WILLCOX — The Willcox Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture hosted The State of the City, a networking event for local business leaders and the community.
Grid United were the main sponsors and participants included Solid Solutions, Strive Vineyards, Northern Cochise Community Hospital, and many more.
The State of the City event featured a business bingo game where participants collected signatures from various businesses for a chance to win a grand prize, which included items from Lazul. Additionally, attendees could collect business cards for another prize.
The event also featured a charcuterie board and drinks, with the several speakers scheduled, including City of Willcox Mayor Greg Hancock.
President of the Willcox Chamber Monica Preston was the master of ceremonies for the event.
“We’re excited to see your local business leaders tonight and the community at large,” Preston began. “It’s great to see so many familiar faces and some new ones as well. We want to thank you all for being here and for being and for your commitment to the Wilcox community tonight. I encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to connect with your fellow business owners and share your experiences, learn from each other and explore potential collaborations.”
Jonathan Trujillo Development Associate at Grid United spoke to the mixer guests. Grid United (GU) and Black Forest Partners are co-developing the Southline Transmission Project, a 278-mile, double-circuit, high voltage transmission line and associated substation facilities from El Paso to Vail.
As part of the project GU is investing approximately $4 million dollars directly in local communities through donations, sponsorships, and partnerships with local organizations.
The first phase of the Project, Hidalgo to Vail, could be operational by 2027, with the Phase 2, Afton to Hidalgo, and the full project online by 2028.
Corina Pino-Reyes, Managed IT Supervisor, and Heather Floyd, Regulatory Affairs Specialist for Valley Telecom spoke to introduce their new Managed IT Services. Valley is a 63-year-old member-owned cooperative serving 10,000 square miles within Arizona and New Mexico, mostly rural communities.
“We’ve taken a step forward with that product, and we’re officially now announcing our launch of managed services. So, that’s something that we will be able to provide to local businesses here and also throughout our territory, so we will focus heavily on the Willcox area and also the Graham County area, but that’s where my team comes into play, so just wanted to introduce that,” Corina said.
Heather spoke a bit about the fiber optic cabling project under way west of the city.
“For many years, we had fiber broadband within the city limits of Willcox, and we’re excited to finally be able to expand it to the west area of Wilcox,” Heather began. “That is a $3 million investment that is funded through an Arizona broadband development grant, the state is providing 2.7 million and valley telecom is providing $300,000 matching funds. That project is going to build out 46 miles of new fiber lines, and it’s going to connect 457 homes and businesses in that area, the project area goes from I-10 to the Cochise County Airport, then the intersection of Marguerite and Taylor Roads back south to I-10.”
That project will alleviate traffic on their wireless tower and provide some more connectivity to clients in that area.
“We do recognize that there have been some unexpected disturbances during the construction, and we want to assure you all that safety is a top priority for Valley, and we do follow the proper protocols, including using the blue state process. We are working with our utility partners to help minimize those disruptions, to improve coordination and accuracy in the marking of these areas. And with that, our goal is to minimize the disruptions and have safety for all,” Heather said.
Heather mentioned othe possibilities to expand broadband internet, the Arizona Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program, Funding came from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Arizona has been allocated $993 million from that program.
The ultimate goal is universal service, internet for all Arizonans, focusing on underserved and unserved households. Underserved are those that are deemed to have less than 100 by 20 megabits per second access. Unserved are deemed to have less than 25 by three megabits per second.
The state has divided the entire state into 66 project areas, and Cochise County has four project areas. Valley has been very active in the process and filed applications that closed for the first round March 7. The first round of applications is for all-fiber builds, and those are being analyzed now. They’ll come back and do some negotiation with the companies that have submitted proposals.
Round two will be for alternative technologies, and that would be things like a Co-ax cable line or fixed wireless products. That round is going to be open from June 2 to July 3.
“We could tentatively be awarded some grant funding in round one, but there is going to be no public announcements until both rounds are complete. So, I would expect some announcements from the state in August or September,” Heather added.
Business info-booths at the event were Strive Vineyards, Northern Cochise Community Hospital, Lazul Aesthetics and Wellness Spa, Cochise College, Birds and Barrels Vineyards, L&B Farms, Rafter M Meats, Ana Banana’s Daycare Center, Willcox Rotary Club, and Arizona Sunset Inn.
Willcox Mayor’s Speech
“I wanted to, I have some big news and a big announcement for you guys. When I first moved to Wilcox, I heard story after story about how Willcox had turned down Walmart, and, you know, I’ve never been able to figure out if, what’s the truth behind this, if Wilcox had really turned down the Walmart, but I’m thrilled to announce that we’re actually going to receive a Taco Bell. All their building stuff, all to get a new Taco Bell here, and I’m excited to get, you know, the late night chalupas, yeah.
First off, I wanted to just cover some of the city growth and development. Willcox is growing, and there’s a lot of excitement and a lot to be excited about. We’ve seen major progress in healthcare, with the new Chiricahua Healthcare set to open its doors soon, and the Northern Cochise County Hospital investing 1.4 million in in a significant facade improvement.
We also, as a council, we focus on housing development. And between 2005 and 2020 we haven’t seen many houses built, but within the last five years, there’s been 15 houses that have either been built or in progress of being constructed. Also, there’s been 10 manufactured homes that have been placed on vacant lots, and five new commercial businesses have opened.
It’s clear that Wilcox is moving forward, and we’re just and we’re just getting started. Even small improvements make a difference. Every now and then, I like to stop at Circle K and grab a Dr Pepper. And last week, I walked into the Circle K and I was surprised at how much they’ve upgraded both Circle Ks.
Also, our seasonal visitors, the Sandhill Cranes, will also get an upgrade to their home here in Willcox. If you haven’t been out there, there’s three new blinds that have been, are, under construction right now. Also, we really received an $11 million grant to build like a kind of a visitor center for all the birds out there.
Let’s see what else. One thing I did want to mention that, you know, over the past five years, we received a lot of grants, and I think the number that we’ve kind of calculated is $40 million over the last five years.
Our budget that we are able to work with here in Willcox, it’s from different tax revenues and stuff. It’s only $18 million so we’ve kind of doubled what. We’ve done so, but I just wanted in closing, just to thank everybody coming for coming out tonight. Monica did a great job, and all The Chamber. I’ll thank the Grid United for sponsoring the event and thank all the businesses for showing up. And once again, I appreciate all the support you guys give the city, and I know we’re there’s a bright future ahead of us here in Willcox. Thank you.”
This article was originally posted by Hector Acuna at Herald/Review Media.