MOVING ON: Sports marketing

nches his
veteran Ray Artigue launches
own agency. 8
SURVEY SAYS: CEOs reveal economy
is leveling off, improving. 14
PATENT DECISION: High court’s rt’s
ruling good news for bio firms. 177
phoenix.bizjournals.com INFORM. CONNECT. SUCCEED. JULY 23, 2010 $3.95

Arizona Hispanic Chamber seeking new CEO

BY LYNN DUCEY
lducey@bizjournals.com
The Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is
searching for a new CEO and executive director for
the second time in two years — and at a critical junc-
ture for the Latino community.
The chamber joined the American Civil Liberties
Union and other groups in May in legal challenges
to the state’s new illegal immigration law, which is
working its way through the courts and has yet to
take effect.
“One of the things that we feel we can do as a cham-
ber is to counteract the effects of this (law),” said
AZHCC spokesman James Garcia. “We represent
Latino small business, and this is where our repre-
sentation and advocacy comes in.”
The chamber board is looking for someone to fill the
role who is comfortable representing the organiza-
tion in public and has proven administrative skills.
“An ideal candidate would have a good knowledge
of nonprofits and the Hispanic business community,”
SEE LATINO | 32 Garcia

El Mirage plan
would create
urban arts hub
BY MIKE SUNNUCKS
msunnucks@bizjournals.com Thermo Fluids Inc. plant
manager Bryan Sullivan
The city of El Mirage has a very “un- inspects two large storage
Phoenix” vision for its future — cut tanks containing used
more from the cloth of Santa Fe, N.M., motor oil that is ready
and Portland than the Valley’s sprawling to be sent out to end-users.
suburbia. JIM POULIN | PHOENIX BUSINESS JOURNAL
El Mirage voters in November will con-
sider a long-term plan to transform the
West Valley city into a transit-oriented,
environmentally friendly arts hub. Of-
ficials also want to cut the city’s carbon
footprint by half over the next several de-
cades and create parcels for organic and
urban gardens.

SEE EL MIRAGE | 32
Greening the auto industry
SScottsdale
cottsdale ccompany
ompany llaunches
aunches ooilil fillter
ter rrecycling
ecycling pprogram
rogram
BY PATRICK O’GRADY | pogrady@bizjournals.com

Thermo Fluids Inc. has made a business of taking dirt
out of the automotive industry.
The Scottsdale company is poised to do more than just
recycle used oil products, as it has been doing since 1993.
In August, it will become what may be the state’s first home
for recycling oil filters from auto repair and lube shops.
For Arizona, where it is legal to ship used filters to land-
RENDERING PROVIDED BY EL MIRAGE
A rendering of El Mirage’s proposed downtown.
fills once they are drained, it represents another step in
a growing sustainability chain for the automotive sector,
said James Devlin, the company’s CEO.
“We don’t find (dumping filters in landfills) acceptable,
and neither do our customers,” he said.
SEE THERMO FLUIDS | 32

THE LISTS: PROFILE:

Highest-paid CEOs. 13, 15 Eric Neitzel, publicc
Directors’ information officer,
er,
compensation. 26 Show Low Fire
Department. 23
July 23, 2010
Eric Neitzel
Public information officer | Show Low Fire Department
Owner | Fireground Communications
When a forest fire breaks out in Northern Arizona,
people turn to the news almost immediately. But in most
cases, the “news” is getting its news from one man:
Eric Neitzel.
As the public information officer for the Show Low Fire
Department and owner of Fireground Communications,
Neitzel stays close to the front lines and provides the
latest information to members of the media covering
the event.
He’s also become a pioneer in how that information is
passed along, thanks to his extensive use of social media.
By using Twitter (@ENeitzel and @Fireground), Facebook,
YouTube and Skype, he’s helped create more effective
ways to communicate during fires and other crises.
“I always thought there had to be a better way to
communicate to people in need,” Neitzel said. “During
the SoCal ‘fire siege’of 2003, there was not a clear voice
of accurate info available due to so many fires burning, so
media outlets were reporting inaccurate information
about escape routes to evacuees fleeing from the
burning hillsides. In some cases, people perished
because of that inaccurate info.”
That experience led Neitzel to social media
and, ultimately, to launching Fireground
Communications. Through his business, he trains
PIOs throughout the West how to use social
media for rapid communication.
Water may always be the best tool for battling
forest fires, but Neitzel has proved that social
media is a pretty good one to have on hand, too.
The Phoenix Business Journal
connects me to the business
heartbeat of the city, delivering
insights and commentary to my
desk each week and my inbox
each day. Beyond the value of the
news service, Phoenix Business
Journal events bring together
decision makers, helping to create
a healthier and more interwoven
Phoenix business community.
Mark El-Tawil
Regional CEO
Humana West Region
FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION & RATES,
CONTACT MIKE MALL AT 602.308.6525
PHOENIX BUSINESS JOURNAL
phoenix.bizjournals.com
EXECUTIVE PROFILE 23
On the job
WHAT’S THE MOST SEVERE ARIZONA FOREST FIRE
YOU’VE WORKED? Arizona’s largest wildfire, the
Rodeo-Chediski fire of 2002. This was my first
Arizona fire since moving to Phoenix from the
San Francisco Bay Area earlier that year. In
fact, that fire is what brought me to the White
Mountains to serve as the PIO for the long-term
fire rehab and timber salvage team.
WHAT’S SOMETHING ABOUT
W
FFOREST FIRES THAT PEOPLE DON’T
Personal UUNDERSTAND? For some reason,
AGE: 42 mmost of the media are focused
EDUCATION: Fire science, oon the easy shot of the sexy or
fire engineering and sspectacular air tankers throwing
mass media communi- bbright-red retardant over the fire,
cations degrees, College aand helicopters making strategic
of Marin wwater drops. Don’t get me wrong,
FAMILY: Wife, Rebecca; aaircraft play a huge role; but it’s the
daughter, Katelyn, 3 ffolks on the ground who go in after
BIRTHPLACE: San tthe aircraft does its job and secures
Francisco tthe line.
RESIDENCE: Show Low WWHAT’S THE MOST REWARDING
FIRST JOB: “Aviation PPART OF YOUR JOB? Being able to
PROVIDED BY helper” at the Smith ccommunicate effectively to people
ERIC NEITZEL Ranch Airport in San wwho need the info we provide in real
Rafael, Calif., at age 16 oor near-real time, and being able
tto adapt to the changing ways we
Off the clock communicate as a society.
co
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE TRAVEL DESTINATION? The San Juan Islands in Puget Sound WWHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN
and the Pacific Northwest YYOUR WORK? Providing a clear voice of what
WHAT WOULD BE YOUR LAST MEAL? San Francisco-style cioppino, fresh dungeness iis going on during an incident or event. When
crab, sourdough bread and a good Sonoma/Napa Valley wine uused properly, social media can reduce the
WHO’S THE MOST IMPRESSIVE PERSON YOU KNOW? There are so many great public ““clutter” of speculation and rumors of what
servants out there who give of themselves to save lives and reduce human iis going on.
suffering. But ultimately, for me, it would be my wife, who holds down the fort
and allows me to take my passion on the road. — Adam Kress