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.

The Arizona Economic Recovery Center (AZERC) has had a busy year working with organizations across Arizona!

The Arizona Economic Recovery Center is here to help! Don’t miss out on the services provided -we guarantee there is something we can help you with! Check out all the services that the Arizona Economic Recovery Center provides!

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.

Muchas felicidades a la 1ra Generación y 18a Generación y un agradecimiento muy especial para todos los líderes comunitarios y patrocinadores del programa por creer en nuestros empresarios locales.

Talent Pipeline Management (TPM) is an employer-led, demand-driven process that brings together employers from the same industries in a specific region to collectively address shared workforce challenges.

It’s Black History Month! One of our favorite ways to celebrate is by supporting Black-owned businesses – especially those in our We Rise program. It’s all about helping businesses get started or expand and we want to be a part of that growth.

Meet January’s new and renewing Local First Arizona members!

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.

In Fall 2021, SCALE UP Cohorts 5 and 6 came together to participate in the 6-week sustainability project planning series to share knowledge and resources to help each of them achieve efficiency savings and add to our growing network of green businesses. After coming together, each participant is launching a unique project that addresses energy, water, waste, and/or transportation in their operations alongside commitments to environmental and community stewardship. Here is a sneak peek of the participants and the projects they are launching here in Arizona!

What better way to start off 2022 than with a celebration! First up: 45 Fuerza Local participants!. After six months of hard work, these incredible entrepreneurs are completing their program.

The second group to go through the We Rise program is made up of a diverse group of businesses. Meet just a few and join us in celebrating them all at the graduation ceremony on January 29, 2022.

It’s finally Devour season! Devour is definitely one of our favorite events – what can we say, we love food. To keep everyone safe, Devour will be an at-home experience this year but it’s still one of the best ways to try out some new local restaurants. In 2022, Devour will be graced by the presence of some of our regulars, but we’d also like to introduce some of the fresh faces joining Devour for the first time!

United States consumers spent $12.7 billion on gift wrap in 2017, and it’s estimated that 2.3 million pounds of wrapping paper ends up in the nation’s landfills. For something that looks pretty for a short time and then gets ripped up, gift wrap has a big impact. This holiday season, get creative with reusable wrapping ideas and keep the joy without the environmental burden.

Founded at the home of the Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market, this event is an all-inclusive and slightly quirky December celebration that values locally-owned businesses, locally-made products and our community. It is also the largest fundraiser of the year for Community Food Connections, which manages the Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market.

Kalila Martinez de Aragon es socia de Coldwater Coffeehouse and Bakery, LLC, una pequeña empresa local ubicada en el centro de la ciudad de Avondale, AZ, que ofrece café con estilo farm-to-table, cafés artesanales, panadería americana, bocadillos y ensaladas frescas.

Establecieron su negocio en 2017, pero su primer proyecto fue desarrollar un huerto urbano que se estableció en el terreno baldío que se encuentra detrás de su actual cafetería en el verano de 2018 y tuvieron su primer mercado en enero de 2019.

I'm bringing this to you today as a request. We have to use our critical thinking, our emotional intelligence, and our compassion to continue to dialogue with those we don't agree with and to hang on to reality while understanding diverse lived experiences.

I’ve spent my time at Local First working to address root causes. Many call it leadership, but what I really think we're talking about is accountability

Meet Ebony, co-owner of Hussle and Meditate LLC. She has some gift ideas for the holiday season! Check out what is on her list.

There are 160 manufacturing employers in Kingman, LHC, and Bullhead City that account for 3215 jobs in the region. Manufacturers in Mohave County reached out to Local First Arizona to engage in collaborative conversation utilizing the TPM Model for workforce development to answer the question: “What can Mohave County manufacturers do to communicate a better understanding of the younger workforce and create packages that appeal to the true environment they're looking to work within?”