tucson
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Ryan George and the business of staying put
He helped build software for destinations around the world while keeping his own roots in Tucson. Ryan George’s route from accounting to Simpleview reveals how much a technology company can owe to the people already in the room.
George Lipphardt and the distance between good and ready
A CEO award carries one name. George Lipphardt’s approach to leadership turns attention toward the people still learning the job - and the colleagues who can help them get there.
Kerstin Block and the art of buying twice
She liked other people’s clothes enough to build a business around them. From a 400-square-foot Tucson shop, Kerstin Block helped make selling your wardrobe part of getting dressed.
Warren Rustand and the trouble with a full calendar
He once helped decide how Gerald Ford spent his days. After decades in business, Warren Rustand has a more personal question: what deserves a place in yours?
The Little Agency With a Very Long Reach
Sandoval Creative built a national-capable advertising shop in Tucson by putting research before aesthetics and keeping the messy middle - strategy, production, placement, and measurement - under one roof.
NüPOINT Marketing Starts With the Awkward Question
Before NüPOINT buys an ad or sketches a logo, it tries to find out what people actually believe. That small reversal has helped sell roofs, pass public bonds and turn a 40-year-old acronym into a name people could finally remember.
David Specht Waited for the Chips to Catch Up
A former Air Force pilot spent nearly two decades helping turn his father’s telescope insight into a new kind of ultrasound. The useful lesson is less about inspiration than patience: some ideas have to wait for computing power, regulators and the market to arrive.
Buffalo Exchange
Buffalo Exchange is a family-owned resale fashion chain founded in Tucson, Arizona in 1974 that pioneered the buy-sell-trade model for secondhand clothing. Customers bring in gently used, on-trend clothing and accessories and receive cash or store trade on the spot, while shoppers browse a hand-picked mix of current styles, vintage finds and designer pieces at a fraction of retail. With roughly 40 stores across the United States and about 590 employees, Buffalo Exchange has built a business around affordable, sustainable style, keeping millions of garments in circulation each year and channeling small change into local charities through programs like Tokens for Bags.
Joshua Reischer
Joshua Reischer is a board-certified internal medicine physician who walked out of the exam room to rebuild the most tedious part of a doctor's day. As CEO and founder of Health Note, he turned the pre-visit patient questionnaire into AI-generated clinical notes that drop straight into the chart, cutting documentation and intake time before the appointment even starts. Health Note now runs across clinics nationwide, processes millions of patient visits a year, and raised a $17M Series A led by SignalFire with backing from Cedars-Sinai, Northwell and UnityPoint Health.