Growing our future, one leaf, one company, at a time

We've only had two meetings, but already, a theme for this council committee has emerged - growth.

Unlike most cities, Tempe cannot sprawl. We are landlocked. Our city is as large as it will ever be. But this does not mean that we cannot grow and prosper, that our residents, our workforce and our companies cannot flourish. In fact, we expect them to become their best, more than they may have originally thought they could become. After all, Tempe is a place where impossible, outlandish ideas become realized, successful - and normal.

We change the world in Tempe. For the better.

At the last Technology, Economic and Community Development meeting, we approved the work plan we are submitting to the entire Tempe City Council for approval.  It is a full agenda. I don't expect that we will accomplish everything on it. In fact, you will see the word "explore" in front of many of the items.

Not everything on our list will be implemented. Some items may turn out to be impractical, too expensive, too cumbersome or just not right for Tempe. We want to explore everything, though, and see which ideas are right for our city.

This committee is commited to growth. We want to grow technology companies - and business opportunities in general. We want to innovate ways to help these companies succeed and refine our procedures to ensure continued prosperity. A healthy business community contributes significantly to providing quality city services and to the economic success of our workforce and resident base.

Growing companies isn't easy. Tempe is fortunate to be surrounded by colleges and universities filled with students and professors who have new concepts for products and services. Launching those ideas takes time and money as well as professional guidance. Angel investors, incubators and community programs can help people take their fledgling products and turn them into Fortune 500 companies.

Some communities invest hundreds of thousands of dollars - sometimes millions - into incubator programs and coworking spaces. After nearly two years of work, technology expert Fred von Graf presented his incubator, LaunchSpot, to our committee.

LaunchSpot is a combination of an incubator and a coworking facility. Located in 14,000 square feet in west Tempe, LaunchSpot will provide seed money to several software development companies in hopes of helping them become the next "Facebook." Work has begun on the space and the facility could open in just a couple months. We could see several new companies sprout in Tempe in 2011 as a result of Fred's efforts.

Garin Groff of the East Valley Tribune wrote an excellent article detailing this project: http://bit.ly/eAG2Wb

When I talk about growth being the theme of this committee, I am being literal. We will be growing vegetables, fruit, flowers and more. One of the many items we will work on this year is a plan to encourage community gardens. We are working with Tempe Community Action Agency (TCAA), the neighbors near the Escalante Center and Tempe Leadership to create a community garden in Escalante Park. Some of the fruits of their labors will fill the food pantry operated by TCAA. Some will be given to those who tilled the soil. Some of it may be sold at farmers markets to buy seeds, tools, fertilizer and the like. If you would like to find out more about this project, TCAA is hosting a fundraiser to benefit the garden this New Year's Eve. For details, visit http://bit.ly/fTn8cK.

This will be a case study for us, as we watch the garden go through its seasons, so we can learn how to best help these projects succeed. Our Community Development Department is working on guidelines that will help to create more opportunities like this one.

There is so much to be learned in a garden. It's healthy for us to go outside, smell the good earth beneath our fingers, plant seeds and watch them grow. We nourish ourselves with exercise and fresh food. We learn to take care of what we plant, to hope for a good harvest, and to cherish the earth we all share. A green patch of ground is respite for us in this busy, urban environment. I look forward to the work our committee will do in this area.

Our next committee meeting happens on Jan. 21 at 10 a.m. at Tempe City Hall, 31 E. Fifth Street. We meet on the third floor. I hope you can join us in our smart growth efforts.

Committee Meeting on Friday

The next meeting of the Technology, Economic and Community Development Council Committee happens on Friday, Dec. 17 at 9:30 a.m. in the City Manager's Conference Room on the third floor of City Hall.

We will be finalizing our work plan for the year, talking about community gardens, the streetcar, and an incubator coming to Tempe.

You can see the agenda here: http://documents.tempe.gov/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=332&doctype=AGENDA


You are welcome to attend this meeting. I am interested in your ideas and feedback.

More Details on the Importance of Fiber

I hope you enjoy the slideshow below. It's what I will share with the Fiber to the Home Council later today. Please contact me if you would like more details.

Fiber, Technology and Tempe, Arizona

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Fiber, Technology and Tempe, Arizona

View more presentations from City of Tempe, Arizona.

Fast Fiber Crucial to Innovation

Back in March, Tempe became one of thousands of cities to throw its name into the hat in hopes of becoming Google’s chosen city for free installation of a border to border high speed fiber network.

Tempe had already dedicated itself to being a forerunner in citywide technology infrastructure. We were the nation’s first city to try border to border WiFi with a company, using more than 400 of our city’s street lights to hang technology gear.

In Tempe, we understand that to lead is to innovate. We have a major university and many, many schools and colleges dedicating to cultivating creative young minds. Arizona State University is a leading research institute. About 20 percent of our jobs are technology-based and many more are technology intensive.

When Google announced the opportunity to compete for the free high speed fiber, within moments our residents, our work force and our students flooded City Hall with emails, Tweets, Facebook posts and even old fashioned phone calls. They were demanding that we get into the race for the fiber. We immediately gathered together groups of tech users from around our community to create something that showed we understood what was at stake – not just for Tempe, but for the world. You can see some of the elements of our entry here: http://www.tempe.gov/googlefiber/

Our community understands that the future is undetermined. The ability to use a faster backbone opens the floodgates to unknown greatness. We don’t know what we can do yet with speed that allows incredible new opportunity. We do know that Tempe is one community changing the world for the better already – we are leading the country with innovations in climate change, solar energy, medical breakthroughs and space exploration. Can you imagine what we could do if we could do it even faster?

I will be speaking to the Fiber to the Home Council conference on Dec. 8 at 3 p.m. at the Arizona Biltmore, http://www.ftthcouncil.org/ This convention brings leaders from around the world to discuss the desire to bring high speed fiber to every home and building possible. I am excited to meet these dedicated people with such vision.

Did you know that the USA ranks 10th in network speeds behind South Korea, Estonia and Slovenia?

No one knows which city Google is going to choose for their free fiber – we’re not counting ourselves out of the race yet! But Tempe is not going to just rely on this one contest to gain such a necessary technology tool. We are working with Cox Communication and others to see what can be done to bring 1 GB speeds to homes, schools and businesses. We’ve already had some success with the Tempe Elementary School District, where they are using 1 GB fiber.

Could you use high speed fiber for your home? For your business? At your school? For your research? Let me know what kinds of projects would interest you most at onnie_shekerjian@tempe.gov.

This is just one example of the work we hope to accomplish on the Tempe City Council’s Technology, Economic and Community Development Committee in the coming year.