summit (AZGBS) virtually on April 20-22, 2021. The 3-day digital conference will convene over 500 businesses and community leaders to examine economic and societal issues that shook communities everywhere in 2020 — and discuss solutions for them. From social justice to environmental action, small businesses lead the way in transformative systems change by redefining what it means to do “good business,” and the AZGBS will spotlight those leading the charge through innovative business models.

Local First Arizona is teaming up with the City of Mesa to recognize independently owned businesses that are doing good for the planet through the Arizona Green Business Program. This certification process for Arizona’s locally owned businesses, large and small, has two purposes - to recognize businesses that are leading the way, and to assist those who want to add sustainability into their operations by making the process hands-on, cost-savings oriented, and impactful.

Produced by Local First Arizona’s Good Food Finder, The Good Food Film Series will feature monthly, independent short film releases dedicated to documenting and sharing Arizona’s food access stories and the societal challenges the farming and food community face through February 2022. These are stories of the often unseen heroes, doing the good work of not only growing and providing healthy, fresh food to our communities but also taking bold environmental and food sovereignty action to create a more sustainable and just local food system.

Just in time for the holiday season, Local First Arizona, in partnership with local marketing firm Ideas Collide, will launch Arizona’s go-to online marketplace for discovering and shopping directly from local businesses and makers across the state. In response to a hard economic year and the need for safe, holiday shopping, the Shop Arizona Marketplace will help small businesses from all industries compete in a digital world and reach new customers now and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

Local First Arizona is expanding on its work of building an inclusive, diverse local economy through a new initiative, the We Rise Business Accelerator program. Tailored to Arizona’s Black-owned businesses, at all stages of development and all sectors, We Rise will equip businesses with the entrepreneurial skills and resources to thrive and become part of a larger network of like-minded entrepreneurs.

Residents across Graham and Greenlee Counties have a new resource to discover all the amazing food produced within their community. By visiting Local First Arizona Foundation’s Good Food Finder, starting September and through the holiday season, locals will get to learn about neighbors who are growing local food and find ways to support them. “Eat Local Gila Valley” aims to encourage continued patronage of local producers, markets, and restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic through contactless pickup and takeout — and for years to come.

Local First Arizona’s annual statewide campaign, called Independents Week, or “Indie Week”, is usually a week-long celebration of Arizona independent businesses featuring 20% off golden coupons, bar crawls and more. This year, LFA is asking consumers to double down on Arizona small businesses all through September as they fight to stay alive during a pandemic and are experiencing slower than usual sales.

The Governor’s Office is partnering with Local First Arizona Foundation to launch the Arizona Small Business Rent and Mortgage Relief Grant program and distribute $10 million in grants to small businesses who have had to shutter their doors during this pandemic. Applications will be open on August 20.

From July 27-31, 2020, Local First Arizona will hold a weeklong campaign, Move Your Money, to inform Arizonans that keeping their checking or savings account in a global big bank, such as Chase, Bank of America, or Wells Fargo, enables and supports modern-day “redlining,” a discriminatory lending practice that hurts communities of color and small businesses which will impact how quickly Arizona recovers from the current economic crisis.

SCALE UP (Sustainable Communities Accessing Lending and Expertise Upon Performance) is an award-winning program under the Local First Arizona Sustainability umbrella that offers a comprehensive, hands-on seven-week educational series for locally-owned businesses looking to create a sustainable business model centered on tackling existing environmental and societal issues

The city of Phoenix is putting CARES Act dollars to work by bringing high-quality meals to vulnerable populations across the city. The city has contracted Local First Arizona Foundation to recruit local restaurants, farmers, and food entrepreneurs to help prepare these meals in order to sustain local jobs and supply chains, strengthen the local food economy, and most importantly, help keep all Phoenicians healthy during an ongoing economic and social crisis.

Small businesses across Arizona have lost federal dollars to larger companies in urban areas — that is no secret. Lack of access to SBA-partnered community banks limited opportunities for many. Local First Arizona is proud to join forces these three partners to distribute grants — not loans — to businesses across the state.

As Congress today passes a federal Coronavirus relief package, Local First Arizona launches a new initiative that will provide immediate financial relief to Arizona’s microenterprises with mini-grants to cover costs like employee payroll and rent. Immediate cash flow, not loans, will keep the backbone of the Arizona economy afloat and looking forward to a stronger tomorrow.

In just one month, Local First Arizona was able to raise over one million dollars through the Small Business Relief Fund, providing immediate aid to 400 microenterprises thanks to the outpouring support from Arizona’s largest businesses and community nonprofits.

On Apr. 22, 2020, the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, Local First Arizona is hosting a virtual celebration to discuss how Arizona businesses are addressing climate change. While communities are navigating the extreme impacts of COVID-19, Earth Day is an opportunity to reflect on how to address and adapt to the other major global threats happening right now — the climate crisis — and get inspired by sustainable, resilient businesses across the state

The 7th Annual Arizona Food & Farm Forum will be held at the Corona Ranch & Rodeo Grounds on April 28 & 29, 2020, in Laveen, AZ. The Arizona Food & Farm Forum is a two-day conference for farmers, food entrepreneurs, and local food advocates to unite and strengthen relationships for collaboration, develop new skills, and implement strategies that improve the way our desert state feeds itself.

Local First Arizona is a coalition of 3,000 local businesses dedicated to building a state we are proud to call home. Since 2003, Local First had advocated for a strong and inclusive Arizona economy, which is why I’m writing today to inform you of our opposition to divisive bills that destabilize our economy. The proposed legislation to change our state’s constitution to ban institutions from declaring sanctuary status (SCR 1007 and HCR 2036) — are unnecessary and addresses situations already prohibited under existing state legislation.