Picture a bathroom scale… but for complex machines like oil pumps, medical devices and aerospace equipment. That’s perhaps the best way to describe load cells, a type of product manufactured by for over fifty years.Ěý

“We focus on a very basic element that everyone can relate to, and that is force,” said Ted Larson, Vice President of Product Management and Marketing for Interface.

Larson said load cells are a common and important component for a variety of machines and devices; the technology allows businesses to measure a wide range of forces like torque and pressure using gauges and sensors. The load cells that Interface manufactures are used in everything from packaging facilities to rocket engine testing, Larson said. Some of their clients include NASA, Boeing, General Motors and Johnson & Johnson.

Interface is not the only company manufacturing load cell technology, but CEO Joel Strom says they’re one of only a few load cell manufacturers that “is totally vertically integrated.”

“We start with the design, we cut our own metal, we machine it, we assemble it, we calibrate it… and we’re one of the only companies that both manufactures load cells and manufactures their own gauges,” Strom said. “That really separates us from the pack.”Ěý

The company was founded in 1968 by Richard Caris, who Strom said “felt there was a better way to make load cells” and decided to start a new business in Scottsdale. After more than five decades, Interface is still based out of its original location but has grown significantly. Currently, the company’s 60,000 square foot campus employs about 220 people.Ěý

Strom said he thinks the main reason Interface has continued to grow after so much time is the quality of its employees. Because assembling load cells is a relatively intricate process, and must largely be done by hand, he said finding quality talent is crucial to their business.Ěý

“The process of manufacturing [load cells] requires… a lot of dedication, a lot of concentration, a lot of commitment to doing it right,” Strom said. “That’s what we’ve been finding with our employees here, and we celebrate that.Ěý

Larson said that a major factor in Interface’s ability to recruit quality talent is the state’s growing talent pool coming out of local universities.

“When you look at the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and Northern Arizona University, all three of those have great sources for future recruitment as well as good corporate engagement programs.”

Although the manufacturing process for load cells depends on human handiwork, Interface says it has been working to innovate its manufacturing process. One example of this is Interface’s recent introduction of a robotic arm to help speed up the manufacturing of its load cells, allowing them to push out more product.Ěý

“Automation is important because we’re trying to get more product out, keep it moving, meet our customers’ demands,” Strom said. “We’ve been looking at ways to speed up the process and get rid of some of the more mundane parts.”

Ultimately, Larson said he thinks Interface has a bright future ahead of it.

“We’re also looking at new fields of endeavor; with the commercialization of the space program, new mobility-type sectors growing… it’s just bringing a lot of new challenges for us,” Larson said. “In the future, we’re trying to stay ahead of technology and looking for ways of continuing that growth.”

The post Showcase AZ: Interface appeared first on ·¬ÇŃÉçÇř.

Arizona has no shortage of self-service storage facilities for people needing a little extra space for their furniture or household objects. But take a peek behind the massive garage doors of a Toy Barn storage unit and you’ll likely find something very different – luxury and collectible vehicles, boats, and other recreational “toys” stored in spaces that more closely resemble fancy garages than conventional storage facilities.Ěý

“When you think of conventional self-storage, you rent a ten-by-ten box and you store your personal items,” said Jason Phillips, co-owner of Toy Barn. “We’re really working on creating the community aspect of it so that it’s more than just a storage facility.”Ěý

Toy Barn storage units can range from 1200 to 1500 square feet in size, providing space for customers to store multiple vehicles at a time. The climate-controlled interiors are fully customizable; customers can pursue small projects like painting, or larger ones like adding custom flooring and building second levels. The units are also set up with electric, water and sewage hookups, meaning customers can build out projects like kitchenettes or restrooms if they want.

“Really, the sky’s the limit on your options,” Phillips said. “We have a gentleman over here who’s put in a kitchenette, a restroom, living area.”

Toy Barn units also differ from other storage facilities in that they are purchasable real estate rather than rentals. While there are still restrictions on what the property can and can’t be used for—you’re not able to live out of them, for example, and there’s an HOA that sets additional guidelines—there’s a lot more flexibility than with a typical rental, Phillips said.

It’s a concept that Phillips launched a decade ago alongside his father, in the midst of the economic recession — not necessarily the best time to launch such an ambitious project, he said.

“Financing for these projects is very difficult,” Phillips said. “The banks look at them a little differently, because it’s not traditional real-estate development.”

Despite the challenges, Toy Barn’s initial location opened in January 2010 in Cave Creek, Arizona. After the 85-unit facility sold its last garage, Phillips said the plan was to pursue other projects, but community interest in Toy Barn continued to grow.

That’s why Phillips decided to build two additional Toy Barn locations – one at Lone Mountain in North Scottsdale that opened in September 2018, and another at Scottsdale Airpark that opened in February 2019. The former location sold through its 54 units six months before opening, and the latter only has a few units remaining.Ěý

“The phone continued to ring with demand and people that needed space,” he said.Ěý

Phillips says Arizona is a “very deep car collector market.” Most people buying property at Toy Barn locations are car collectors relocating to Arizona from other states. Others are individuals who live in neighborhoods where HOA restrictions don’t permit residents to build their own storage spaces on their properties.

“We have a very warm, dry climate that makes it very advantageous for car storage,” he said. “We’re not the coasts, we don’t have the corrosion issues… it just really is favorable for car collections.”

Toy Barn also hosts community events for its property owners, such as a “Coffee and Cars” event designed to help customers connect with each other over shared passions, Phillips said. Those events can also help drive word-of-mouth, which Phillips said has helped contribute to his brand’s growth.

Looking towards the future, Phillips said Toy Barn is planning on building two more locations – a second facility at Lone Mountain and an additional facility in Chandler. Both projects are planned to break ground later this year, and are already beginning to fill up with reservations, Phillips said. Toy Barn is also considering potentially building locations in different markets like Las Vegas and Palm Springs at some point in the future.

“We’re just at the tip of the iceberg, I believe,” he said.

The post Showcase AZ: Toy Barn appeared first on ·¬ÇŃÉçÇř.

Sandy shores, waves up to five feet tall, and people surfing for hours are things not commonly found in the middle of the desert. Yet that’s exactly what Big Surf Waterpark – which claims to be the oldest operating waterpark in the nation – brought to the Valley when it first opened in 1969.Ěý

“No other waterpark is celebrating 50 years”, said Mary Phillips, Waterpark Ambassador at Big Surf. “When Big Surf hits 100 years, it’s gonna be a big deal.”Ěý

The park employs about 350 people during its peak season. Five decades after it opened, Big Surf remains a popular summer attraction, drawing tourists from as far as New Zealand and Germany, according to park officials.

While Phoenix is home to several other waterparks, including Golfland-Sunsplash and Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, Phillips says Big Surf’s history is a big part of what makes it unique.

Big Surf was created by Phil Dexter, a California construction engineer who, as the story goes, would often pull over during his commute to watch surfers ride waves out in the Pacific Ocean. He became fascinated with the idea of a “surf center” and spent his free time prototyping designs in his backyard for what would eventually become North America’s first commercial wave pool.Ěý

Dexter’s prototype successfully produced 60 thousand rolling waves over the course of one summer, so he patented the design and began enlisting talent to help build Big Surf in Tempe, Arizona. When the park opened in the fall of 1969, it looked drastically different than it does today.

“Big Surf started as just a surf park—you only came here to do surfing,” Phillips said. “There was no playing in the water like you see today, no slides, no attractions like that.”Ěý

Even the wave pool has changed dramatically over the years – it initially bared a stronger resemblance to a real beach, with a sandy shore and flowing waterfalls along the back wall of the pool.Ěý

“We quickly learned that sand in an Arizona desert wasn’t the best way to go,” Phillips said.Ěý

To help prevent burnt feet, the park tweaked the design of the wave pool area and replaced the sandy shore with grassy hills and sidewalks of flowing water.Ěý

Since then, the park has continued to evolve. Numerous attractions have been added, including seventeen water slides and a toddler play area. What was at one point an arcade is now a bar. The park has always hosted live music, but the genres have changed – a venue that once hosted Pink Floyd now houses a multi-day electronic music festival called “Wet Electric.”Ěý

But Big Surf’s wave pool — named “Waikiki Beach” after the popular Hawaiian shoreline — has always been its defining feature. It’s also a place where Dave Manning has surfed for the last fifty years.Ěý

“You walked in, it was like a paradise,” Manning said. “It was a magical thing to have here in the Valley.”Ěý

Manning said he first surfed with his father in Hawaii in 1962. While growing up in Arizona, particularly before Big Surf existed, he often traveled to California to continue surfing. When the surf park opened during his teenage years, Manning said he spent most of his summers riding the waves there.

“I think we surfed a total of maybe 6 hours a day back then,” he said. “You could waste an entire summer doing nothing but that and be completely irresponsible.”

Throughout the past fifty years, Manning has been a frequent visitor to the park, where he has continued to surf whenever possible. Manning also spends time teaching younger generations as a surf instructor.Ěý

Surfing doesn’t happen at Big Surf nowadays as often as it used to; today, the activity is restricted to one-hour time blocks before the park opens and after it closes. There was even a period when the park didn’t have surfing at all, after a different management company took over. Surfing eventually returned to the park in the early 2000’s when park management shifted again.Ěý

“When it came back, it was a huge deal for me,” Manning said. “They weren’t sure if it was still viable to be surfed and asked me and one of my friends if we could test it, which we, of course, were glad to do.”Ěý

Fifty years of visiting Big Surf leaves a lot of room for memories, but Manning said there’s one that stands out the most — surfing with his daughter.

“When my daughter was born in 1990, she only heard the stories of Big Surf,” Manning said. “But surfing was revived around 2003, and she came out and surfed with me. That’s unquestionably my best moment here.”

Manning said he’s grateful that he’s still able to visit the park.Ěý

“I just love being here,” he said. “It’s remarkable that I can still ride the same wave today that I rode 50 years ago.”

The post Showcase AZ: Big Surf Waterpark appeared first on ·¬ÇŃÉçÇř.

The town of Gilbert recently received the Arizona ·¬ÇŃÉçÇř’s 2019 Best City for Business Award.ĚýIn this special edition of Showcase AZ, Gilbert restaurateur Joe Johnston and Northrop Grumman representative Rick Kettner share their perspectives on the economic growth in the townĚýand how their businesses have thrived in the city.

Before the building that currently houses Joe’s Real BBQ became a restaurant, it was once a church in the heart of Gilbert’s Heritage District. Further back, in 1929, it was a grocery store serving a population of about 700 people.

“It was a pioneering town, and pioneers are kind of can-do people,” said Joe Johnston, owner of Joe’s Real BBQ and several other Gilbert restaurants.

By 2000, Gilbert’s population had grown to more than 115,000 people, according to the town’s And the growth is expected to continue for the foreseeable future; the town estimates that by 2030 Gilbert will be home to more than 300,000 people.

Johnston opened Joe’s Real BBQ in 1998. The longstanding counter-service eatery serves house-made barbeque dishes and sides out of its historic Gilbert location. Johnston has since opened several other Gilbert restaurants, including Joe’s Farm Grill and Liberty Market. Johnston was also involved in the planning of Agritopia, a residential community near Higley.

“My normal title is visionary, because that’s what I do — I come up with ideas and just see them through,” he said.

With four generations of family living in Gilbert, Johnston said he has witnessed the town’s growth firsthand.

“There’s a lot of really, really good momentum,” Johnston said. “It used to be considered a bedroom community, but it’s becoming a very well-balanced community overall, with a variety of kinds of jobs.”

Many of those jobs have been in tech-based industries. Aerospace & defense company Northrop Grumman builds satellites at its facility in Gilbert, as well as ground-support systems and other space-centric technologies. The facility has been in operation for more than 30 years and was acquired by Northrop Grumman in 2018 — it was previously operated by Orbital Sciences.

“They’ve started to call it the Silicon Desert because we’re starting to develop a lot of high-tech companies here,” said Rick Kettner, director of Northrop Grumman’s Gilbert site.

Kettner said that while the aerospace industry tends to go through cycles of growth depending on a mix of factors, right now it is “definitely on an upswing.”

“There’s a whole resurgence in commercial space, they call it, where there’s now non-governmental monies coming into space for commercial ventures,” he said. “It’s really an exciting time… it’s really driving growth and driving expansion of the industry.”

Kettner said Northrop Grumman’s Gilbert facility has close to 500 employees and is still hiring more. He said Gilbert’s “diverse” and “family-friendly” community makes it a good fit for the types of skills the company is looking for and the type of culture it wants to create internally.

“It’s a great place to raise a family,” Kettner said. “It’s very affordable, when you look at other geographies across the United States. And it’s really centrally located with the universities to draw from … that have those skill sets.”

Johnston said, as a restaurateur, the growth of other industries is key to the success of his businesses.

“People need to eat, and so the growing number of financial jobs, tech jobs, those things, are super important,” he said.

Johnston said, despite the increased saturation of businesses in Gilbert, he still thinks there is a lot of opportunity for small-business owners to create and grow their companies.

“There are still many holes in the market of things that don’t exist that should exist here,” he said. “Properly done, you should have good success, because the population is open to trying new things.”

Kettner and Johnston both agree the Town of Gilbert has created a highly pro-business economic climate.

“The leadership of the town is phenomenal with respect to business,” Kettner said. “They really encourage growth and work very closely with the businesses.”

Johnston agreed.

“I feel as though we have an ear, and that’s all anybody can ask for is to be listened to, and for someone to reasonably listen to their concerns,” he said.

Johnston said he is optimistic that Gilbert will continue to be a good place for business as it evolves in the coming years.

“They’ve been pro-growth, but pro-quality growth, and have had high standards,” he said. “That’s made it the town that it is, and I don’t think there’s a better time to live in Gilbert than now.”

The post Showcase AZ: Gilbert businesses share thoughts on town’s growth, business climate appeared first on ·¬ÇŃÉçÇř.

An Arizona-based women’s health care provider wants to make visiting the doctor a safe, familiar and enjoyable experience for women of all ages from across the Valley.

MomDoc was founded in 1976 by , who was looking for a small town in which to establish family roots when he finally landed on Chandler, where he began working in labor and delivery and later became chief of staff at what is now Chandler Regional Medical Center.

More than 40 years later, gynecological, obstetric and midwifery services at 16 office locations Ěýand multiple hospitals throughout the Valley, touting a “women for women” model that puts patients at the center of all decisions.

“MomDoc is kind of your all-women comprehensive care,” said Dr. Brittany Stam, an OB-GYN who has worked at MomDoc in Scottsdale for four years. “We see women for basic needs, such as birth control counseling, to their complete prenatal care, to women who are just coming in for an annual visit to get their well-woman exams done, to women that have already gone through menopause that are now coming to us for all their hormone replacement needs.”

MomDoc looks at the whole patient experience from the time she arrives to the time she leaves, including any tests that may be required and any surgical needs, said Melissa Troncale, a certified nurse-midwife at MomDoc. The practice expands on the services offered by a typical OB-GYN office, providing evening and weekend appointments and doing lab work in-house so patients don’t have to go to different locations, she said.

“I think there are a lot of things that make MomDoc unique,” Troncale said. “The main thing for me is just being able to work for a company with really strong values, a company that thinks of the patient first, that takes care of its employees.”

One of MomDoc’s unique features is its living room-style lobby, which is meant to create a warm, welcoming experience when patients arrive at the office.

“As a woman, I know that choosing a gynecologist is really intimidating,” Stam said. “When you come into our offices, what’s really unique is that, unlike other medical offices, you’re not walking into this cold environment where you’re met with this glass partition between yourself and a staff; you are greeted into what we call our living room.”

Stam said she gets frequent feedback from patients saying they feel much better in what can be an extremely vulnerable situation because of MomDoc’s reassuring setting.

“You come in and our medical concierges are greeting you, sitting down with you in nice, comforting chairs and not this cold medical building,” Stam said.

MomDoc emphasizes its flexibility in scheduling, recognizing that patients come from a wide variety of backgrounds — from working women who can’t make daytime appointments to stay-at-home moms with multiple children and hectic schedules.

“All of those women have different needs, and they have different schedules, and for us, if you need to be seen at 7:00 in the morning, we have that ability,” Stam said. “If you need to be seen at 8:00 p.m., we can do that, too, and you can get same-day appointments. That flexibility is what is unique, and it’s what draws women in.”

Troncale said when looking through her schedule she often sees names she’s familiar with, and that stands out to her as a unique aspect of MomDoc.

“It’s amazing to see patients who I’ve delivered one, two or three babies [for] now, and they become like friends to me, and family,” Troncale said. “Sometimes I describe my office visits [as] just meeting with my best girlfriends all day long.”

MomDoc has a strong history and a “good legacy” in Arizona because it is where the company first laid down roots, Troncale said. Arizona’s population growth makes MomDoc well-situated for expansion, Stam said.

“Arizona is a wonderful place for MomDoc because Arizona is growing like crazy,” Stam said. “Arizona has some of the fastest-growing cities in the country. You need to have a practice that has the ability to expand and be able to see women all over the Valley.”

The post Showcase AZ: MomDoc appeared first on ·¬ÇŃÉçÇř.

Exit the AZ-303 on Indian School Road and you’ll see a row of buildings that expand across the Goodyear desert. What some may not realize is the 700,000 square foot facility is home of Sub-Zero’s manufacturing facility.

Sub-Zero is a major residential kitchen appliance company focused on refrigeration and wine preservation. The company produces other kitchen appliances, such as ovens and stoves under the name Wolf and will soon provide dishwashers under the brand name Cove next year.

Goodyear Manufacturing Manager Dan Marotz said the most popular item you will see is their integrated series, “They will look just like your cabinetry that’s in your kitchen.”

A third-generation, family-owned operation, Sub-Zero began in Madison, Wisconsin when Westye Bakke was looking for a better way to preserve insulin for his son, who had juvenile diabetes. Out of that came Sub-Zero Freezer Company, the first freezer system for preserving food at ultra-low temperatures, with an emphasis on quality.

When describing the ideal Sub-Zero employee, Todd Collins, lead manufacturing assembly supervisor, said, “Quality is a keyword. Quality, efficiency, someone who can work without a lot of direction and some education, and I think we find that here in Arizona.”

After years of success, Sub-Zero knew they needed another facility and landed on Arizona. The opened their first Phoenix facility in 1982. The location, around 35th Avenue and Van Buren, provided for the immediate needs of the company; however, they slowly realized as business was booming that they would need more room to expand.

The Goodyear facility is home to just over 500 employees, contributing to the manufacturing industry workforce in Arizona. “With the number of employees we have, I think that’s increased the manufacturing presence in Arizona as a whole,” shared Steve Burnett, production supervisor for fabrication who has been with the company for 25 years.

Marotz, part of the on-site selection group, remembers when they found the Goodyear facility it was the only building in the area. Sub-Zero acquired the building in 2010, had it Ěýup and running in June 2011, and has since made improvements to meet the demands of their success.

“We just added 300,000 square feet, which we added December 2016 that we’re still working to fill with new fabrication areas back there, so feels pretty new to me,” Burnett remarked.

More and more, Arizona has been seeing companies call Arizona their home, but what is it that attracts these companies? According to Sub-Zero, it’s the state’s business-oriented welcome.

“The state, from what we’ve seen, has been business-friendly and has supported the growth of Sub-Zero,” said Marotz. “The transportation with the Loop 303 – that’s been a big, big improvement and also a lot of our products still go to the west coast so this is a great location as far as logistics goes.”

Representatives from Sub-Zero said they are excited to see continued growth in the West Valley and that Sub-Zero is becoming a name Arizonans recognize as one of their own.

The post Showcase AZ: Sub-Zero appeared first on ·¬ÇŃÉçÇř.