MANUFACTURING

Global sells second airliner to Afghan carrier

Global Aircraft Solutions said it has completed the sale of a second Boeing 737-200 airliner for $2.35 million to Pamir Airways, based in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Global said its Hamilton Aerospace subsidiary at Tucson International Airport had completed $700,000 worth of work on the aircraft, incuding a heavy maintenance check and painting the aircraft.

Earlier plans to sell this and an earlier aircraft to Pamir had snagged earlier this year but "sometimes a little patience is required when dealing with developing countries such as Afghanistan," said Alden Crowley, director of international sales for Global. "We are very pleased to have been able to get back on track with Pamir Airways and look forward to selling additional aircraft and aircraft parts to Pamir in the future."

TECHNOLOGY

Army grants contract to Applied Energetics

Applied Energetics Inc. has received a $351,286, 12-month add-on contract from the U.S. Army for continued development of its light filament sensor technology for development of a system for detecting and identifying trace concentrations of various chemicals from stand-off distances.

Apllied Energetics, headquartered at 3590 E. Columbia St., says the additional award brings its total to $740,788 for the two-year effort

Breault releases upgrade of optical analysis software

Breault Research Organization has released an enhanced version of its Advanced Systems Analysis Program (ASAP) that adds more capacity to the tool for virtual prototyping of optical systems and devices.

Kyle Ferrio, director of scientific software applications for Breault, says the new release "advances optical software in the areas of practical optimization, realistic polarization effects, and robust opto-mechanical workflow for CAD."

With the new features users of ASAP — now in 35 countries — can model and analyze the finest details of optical systems, which means users can depend on their simulations to mirror real-world performance. ASAP analyses validate designs and supports smooth transitions to manufacturing.

Breault is headquartered at 6400 E. Grant Road, Suite 350.

BIOTECHNOLOGY

First int’l shipments of CDEX’s ValiMed go out

CDEX announced a milestone Aug. 21 with the first international shipments of its ValiMed Medication Validation and Narcotics Return System, designed to quickly validate high-risk medication admixtures and narcotics for patient safety.

CDEX, headquartered at 4555 S. Palo Verde Road, sent its first units went out to four flagship hospitals in Europe and the Middle East.

The new model is a lightweight, compact table top instrument that can be used in virtually any clinical environment where high-risk IV medications are compounded before being dispensed to the patient, or where narcotics are returned after being used.

AEROSPACE

Airport control tower spruced up for its 50th

Tucson International Airport is sprucing up its landmark control tower starting this week in preparation for a community open house to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

The 11-story, 119-foot tower with neon letters spelling out T-U-C-S-O-N down the sides is being repainted.

The free open house will be Oct. 11 and will kick off at 11 a.m. with a color guard ceremony and fly-over by the Arizona Air National Guard. The control tower is at the airport’s executive terminal, 7081 S. Plumer Ave.

The tower, which was built at a cost of $535,000, opened Oct. 18, 1958. At the time it was the third tallest building in Tucson, which boasted a population of about 100,000.

SMALL BUSINESS

Tucson ranked No. 3 for high-impact firms

Tucson ranks No. 3 among mid-sized metropolitan areas in what the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy calls "high-impact" firms — companies that have at least doubled their sales and employment over the past four years.

The SBA said Tucson had 1,093 high-impact firms, which represents 2.74 percent of the city’s total 39,825 firms.

The average high-impact firm is 25 years old.

The top two mid-sized cities for high-impact firms were Columbia, S.C., which 2.81 percent of businesses fitting the category, and Omaha, Neb., with 2.80 percent.

Tucson didn’t fare so well in another aspect of the data. It ranked 60th in the number of new firms born between 1998 and 2001.

TRANSPORTATION

Cochise County shuttle adds Tombstone, Bisbee

3 Canyons Transit Co., which provides shuttle service from Tucson International Airport to the Sierra Vista and Fort Huachuca areas, has expanded its coverage area to include Tombstone and Bisbee.

Single passenger round-trip fares to Sierra Vista are $140, with discounts for multiple passengers. Additional fares each way are $8 to Fort Huachuca, $10 for non-airport locations in Tucson, $15 to Tombstone and $25 to Bisbee.

Reservation information is online at www.arizonasunshinetours.com/.

RETAIL

Barbecue stores change name to Barbecue World

Barbecue World is the new name for what had been Tucson’s two Barbecues Galore stores.

Owner George Holley made the decision not to continue his 15-year tie with the national franchise but he said nothing else — the employees or the product lines — has changed.

"It’s very important to me that the community knows Barbeque World is under the same ownership, has the same employees, and offers all the same products," Holley said. "We’ve just changed our name."

The stores specialize in selling grills, smokers, grilling accessories, sauces and marinades and designing and building outdoor kitchens. They are located at 5616 E. Broadway and 5068 N. Oracle Road.

HOSPITALITY & LEISURE

Embassy Suites plans new prototype at Tucson airport

Embassy Suites Hotels, which sold its location at Tucson Internatonal Airport this year, announced it intends to replace it with a new one using a new prototype as part of a plan to open 62 new hotels over the next three years.

The new prototype allows developers to build an Embassy Suites on less land with more efficient use of space and lower construction costs. The first hotel using the prototype is due to open in November in Jackson, Miss.

The Memphis-based hotel chain said its expansion plans are the most aggressive it has undertaken in its 24-year history.

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

Top 100 green design firms includes Psomas

Psomas, 800 E Wetmore Road, Suite 110, was ranked one of the nation’s top 100 green design firms in the first-ever attempt to measure the green design market.

Engineering News Record said its ranking is based on firms’ 2007 design revenue from projects registered with, and actively seeking certification from, third-party ratings groups such the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards.

Psomas has established a reputation in the front lines of sustainable engineering with a number of LEED-rated projects. The firm actively pursues projects that offer the opportunity to use green building/sustainable design principles.

HEALTH CARE

El Rio/Food City clinics vaccinate 1,480 students

Four shot clinics hosted this month at Food City grocery stores vaccinated 1,480 students.

El Rio Health Center Foundation, which ran the clinics, said the number of students served was 2½ times more than 565 children who were vaccinated a year ago.

Additionally, about 200 children received free dental screenings and dental kits offered by El Rio dentists at one of the clinics and the City of South Tucson showed off an ambulance.

POLITICS

Environmentalists battle to keep initiative on ballot

Environmentalists say they will fight Secretary of State Jan Brewer’s decision to disqualify an initiative that would set aside more than half a million acres of State Trust land for conservation.

Brewer said the proposition — the third to be tossed from the Nov. 4 ballot — lacked enough valid petition signatures.

"It’s unprecedented the numbers of signatures being rejected," said Pat Graham, state director of the Nature Conservancy and chair of the campaign for Proposition 103, called Our Land, Our Schools.

The campaign is challenging only signatures gathered in Maricopa County, where about 58 percent of the signatures were counted as valid. In most other counties, 80 percent were valid, Graham said.

Graham says supporters of the proposotion are going through the process of getting the signatures added back on, and should know by sometime this week if their effort pays off.

The main purpose of Proposition 103 would be to set aside 570,000 acres of the state’s 9.3 million acres of Trust land so that it could never be sold for development.