Arizona Daily Star from Tucson, Arizona • Page A011

SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 2009 PAGE All Editor: Norma Coile 520-573-4663 businessazstarnet.com Tax plan for solar firms OK'd MARKET ROUNDUP The stock market's rally is on hold, and it's not clear what might restart it. Stock indicators barely budged this week after last week's big gains. The Dow Jones industrial average did manage to push into the black for the year with a modest gain on Friday, but the market's enthusiasm about the economy has been checked recently by unease about rising interest rates and inflation. WHAT'S NEXT? After a final roll-call vote in the Senate, the solar tax-credit bill will go next to the Arizona House of Representatives for consideration. HIGH 8,805.53 1,858.80 946.30 526.84 LOW 8,716.73 1,833.39 935.66 518.70 CHANGE 28.34 1.32 0.75 CLOSE 8,799.26 1,858.80 946.21 526.83 DOW30 NASDAQ Russell 2000 500 Close: 96 Change- By Howard Fischer CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES PHOENIX State senators voted Friday to approve new tax credits for firms that agree to manufacture their solar equipment in Arizona.

One of the incentives in Senate Bill 1205 would give qualified businesses an 80 percent break on property taxes for 10 years. To get that requires a capital investment of at least $25 million. At least one-half of the workers would have to be paid at least 125 percent of the average annual Arizona wage of $37,050. And a company whose wages for half their workers are twice the average Arizona wage would qualify for that 80 percent property tax reduction for 15 years. Eligible firms would also get back a cash refund from the state of 10 percent of what they spend in capital, which they could collect over five years.

That guaranteed cash flow, capped at $70 million a year, would help these firms secure financing from banks and investors, said Sen. Barbara Leff, good idea. "What makes the solar industry so special?" asked Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Hava-su. He said there is no reason to give special tax breaks to one particular group of manufacturers that is not available to all.

That mirrors arguments presented against the bill by Clint Bolick of the Goldwater Institute, a think tank that supports limited government and, in particular, opposes tax breaks that do not apply to everyone "Arizona should make its tax treatment more favorable to all businesses, including the small businesses that are the backbone of our economy, and which never receive subsidies yet end up picking up the tab," Bolick said. In fact, he said the solar industry should be the least likely to get new tax benefits as it often requires special breaks on the consumer end to get people to purchase the items. SB 1205 actually would apply to any firm that makes renewable -energy equipment, language Leff said makes the measure more flexible. 10 Drs R-Paradise Valley. This, too, would require wages for at least half the workers at 125 percent of the state prevailing wage.

But companies also would have to cover at least 80 percent of each worker's health insurance costs. "This tax credit is one that will bring high-paying jobs," Leff said. She said there are 13 firms looking to set up new manufacturing operations that would consider Arizona if the incentives are sufficiently lucrative. "They're being lured by other states. They're waiting to see what we're going to do." Leff said the state will benefit even before the first tax credits are issued from the sales taxes generated from construction.

Not everyone thinks the proposal is a Marana center filling slowly i i COMMODITIES Close Previous change YTD Crude oil (bbl) 72.04 72.68 61.5 Copper (lb) 2.37 2.44 69.1 Gold(oz) 940.10 961.30 6.4 Silver (oz) 14.86 15.48 31.9 FOREIGN EXCHANGE Foreign currency in $US $US in foreign currency Country Today 6moago Today 6moago Britain Pound 1.6450 1.4969 .6079 .6680 Canada Dollar .8941 .8043 1.1184 1.2432 Euro Euro 1.4010 1.3371 .7138 .7479 Mexico Peso .074607 .073978 13.4035 13.5175 LOCAL AND WIDELY HELD STOCKS YTD VOL 52-WEEK NAME TICKER CLOSE CHG CHG CHG YLD (Thous) HI L0 AMR AMR 4.55 4999 13.41 2.40 Inc 25.01 .22 0.9 6.6 26192 38.76 20.90 Alcoa AA 11.99 6.5 1.0 35266 44.24 4.97 BE Aero BEAV 16.32 .29 1.8 112.2 956 31.15 5.37 BkofAm BAC 13.72 .75 5.8 .3 431050 39.50 2.53 BerkHB BRKB 2,973 8 0.3 30 4,700 2,241 Citigrp 3.47 134500 23.50 0.97 Cnvrgys CVG 9.28 44.8 521 16.99 4.02 CorrectnCp CXW 16.66 1.8 616 29.40 9.50 Costco COST 47.03 .76 1.6 1.5 4672 74.89 38.17 ExxonMbl XOM 73.78 2.3 21126 89.63 56.51 FMCG FCX 58.51 139.4 16980 126.64 15.70 GenDynam GD 59.76 .47 0.8 3.8 2.5 1529 94.41 35.28 GenElec GE 13.51 .05 0.4 3.0 53482 30.74 5.73 GraniteC GVA 34.37 1.5 832 50.00 21.20 HomeDp HD 24.15 4.9 3.7 18188 30.74 17.05 Honwlllntl HON 35.41 7.9 3.4 4410 56.88 23.06 Intel INTC 16.31 11.3 3.4 46965 24.75 12.05 IBM IBM 108.21 28.6 2.0 7156 130.93 69.50 Intuit INTU 28.64 .22 0.8 20.4 2266 32.00 20.18 JPMorgCh JPM 35.13 .19 0.5 12.8 .6 40753 50.63 14.96 JohnJn JNJ 56.06 .01 3.5 11809 72.76 46.25 Kroger KR 21.72 1.7 6409 30.99 19.39 Loews 28.13 .9 1602 58.57 17.40 Lowes LOW 19.85 1.8 11507 28.49 13.00 Microsoft MSFT 23.33 .50 2.2 20.0 2.2 49827 29.57 14.87 NorthropG NOC 48.72 .55 1.1 8.2 3.5 1976 73.06 33.81 ProvidSvc PRSC 10.82 .19 1.8 646.2 142 26.63 0.68 QwestCm 4.32 .19 4.6 18.7 7.4 17111 4.87 2.05 Raytheon RTN 45.31 2.7 3403 64.00 33.20 RuralMet RURL 2.93 63.7 31 3.70 0.50 Safeway SWY 21.26 .28 1.3 1.9 3848 31.69 17.19 SearsHldgs SHLD 68.93 .37 0.5 77.3 1298 108.75 26.80 SwtGas SWX 22.06 .49 2.3 4.3 239 33.29 17.08 Target TGT 40.38 .83 2.1 16.9 1.7 6772 59.55 25.00 TeleTech TTEC 14.22 .20 1.4 70.3 475 24.31 6.20 Texlnst TXN 20.79 34.0 2.1 15660 31.59 13.38 TimeWrnrs TWX 26.00 16.6 2.9 6344 37.47 15.41 UniSrcEn UNS 27.14 .47 1.8 4.3 390 34.22 20.91 UnionPac UNP 54.36 1.20 2.3 13.7 2.0 3944 85.80 33.28 UPSB UPS 50.53 3.6 5578 70.22 37.99 WalMart WMT 49.84 .52 1.1 2.2 15231 63.85 46.25 Walgrn WAG 31.18 .25 0.8 26.4 1.4 4474 37.85 21.28 WsteMInc WMI 28.60 .04 0.1 4.1 2059 39.25 22.10 WellsFargo WFC 25.48 .46 1.8 .8 48574 44.75 7.80 YumBrnds YUM 35.01 .81 2.4 11.1 2.2 3766 40.25 21.50 By Shelley Shelton ARIZONA DAILY STAR Slowly but surely, the long-awaited Marana Marketplace is becoming more than just the "Marana Marketplace" sign that has been on the corner for years. In 2006, the developer of the former 29-acre car lot on the southeast corner of West Orange Grove and West River roads was projecting the new shopping center would be completed by August 2007. That was when the economy was still pretty good. Back then, Bank of the West and Village Inn had confirmed they would build there Bank of the West opened last fall. Village Inn has since backed out.

Also at the time, Andy Seleznov, director of leasing for Larsen Baker, the Tucson real estate brokerage, development and management firm that is developing the center, said he was in negotiations with a specialty grocery store, a large regionally known furniture store and a nationally known clothing company that didn't yet have a store in Tucson. He couldn't name names because he was in negotiations, he said at the time. The grocery store turned out to be Sunflower Farmers Market, which is slated to open this fall if all goes as planned. The furniture store has since pulled out of Arizona, citing the recession. And the clothing store is still looking at Southern Arizona but no longer the Marana Marketplace, Seleznov said.

And so it has been almost two years since the original projected completion date, and Marana Marketplace hasn't gotten through its first phase ofbuilding. Even so, in recent months there has been an uptick in activity on the corner where it's being built, seemingly more than at other retail centers that have been in the planning stages for a while. SpiritsChild, an eclectic gift shop that specializes in metaphysics and holistic living, is moving into the center this summer from its longtime location at West Ina and North Thornydale roads. Ventana Automotive and Tire, which has three locations on the East side, is opening its first Northwest Side store at the marketplace, most likely within the next month. See MARANA, A12 jm yiflB Easy access to stock quotes To hear a stock price by phone, call 1-800-555-8355 and request "stock quote." For an online quote lookup, go to www.azstarbiz.com 2- JIM DAVIS ARIZONA DAILY Marco Soto, top, Ruben Herreda, left in lift, and Manny Escobar of Ralph Hays Roofing work on Marana Marketplace, in a former car lot at Orange Grove and River roads.

NEWS NOTES At the pumps Average price per gallon of fuel as of Friday: REG PREM DIESEL WHO'S IN, WHO'S COMING TO MARANA MARKETPLACE National $2.64 $2.90 $2.55 Arizona $2.58 $2.84 $2.52 Phoenix $2.61 $2.88 $2.54 Tucson $2.41 $2.66 $2.44 SpiritsChild Type of business: Eclectic gift shop with focus on spirituality and holistic lifestyle. Size: 2,800 square feet. Projected opening: By end of summer. Ventana Automotive and Tire Type of business: Auto repair and maintenance. Size: About 3,750 square feet.

Projected opening: July 1. Bank of the West Type of business: Full-service banking for businesses and individuals, including mortgage and investment services. Size: 3,900 square feet. Opened: October 2008. Dickey's Barbecue Pit Type of business: Fast-food barbecue.

Size: About 2,150 square feet. Projected opening: Building hasn't begun but the eatery could be open bytheendofthisyear. Sunflower Farmers Market Type of business: Grocery and health-food store. Size: 27,590 square feet. Projected opening: Mid-September.

NOTE: Prices rounded to nearest cent. SOURCE: AAA 061309 ARIZONA DAILY STAR TUCSON Keep easement open, lawsuit asks Marana A handful of residents have filed suit against Marana in an effort to keep an easement that cuts through the high-end Saguaro Ranch development open to the public. In May, the Marana Town Council abandoned rights to the easement more or less a utility road, also used for mountain biking and horseback riding, that connects to county land. But the lawsuit filed in Pima County Superior Court argues the easement belongs to the general public, not Marana, so the council can't abandon its right. Saguaro Ranch developer Stephen Phinny recently filed for bankruptcy protection.

Builder Tara-Sun files for bankruptcy Local builder Tara-Sun Development Co. has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Nearly all locals prepared for digital TV The custom home builder listed assets of $77,977 and liabilities of roughly $3.5 million. Most of that debt is owed to National Bank of Arizona, which provided a little more than $1.8 million in financing. The filing shows that Tara-Sun had $5.7 million in contracts to build homes in 2007, and more than $6.9 million in contracts in 2008, but no contracts this year.

Arizona Corporation Commission records show the company was incorporated in 1999 and was owned by Robin and Patricia Hartman. E-mail items to businessazstarnet.com or faxto 573-4144. FOR DIGITAL TV HELP: If you're having problems with your converter boxorTVafternetworks made the switch Friday to digital broadcasts, call the Federal Communications Commission's DTV Call Center at 1-888-225-5322. The FCC put 4,000 operators on standby for calls from confused viewers, The Associated Press reported. For more information, go to www.dtv.gov By Phil Villarreal ARIZONA DAILY STAR Few got their rabbit ears in a tizzy as local TV stations cut off their analog signals Friday for the government mandated national switch-over to digital.

Stations expected glitches and a staggering volume of calls from irate viewers, but the change went surprisingly static -free, local station executives said. "There has been a lot less call volume than I have anticipated, which is very relieving said Jim Arnold, vice president and general manager of KOLD, which dropped its analog signal at 9 a.m. "We collectively busted our humps to put out as much inf or signals, at 12:45 a.m. Friday. The stations' vice president and general manager, Julie Brinks, said the switch went "very smoothly." "We had done so much preparation and communication in hopes" it would turn out that way, she said, citing KGUN's multiple newscast stories about the transition and how to prepare for it Brinks said most of the calls to her office were from viewers wondering how to rescan the channels or which way to point their antennas.

Brinks recommends pointing antennas toward Mount Lemmon for the best re -ception. See DIGITAL TV, A12 mation as possible, and it apparently worked." Arnold said many of the calls the station did receive had to do with viewers who didn't know they needed to have their digital boxes rescan for channels when they moved their antennas. From now on, viewers need a digital tuner to see free over-the-air TV signals. The tuner may already be in newer TV sets if not a converter box is needed. Those with cable or satellite TV service are unaffected.

The change frees up analog signals for use by public-safety communications KGUN and KWBA were the first locally to drop their analog COMING SUNDAY LOCAL CREDIT UNIONS: News updates on their financial health in the recession..