Tech Parks Arizona Celebrates Black History Month

Black history is a celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time to recognizing their role in the U.S. city. We strive to celebrate this rich heritage on our campus each day. This month we are highlighting a few Black employees who are part of the community and make major contributions to moving innovation forward.

Meet the featured Tech Cats:

(Left) Usman Karriem, Operations Manager of Black Labs. He is passionate about flying, aquaponics, technology, and problem-solving. 

(Middle) Theresa Brown, Senior Technical Staff Member of IBM. Her passions include giving back to the community, especially youth-oriented organizations such as schools and the First Tee of Tucson. 

(Right) Jamon Crawford, Prep Cook who just joined the UA Tech Park family and works at Café Zona. Jamon is passionate about music and sports.

New Board of Director Member Ryan Goodell

Tech Parks welcomed Ryan Goodell to the Board of Directors this month. Ryan Goodell joined the University of Arizona in January 2022 as the Vice President for Facilities, Operations, and Campus Planning within the Office of Business Affairs. In this role, he is responsible for the oversight and operation of the University Planning, Design and Construction organization, the Facilities Management organization, and Business Affairs Auxiliary Services. Previously, Mr. Goodell served as the Associate Vice President for Real Estate and Business Operations at Washington State University. 

Casey Carrillo, Assistant Director of UACI

Casey Carrillo has been promoted to Assistant Director for UACI! Carrillo was elevated from Program Manager to Assistant Director for her dedication and commitment to excellence. Carrillo manages UACI’s regional cohort-based programming and Sponsored Launch program which provides scholarships for startups in coordination with community financial support. She also facilitates the American Made Challenge programming in coordination with the Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Lab. 

Springhill Suites at The Bridges

Construction is underway for a new hotel at the UA Tech Park at The Bridges. The SpringHill Suites by Marriot will be approximately 100 rooms and will include meeting and conference space for public use. This new space sits adjacent to The Refinery and elevates the offerings, providing greater opportunities for collaboration.  

Carol Stewart Appointed to CREW CEO/Presidents Council

Tech Parks Arizona's Associate Vice President, Carol Stewart, has been invited to the CREW Network 2022 pilot program to volunteer on the Council for CEOs/Presidents. This is a group of national and global company CEO related to the field of commercial real estate. CREW Councils are small, intimate peer groups that enable members to build new professional relationships, share ideas and resources, and discuss all things business. 

YWCA Leadership Conference at The UA Tech Park

YWCA Southern Arizona's 33 Annual Women's Leadership Conference took place at The UA Tech Park! We were honored to provide a space for women leaders to put their minds to work and encourage and inspire other women to use their voices to promote a more equitable representation of women leaders in our community. 

Happy Birthday Arizona

The Grand Canyon State officially celebrates 110 years of statehood this month. Celebrate Arizona’s statehood by visiting iconic places such as the Grand Canyon, Saguaro National Park, or Antelope Canyon. This is also a wonderful time to appreciate the authentic Arizona culture that weaves its way through our culinary food distinction and beautiful art. Take in the beauty of murals that stretch across buildings while enjoying the local flavors.  

AURP Spring Training

Community of innovation North American leaders rallied together for Spring Training organized by the Association of University Research Park at Tempe last week. Best practices were shared and interrelated challenges were addressed during this interactive conference. The conference kicked off with an engaging panel session titled "Creating Robust University-Industry Partnerships" where our very own University of Arizona Senior VP for Research and Innovation Dr. Betsy Cantwell shared.  

People of the Park: Shalene Simmons, Raytheon

Shalane Simmons is the manager for corporate social responsibility at Raytheon. In this role, she leads all outreach and community partnerships for the company. Raytheon’s pillars for outreach are focused on STEM education and military and veteran support. Shalane’s favorite part of her career is seeing the excitement in students when ‘the light bulb goes off’ after experiencing one of Raytheon’s STEM events or meeting a ‘real-life engineer’. Raytheon has been in Tucson, AZ for 70 years and is committed to supporting its community and people. Shalane is passionate about helping connect people to high-value careers as she partners closely with her talent acquisition team through her CSR work. She is a Tucson native, a graduate of the University of Arizona (Bear Down!), and loves being outdoors in the warm weather.  

FEATURED SPACE

Building 9072

Interested in growing your business? Be part of an environment built with your purpose in mind. Building 9072 offers 115,632 square feet of rentable multi-use space. Office, warehouse, prototyping, assembling, and other options for your business needs.  Companies have the versatility to customize their own space to suit their needs, all while benefiting from the well-established university research park. 

LOCATE at Technology's Best Address

Learn more about how your business can be part of this dynamic, interactive community where emerging companies and technology giants work side by side. 

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Tech Parks Arizona creates interactive ground, which generates, attracts and supports technology companies and talent in alignment with the goals of the University of Arizona.