Top prize winners in the 39^th Annual Youth Engineering and Science (YES) Fair were also winners at the Regeneron International Engineering, Science, and Technology Fair in Dallas, Texas, on May 14-15. The winners were pictured on awards night at the local fair, held March 2 at the Rothery Educational Service Center in Sierra Vista. Pictured are (from the left) Amy Martinez, teacher at Buena High School, the Buena High YES Fair Team of Emery Denham, Kevin Tran and Dylan Rubstello, Veritas student Manuel Castillo, Veritas teacher Melissa Bravenec and SSVEC Chief Executive Officer Jason Bowling.

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MBC sponsor Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative (SSVEC) serves more than 53,000 member accounts located in a four-county service area in southeast Arizona. SSVEC is an industry leader in providing safe, reliable, and affordable service.

The Cooperative is guided by principles that emphasize voluntary and open membership, concern for the community, democratic member control, and support for education.

It is this support for education that has garnered SSVEC support for MBC’s The Universe Within STEAM program each year. SSVEC youth programs include scholarships, the Washington Youth Tour, and the Youth Engineering and Science (YES) Fair.

As a cooperative, SSVEC members are the owners of the company. Members are entitled to vote and/or serve on the elected Board of Directors. Members also benefit from the financial success of the not-for-profit cooperative. Each year, the SSVEC Board of Directors reviews the financial status of the Cooperative and decides on the capital credits that are returned to the members.

During the past 86 years, SSVEC has paid out more than $33 million in capital credits to its members.

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Winners of the 2023 Washington Youth Tour all-expenses-paid trip to the nation’s capital were announced Nov. 16 at a family-student banquet held in Benson and hosted by SSVEC. Those pictured include (standing from the left) SSVEC Chief Executive Officer Jason Bowling, Benjamin Squires and Heart Monger, both of Buena High School; Juliannah Gavin and Brianna Vandeweg, both of Veritas Christian Community School; Kevin Tran of Buena High School, and Dan Barrera, Secretary of the SSVEC Board of Directors. Those seated, from the left, include Sammy Judd, St. David High School; Nathan Miles, Benson High School, Kyle Asato, Tombstone High School, and Ryan Wilde, Buena High School.

SSVEC is also a founding member of the Arizona Electric Power Cooperative (AEPCO), which generates electricity for local members and other cooperatives in Arizona, New Mexico, and California. AEPCO’s Apache Generating Station in the town of Cochise, AZ, is the primary source of electric power for SSVEC and AEPCO’s other members.

Innovation and investment continue to be priorities for SSVEC. In 2023 the Cooperative added another 20-megawatt solar farm, with a battery system, that will provide power to some 3,000 local members. In 2024, SSVEC anticipates increasing its energy portfolio with the addition of more solar power, increasing its overall energy mix to more than 35 percent from renewable resources.

MBC sponsor Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative, represented by VP of Marketing & Communications Marcus Harston, pictured above, far right, presenting scholarship checks to Benson Unified School District.

Through our sponsor recognition articles, we are showcasing the many ways professionals cultivate and use creativity to improve their personal lives, their careers, the places they work and their communities. This article features Gloria Spencer, President of Nogales US Customs Brokers Association and General Manager of Livingston International. Read on to learn more.

Marcus Harston is Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative (SSVEC). The Cooperative is a not-for-profit, member-owned distribution cooperative in Southern Arizona. SSVEC provides electricity to more than 60,000 services over some 4,100 miles of energized line.

Marcus explains, “My role at SSVEC is broad. I’m responsible for all marketing communications material, including print, social media, and video across all public outlets. I manage a variety of member-oriented programs such as Surge Protection, energy audits, and solar inspections. And I lead all youth programs including scholarships, the Washington Youth Tour, and the Youth Engineering and Science (YES) Fair.”

In his role, he directly interacts with the Board of Directors, Senior Management, Members, and affiliated organizations such as National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), Grand Canyon State Electric Cooperative Association (GCSECA), and Touchstone Energy.

MBC sponsor Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative, represented by VP of Marketing & Communications Marcus Harston, pictured center above in the blue shirt, with volunteer staff members from SSVEC and Boys & Girls Club during a volleyball clinic to benefit high school and middle school coaches and players in Cochise County.

After serving 24 years in the military, Marcus entered the private sector with an eye toward educating young people. He says, “I started at SSVEC as the Community Relations Manager, where I was responsible for managing all youth programs. In this role, I was able to achieve my goal of educating and improving the future of young people in our service area.”

For Marcus, creativity is an opportunity to express, create, and direct elements of communication to other people and audiences. Utilizing the “tools” of creativity, he conveys messages in unique and invigorating ways with specific and general audiences, depending on the circumstances. The result of creativity has the power to inspire, motivate, and lead to a specific positive change in people.

Marcus says, “I employ creativity every day, personally and professionally, whether I’m developing correspondence, considering a marketing message, or even in contemplating a difficult golf shot on the weekend! Having a creative capacity empowers me to ‘think outside the box.’ Working in a position that invites a variety of messaging to diverse audiences gives me the opportunity to develop creative solutions and ideas to help achieve the Cooperative’s mission.”

The SSVEC golf tournament hosted for large users of electricity to assist with energy efficiency, usage and other programs to benefit companies in the service area.

At SSVEC, creative ideas are often inspired from discussions with fellow team members. Marcus says, “It’s important to ‘eliminate the fear factor,’ so that all ideas can be heard, without consequence, regardless of how radical they may be.”

Reading and researching are also ways that Marcus generates creative ideas. He compares outcomes from the experience of others and contemplates ideas that come to mind while digesting new materials and information. He also uses relaxation techniques, aimed at clearing and focusing the mind, to stimulate new, creative, ideas.

Marcus Harston is Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative

MBC sponsor Nogales US Customs Broker’s Association, represented by board president Gloria Spencer receiving her US Customs Broker license from CBP in Phoenix, September 2009.

Through our sponsor recognition articles, we are showcasing the many ways professionals cultivate and use creativity to improve their personal lives, their careers, the places they work and their communities. This article features Gloria Spencer, President of Nogales US Customs Brokers Association and General Manager of Livingston International. Read on to learn more.

Gloria Spencer is Branch Manager at Livingston International and President of the Board of Directors for Nogales U.S. Customs Brokers Association, a 2022-2023 Mat Bevel Company sponsor. She says, “As US Customs Licensed Brokers, we play an essential role in the flow of products from around the world and in this way, contribute to the economy of the USA.”

Customs brokers help companies import products into the USA from countries all over the world with whom the US has a normal trade relationship. These individuals and firms are licensed through US Customs & Border Protection (CBP), a Department of Homeland Security, to act as agents for importers and exporters. Brokers handle all the required protocols involved in customs clearance and importation of goods, in compliance with the Code of Federal Regulations -Title 19, Customs Duties.

In reporting information required by all participating government agencies that regulate the eligibility to import products, they protect the safety and interests of consumers in the USA.

Gloria says, “This is a highly specialized and complex job, but a rewarding one, as we keep the economy flowing! I use my creativity to visualize and analyze problems from different angles, and to figure out resolutions that will help myself, my company and my customers. I apply my experience and creativity to write instruction sheets or procedures so others know what to do when they encounter a similar issue, or need to train employees.”

Gloria discovered her career path by leveraging some of her best creative skills: analyzing details, solving problems and applying critical thinking. In the 90s she was hired as a purchasing manager in a manufacturing plant in Mexico. She also managed the Inventory Control function, calculating the cost of new products which includes at a high-level, parts + labor + freight + overhead costs.

This was during the time when the US, Mexico and Canada signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which allowed duty-free trade between the signatory countries. The agreement also required products to use specific quantities of NAFTA-region components in a product to qualify for free-duty imports.

Gloria explains, “My general manager, who was a mentor to me, asked me to help calculate the product cost for NAFTA purposes, since I was already assessing our product for Inventory Control. I insisted on taking professional training from our local customs broker experts, so that I could learn the regulatory requirements and take on the task of NAFTA record keeper to help our company claim NAFTA benefits with US Customs. This was my incursion into International Trade related functions.”

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Birds and flowers from Gloria’s garden.

Her mentor challenged her to pursue a government license to become a broker in Mexico so that she could help manage the import and export of production materials for the factory. She signed up for classes, took a test required by Mexico’s Hacienda and obtained her in-house Mexico Broker license. The experience of contributing to her company as in-house broker led her to decide to become a US Customs Broker later in life when she emigrated to the US. To qualify as a broker in the US, Gloria became a US Citizen, passed a rigorous US Customs broker test with English as her second language and passed an CBP-required FBI background check.

For Gloria creativity is a deep source of satisfaction derived from learning and applying her learned skills, plus inspiration and intelligence to make something beautiful or useful. To help stimulate her creativity, she loves to read books, take courses and watch videos to learn how to do activities that interest her, from taking good photographs to growing fruit trees, veggies and flowers for pollinators.

Regarding the role creativity plays in her personal life, Gloria says, “In my hobbies, creativity means taking a beautiful picture of a sunset, planting flowers, herbs, and veggies in my garden, then taking pictures of the visiting butterflies and hummingbirds. I then harvest plants from my garden to cook something delicious like a basil-pesto pasta dish, to share with loved ones.”

While there are situations in life that we have no control of, like the Covid 19 pandemic and its impact in everyone’s activities, Gloria advises young people to focus on what they have control of: “Positive decisions like studying and learning. Everything we learn will be useful in life and nothing can take our knowledge and skills away from us.”

Gloria Spencer, President of Nogales US Customs Brokers Association and General Manager of Livingston International

MBC sponsor Mary Estes is a Landscape Architect and Principal at Norris Design, an integrated planning, landscape architecture and branding design company.

Collaborating with our sponsors, we’re sharing the many ways professionals cultivate and use creativity to improve their personal lives, their careers and their communities. This article features Mary Estes, Landscape Architect and Principal at Norris Design. Read on to learn more.

Mary Estes is a Professional Landscape Architect and Principal at Norris Design, a firm with multiple offices in Colorado, Texas, and Arizona.  Norris Design specializes in creating places where people live, work and play.

Landscape architecture encompasses the analysis, planning, design, management, and stewardship of the natural and built environment through science and design.  The fundamental practice of landscape architecture includes keeping the public safe from hazards, protecting natural resources, and sustainably managing the natural and built environment surrounding our homes and communities.

For Mary, part of exercising creativity involves foreseeing conflicts between design disciplines (architects, structural engineers, civil engineers, electrical engineers, etc.), constructability concerns, zoning code requirements, all while ensuring that client goals are met.  Her role is to help the design team deliver the best possible solutions for their projects.

Mary says, “There are always unforeseen issues in the field where we need to make a quick decision and maintain the integrity of the design. The Landscape work evolves over the course of the entire design and construction process. When the construction is complete, a project can take years before it realizes its full potential from a landscape perspective.  The plants need time to mature, creating habitat, shade, defining space, and providing maximum value.”

Mary Estes in Germany, March 2020, in front of Neuschwanstein Castle.

Mary always considered herself to be creative. In high school, her drawings won a few art contests, and she even sold some of her artwork. When she arrived at Texas A&M University, they didn’t have a Fine Arts school, so instead Mary studied Environmental Design.

She studied abroad for a semester where she had the opportunity to work together with Landscape Architecture students on some projects. Once she graduated, she moved to New York City and accepted a position with a small architectural studio. There, she met a landscape architect who had a growing practice in the city where she eventually worked for seven years, learning much of the profession while on the job.    

While working as a landscape designer, she went back to the City College of New York to take some courses in their Urban Landscape Program. Eventually, she had enough experience and education to take the landscape architectural registration exam and receive her license in 1996

Mary explains, “All of landscape design is creative, which means thinking outside the box…. and looking for solutions to problems in new ways by unlocking your imagination. To stimulate my creativity, I listen to various genres of music and try to clear my mind of other ‘life stuff.’  I find that exercise—like walking, trail running, bike rides—helps me to focus and tap into my natural creativity. For a more challenging design problem, I like to tackle it first thing in the morning, when my mind is fresh.”

Creativity requires Mary and her team to ask a lot of questions, like:

• How will the plant combinations go together?
• How do you circulate through or around the space?
• What are the needs for the community or resident or homeowner?
• How do we make sure the space is comfortable, safe, inviting, and accessible for all?
• What clues can we draw from history that might help inform our design?

Mary’s career path was not a straight line. She advises people starting out in their career to, “Be open to possibilities that you haven’t perhaps even thought about yet! I never considered being a landscape architect and when I enrolled in the University, I didn’t really know about the profession.  Now, I could never imagine being anything but a landscape architect!  It’s truly a creative passion of mine and I learn something amazing every day.”

THANK YOU, MARY ESTES!