Thank you to publisher Don Henninger, editor Ilana Lowery and the staff of the Phoenix Business Journal www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/  for naming and honoring the 2008 Power Players this past week at the Phoenix Art Museum.  It was fun, and I was humbled for Growth Nation and AZIGG to be mentioned in the same breath as so many great global organizations and business leaders.

The event was documented in the 2008 Phoenix Business Journal Power Book dated October 17th.  It was sponsored by Greenberg Traurig, World Wide Technology, Qwest and M&I Bank. Thanks to you all.

I’d also like to thank the advisors of Arizona International Growth Group (AZIGG) who have been so instrumental in the success of our group in the Valley over the last year. My special thanks to Kim Kubsch of Global Arizona – who is amazing – thank you! You can find out more about Kim and each of these talented people here: http://www.azigg.com/advisors.html

Kim Kubsch – Global Arizona
Kjell Andreassen – Acceler8
Frank Beltran – Trade Base Mexico and Beltran Ventures
Mai Crone – Youth Re:Action Corp
Bob Denton – Prime Connexions
Dave Rice – True Cloud
Aly Saxe – Ubiquity Public Relations
David Ziton – OneNeck

Finally thank you to all our loyal AZIGG'ers who month in and month out make AZIGG events worth attending for the information and networking.  Keep attending, participating and spreading the good word!

There were 12 of us named as “Global Leader” Power Players. The other 11 are really extraordinary, and I think we all enjoyed the ‘VIP’ session prior to the event as we got to know each other a little better. These folks are all used to being a VIP – I’m just a humble marketer, and so it was particularly special for me.

Here is the list. They are all to be commended for their continued support of the Arizona business community. We share a common purpose of building a more diverse economy by having Arizona-based businesses be more successful overseas and by attracting global companies to Arizona.

Brad Casper – The Dial Corporation (www.henkelna.com)
Rod Miller – Greater Phoenix Economic Council (www.gpec.org)
Glenn Williamson – Canada Arizona Business Council (www.canaz.net)  
Rick Stephenson – Consulate of Canada (www.international.gc.ca)  
Lee Knowlton – Kahala Corporation (www.kahalacorp.com)
Jeff Morhet – InNexus Biotechnology (www.ixsbio.com)
Trevor Hill – Global Water Resources (www.gwresources.com)
Sally Spray – US Department of Commerce (www.buyusa.gov/arizona)
David Dewar – Trillium Residential (www.trilliumresidential.com)
Bernard Otremba-Blanc – BOA Group (www.consularcorpfoundation.com)
Julia Rosen – Arizona State University (www.skysong.asu.edu)

If you'd like to grow your own business or help 'raise the water line' for all Arizona-based businesses, attend an AZIGG meeting soon.  We usually meet on the first Monday of each month.  More here: www.azigg.com 

All the best, Doug

Doug Bruhnke
www.growthnation.com
Scottsdale, AZ USA