Reasons why Tucson is amazing

A city of barely a half million in the midst of the dry Sonoran Desert has been generating a good deal of buzz of late, as debates have begun to rage about the best under-the-radar places to live in a country with rising real estate prices.

Tucson is that place, as its mix of nature, youth, intelligentsia, culture, and climate have attracted a growing stream of people to settle here.

While the above advantages all help, the fact that you can still buy a home that is affordable home while enjoying high quality of life is the point sells most new Tucsonans.

Michael Eckhardt Tucson knew all about these for years before anyone else caught on. Remaining in town after completing his education at the University of Arizona, he has happily led his life here not wanting for anything, as Tucson has everything an active person and their family needs.

Still not convinced that Tucson is amazing? We’ll make our case below.

1) It is home to one of the best colleges in the country

There’s no sense denying it: a good deal of Tucson’s attractiveness comes from the influence that the University of Arizona has had on the city over the years.

Every fall, a new crew of America’s brightest young adults moves into town, giving Tucson a dose of new ideas, creativity, and youthful excitement.

Being younger than other cities in the region, it has a nightlife, cafe selection, and dining scene that punches well above its weight.

What’s more, the University of Arizona has athletics teams that are in Division I, giving sports fans in the city to witness athletes that may make the big leagues one day at a fraction of the price you would pay for the latter.

Finally, its status as one of the biggest liberal arts schools in the west has granted this city cultural resources you won’t find for miles around, making it an oasis for creative types.

2) It is a paradise for lovers of the outdoors

For many people in America, getting into a wilderness area is such a mission, they only have the time to do it several times per year, as it involves hours of driving on crowded freeways.

Tucson presents no such problem for outdoor enthusiasts, as a half an hour is enough to put you in the middle of the emptiness that is the Sonoran Desert, or up on a mountain slope.

There are five ranges to choose from, each of which is visible from the center of town. It is heaven for mountain bikers, rock climbers, and trekkers, all of whom benefit from air that is virtually free of pollutants.

3) It is a sun worshipers dream come true

Do you hate dark winters? Tucson is the perfect antidote for the January blues, as the sun here shines 350 days per year, and with an average high temperature of 65 degrees during the coolest month, you’ll be able to enjoy it without a jacket.

This contrasts sharply with east coast cities, as stalling frontal systems block out the sun for days on end.

For many, Tucson’s weather is its ace in the hole.

Why You Should Get Your Kids into Sports

Some of our top business, political and social leaders have sports backgrounds or played sports extensively when they were young. They credit that time with providing them with skills that propelled them toward success in their chosen fields. The benefits from paying sports are numerous and substantial and give ample reason why you should put your child in sports. If you are a professional athlete like Jack Elway and you have a son like American football icon John Elway, it is obvious what sports can provide. Here are a list of the benefits.

Teaches Teamwork

One key to life is understanding how to function on a team. Teamwork is important in everything from work. To friendships to relationships that end in marriage. Sports and particularly team sports get kids to think about their actions and how they must be coordinated with others in order to be effective. They also learn that their actions affect others whether it is intended or not. They learn to focus on being a productive and positive team member and pulling for team rather than individual goals. In most cases in life and on sports there are some athletes who are more naturally gifted but having great teamwork skills can level the playing field shuffling who is vital and who is not. These lessons stick with kids and are useable throughout their lives.

Develops Social Skills

 

Many kids who were once shy became social and popular because of sports. Sports force you to be out front and to communicate in order to get the things you need to perform well and with an energetic coach in your face and forcing you to communicate, shyness will usually get pushed aside.  Kids learn that it is ok to express themselves in a group setting and they often develop bonds on sports team that they carry with them for a lifetime.

Improves concentration

Kids today have so many things to distract them and too often kids are encouraged to engage in things like video games and cell phone text messaging because it gives parents a breaks from them and occupies the kid’s time. But the real downside to this strategy is that kids become unable to concentrate for long periods of time which works against them in school and when they get into the world and have to find employment. Sports require a high level of concentration and multiple layers of focus on the game, your team, the other team and the rules of the game. It teaches young people how to use that focus for an outcome and how to stay concentrating through all sorts of emotions and physical conditions.

Teaches Good Sportsmanship

Sports is about learning to win and lose and benefitting in both cases. Sports teaches you that you can be great today and lose tomorrow so you had better prepare a speech for each occasion. For kids who have never had the chance to compete before, sports gives them the opportunity to deal with the emotional aspects of competing. Can you win and be gracious? Can you lose and bounce back? These are issues kids will have to deal with their entire lives and sports prepares them.

 

What is Fueling the Increase in Corporate Training Spending?

Business today is more competitive than ever and companies are finding the need to keep their workers as well trained as possible in order to compete and win against the competition. Over the past decade, money for things like training has been scarce even though there have been fundamental business changes, the likes that have not been seen for decades. So what have changed in the corporate world that is now making corporate training so popular? And what is making business consultants like Haris Ahmed Chicago based founder and CEO of Pragmatium Consulting, Inc. so in demand. Here are some of the reasons.

Increased need for efficiency

Around the world, businesses are feeling pressed to become more efficient. The Internet has allowed companies to go global fast and so your competitors are no longer in your community or city, they exist in every city in the world. This new business reality has pushed businesses to look at how they operate and how their employees function within their organizations and many companies are realizing they need new levels of efficiency from their employees in order to compete.

With employees already working longer hours and having increased stress, this efficiency can only come from their learning skills they do not already possess. Some are technology skills and others are business operation skills that combine to push productivity to new levels and have workers accomplishing more, sometimes while working less. More established businesses are seeing that in many new companies, the training in these new technologies and skillsets is paying off as small companies are able to compete with much larger ones. So, many are now embracing corporate training.

Much More Affordable

Corporate training has traditionally been very expensive, with the costs forcing organizations to decide between doing it, or spending that money on something that they are sure would bring tangible results. Today however corporate training has become much more affordable because of the introduction of corporate training online programs. These programs do not require having employees take long hours away from work at the employer’s expense and paying high per employee fees for the training. This type of training can be done at home, on weekends and even while the employee is commuting and at a fraction of the cost of typical corporate training. There can also be live online training classes where employees can interact with trainers and additional assistance and questions answered. These programs typically come with a package price that is designed to fit the organization and its budget parameters.

Easier to Monitor and Track Results

Corporate training used to be difficult and complicated to monitor and its results were sometimes hard to measure. Today the effects of corporate training is monitored closely using a variety of approaches that look at a range of criteria. Results are also measured based on what a company might want to see as areas for improvement. Organizations are given up to the second assessments of what is happening and what improvements are being made. This refining of the monitoring and results process has made corporate training an effort that can be supported more easily throughout the entire organization.

Corporate training is one of the fastest growing business sectors and for good reasons. Companies need to make sure their employees are prepared to go to battle against any size competitor.