Business awards earned in Tucson and Southern Arizona

Flinn-Brown Fellows: The Arizona Center for Civic Leadership at the Flinn Foundation has selected leaders from across the state as the Flinn-Brown Fellows. Each brings diverse career and political experiences, policy interests, and perspectives to the leadership program, focusing on state-level policy and politics.

The 2023 Flinn-Brown Fellows in Southern Arizona are:

Jose Arias, vice president-business banker of First Citizens Bank

Vanessa Barchfield, senior communications specialist for the Center for Biological Diversity

Elaine Becherer, director of special projects for the office of enterprise planning at Arizona State University

Teresa Bravo, government relations representative for local affairs at Tucson Electric Power/UniSource Energy Services

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Judy Lynn, owner/principal emergency management consultant at Descansa Group in Cochise County

Heath Vescovi-Chiordi, director of economic development for Pima County

Desert Diamond Sports: Desert Diamond Sports was honored at the 2023 SBC Awards North America with two awards: Industry Rising Star of the Year and Tribal Gaming Operator of the Year. Desert Diamond Sports is a locally-owned mobile sports wagering operator, which launched its website and mobile apps at the end of January 2022. It is the fifth largest mobile operator in the state, just behind nationally-recognized brands FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM and Caesars. Desert Diamond Sports alongside Desert Diamond Casinos & Entertainment are enterprises of the Tohono O’odham Nation.

Drew Blease: Drew Blease, an independent financial advisor at Blease Financial Services in Tucson, was recently ranked No. 53 in Arizona in the 2023 Best-In-State Wealth Advisors list published by Forbes. According to Forbes, the annual ranking spotlights the nation’s top-performing advisors, evaluated based on criteria that includes industry experience, client retention and assets under management. Blease provides a full range of financial services, including retirement and financial planning, individual money management, individual stocks and bonds, mutual funds, annuities and more.