Eric Jay Toll

Why do people squiggle their cars and manhandle SUVs to get to Chaco Culture National Historical Park? Read their words, learn their reasons, and see the pictures in "Hard To Reach, Filled With The Unexpected." Multiple visitor interviews and vivid images were compiled for this article.

Photography assignment for Roadtrippers and KOA Kampgrounds to photograph Shingletown-Mount Lassen KOA Holiday campground.

Photo assignment from Roadtrippers for KOA Kamgrounds of the Grants KOA Journey campground. Please note that some photos are posted by site visitors. Images by the photographer are credited with name.

Photo assignment for KOA Journey Holbrook - Petrified Forest. Please note, some images are reader uploads. Photographers images are credited.

By Eric Jay Toll. Special for the Phoenix Business Journal
“The number of manufacturing jobs in Arizona has passed the number of construction jobs.” Sandra Watson, president and CEO, Arizona Commerce Authority
“Phoenix is the only one of the top 25 construction markets to post an increase over 2019. The capital spending on construction is up 89 percent over 2019.” Christine Mackay, director, Phoenix Community and Economic Development
“We got ahead of the pandemic early, and I believe that the...

Federal policy severely damaged exporting opportunities before the coronavirus migrated into the United States. Despite the policy disruption, Arizona modestly stayed on course over the last several years, shipping exports valued around $19.5 billion per quarter, sometimes shipping more, sometimes shipping less. The impact of the pandemic on the state’s exports was marginal in total trade dollars, but individual commodities reacted differently.
“Our members in Arizona said that although expor...

By Eric Jay Toll, special to the Phoenix Business Journal
(Companies) now put Arizona on the shortlist, and we’re competing as a top tier market.” Christine Mackay, director, Phoenix Community and Economic Development
“Our pipeline (of new development projects) is the most robust I’ve seen in years.” Chris Camacho, president and CEO, Greater Phoenix Economic Council
“Notably, all of the (new businesses coming to Arizona) won in this year come from California.” Sandra Watson, president and CED...

Ten years ago, Phoenix and Arizona were nearly foreign concepts to global companies. Not today.
In a cluster of industry sectors, Greater Phoenix is center stage for global companies looking to once again invest in America.
“The numbers aren’t showing it yet,” said Doug Bruhnke, president and CEO of the Global Chamber based in Phoenix. “However, activity and interest in Greater Phoenix from all around the world are significantly up.”
Arizona is a key port of entry for North American trade. Th...

“We’re off to a good start in 2021, and I hear others are optimistic as well.”
At the other end of the videoconference, Steve Macias, president and CEO of Pivot Manufacturing in Phoenix and a board member of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, talked about the last 12 months. “We set records in 2020 and are seeing slight increases this year. I’ll tell you, though, most manufacturers are saying we’re coming into a strong economy.”
For the Valley today, the economic policy put into pl...

Infrastructure for industry took on new importance in 2021. Natural gas, electricity, drinking water and waste removal, often taken for granted, got noticed this year. Unprecedented spring freezes changed the anonymity as vast swaths of the nation went cold and dark.
Even young Arizona, the third-youngest U.S. state, sees its cities replacing century-old pipes under the streets in the original city cores.
“We started investing in the infrastructure of the future about 10 years ago,” said Bill...

As the ghosts of Wildcats silently roar for a touch-and-go, a very visible Boeing 737 rolls into the hangar the World War II fighters once called home. Aerospace at Phoenix-Goodyear Airport transitioned from military to small repair shops to a major maintenance center for commercial aircraft.
It’s one way that Arizona has been growing its own into an up-scaled economy.
“[Goodyear has] a military reuse zone at the airport serving airlines and large equipment from all over,” said Lori Gary, eco...