The QUICK JAB

By Bill Jabjiniak

City of Mesa “Opportunity Zones” provides tax benefits for investors

Exciting news for The City of Mesa. There are 11 census tracts that have been designated as “Opportunity Zones” by the U.S. Department of the Treasury – adding another incentive to the mix of reasons to invest in Mesa. Opportunity Zones offer tax benefits to investors who reinvest capital gains in a zone and hold the investment for five to ten years. This map highlights these tracts within the city boundaries.

The Arizona Governor’s Office and the Arizona Commerce Authority worked with local governments, tribal communities, and counties to decide which census tracts would be submitted for consideration by the federal government. As of April 9, 2018, all of Arizona’s 168 submitted tracts became officially designated as Opportunity Zones.

According to the Wall Street Journal dated October 17, 2018, The Treasury Department designed the rules for the Opportunity Zone program to give businesses enough flexibility and certainty to start making major investments, senior department officials said. The Opportunity Zones program is a federal program designed to spur community investment by providing benefits to investors who reinvest capital gains monies in Opportunity Zone funds in order to receive reductions on capital gains taxes relative to the years of their investment.

Mesa’s designated Opportunity Zones are anchored by four business districts: the Mesa Gateway Area; the Falcon District; the Main Street Corridor (Downtown Mesa); and the Fiesta District. Mesa has many projects and developments that are perfect fits for opportunity zone investment within these areas.

To learn more about Mesa’s Opportunity Zones and how you can qualify, please visit www.MesaAzOpportunityZones.com

Announcing City of Mesa State of the City Breakfast, February 5, 2019

The Mesa Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the City of Mesa State of the City Breakfast with Mayor John Giles, February 5, 2019 at the Mesa Convention Center at 201 N. Center St., Mesa, AZ from 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM with registration beginning at 7:00 AM.

Tickets are $50 for Mesa Chamber members, $60 for non-chamber members. Register online at www.mesachamber.org. To become a sponsor, please contact Sally Harrison at 480-969-1307, extension 26.

Attend the next PHX East Valley Angel Investor Network Workshop in Mesa

Are you interested in increasing your ROI through investments? Are you looking for a way to invest to boost your earnings while supporting technology and innovative startups in your community?

The PHX East Valley Angel Investor Network Series is for potential angel investors, presented by Arizona Tech Investors as workshops that teach how funding decisions are made, how investment deals are structured, how to diversify one's portfolio, and how exits are completed to generate returns on investments (ROI).

PHX East Valley Angel Investor Network Workshop Series in Mesa
Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019
LaunchPoint
245 W. 2^nd St, Mesa, AZ 85201
5:30 PM – 7:30 PM            

The workshops are offered at no cost. Register for the Feb. 6 workshop. For more information, email info@phxeastvalley.org or call 480-834-8335.

HIGHER EDUCATION ROUND UP

ATSU opens state-of-the-art digital dentistry center in Mesa

A.T. Still University - Arizona’s School of Dentistry & Oral Health (ATSU-ASDOH) held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Nov. 6, 2018, for the Dillenberg Center-PDS Innovation Clinic at ATSU's Mesa campus, 5855 E. Still Circle.

The PDS Innovation Clinic is a state-of-the-art digital dentistry center where ATSU-ASDOH students and faculty provide cutting-edge patient care. The clinic creates unique educational opportunities for students, while improving access to low-cost, high-quality dental care for community members.

The PDS Innovation Clinic, named for Pacific Dental Services, consists of 11 operatories and a space dedicated to interprofessional collaboration between the dental school and ATSU’s other health professions programs. The facility is the University’s first 100 percent donor-funded initiative.  

"The new clinic is an exciting space where students learn to treat patients using the latest technologies for virtual surgical planning, digital impressions, and computer-aided dental designs,” said Jonny Brennan, MD, DMD, MPH, associate dean of ATSU-ASDOH. “It also provides a collaborative area where faculty from various dental specialties explore new, innovative models of care, value-based pay systems, and interprofessional education to bridge the gap with other allied healthcare specialists."

As ATSU-ASDOH’s fourth dental clinic, the PDS Innovation Clinic will increase the School’s capacity to see patients and streamline workflows around digital processes, while improving quality of services and reducing costs. ATSU-ASDOH is also home to the ASDOH Dental Clinic, which offers primary dental care services; the Center for Advanced Oral Health, an orthodontics clinic for children and adults; and the Dr. Rick Workman Advanced Care Clinic, a dental clinic for patients with complex medical needs.

For further information, please contact Anne Ackroyd at 480.219.6015 or at anneackroyd@atsu.edu

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

Mesa Arts Center announces The Collective 2019

Mesa Arts Center has announced the inaugural cohort for The Collective, a 12-week certificate program that builds leadership skills through creative thinking and practices. The twenty-three participants represent a variety of different industries and professions and were selected through a competitive application and interview process.

Objectives of the arts-based program include; providing participants with leadership opportunities experienced through a creative lens; offering personal growth opportunities; creating a network of peers to include collaborators and leaders from diverse sectors; and equipping participants with an enhanced skill set and tools to design, implement and sustain effective community development.

“What sets a leader apart? One of the most sought-after and scarce attributes of great leaders is the ability to think creatively and work collaboratively to find the best solution to a problem—and to embrace experimentation as an essential part of organizational learning,” said Cindy Ornstein, Executive Director of Mesa Arts Center and Director of Arts and Culture for the City of Mesa. “The Collective will use creative practice to enable these participants to gain experience that will help them succeed and enable them to contribute to their organizations and communities at a higher level.” See the 2019 cohort at www.mesaartscenter.com/thecollective.

The brand-new 2019 Official Mesa Life Visitors Guide, published by Visit Mesa, is available now for anyone wanting to know more about the Arizona’s third largest city and its popular attractions and offerings for visitors. The 64-page guide features editorial on Mesa’s in-demand experiences that set the destination apart here in the Southwest. Mesa Life includes full-length feature articles paired with comprehensive listings on Mesa and area businesses in the following categories:

• Adventure Explorer
• Culture Seeker
• Fresh Foodie
• Sports Enthusiast
• Active Family
• Destination Downtown
• Native Neighbors: Highlighting Mesa’s relationships with both Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community

The new lifestyle magazine also features vibrant photography intended to inspire potential visitors to choose Mesa for their next vacation. This ultimate guide to Mesa and the surrounding area also features a two-page City of Mesa map with designated markings for area cultural attractions, entertainment venues, golf courses, shopping centers, hiking trails, city parks, sports facilities and other major attractions. In addition to the complimentary printed version, residents and visitors can pick up at the Mesa Visitors Center, the guide is available online at VisitMesa.com. The digital version features keyword search capabilities and hyperlinks to click for more information on each advertiser.  The guide is the main fulfillment piece distributed by Visit Mesa. Over the next year, 35,000 printed copies will be distributed to leisure visitors, business travelers, meeting and trade show attendees, media, travel agents, group tour operators, meeting planners and other travel professionals.