Far from a typical business conference or networking event, the Arizona Good Business Summit is a meeting of the minds of the most dynamic, socially conscious, creative and forward-thinking leaders and businesspeople from Arizona and across the country. Attendees eager to form relationships and create lasting impact will be inspired to collaborate across industries and move conversations into action.

The summit features a wide variety of workshops, business trainings, panel discussions, networking opportunities and presentations from guests and keynote speakers, in addition to a walking tour of Mesa’s thriving business core.

An award-winning program that empowers locally owned businesses and nonprofits in Arizona to cut water, energy, waste and vehicle emissions while saving money is expanding to the Verde Valley in January.

SCALE UP (Sustainable Communities Accessing Lending and Expertise Upon Performance) is a comprehensive, 7-hour boot camp that teaches business owners and nonprofit leaders how to be more environmentally friendly while benefiting their bottom lines.

Forty-five Hispanic entrepreneurs from Maricopa County and 10 from Yavapai County are boosting the statewide economy as they prepare to graduate from Local First Arizona’s Spanish-language business accelerator Fuerza Local.

The startups from Cottonwood, Sedona, Mesa, Maryvale, central Phoenix and south Phoenix range from restaurants to photography and life coaching to construction.

Fuerza Local is a six-month business training course offered in Spanish at no cost to local business owners to support them in obtaining the necessary resources and tools to have healthy and successful businesses.

From makeup artistry to office support and kids’ parties to custom clothing, 10 graduates from Local First Arizona’s We Rise business accelerator are leveling up their enterprises and building generational wealth.

We Rise is a no-cost, six-month training program designed, produced and taught by Arizona’s Black small-business owners to impart comprehensive and practical business skills to the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Business owners may feel trepidation about how to create a workplace welcoming of the LGBTQ+ community, but an upcoming online workshop from Arizona business coalition ONE Community offers the tools to understand and succeed in attracting and retaining LGBTQ+ employees and clients.

Tickets go on sale to the general public tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 5, for Local First Arizona’s 14th annual Devour Culinary Classic at the beautiful Desert Botanical Garden, the most anticipated culinary event of the region.

Featuring its distinct call-to-action card, Independents Week encourages Arizonans to “go local” by supporting as many locally owned businesses as possible. Each year, traditionally over the first week of July, first-timers and returning customers across the state discover new and fun ways to support Arizona’s small, independent businesses!

Businesses of all sizes including small businesses support The Equality and Fairness for All Americans because equality and fairness are not just the right thing to do, but are good for business. At Local First we believe we must be inclusive to attract and retain top talent, ideas and innovations.

Local First Arizona (LFA) today announced it has received $15,000 from the National League of Cities (NLC) City Inclusive Entrepreneurship (CIE) program, which helps cities empower entrepreneurs of color and invest in underrepresented communities. Local First will use the funding to conduct outreach to qualified businesses and provide training on how to become a vendor for the City of Phoenix.

Local First Arizona’s recently launched Rural Business Academy addresses these unique challenges through four virtual courses facilitated over six weeks with up to 12 participants. Each course is led by an expert in the field with opportunities to collaborate with peers and one-on-one with mentors. The goal for each course is to provide hands-on learning, real-world exercises, and take-home tools that strengthen each business where it’s needed most.

Since 1984, Keep Arizona Beautiful has worked with citizens across rural Arizona to organize and implement local initiatives that keep our state clean and beautiful, including litter abatement efforts, recycling programs, illegal dumping prevention, and community beautification projects.

The Rural Policy Forum is an opportunity for rural economic development professionals, nonprofits, community leaders and stakeholders, and business owners to discuss the unique challenges that rural communities face and the solutions that are working to overcome those challenges.

In May of 2021, Local First Arizona launched the Arizona Economic Recovery Center (AZERC) to assist organizations and small rural towns statewide with building their capacity for small and large projects that have the potential to grow, contribute to, or transform the economic health of Arizona. Since its inception, the AZERC has assisted a multitude of rural towns, nonprofits and tribal organizations to win grant awards surpassing $4.6 million.

After a compelling virtual experience in 2021, Local First Arizona looks forward to bringing 250 business leaders together in person on April 5 at Tempe Center for the Arts for this pioneering event – the Arizona Good Business Summit.

In February 2022, Local First Arizona and South32 will launch a first-of-its-kind intensive Rural Business Academy in Santa Cruz County, with a digital marketing course to focus on unique challenges faced by rural entrepreneurs.

Through the Maricopa County Small Business Resilience Program,

Local First Arizona (LFA) in partnership with the Arizona Community Foundation (ACF) is facilitating stability grants for nonprofit and for-profit small businesses and micro-enterprises. These stability grants of up to $25,000 are now available to small businesses that can demonstrate revenue declines or unanticipated operating cost deficits from July 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020 as compared to July 2019 through December 2019.

Following an 18-month crisis response that provided more than $13 million in support to more than 1,400 small businesses across the state, Local First Arizona has been awarded a contract that will expand aid to local small and micro-enterprises in Maricopa County. With this award, Maricopa County joins Local First Arizona’s growing list of community partners offering support to the state’s most vulnerable businesses.

Late last month, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) released data showing that Arizonans have now deposited 11.5% of their money into local banks. This is a significant jump up from 3% in 2013 and 8.5% recorded in June of last year.

With only 13 banks headquartered in Arizona, the state has been called a “banking desert,” leaving eight counties with no community bank representation at all and small businesses with fewer borrowing options.

Food and farming are more than just growing and selling produce; the fall film series addresses how Arizona farms are helping families and overcoming injustice in the system.

The State of Arizona has launched the Back to Work Small Business Hiring and Retention Program. This $5 million program is designed to assist small, locally owned or operated businesses hire and retain employees; the program also has a special focus on businesses that have been affected by the recent wildfires and flooding.