Although the Mayo Clinic has been in existence for more than 100 years, the world renowned health care provider has never designed and built its own hospital. The first ever Mayo designed and built hospital will be constructed in northeast Phoenix on a 210 acre site near 56th Street and Union Hills Drive. By locating in the northeast Phoenix corridor, we are putting hospital beds and emergency room facilities where they are needed. The northeast Valley is projected to have a population of nearly 255,000 by the year 2015. Moreover, upon completion of the Pima Freeway, the hospital will be easily for patients from throughout the Valley. The new Mayo hospital will also provide inpatient care for Mayo patients from throughout the United States and more than 80 foreign countries. Over the course of construction, the Mayo hospital will create between 750 and 1000 local construction jobs. Additionally, the hospital itself will create approximately 850 new health care jobs, generate an estimated $37 million annually in supplies and services. Although Mayo owns nine other hospitals in Minnesota, Florida and Wisconsin, each was acquired as an existing facility and then remodeled. For the fist time in Mayo history, there is an opportunity to use in house experience and expertise to plan a hospital designed to meet the specific needs of patients and caregivers.

Mayo Clinic Scottsdale has acquired Ironwood Family Physicians, a three physician family practice at 4616 N. 51st Ave. in Phoenix. This means Ironwood Family Physicians becomes an affiliate of Mayo Clinic Scottsdale and is changing its name to Ironwood Family Physicians - Mayo Health Systems. Mayo Clinic Scottsdale also operates three primary care centers: Mayo Thunderbird Primary Care Center, Mayo Fountain Hills Primary Care Center and North Scottsdale Family Medicine - Mayo Health System. Another Mayo primary care center is under construction at 75th Avenue and Beardsley Road, and a Mayo women's center is under construction at 92nd Street and Thunderbird Road. Mayo also has inked a new partnership with Radiation Oncology Specialists Ltd. To build a new radiation oncology center at 7337 E. Thomas Road, Scottsdale. Mayo is in the process of building its own hospital in northeast Phoenix near 56th Street and Union Hills Drive. Its outpatient group practice is on 274 acres at Shea Blvd and 134th Street, where 160 physicians and more than 900 support staff have served more than 270,000 patients since opening in 1987.

Teknowlogy Corp., a provider of professional computer technology training, has announced plans to merge with Tempe-based Training Solutions. The merger brings the number of Teknowlogy Education Centers to 13 in six major cities. Training solutions is a full-service computer education center that provides training , certification and testing in Novell, Microsoft and Unix. The company operates six full-service classrooms, maintains nearly 150 computers and employs 16 people. Revenues topped $3 million last year.

Women own 40% of the businesses in Greater Phoenix

Not so long ago, many people had the perception that women owned businesses made cute little gift baskets in the spare bedroom while their child took a nap. No more. People are finally coming to understand that women create growth, women create wealth, women create 22 percent of the gross sales. Two of every five Arizona workers are employed in a business owed by a woman, and women own more than 40 percent of all businesses in the State.

A technical school that offers courses in computer animation, video production and other specialization's has received initial accreditation. The Art Institute of Phoenix, which opened a facility at 2233 W. Dunlap Ave. received the nod from the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology in Arlington, VA. Full accreditation takes 12 to 18 months. The school offers Associate of Applied Science degrees in computer animation, video production, visual communication, multimedia and culinary arts.

McDonnell Douglas executives foresee $600 million of economic activity touching down at Williams Gateway Airport. A new U.S. Air Force contract calls for McDonnell Douglas Corp. to upgrade the avionics systems of just two T-38 Talon jet aircraft by 1998. The $45.6 million contract might sound like small potatoes but company executives are betting that every T-38 in the world will swoop in for the upgrades by 2003 or so. If that happens the company projects that the contract will go to over $600 million over seven years. The contract will mean at least 200 new jobs when the project begins, and could grow to 600-800 workers.

McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems signed a $1.86 billion contract to upgrade 232 high-powered Apache attack helicopters for the U.S. Army. The work on the AH-64D Longbow Apache helicopters will be performed in the next five years at the company's Falcon Field plant in Mesa.

A Las Vegas-based firm that has introduced gaming to the skies will move its entire operation and headquarters to Phoenix. Interactive Flight Technologies expects to be up and running in its new Phoenix location this summer. Among the reasons given for choosing Phoenix was an ample supply of good labor. The company's engineering, design, development and administrative work will take place in the new space at 4041 N. Central Ave., while assembly and testing will take place at the Van Buren facility near Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Interactive Flight Technologies is a public company that designs, manufactures and distributes touch screen interactive flight entertainment systems to national and overseas airline carriers. Among its chief attractions to Asian and European carriers is the ability to bring video gaming, such as slots, poker, blackjack and keno, to the skies. Other services include wide-ranging movie selections and a plethora of consumer shopping opportunities that can be utilized in flight by passengers.

The new AT&T facility at 7300 E. Hampton in the Superstition Springs area will employ 300 people initially but could be expanded to employ 900-1000 people. It has a higher skill base than a typical call center. The move follows an announcement in April that AT&T will add about 500 jobs at its existing customer-service center at University Drive and Alma School Road in Mesa. The new East Mesa canter will be in addition to AT&T's existing Mesa facility.

Chandler Municipal Airport has broken ground on a new terminal. The finished terminal will be accessible off German Road, which also is scheduled for expansion. The terminal will have facilities for fixed wing aircraft and a heliport. A new traffic control tower already is in function and the two runways have been resurfaced. Infrastructure improvements also have been made to utilities, sewers and roadways. The expansion of the airport helps position Chandler to market the adjacent 1,600-acre airpark surrounding the airport. The entire area has been approved as an enterprise zone, providing substantial tax benefits to employers who create new jobs. Industries within Chandler Airpark can earn tax credits of up to $5,000 for each qualified employee.

Allied Signal will help build new rocketship. Workers at aerospace and engineering conglomerate Allied Signal Inc. are jubilant over what promises to be the company's biggest contract ever: part of NASA's $900 million X-33 rocketship project. The Morris Township-based company should make a tidy $145 million for creating and integrating the futuristic craft's high-tech systems, and Arizona will share in the bounty. The company eventually could earn nearly $1 billion if the project takes off and a twice-as-large, operational reusable launch vehicle is built.

Arizona's per-capita income shot up 6.6 percent last year, the second highest growth rate in the country, according to a report released by the U.S. Commerce Department. Arizona was part of an overall stellar performance by western states, which included gains of 6.2 percent in Oregon, 6.1 percent in both California and New Mexico.

Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp., a New York-based developer of dermatology products and technologies, plans to relocate its corporate headquarters to the Valley this summer. The company has signed a 10-year lease for more 10,000 square feet in the London Center at the southwest corner of 44th Street and Camelback Road. The company expects to make substantial reductions in overheads as a result of moving its headquarters. Key personnel with Medicis intend to relocate to the Valley with the company. Up to 54 employees are expected to make the move. The company plans to hire 28 people for the Phoenix office and expand the number of local hires to 40 in the next three years. The company believes that relocating to Arizona will give it a financial edge and improve the quality of life for its employees.

Nursing home construction in the Valley is the hottest it's been since the late 1980's now that seniors are living longer and existing nursing homes are filling up. At least five nursing homes will be built in the Valley this year, and others are on the drawing board. The last time a nursing home was built in Arizona was in 1988. The difference this time is that projects no longer are being developed as single, stand-alone facilities. They are planned as part of a medical campus that includes a wide range of services , including physician offices, urgent-care and skilled nursing. Most of the developers are hospital companies. Nursing home growth is in sync with a similar boom in retirement communities where construction activity is at a record high.

Excell Agent Services, a Phoenix-based provider of telephone-operator services, will open a new telecommunications center in Mesa that will employ 1,000 people by the fall. The center will provide nationwide directory assistance for long distance carriers. Theoretically, a Valley resident who is a customer of one of the major long distance carriers could call directory assistance in Philadelphia to obtain the number of a business there and be routed to an operator at Excell's Mesa center, who would provide the number. Excell is an outsource agency providing operator services for about a dozen long distance carriers.

Rodel Inc.'s expansion in the Phoenix area will provide opportunities for specialized vendors and workers. Once Rodel's Phoenix plant under construction opens, the company plans to enlist the help of vendors qualified to service deionized water systems. Super-pure deionized water is used to make the polishing slurry Rodel sells to computer chip makers and other high-tech companies. Rodel is looking to open a second plant to manufacture pads used in polishing.

The growth of the chipmaking industry in the Phoenix area, as well as its position as a supply point for the West, has prompted other companies involved in chemical-mechanical polishing to expand their operations in Arizona, namely IPEC/Planar in Phoenix and SpeedFam Corp. on Chandler.

State Farm Insurance Co. is consolidating 19 data centers nationwide into three facilities to be constructed in Phoenix, Dallas and Atlanta. The Bloomington, Illinois-based firm will build a $50 million, 250,000 square foot insurance support center in the Valley that will employ as many as 300 people when fully operational.

At least seven new medical office buildings are planned this year. PMH Health Resources Inc., is planning its second medical office building on its 36-acre campus in Goodyear. Sun Health's $3.7 million, 56,000 square foot project under construction at Del Webb Memorial Hospital in Sun City. Scottsdale Memorial Health System Inc. $7.5 million, 60,000 square foot medical building with 350-space parking structure is under construction at Scottsdale Memorial Hospital - Osborn Campus. Arrowhead Medical Plaza II's planned $4.5 million, 45,000 square foot medical building at Arrowhead Community Hospital and Medical Center. Tempe St. Luke's Hospital is starting construction on a $6.5 million, 63,200 square foot medical building on its campus. A 28,000 square foot medical building is also nearly completed at Mesa General Hospital. Medical space is also being developed away from existing hospital campuses. Among these is Chandler Regional Hospital's proposed Sun Lakes Medical Center, a medical and education facility on 9.5 acres at the northeast corner of Alma School and Riggs roads in the Sun Lakes - Sun Bird area.

An emerging Phoenix-based publisher of children's books is ready to build a 104,000 square foot facility at Sky Harbor Center to house printing and headquarters operations that could eventually employ up to 200 people. The facility would enable Futech to double its output to about 2 million units per year and still allow for future expansion. Futech Educational Products Inc. was founded about six years ago and for the past two years has been publishing a line of interactive children's books under the name "Talking Pages". The books contain "touch points" on the pages that generate an audio response from programmable computer chips.

The Valley ranks as the nation's 12th fastest growing manufacturing area. Massive declines in military spending in the late 1980s provoked fear that the Valley manufacturing would plummet, but many companies made smooth transitions to producing products for the commercial sector. Also, Arizona has benefited since several defense related firms have consolidated national operations in the valley. About the time the defense industry faltered, Arizona's high-tech manufacturing firms began to take off. Established companies such as Motorola Inc. began to expand and emerging companies were setting up. Manufacturing remains an attractive industry because of its "multiplier effects"; the establishment of one manufacturing company will create a reason for other companies to come to Arizona to provide related supplies and services.

E&Y Kenneth Leventhal Real Estate Group, in its annual report on Japanese investment in the U.S. real estate, noted that investments such as The Wigwam in Litchfield Park and the Scottsdale Princess and Hyatt Regency hotels in Scottsdale are doing very well. In fact the Japanese owners of those properties are in many cases now looking to increase their investments by adding on to the properties. The report also pointed to the semiconductor plant being built by Sumitomo Corp. in north Phoenix. The facility could attract other Japanese industrial and manufacturing concerns to the area, prompting real estate investments in the form of plant sites.

A mainland China company has invested in U.S . real estate in Phoenix with plans to build a Chinese-oriented development on approximately 20 acres in east Phoenix. BNU Corp. recently closed on the land purchase, paying $3,6 million. BNU Corp. is a subsidiary of China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Import and Export Corp.. It is one of China's top three foreign trade corporations reporting to the ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation of the People's Republic of China. The company, one of the largest exporters of grin form the U.S., also operates COFCO Capital Corp. from its offices at the Esplanade project at 24th Street and Camelback Road, Phoenix.

Sitix of Phoenix Inc. will hold several jobs in coming weeks throughout the Valley. Sumitomo's silicon-wafer plant which is being built in north Phoenix, is looking to fill 35 positions, among them engineers, maintenance engineers, process technicians, maintenance technicians and supervisors.

A rapidly growing number of students has prompted the CAD Institute, a private Phoenix-based computer training school, to move forward on plans to build for its new campus. The CAD Institute began offering a bachelor's degree program specializing in computer-aided design in 1987. The number of students has grown from 10 to more than 800. The growth in student numbers means that the Institution needs more room and they are actively looking for a larger location. To accommodate its growing number of students and programs, the CAD Institute begins classes at 4.30am and runs them past midnight. The 120 employees, who include administrators and instructors, are crammed two and three into small offices. The Institute also trains 1,500 professionals annually at the campus.

For the operators of a new state of the art chemical plant in east Mesa, 99 44/100ths percent pure would be downright dirty. Olin Corp., a Connecticut-based Fortune 500 company, will begin producing super-clean chemicals at a new $30 million plant at 6500S. Mountain Road in east Mesa. The compounds will be distributed to busy semi-conductor makers worldwide that need super-pure chemicals to make the latest microchips used in computers, telephones and other electronic products. Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co. built a $20 million plant as part of the complex to produce ultra-pure hydrogen peroxide, which will be packaged and distributed by Olin. The Mitsubishi plant will be the first U.S. source of ultra-pure hydrogen peroxide, which previously was available only from Japan.

Overdue recognition of the Phoenix area as a volcanic core in the computer software industry is bolstered by a survey by the Arizona Software Association the states' software industry is set for an explosive growth in the next five years. Seventy-six percent of the companies report that they plan to hire more staff, with only one percent expecting a decline. The number of new companies coming online is expected to outpace previous years. The survey identified about 2000 firms as software related. This figure surprised even those who track this market closely. The survey included a company if it produced or distributed packaged software as a main product or serviced such companies. In general, companies involved in the production or distribution of custom software were not included. Of the 2000 companies identified, 450 firms participated in the survey. The survey shows that Arizona has all the services needed to start a company here.

Republic National Bank has struck a deal to provide at least $1 million to high-tech companies and to firms with international experts too risky for traditional financing. The Industrial Development Authority of Maricopa County will split the risk on the $1 million in loans that Republic plans to provide to qualifying companies. Republic will offer lines of credit for technology-related companies and will finance an exporter's receivables. High-tech companies frequently rank a lack of funding among their biggest struggles in doing business in Arizona. Bankers often do not understand the value of a company's technology, while entrepreneurs sometimes fail to appreciate the bankers needs. Programs specifically designed for the high-tech community have been touted as a way to resolve this dilemma and encourage growth. This represents the first Industrial Development Authority Capital Access Program specifically for a niche market.

Lansdale Semiconductor Inc. continues to reap the benefits of downsizing in the defense industry The Tempe company is emerging as the only maker of integrated circuits for older military equipment. The Defense Electronics Supply Center recently granted the company two certificates of approval, one under military standard called MIL-PRF38535 and another under the manufacturing standard known as ISO 9002. More manufacturers are discontinuing their military electronics lines to focus on the commercial market leaving Lansdale as a modern day equivalent of a buggy whip maker.