Economy - AZ FREE NEWS

Flagstaff to Increase Minimum Wage to Nearly $17 an Hour

Sep 15, 2022

By Corinne Murdock | Come January, Flagstaff will increase its minimum wage from $15.50 to $16.80 an hour, and from $13 to 14.80 an hour for tipped employees. Flagstaff Mayor Paul Deasy shared the news on Tuesday....

August Bankruptcy Filings in Arizona Hit Highest Mark Of Year

Sep 5, 2022

By Terri Jo Neff | Financial eyes are focused on data recently released by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Arizona showing August had the highest number of new filings this year, while also being the first month of 2022 to have more new filings than the...

Sierra Vista Company Ranks In Top 5 Fastest Growing In State

Sep 1, 2022

By Terri Jo Neff | A Sierra Vista-based company which started with just one government contract in 2017 has been named to Inc. Magazine’s 5000 fastest growing private companies in America, ranking in the top five in Arizona and number 158 nationwide with more than...

Tucson Prepares to Increase Costs by Requiring Electric Vehicle Charging Stations at New Buildings

Aug 31, 2022

By Corinne Murdock | Last Tuesday, the Tucson City Council mandated new multifamily residential, office, and commercial buildings increase their costs by requiring them to be outfitted with electric vehicle charging stations. The new requirement, Ordinance No. 11953,...

Arizona Governor Lands In Taiwan To Kick Off 5 Day Trade Mission

Aug 31, 2022

By Terri Jo Neff | Foreign trade missions are a tool for key industry and government leaders to develop international business opportunities by meeting face to face. And right now, Gov. Doug Ducey is in Taiwan for one such trip that will include time in the Republic...

Arizona Republic’s Parent Company to Cut Salaries, Start Layoffs Following $54 Million Loss

Aug 10, 2022

By Corinne Murdock| Gannett, parent company to the Arizona Republic, will commence layoffs and diminish salaries following a poor second quarter last week. Gannett, which also owns half of the Arizona Daily Star, said in a press release that this...

Business Groups Decry Impact Of Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act

Aug 9, 2022

By Terri Jo Neff | The Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry is hoping the U.S. House of Representatives takes a hard look at H.R. 5376, which was formerly known as the Build Back Better Act until being recently rechristened as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022....

Senators Kelly, Sinema Agree To Biden’s Controversial Inflation Reduction Act

Aug 8, 2022

By Corinne Murdock | Over the weekend, Arizona’s two Democratic senators, Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema, fell in line with their party and backed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The IRA passed the Senate on Sunday along party lines, 51-50, with Vice...

Hollywood Movie Star Threatens to Primary Senator Sinema Over Corporate Tax Bill

Aug 4, 2022

By Corinne Murdock | George Takei, of “Star Trek” fame, threatened to remove Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) from office if she opposes President Joe Biden’s bill raising corporate taxes. The legislation in question, the 725-page Inflation Reduction...

Everything Is Coming Up Roses In Eloy

Jul 25, 2022

By Terri Jo Neff | Agriculture has long been a key to Arizona’s economy, as shown by the inclusion of cotton and citrus in the 5 C’s of the state’s top economic drivers (copper, climate, and cattle being the others). But one company in Eloy believes the motto...

Copper Mining Reboot In Arizona Hits Snags As Workforce Is Cut

Jul 23, 2022

By Terri Jo Neff | Arizona ‘s hope to reinvigorate domestic copper production has hit what workers and industry experts hope is only a temporary pause with the reduction of workforce and wellfield operations at Excelsior Mining’s Gunnison Copper Project in northern...

Small Business Report Draws Attention To Lack Of Optimism

Jul 13, 2022

By Terri Jo Neff | The number of small business owners across America who expect business conditions to improve over the next six months dropped considerably in June, hitting the lowest level in the 48 years the National Federation of Independent Business has...