Overview
Green Card Fund is located in Phoenix, AZ - the 6th largest city in the United States, a $50-billion marketplace and one of the fastest growing populations in the country with more than 3.8 million residents in the Phoenix Metro area. International airports provide easy access to Las Vegas, San Francisco and other national and global destinations.
Education
Arizona is home to many top-ranked educational institutions including Arizona State University (ASU), the University of Arizona and the University of Phoenix. Academic programs at ASU are ranked among the best in the nation. Annual college rankings by U.S. News and World Report placed ASU's undergraduate engineering programs in the top 10 percent of all undergraduate engineering programs in the nation. Business, education, public affairs, design and arts programs at ASU were rated in the top 25 percent - including the famous W.P. Carey School of Business, world renowned for its faculty and research productivity.
The University of Arizona (UofA) is a top-ranked institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona with current enrollment of 38,057 students as of 2010. The university is one of the elected members of the Association of American Universities (an organization of North America's premier research institutions) and has been recognized by Greene's Guides as a "Public Ivy". UofA's Eller College of Management's programs in Accounting, Entrepreneurship, Management Information Systems, Management and Organizations, and Marketing are ranked in the top 25 of the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Additionally, the University of Arizona College of Medicine is the only MD granting medical school in the state.
The University of Phoenix is one of the largest universities in North America, with enrollment second only to the State University of New York. As of 2011, current enrollment for the university includes 420,700 undergraduate and 78,000 graduate students. The University of Phoenix is a wholly owned subsidiary of Apollo Group, Inc. which is a publicly traded (NASDAQ: APOL) S&P 500 corporation based in Phoenix, Arizona.
Tourism
Arizona offers a wide variety of climates ranging everywhere from dramatic desert, high forest, mountains, lake side communities and everything in between. Residents enjoy sophisticated spas, fashionable shopping malls and world-class golf resorts that are unequalled anywhere in the world. No place in the United States offers the outdoor living available in Arizona - whether it’s wilderness activities like camping, hiking, fishing, hunting and horseback riding; or sports such as boating, water skiing, hang gliding, whitewater rafting, and golf - just name it and you’ll find it here in the great state of Arizona.
Arizona is home to many popular tourist destinations including the vastness of the Grand Canyon, the beautiful Red Rocks of Sedona, the Hoover Dam, Historic Route 66, the glitz and glamour of Scottsdale, the beautiful White Mountains, the Colorado River, Lake Havasu and the snow-capped peaks of Flagstaff, Arizona.
Additionally, Arizona is home to many sports teams and Cactus League Spring Training baseball - a huge draw for tourism and visitation.
Culture
Arizona offers visitors and residents elegant family neighborhoods with access to a growing culture of art, music and fine dining. Ethnic populations are thriving and there are numerous businesses, markets, churches and restaurants providing specific cultural services.
For art-loving visitors, Greater Phoenix offers a vast number of enchanting and unique museums. The world-class Phoenix Art Museum boasts more than 17,000 pieces in various collections. On the first Friday of every month, the City of Phoenix features many emerging artists and innovative art galleries at artLink's First Friday Art Walk in downtown Phoenix. Phoenix's informative Heard Museum and Pueblo Grande Museum and Archeological Park feature collections of art and artifacts related to Native American cultures past and present. Other cultural and artistic venues include the Arizona Science Center, Phoenix Zoo, Challenger Space Center, Phoenix Museum of History, ASU Gammage Auditorium, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Phoenix Opera, Herberger Theater Center, Phoenix Symphony and Desert Botanical Garden. Local attractions include the Dolly Steamboat Ride, Goldfield Ghost Town, Hall of Flame Museum of Firefighting, Orpheum Theatre, Out of Africa Wildlife Park, Papago Park, South Mountain Mystery Castle, Taliesin West (home of Frank Lloyd Wright), Tempe Town Lake, Wildlife World Zoo, and the Wrigley Mansion.
Business
Arizona is one of the fast-growing, most dynamic economies in the nation. Both Fortune 500 and start-up technology companies call Arizona home, reaping the advantages of a competitive business climate and tax structure, a skilled, knowledge-based workforce, and world-class innovation, cultural and scenic resources.
The major employment sectors in Arizona include aerospace, electronics and semi conductor manufacturing. Tourism, business services and back-office operations are also important sectors. Real estate and rental industries, the diverse tourism sector, and government are the largest economic sectors in Arizona. The construction sector is also unusually large in Arizona because of the state's rapid growth in recent years.
Due to the attractive qualities of Arizona, many companies are headquarted and conduct business in Arizona. These companies include: America West Airlines, Apollo Group, Inc., Basha's Supermarkets, The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA), Best Western, CSK Auto, Dial Corporation, First Solar, GoDaddy.com, Honeywell Aerospace, Intel Corporation, Insight Enterprises, Inter-Tel, Jobing.com, Mesa Airlines, The Mayo Clinic, Microchip Technology, Mobile Mini, ON Semiconductor, P.F. Chang's China Bistro, PetSmart, Pinnacle West Capital Corporation, Salt River Project, Sierra Pacific Airlines, Swift Air, TASER International, Troon Golf, US Airways, U-Haul, and Unisource Energy.
With a wealth of top-level employers and thousands of highly-qualified graduates coming out of Arizona universities every year, Arizona is a great place to live and do business.
Medical Care
Arizona residents and visitors have access to some of the best healthcare facilities in the world - located all over the state. From the world-famous Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, to the University of Arizona Medical School in Tucson, Arizona offers world-class healthcare options for those seeking the best treatment available. In addition to the facilities mentioned above, Arizona is home to Banner Health, Scottsdale Healthcare, and the John C. Lincoln Health Network - a leader in breast cancer research and innovative treatments & surgeries. And coming soon to Arizona is a new MD Anderson cancer center, another world leader in cancer treatment and research.
Sports
Arizona is home to a great many sports teams and venues for seeing your favorite teams and athletes compete. Teams located in Arizona include:
- Football: Arizona Cardinals - Glendale, AZ
- Baseball: Arizona Diamondbacks - Phoenix, AZ
- Hockey: Phoenix Coyotes - Glendale, AZ
- Men's Basketball: Phoenix Suns - Phoenix, AZ
- Women's Basketball: Phoenix Mercury - Phoenix, AZ
Additionally, the Greater Phoenix area is home to Cactus League baseball - a spring training league for professional baseball teams before the start of the regular season. The Cactus League hosts professional teams and sports fans from all over the country for the months of March and April, bringing in tourists, revenue, and entertainment for everyone involved. The teams that call the Phoenix area their home for Spring Training include the Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, Anaheim Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, and Texas Rangers. Locals and fans from all over the country flock to see their favorite players battle it out during Cactus League spring training and to enjoy the beautiful weather and scenery that Arizona has to offer.
