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Don’t Play Games You Can’t Win

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Now, more than 7,000 people have received this award in eight countries.

We like to tell ourselves we can do anything if we just put our mind to it, but I’d like to encourage all to acknowledge when we are in a game we can’t win, and for heaven’s sake, stop playing it!

Growing up in Phoenix, balmy summertime evenings were meant for Kick the Can, Tag, Red Rover and any number of unsupervised activities that included wildly racing around the neighborhood and usually some blood.

My neighborhood was all boys. So, you can imagine my surprise when I showed up at their Cub Scouts meeting in my brother’s old Cub Scouts uniform and got snubbed by my friends. I didn’t get the hint entirely when they said, “You can’t be here!” So, they decided to just ditch me.

They took off running. Unfortunately for them, I had a lot of training in running from nightly games of Tag, Hide and Seek, etc., and kept up with the fastest boys. While many of them were doubled over wheezing from the failed attempt, a grownup had to tell me that, even though I was good at that game, I couldn’t win the prize I really wanted, which was a seat in the Cub Den.

Grownup games are even more confusing. I’m inspired today by those who recognize when they are in a game they can’t win and instead of feeling sorry for themselves and pushing back, they create their own game.

Martha Mayhood Mertz is one such grownup. In Corporate America of the 1980s, she was in awe of the brilliance, creativity and competence of the professional women around her. But she was confused when they weren’t getting acknowledged and being promoted and honored in the workplace at the same rate as the men. The business culture she was experiencing had a way of overlooking women. Recognizing she and others were in a game they couldn’t win, she started her own game, the international ATHENA Awards program.

Mertz set out to have 10 custom-made ATHENA sculptures created to honor one woman of leadership excellence each year for the next decade. She figured by then, the culture would change. It didn’t. So, today, she continues to cultivate and recognize leaders and organizations that promote women. Now, more than 7,000 people have received this award in eight countries.

Quad Cities Business News is carrying that ATHENA torch in Prescott. On Sunday, Sept. 24, the Fourth Annual Prescott-Area ATHENA Awards High Tea will be honoring individuals and organizations in three categories: the ATHENA Leadership Award for an individual, the ATHENA Organizational Leadership Award for a business or organization that develops and supports women leaders; and the ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award. Nominations are being accepted now. For more information, go to https://prescottathena.com.

Mega-successful businessman Ed Hajim is another such grownup. When he was rejected for membership at a golf club on Nantucket Island, where he lived half the year, he didn’t fight the decision. He didn’t rally his friends to come to his aid. He didn’t get his feelings hurt. He simply built his own golf course. He says that decision turned out to be a wonderful experience.

“That’s why I say, ‘Never be a victim.’ I could have been a victim. I could have fought that. But starting my own golf club was a great experience,” he said. “Building a golf course is art with a bulldozer. It was absolutely spectacular! We’ve changed the lives of 500 families over 25 years and we’re now the largest charity on the island. We send two kids to college now every year and we just started a vocational program, which is one of my many crusades right now. Last year, we sent 10 kids to vocational colleges.” QCBN

By Bonnie Stevens, QCBN

Read more about Ed Hajim’s extraordinary life and his new leadership storybook, “The Island of the Four Ps: A Modern Fable About Preparing for Your Future,” on page 6. Hear more hard-earned wisdom and leadership tips from him on Zonie Living: https://starworldwidenetworks.com/episodes/exploring-the-island-of-the-four-ps-to-plan-your-future-with-business-leader-extraordinaire-ed-hajim-video.

Bonnie Stevens is a public relations consultant. She can be reached at bonnie.stevens@gmail.com.

Quintessential Newsman Trained in a News Field of Dreams

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QCBN honors Ray Newton for his commitment to truth, education and reporting America’s stories.

Long before Google, Alexa, Instagram and the internet, news was gathered through miles of legwork and worn-out shoes. A journalist was only as good as the relationships he cultivated and the sixth sense he developed. Reporting and uncovering stories required a tenacious and genuine interest in people, places and things that mattered, and a relentless hunger to know one more thing and to get it right before going to press.

Ray Newton, a savvy street kid in the San Francisco Bay area in the late 1940s, developed his knack for knowing where news was about to break. At age 12, he determined that place was Seals Stadium, where Joe DiMaggio’s younger brothers carried on the family’s baseball legacy, pitcher Larry Jansen won 30 games and local favorite Lefty O’Doul was not only a good pitcher and a great hitter, but the team’s manager for 17 seasons.

“I got to know all those guys. I was covering spring baseball in the Bay Area and writing for my junior high school newspaper,” he said.

Reporting America’s Stories

Following his love for words, Newton graduated with a degree in English from Kansas State University Fort Hays and then worked as a reporter for Rush County News in La Crosse, Kansas. He followed up with a master’s degree in communication and journalism from South Dakota State in 1961. As a budding journalist, he was working as a special news correspondent for the Santa Fe New Mexican when one of the biggest stories in American history sent shockwaves across the country.

Newton was standing next to his hard-driving boss, Tony Hillerman [best-selling author of mystery novels featuring Navajo Nation Police officers], when the Associated Press filed an infamous news bulletin on Nov. 22, 1963: “President Kennedy was shot today just as his motorcade left downtown Dallas.”

“‘Do you realize who that makes the next president?’ Tony said to me, noting the tension between President Kennedy and then-Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson.”

The next year, Newton was covering President Johnson when the U.S. and Mexico resolved a historic border dispute. The Rio Grande River had long marked the border between the two nations; however, it jumped its banks during a massive flood 100 years earlier, which caused it to take a different course further south. As a result, Texas acquired a square mile of land known as the Chamizal. On Sept. 25, 1964, Presidents Johnson and Adolfo López Mateos of Mexico met there, shook hands and ceremoniously signed the Chamizal Convention Act, which identified the land as belonging to Mexico. The two nations then shared the cost of forcing the river back to its original channel.

“That was a heck of a big deal,” said Newton, who was at the site, covering the story for the Santa Fe New Mexican, the oldest newspaper company in the West. “It was a major world news story, and it was celebratory watching LBJ formally proclaim the settlement.”

Newton not only documented history in the making but devoted decades to capturing moments of joy and sadness, shock and triumph in the American story. Through many pairs of shoes and reams of paper, his work has kept us informed and connected, including as a writer and photographer covering his beloved Flagstaff and Prescott for Quad Cities Business News and Flagstaff Business News.

At age 87, Newton continued to drop into that newsman stance when speaking to someone, leaning in with focused, inquisitive brown eyes, searching for facts and hanging on every word to get the information right. Because, to him, that matters. The relationship, the facts, the truth.

“I had a couple of jobs where they [editors] tried to alter my story. We ought to be objective tellers of fact, as best we can report it – giving accurate, honest information and hoping we give readers enough that they can make wise decisions. I’ve had some editors who want to twist it. I quit a job because of that. I will not do that.”

In the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, Newton worked on special assignments for AP and as a news reporter/photographer for the CBS  affiliate in Albuquerque, KGGM-TV.

Training Generations of Journalists

Newton’s unwavering code of truth and integrity was his calling card, principles he instilled in generations of journalism students at Northern Arizona University.

Newton joined NAU in 1973, as an assistant professor in the Department of Journalism. By 1985, he was a full professor and the dean of the College of Creative and Communication Arts.

“I was so pleased to be a part of that team in Creative Arts and seeing that journalism program grow. At one time, that was the biggest journalism program in Arizona, and we were selecting good students. We had excellent faculty and gave them opportunities to do what they could do best. I trusted that and loved what we did.”

Under Newton’s leadership, the college established a chapter for the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Society of Professional Journalists. It also began the practice of bringing student interns into working newsrooms.

“That made the program so visible, but also gave students the opportunity to find out in advance what the real world is like, not what a textbook tells you. To have Bill Close [legendary Arizona anchorman known for his high standards] say to you, ‘My God, you’re making some of the best students.’ That made us so pleased with what we were doing.”

During this time, Newton served on boards of many professional journalism and broadcasting associations and consulted for newspapers, government agencies and educational organizations. He wrote for Reader’s Digest and became the publication’s director of writers’ workshops across the West and on cruise ships. As such, he assembled editors from top national publications such as Redbook, Cosmopolitan, Field and Stream and others, to offer writers insight as to what they look for in stories. “Writers streamed in from all over the region,” he said.

Recognizing Excellence

Newton worked as an associate to NAU President Gene Hughes for six years and calls him his “best boss ever.”

“A good boss is not afraid to try new things. A good boss trusts people to make things happen. A good boss will tell you straight out when something you write is pretty bad. You have to appreciate that!”

President Hughes sent Newton to Oahu, Hawaii, to study the Polynesian Cultural Center there. His vision, says Newton, was to create a Native American Cultural Center, which NAU has today.

In 1994, Newton became the director of research for the NAU School of Hotel and Restaurant Management.

Throughout his career, he was recognized with dozens of honors, awards and recognitions including “Outstanding Educators of America” and “Who’s Who Among Authors and Journalists.” Recently, he received the Prescott chapter Phi Kappa Phi honor society emeritus member award from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, where he serves on the Board of Visitors. In addition, FBN  and QCBN are honoring Ray Newton and his commitment to teaching, advocacy for education and dedication to the truth with the Best of Business Ray Newton Excellence in Education Award.

“Ray is not only a critical part of the team and so well-respected and known throughout Northern Arizona, he is a stellar example of what it means to be a person of integrity in all he does. He has impacted thousands of lives and we feel so blessed to work with Ray and to have his journalistic talent grace our publications. But, more importantly, to have his friendship through the years,” said QCBN and FBN Founder Troy Bix. “Ray’s energy and dogged determination are unmatched. When he shows up, there is no denying the excitement he brings to a room or event.”

People Matter Most

What makes Newton most proud, he says, are the many students he has taught, mentored, cheered on through their careers and known as lifelong friends. What matters to him most are people.

“Like so many of my professors at NAU, I looked up to Ray and was thrilled when I learned that he was following my career after graduation and when he shared his pride and ongoing support,” said NAU Associate Vice President for Communications Kimberly Ott. “My admiration for Ray continued to grow when I realized that he is also a tremendous leader. I watched him work with the Flagstaff City Council and city staff to enhance the hospitality industry for NAU and Flagstaff. He continues to support the university he loves and show his ongoing selfless devotion to all the students he mentors.”

“Ray Newton inspired me in several ways: first, as a young university student, and then later during his encore career,” said NAU Teaching Professor of Management Theresa Bierer. “After retirement from academia, Ray continued to embrace all that life has to offer, with an energy and spirit that touches many of us.”

“I met Ray after he ‘retired,’ which meant that he was just as engaged in the community and seemingly 10 times as busy as he was before he retired! Yet, he always found a way to make time for people and listen to them intently,” said GoalBusters Consulting Partner Alice Ferris. “You felt like you were the only person in the room when you spoke with Ray. He was incredibly encouraging of me, and I will always remember that.”

Newton lists Dr. Gene Hughes as one of the five most influential people in his life. “He was a great example of solid, honest leadership.”

Ralph Carlisle “Smitty” Smith also makes the list. He was the Newtons’ neighbor in New Mexico, an MIT-educated nuclear engineer who worked alongside J. Robert Oppenheimer, the director of the Los Alamos Laboratory who was responsible for the research and design of the atomic bomb. “I’ll never forget Smitty telling us about the morning they set off the big bomb called “Trinity,” in the New Mexican desert near Socorro [5 a.m., July 16, 1945]. The sun was coming up and everything brightened beyond belief.”

Newton calls his adoptive father, Lou Newton, his hero and credits Lou and Evelyn, his stepmother, for getting him off the streets as a young teenager and being “very” forgiving. “They gave me an opportunity to make something of my life and I took advantage of it. They sent me to high school in La Crosse, Kansas, where I lettered in football, basketball and track.” Newton later coached high school students in those sports.

He also puts his family on the list. “They are so important to me: three children, Lynn, Sheri and Bill [Bill is deceased], four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. They are so supportive, just nice, good people. I am just amazed at how close we are and how much we love and depend on each other.”

And above all, Patty, his wife of 66 years. “We’ve done so much traveling. We’ve enjoyed so much. We have had so many wonderful opportunities. Early on we didn’t have money. I worked in a donut shop and Patty was a dishwasher and accompanist making 60 cents an hour. Her patience and her pure sense of humanity are so admirable.”

With these words, Ray and Patty smile at each other with the kind of knowing that comes from deep love, appreciation and peace earned across nearly 70 years. As the two enjoy Culver’s cheeseburgers and fries in the quiet of this sunny Prescott afternoon, Ray accepts that he will not be wearing out any more soles chasing down stories. However, the legacy of this quintessential newsman will be carried on in other news fields of dreams by those he taught and those who strive to fill those well-respected and well-worn shoes. QCBN

By Bonnie Stevens, QCBN

Earlier this year, Ray was diagnosed with inoperable bone cancer. Ray died at his home Monday night, April 10. He was 87 years old. Cards and letters can be sent to Patty Newton, 941 Lupine Lane, Prescott, AZ 86305.

Emmy-award winning journalist and editor Bonnie Stevens credits Ray Newton and his Magazine Writing class for helping her land her first job out of NAU as a writer for news anchors Bill Close and Mary Jo West at the CBS affiliate KOOL-TV in Phoenix.

Teri Drew Honored with Prestigious ATHENA Leadership Award

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Prescott-area High Tea celebrates local women in the international program.

Among a sea of fancy hats and fine china, more than 150 community members came out in style to celebrate women in leadership during the third annual Prescott-area ATHENA Awards High Tea, hosted by Quad Cities Business News and Prescott Woman Magazine. With a standing ovation, the crowd honored Northern Arizona Council of Governments (NACOG) Regional Director Teri Drew as the 2022 Prescott-Area ATHENA.

In receiving the award, she recognized the support of her husband and high school sweetheart, Rick Drew, as well as her co-workers.

“The honor of being named the 2022 Athena Award winner has changed my perspective on my career, contributions and commitment to community,” she said. “The award has motivated me to seek out the good in all women and nominate them for this life-changing recognition. It has changed my life by being able to share more about me – my family, my career – with the community. I’ve received so many emails, calls and congratulations from the community. I’m grateful to share my story.”

The ATHENA Award is part of an international program that began in 1987. Its mission is to support, honor and develop women leaders and inspire women to reach their full potential. It recognizes women who achieve excellence in their work, support their community and mentor others. Astronauts, judges and elite athletes are among the ATHENA circle of sisterhood. Famous ATHENA Award recipients include Billy Jean King, Condoleezza Rice and Marlo Thomas. At the Prescott event on Sunday, Sept. 18, Aboost was the lead sponsor. Founder and owner Anita Farrelly, RN, says she loved being in a room full of women who were pushing themselves to the next level to be role models and leaders for the community. “I’ve always been an advocate for leadership, growth and development and to participate in an event that champions these skills is powerful, enlightening and motivating. It’s what I want my daughters to know and learn.”

Farrelly added that for nurses, the assumption is that they will always work for someone else, a hospital or a corporation. “The Prescott-Area ATHENA Awards is such a good fit for Aboost because we’re teaching nurses how to be owners of their own businesses, to have an entrepreneur mindset and to develop marketing and sales skills so that they may use their nursing skills to care for the community in a different way.

Through her work with NACOG across more than four decades, Drew has helped numerous job seekers receive career-path training and find employment. She is credited for NACOG’s local, state and national recognition in innovation, leadership and services. She is nationally known for her economic and workforce development strategies and has been named Prescott Area Leadership Woman of the Year. As executive director for the Yavapai County Workforce Development Board, Drew was honored in Washington, D.C. recently for successfully nominating Grant Quezada and Founding Fathers Collective for the W.O. Lawton Business Leadership Award.

“I am blessed to say I have accomplished many successes in my career,” she said. “My greatest was my tenure of 45 years. I’ve learned so much and connected with so many people to make a significant difference for so many. I love it when someone says, ‘You helped me with school and now I am an RN,’ or ‘You placed me at the county, now I’m in management,’ or, ‘You taught me to be strong. Now I lead others.’ My greatest accomplishment is seeing others reach their potential.”

Drew says her parents and siblings were and continue to be her mentors. “They taught me what to and not to do growing up, and those strong ethics pay off.”

As a next achievement, Drew says she’d like to explore an elected position. “My hope for young women entering the workplace is for them to do what they love and love what they do.” QCBN

By Bonnie Stevens, QCBN

Best of Business: Honoring Excellence

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Northern AZ Social, LLC, has been named a QCBN Best of Business award winner for six consecutive years.

In keeping with a significant and meaningful Quad Cities Business News tradition, businesses and business owners in the region are being recognized for excellence in the ninth annual QCBN Best of Business awards. Voting is open now through Dec. 15.

“This is an opportunity for all of us to acknowledge the accomplishments of businesses serving the region and qualities they exhibit like integrity, customer service, effectiveness, efficiency, flexibility, responsibility and kindness that we all value when hiring companies and working together,” said QCBN Co-owner and Publisher Amy Bix.

Acknowledging that we all do business with a variety of hard-working, successful and highly regarded companies and individuals in Prescott, Prescott Valley, Dewey/Humboldt and Chino Valley, Bix reminds residents and visitors that this is an opportunity to express gratitude for those who have treated their clients well, provided an important service and operated with the utmost professionalism.

Northern AZ Social, LLC, has been named a QCBN Best of Business award winner for six consecutive years. “We are grateful to assist growing businesses and to help them accomplish their goals through digital, social and traditional media,” said Northern AZ Social owner Donna Werking. “We have not only gained credibility with our clients through this wonderful recognition, but our partnership with QCBN has built stronger connections in our community.”

Best of Business categories include construction trades, home building suppliers, auto dealers, retail businesses, gun shops, hospitality, marketing, housekeeping, and real estate agents, among others.

Bix says Best of Business is the only awards platform of its kind in the region. Winners will be announced in the January 2023 QCBN issue. Voting is quick and convenient. Go to quadcitiesbusinessnews.com/bestofbusiness. QCBN

By Bonnie Stevens, QCBN

Prescott-Area ATHENA Nominations Being Accepted for September Event

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Nominations are being accepted now through Aug. 8, for the third annual Prescott-area ATHENA Award.

The Quad Cities area is preparing to recognize and celebrate local women leaders who excel in business, support their communities and mentor others. Nominations are being accepted now through Aug. 8, for the third annual Prescott-area ATHENA Award, an international honor sponsored by Quad Cities Business News and Prescott Woman Magazine.

Business Coach Colleen Biggs is scheduled to be the keynote speaker, presenting “Ignite Your Personal Power” at the ATHENA High Tea celebration, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 18, at Starting Point in the Gateway Mall. Tickets and sponsorship tables are available now.

Biggs has been a business coach for 22 years and has helped launch 340 businesses. “The whole motivation behind being who we were born to be comes from really leaning into your voice, into who you are and what makes you stand out,” she said.

To nominate an outstanding local female leader for the Prescott-area ATHENA Award and to reserve a seat at the ATHENA High Tea, go to https://prescottathena.com. Hear more from Colleen Biggs on Zonie Living, the “Leading Ladies” edition, at https://starworldwidenetworks.com/episodes/leading-ladies-who-empower-inspire-and-model-excellence-business-coach-colleen-biggs-entrepreneur-april-white-and-actress-mariette-hartley-video. QCBN

Northern Arizona Business News Vodcast About to Launch

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Zonie Living: Business, Adventure and Leadership Coming in November.

Business news seekers soon will be able to watch a fresh new program designed specifically for Northern Arizona, created to inform, engage and inspire. Zonie Living: Business, Adventure and Leadership is a television show or vodcast (video podcast) that will expand on Quad Cities Business News feature stories and take viewers right to the scene, whether it’s inside a local inventor’s workshop, outside for the view on little-known trails or alongside seasoned professionals for a dose of some hard-earned wisdom and smart leadership tips.

Bonnie Stevens’ Communication Station, with support from Quad Cities Business News, will be shining the spotlight on Northern Arizona’s small businesses, career opportunities and community values, including a vibrant economy, healthy lifestyles, outdoor activities, businesses with competitive salaries and light-on-the-land impact, an appreciation for quality education and lifelong learning, and legacy-minded leaders focused on the next generation.

“We have so much to work with and be excited about,” she said, “innovative entrepreneurs, committed community leaders, a business retention focus, workforce development programs, a spectacular natural environment, astro-, eco-, cultural and recreational attractions, a legacy of discovery and hunger for excellence. This all adds up to an extraordinary quality of life.”

Zonie Living is being developed to create positive awareness, news attention and buzz supported and connected by Dave Pratt’s Star Worldwide Networks and an experienced, professional and creative marketing and production team.

As stated in Stevens’ business plan, “Zonie Living will examine not only what forward-thinking, successful people of excellence are doing and how well they are doing it, but more importantly why and the passion and purpose behind their actions. Aren’t these the smart businesses we all want to support, work for and have in our communities? Aren’t these the quality people we want to see on the slopes, sit next to at the symphony or wave to in our neighborhoods? Isn’t this the landscape and nightscape we want to enjoy and take care of for generations to come?”

From out of the bleakness of a global pandemic, Stevens believes now is the time for positive stories to burst onto the scene and onto the screen. “Zonie Living will offer interviews about business success, meaningful innovations, medical advances, leadership strategies, mentoring opportunities, interesting characters, inspirational people, extraordinary places and high-elevation fun,” she said.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for all of us to get involved in a program that’s pro-business, pro-excellence, pro-leadership and pro-healthy living, promoting our mountain town’s positive, vivacious aspects for achieving the life many dream of,” said QCBN Owner/Publisher Troy Bix.

Along with the vodcast comes a new book from Stevens, “Life Lessons from a Zonie Girl: How to Stay Sunny, Grounded and Resilient.” Also, Stevens is teaming up with pioneering Arizona television news anchorwoman Mary Jo West to offer the CCC2NAU Mary Jo West Excellence in Communication Scholarship.

“The scholarship award, slated for fall 2022, certainly will help a student financially, but perhaps the greatest value is the mentorship opportunity that comes with it,” said Stevens, as she and West will schedule time each semester for coaching and guidance.

“The vodcast, the book and the scholarship are all things I wish I would have had access to in the past, and that is my hope moving forward, that we can all learn from others, gain encouragement, draw inspiration and recognize what a wonderful environment we have all around us. Apollo 12 moon-walking astronaut Alan Bean once said to me, ‘We live in the Garden of Eden,’ and I’ve never forgotten it. To me, he was saying we have beauty and abundance and everything we need for a wonderful life. And that’s what we’ll be focusing on.” QCBN

Zonie Living: Business, Adventure and Leadership goes live Nov. 5. Go to https://starworldwidenetworks.com/shows/bonnie-stevens.

Called to the Stage

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Actress Robyn Allen is named Prescott-area ATHENA.

Stage actress Robyn Allen has spent more than 30 years in the entertainment industry, but says she had to overcome her shyness to perform.

“I was always very shy,” she said, “but if I had written a poem, I would just stand up and recite it in front of my relatives. I think that’s how they tricked me into auditioning for plays in school.”

Soon she found her own trick, which was to become completely immersed in the character and stay focused.

Allen shared her story with more than 100 people at the 2021 Prescott-area ATHENA Awards, Sunday, Sept. 19, at Goods from the Garden, where she was honored with the leadership award, sponsored by Quad Cities Business News and Prescott Woman Magazine.

“I was shocked and so honored to be a finalists alongside those women,” she said. “I really wanted to take a moment and learn who they were and what their journeys were that got us to this place.”

Allen, the executive director of Suze’s Prescott Center for the Arts (PCA) since 2016, is adamant that success doesn’t happen on our own. “It takes an enormous amount of support. We have hundreds of volunteers [at PCA]. I have an amazing staff and have always had a great team around me, supporting and surrounding me,” she said as she acknowledged her husband, Al, and thanked her team at PCA.

Besides acting, Allen’s career has included producing, directing and arts leadership. She received her education at Arizona State University under the direction of Marshall W. Mason and at the New Actors Workshop in New York. She served as artistic director of Theater Works in Peoria and was a founding member of the acclaimed Algonquin Theater Co., in Phoenix.

She has received 38 ariZoni nominations and 14 awards for her work in theater, including best director, best actress, best supporting actress and best guest artist. In addition, she has been featured in The Arizona Republic’s Who’s Who of Women in Theater.

One of her favorite productions was “Sweeney Todd,” for which she won an ariZoni Award for directing. Allen says her most fun experience was participating in a comedy horror film called “‘Netherbeast Incorporated’ about an undead telephone company staffed by flesh-eating, vampire-like employees. I worked with a lot of great comics in that film like Darrell Hammond, Dave Foley and Steve Burns. It was shot in Arizona.”

Most recently, under Allen’s leadership, Suze’s Prescott Center for the Arts received a nomination for the 2020 Governor’s Arts Awards, the 2020 Prescott Chamber Business Excellence in Arts and Culture Award and the 2020 Twink Lynch Organizational Achievement Award, on the national level. Noted in the Twink Lynch acknowledgment was the organization’s ability to redirect resources to create PCA Serves, which addresses the needs of the center’s mostly elderly patron population and served the broader community during the pandemic.

At the same time, the center had engaged in a capital campaign to build a new studio theater, and expand rehearsal and classroom space to better serve the community’s youth and create an additional art gallery.However, Allen says the campaign, “Setting the Stage,” was put on hold while the group focused on helping the community maneuver through the pandemic. Nonetheless, an anonymous donor came through, enabling the center to move forward with its expansion plans. As a result, PCA was able to break ground in July.

Allen was born and raised in Phoenix. Her husband grew up in Mayer. While visiting his family, she was introduced to Prescott and had always kept the idea of living there one day in her mind. The two made the move from Phoenix to Prescott in 2015. “Literally six weeks after I got here, the one job I do opened up at Prescott Center for the Arts. It fit like a glove.”

She planned to work as the interim director until they filled the position through a national search. “I fell in love with the community, the gallery, the center and everything about it.”

She decided she should apply for the job and the center agreed. “It’s just been go, go, go since then,” she said.

“I love everything about community theater, especially watching the growth of individuals and working with our youth,” she said. “The arts enhance a community. There really is something for everyone. You don’t have to be a performer, you can be active in other departments. We have opportunities for our youth to learn theater management and administrative skills. We need designers in lights and costume and enjoy teaching these skills to our volunteers. Community theater is a great place to get your feet wet. When I first started directing, I knew I’d have to learn how to do it all and you learn it quickly.”

Allen has been married for 34 years. She and her husband have two daughters and a son.

Biggest Role Model

Judy Rollings is a founding member of Actors Theater of Phoenix. I learned a lot from her. She was my mentor and still is. She is my acting coach and has championed me through difficult times.

Guilty Pleasure

Chocolate in any form.

Favorite Pastime

Spending time with my husband. It’s a challenge to be married to someone like me with a career like mine. I’m gone nights and weekends, I work crazy hours. So when we have time together I love to get on our motorcycle with him and feel the wind in my face.

Favorite Movie

I can space out and let go by watching romantic comedies. “Love Actually” is a favorite. So is “50 First Dates.”

Travel Destination Wish List

I really want to go to Paris and Rome. I am a romantic and so is my husband. QCBN

By Bonnie Stevens, QCBN

Prescott Silicon Wafer Plant Keeping World Connected

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Pure Wafer’s silicon wafers are in pure demand, as they provide a base for microchips essential for modern tools and appliances.

Tiny microchips, brains for almost everything you own – smartphones, computers, electric toothbrushes, refrigerators, automobiles – are the lifeblood of our society. And they are currently in high demand because of a global shortage.

Chances are you think most of those chips come from foreign manufacturers, and that is partially true. But a bigger truth, one that many residents in the Quad Cities area may not realize, is this: The largest U.S.-based supplier of prime grade silicon wafers, wafer reclaim and other specialty products in the $400 billion semiconductor industry is Pure Wafer, with its home plant in Prescott.

Originally founded in 1998, and then operated by Rockwood Exall, the Prescott plant was acquired by Pure Wafer in 2007. It now is part of Pure Wafer Inc., with another fabrication plant in San Jose, California.

Collectively, the two facilities make up what is considered the largest microchip reclaimer, especially of 300 mm reclaim chips, in the United States. The Prescott plant is considered the most advanced reclaimer in the nation, according to S. Mark Borowicz, Pure Wafer president and CEO.

In an exclusive interview with Quad Cities Business News, Borowicz and Ardy Sidhwa, Pure Wafer vice president of operations at the Prescott plant, explained that Pure Wafer reclaims 200,000 wafers a month of all sizes. Pure Wafer has more than 1,600 customers, some national, some international and, of course, defense industries and government agencies. At both the Prescott and San Jose facilities, Pure Wafer personnel develop and supply prime grade silicon wafers, wafer reclaim, thin film deposition solutions, wafer management and wafer management software, as well as service and parts cleaning for the global semiconductor manufacturing industry.

Both men, each with a doctorate in engineering and related computer science disciplines, acknowledged that most in the general public have no idea how microchips are created and what stringent and sanitary manufacturing processes must be maintained to keep chips from being contaminated.

“Honestly, our manufacturing facilities are far more sterile than you’ll find in most hospitals,” said Borowicz. “Our air is cleaner, our water absolutely purified and our floor and wall surface sterile. What’s more, we announced this past January that we plan to be 100% clean-energy-powered by 2050. In fact, our Prescott plant is already 50% clean energy powered. It is on track to be 65% clean energy – carbon-free electricity – within the next nine years.”

Arizona Public Service (APS) currently supplies energy to power the rest of the plant until its conversion is complete.

“We remain committed to clean-energy programs and production processes that provide a better pathway to a cleaner manufacturing environment,” he added. “I am pleased to report that our customers, employees and stockholders all embrace these efforts.”

The 125 or so full-time workers at the Prescott plant keep Pure Water operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, except for two winter holidays. “We’re always looking for additional qualified workers, too. We’re expanding. We have a need for labor right now, in fact,” Sidhwa said.

The company offers both short- and long-term insurance, disability plans, paid vacations, medical insurance, on-the-job training and advancement opportunities, Borowicz said. “This is one of the best places where we could be located.”

Security is a Priority

The 44,000-square-foot building that houses Pure Wafer is, as might be expected, highly secure.  Located at 2575 Melville Road, east of the Prescott Regional Airport (PRC), no one enters the building without being thoroughly monitored. Employees wear elaborate protective gear – “bunny suits,” Sidhwa calls them. Personal equipment includes goggles, masks, hairnets, gloves, booties and, at times, a hood or jumpsuit.

The company has spotless rooms where equipment worth millions goes through more than 700 necessary steps in three months to produce wafers, which serve as the platform to hold microchips. The most common wafers are known as 300cc wafers (though they can drop down in size to about three inches in diameter). The almost 12-inch diameter shiny black silicon discs are about the size of a pizza. They move through the factory in and out of sophisticated equipment that chemically coats, washes, polishes, etches and transforms the wafers into tiny brains that govern the items that are so much a part of our everyday lives, including planes, ships and trains.

Borowicz says Pure Wafer will continue to expand. Because the pandemic disrupted the worldwide supply chain for microchips, the demand for Pure Wafer products has intensified. In addition, a manufacturing market analysis had prompted Pure Wafer to move more strongly in the market reclaim market.

“We are the only U.S.-based reclaim [company] with a particle guarantee for our products,” said Sidhwa.

Although the world’s leading manufacturing countries are Taiwan, Korea, Japan and China, the U.S. Senate recently approved spending $250 million for science research and to help subsidize semiconductor manufacturing in the country.

“We are well positioned to address reclaim growth as the No. 1 reclaimer in the U.S.,” Borowicz said. “Our wafer reclaim market also is growing significantly worldwide.”

Stewart Chalmers, an international semiconductor consultant, praised Pure Wafer for its aggressive stance. “Arizona is playing a big role, as is evidenced by the number of semiconductor companies operating here – Intel expansion, Samsung and, of course, Pure Wafer in Prescott,” he told QCBN. All are positioned to support forthcoming growth.” QCBN

By Ray Newton, QCBN