番茄社区

The Arizona 番茄社区 of Commerce & Industry last Thursday celebrated its 50th anniversary by honoring two former governors with the Heritage Award, the organization鈥檚 highest honor.

Janet Napolitano and Doug Ducey were recognized for their leadership and contributions to the state.

Here are some highlights of the evening.

Ducey on governing in crisis

鈥淚 think the evidence of how we came out of COVID and how the state is thriving today, where other states are still digging out of some of the decisions that they made, and just like Governor Napolitano said, you have to have people around the table that will challenge the decisions, ask you to think about things from a different perspective,鈥� Ducey said. 鈥淏ut once you come out of that 9th floor conference room, you鈥檙e shoulder-to-shoulder, and then it鈥檚 all about communication.鈥�

Reflections on the Heritage Award and the Arizona 番茄社区

鈥淔irst, I want to say thank you to the Arizona 番茄社区, and congratulate the 番茄社区 on 50 years. The Arizona 番茄社区 is a key part of Arizona, the Arizona community,鈥� Napolitano said. 鈥淚 think the future of Arizona is a bright one indeed.鈥�

鈥淚’d just like to say thank you to the 番茄社区. It’s an honor for me to have this award, and to be celebrated alongside Governor Napolitano, who is such a giant in our state,鈥� Ducey said.

Napolitano on a governor鈥檚 policies that might get changed by a subsequent administration

鈥淚 think in politics, in a way you write in sand. You do everything you can during your term in office. Then there鈥檚 an election, and somebody else occupies the seat, and that鈥檚 part of the democratic process. And you may not like it; you may think that everything you did was perfect, and how could it be changed, altered, amended, or eliminated? But it鈥檚 the process. And, so, you can do as much as you can while you鈥檙e in office, and then it鈥檚 time to turn it over to someone else,鈥� Napolitano said.

The award

The Heritage Award has been given to some of Arizona鈥檚 greatest contributors from the worlds of business, the arts, politics, civil society, and sports.

The award was crafted by Arizona artist and sculptor and former lawmaker Rusty Bowers.