The Daily Agenda: When in doubt, go to the library

Pima County libraries offer tools to start businesses ... And pretty much everything else ... Who's gaining from the UA budget crisis?

The library is no longer just a place for borrowing books, and Pima County has worked hard over the years to build up its catalog of services for people seeking resources or help.

Its services now run the gamut and include in-person GED assistance and services to help unhoused people, online tutoring and even entertainment through the library’s Culture Pass program that gives people free admission to local attractions.

One of the newer additions to the library’s catalog is its online Ignite platform, which provides help to small businesses and nonprofits. Over at the Joel Valdez Main Library, staffers are trained and ready to provide in-person assistance and guidance to people seeking business advice.

Ignite offers various resources to help businesses, including online events, free online tools, monthly newsletters and more.

Matthew Landon, workforce and development librarian, described his role as being the go-to person to help job seekers and small businesses discover what the library can do to help businesses and nonprofits.

He describes Ignite as “all about educating people on the tools we provide and connecting people to the many community organizations that can help them achieve their goals.” 

Landon recently authored a blog on the library’s website, highlighting the journey of Ritiek Rafi, who recently opened the Afghan market Kabul Corner on Campbell and Fort Lowell. 

Rafi told Landon that the idea of opening a restaurant came from the Afghan community. With 250 Afghan families in Tucson and no market or restaurant featuring their cuisine, Rafi saw a need to be filled. Founder of the nonprofit Tucson Afghan Community, Rafi came to Tucson in 1999 and has watched the community grow for more than two decades.

Rafi’s nonprofit has been a long time participant in Tucson Meet Yourself and after the encouragement of a friend and the Afghan community, she decided to venture into the restaurant business, Landon wrote. 

Rafi had a friend who helped her to register with the Arizona Corporation Commission and make contact with the health department to receive the necessary licenses and inspections, and other friends helped her find vendors, but there were some problems for which they didn’t have answers.

That’s where the library entered the picture. Rafi was familiar with the library, after it’s Welcome to America Team helped her nonprofit with a collection drive for newly arrived Afghan families and Landon encouraged her to look into Ignite’s services, especially an organization called SCORE, a volunteer group of business executives who mentor  new and existing small business owners on all things business-related.

SCORE has a contract with the library and holds four workshops a month, typically only on Zoom, but is offering a “Start Your Business With 5 Simple Steps'' workshop in-person in February at the Murphy-Wilmot Library. The group also provides one-on-one virtual mentoring and an online resource library, all for free.

People interested in learning more about Ignite, SCORE and the library’s services for businesses or nonprofits can come into a branch and talk with a staffer about their needs and goals. From there, the library staff will refer them to the resources that best fit their needs.

The Pima County Small Business Development Center is another often recommended resource to help people launch, grow and sustain profitable businesses in Pima and Santa Cruz counties. The center includes staff counselors that offer no-cost, one-on-one business counseling, low or no-cost training, group in-person classes and referrals to community professionals who can help with legal and financial issues.

Landon also pointed to the library’s Business Plans Handbook as a valuable tool that provides sample business plans for potential entrepreneurs looking to get started.

Library staffers also recommend that some clients use Udemy Online Courses, which offer a wide variety of video courses in business, design, health, technology, and the arts available in English and 13 other languages. All you need to do is bring a picture ID to the library to get access to a nearly unlimited course catalog. 

Landon said the best way for business and nonprofits to stay in the loop about the library’s offerings is to sign up for Ignite newsletters, which provide monthly updates, but he’s also available to answer any questions and help guide people in the right direction.

Motives questioned: Tucson Sentinel columnist Blake Morlock is questioning the UA’s response to its budget crisis, which includes a hiring freeze, the end of guaranteed tuition for incoming freshmen and the ousting of Chief Financial Officer Lisa Rulney. The Arizona Board of Regents also voted to give UA administrators more power to control spending within other units, but Morlock argues that the scope of the problem still hasn’t been quantified and it would have been wise to hold off on taking drastic measures until it’s fully understood.

“Otherwise, the budget issues smell like people pushing agendas and grabbing power, perhaps for their own edification and neither the betterment of the university or wisdom itself,” Morlock said.

Border delays: The Lukeville Port of Entry is still closed on both sides, impacting tourists, travelers and border communities in other parts of the state, KJZZ Fronteras Desk’s Alisa Reznick reports. Lukeville is the main crossing point for people headed to Rocky Point and also serves Mexican travelers headed to Flagstaff and other Arizona destinations. 

"We’re getting continual reports, Douglas, Nogales, San Luis, three, four hours for northbound traffic, and an hour, two hours for southbound traffic," said Arizona border issues adviser Luis Ramirez. "That means for somebody doing a round trip from Arizona and Sonora, they’re going to be spending 5-6 hours just to cross the border."

In memory of: A memorial to loved ones lost during the COVID-19 pandemic was unveiled on Tucson’s south side Sunday, the Arizona Luminaria’s John Washington writes. The “En Memoria De” or “In Memory Of” mosaic memorial was conceptualized by local artist Alexandra (Alex!) Jimenez, who along with ceramic artist Paloma Jacqueline, worked with community members to craft into clay their memories of loved ones lost to COVID.

No reopening in sight: The CEO of the company that owns the shuttered Green Valley hospital said they’re considering “possible re-tenanting” and potentially selling the building, the Green Valley News’ Dan Shearer writes. John D. Moragne, CEO of New York-based real estate trust Broadstone, said the building is  a distraction to the company’s 800-property portfolio and that it has budgeted no rental income from Green Valley for the rest of 2023 and all of 2024.

Mixing things up: Republican Sen. Justine Wadsack and other GOP legislators want to change the winter gasoline mix that they say drives up gas prices, the Arizona Republic’s Ray Stern reports. Senate President Warren Petersen says the bill they’ll soon submit would allow for the use of several blends of gas that he says “provide similar clean-air benefits” as the pollution-reducing blend typically used. The plan also includes a provision that would give the state Legislature the power to ask the federal government for a waiver to use different blends. Currently, only the governor can approve the submission of waiver requests.

123,000: The number of libraries in the United States, according to the American Library Association.