Community Profile

Tim Connolly’s clients say he has the eye of a stylist and the skills of a builder. This works well for him and his business partner, Matt Greenlee, who recently opened Artisan Stone Surfaces in Prescott.

The business offers marble for all surfaces, from floors to countertops to even walls. Since opening, Connolly has the opportunity to spread his wings and do a couple of big jobs in very small places, which thrilled the clients.

Joe and Kay Lyons had a very small bathroom that was dated and in need of help. Connolly surrounded the tub and shower with cultured marble.

“I really did love the way he worked with us,” said Joe Lyons. “We had ideas and he would look at us and say, ‘I don’t think that is going to work,’ but he did it nicely.”

Still Connolly made sure his clients got what they wanted.

“He had a lot of great suggestions and he gave us ways to make it more affordable,” Joe said.

Connolly says he can walk into a small space and think about how things can be arranged with minimal work. “That is the key, keeping things down to a minimum,” he said.

“His work was really good,” Joe said. “His eye for color and matching things was just excellent.”

Connolly said he does not know where the “eye” came from. “[Since] I was a kid, I’ve always drawn,” he said.

The couple liked his work so much that they let Connolly do whatever he wanted in the master bathroom and it turned out “beautifully.”

The Lyons are not the only ones to turn to remodeling their existing home and decide against a new home. The business of remodeling homes rose six percent last year, while the building of new single family homes did not rise during that time period after falling four percent in 2012, according to CareerBuilder, which keeps an eye on the labor market.

Residential remodeling jobs are projected to rise above seven percent this year.

Homeowners spent $130 billion on remodels in 2013 and that amount was expected to rise more than eight percent last year, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

Connolly says he loves working with customers who “kind of” know what they want.

“That makes my job easier and every customer can go to the showroom to look at samples or we can bring samples to them.”

And, he said, prospective clients can feel confident that the company knows what they are doing. “We already have a great reputation because we been in town a long time. I used to manage Matt’s fabrication shop years ago,” he said.

Then when the economy crashed, Connolly returned to his handyman business.

“When things started picking up,” said Greenlee, “we needed to open up a granite shop, so we partnered up.”

At the moment, the company is dong a very large job in Telluride, so business is good. QCBN

The showroom is in the Prescott design center, 1640 Intercal Way in Prescott.

For more information, call 928-717-1814.

Kathy Bazan has joined the Yavapai College Verde Valley Small Business Development Center (SBDC) as its new business analyst.

The Sedona resident will counsel small business owners and entrepreneurs in finance management and marketing to help them grow their businesses.

She believes the new job was meant to be. “I was looking at the Yavapai College website and the job popped up.”

Bazan says she felt she was perfect for it. “They wanted someone who had been in business and knew how to talk to people in a business environment. I have the ability to invest myself in people and help them reach their dreams.”

“We understand the challenges and obstacles that await business owners,” explained Alexandria Wright, director of the Yavapai College REDC. “That’s why SBDC gives you access to a powerful network of business tools that extend throughout the federal, state, county and private sectors.”

Bazan is one of those tools. She has a long career in personnel management, career counseling, sales, social media and blogging on the subject.

A graduate of UCLA, she went to work immediately for Snelling and Snelling of Newport Beach, California, where she learned her craft.

“I love working with people,” she said.

Using the skills she learned at the personnel giant, she ran her own career counseling office for eight years. “Nurses, secretaries, engineers – I wrote them résumés and I got them jobs,” she said.

Next, she sold textbooks to colleges, where she outsold her colleagues. She said the wheels of academia grind slowly for textbook approval by a college. She approached individual professors with small classes who could make immediate decisions about a textbook for their courses.

“They [her coworkers] were waiting to land the whale and I went out and fished for minnows,” Bazan said.

Not only did the professors buy the books, but she helped them write their “publish or perish,” book proposals.

Then, in 2002, she joined the YMCA where she wrote a comprehensive protocol that consisted of information and instructions on how to render First Aid for any chemical in the facility. She also performed this very task-intensive service for another company.

Next, Bazan joined American Stirling Engines where her customers were college professors and their students. “What sophomore engineering students do is build their own engines, sit it on top of a coffee cup and the heat makes it turn.”

She said engines come in all sizes – some are small enough to sit on top of a coffee cup and tohers are large enough to run a submarine in the Swedish Navy.

In 2009, she moved to Arizona to care for an ailing relative. She stayed and went to work at CPAExell, which helps people use social media and helps them build their Facebook pages.

She also wrote a column about the proper procedure for interviewing and résumé writing.

Lately, Bazan has been operating her own social media company, working for restaurants and other businesses.

“All of my skills in marketing, sales and social media are like a beautiful tapestry with threads of different colors.”

Bazan looks forward to her new position where she will counsel and nurture small businesses.

She is a sixth generation Southern California native and the first baby born in Laguna Beach in 1954. She says there surely were other babies born before her Jan. 16 birthday, but they failed to notify the local paper that was running the contest. QCBN

For more information, call Bazan at 928-649-4580 or email her at Kathryn.Bazan@yc.edu.

By Patty McCormac

Quad Cities Business News

One in eight. You probably know that’s how many women will get breast cancer at some point in their lives. Here’s a statistic you may not know: 98 percent. That’s how many women with localized – or stage 1 – breast cancer are alive five years after diagnosis, according to the American Cancer Society.

That high survival rate drives home the importance of detecting breast cancer before it spreads. Some less comforting statistics also help make that point: For women whose cancer has spread regionally prior to detection, the five-year survival rate drops to 81 percent. And when the cancer has spread far from the breast to other organs by the time of diagnosis, that figure drops all the way to 26 percent.

So what’s the best way to detect breast cancer in its earliest stages? Follow the screening program described here. Studies show it saves lives.

Have a clinical breast examination at least once a year. 

Your doctor will first look at your breasts for changes in size or shape. He or she will then use their hands to gently feel your breasts for lumps or abnormalities.

Get a yearly mammogram. 

Mammography can identify breast cancer several years before symptoms develop. Getting regularly scheduled mammograms—the American Cancer Society (ACS) recommends a yearly mammogram for women age 40 and over—can bring great peace of mind. Ask your doctor for a schedule that’s right for you. After all, most women who undergo the low-dose X-ray exam learn that they do not have breast cancer. And even if the test indicates the presence of cancer, a woman who has been receiving regular mammograms can be reasonably confident that the disease has likely been caught at an early stage.

Mammography is highly accurate, detecting about nine in 10 cases of breast cancers in women who show no symptoms. It is slightly more accurate in postmenopausal women; studies over the last 30 years have shown that regular screening mammograms among women ages 50 to 69 can reduce deaths from breast cancer by 30 percent.

If you are at very high risk for breast cancer, ask your doctor about getting a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan along with your annual mammogram. The ACS recommends this screening test beginning at age 30 for women who have the BRCA1 or BRCA2 breast cancer genes, have had radiation treatment to the chest between ages 10 and 30 or have certain other risk factors. Women who have not been tested for breast cancer genes but have a close relative with the genes should consider this screening test also.

Perform breast self-examinations. 

Breast self-examinations, optional for women over 20, should be performed on the same day every month. If you are still menstruating, choose a day soon after your period, when your breasts aren’t tender or swollen. Report any changes in your breasts to your doctor immediately.

To perform a self-examination, lie down, put a pillow under your right shoulder and place your right arm behind your head. Use the finger pads (the top thirds) of the three middle fingers of your left hand to examine your right breasts for lumps or thickening. You can follow a concentric pattern, moving in smaller and smaller circles from the top of your breast to the nipple; proceed straight up and down; or start at the nipple and move outward, examining one section of your breast at a time until you have completely circled the nipple. By following the same pattern every month, you’ll cover the entire breast and will be best able to notice any changes. Pay special attention to the area between the breast and the underarm. Feel for any unusual lump or mass.

After using your right hand to examine your left breast, stand in front of a mirror and look for dimpling of the skin, changes in the nipple, redness or swelling. Gently squeeze the nipple and look for discharge.

Take the initiative. 

Being proactive about your health screenings can save your life. At The BreastCare Center at YRMC, our specialists can help. We provide community-based education, screenings and care coordination. For more information or to schedule a mammogram, call (928) 442-8900.