Core Engineering acquires James Davey and Associates
Chile Pepper to open in Foothills, Fortuna Palms update, Dowhilesys opens in Yuma
James Davey and Associates is now part of Core Engineering Group, effective July 1, “establishing Core as a preeminent provider of civil engineering and land surveying services,” according to a press release.
James Davey founded JDA in 1992, providing civil engineering, survey and construction administration services, with special expertise in water supply and wastewater engineering and the planning and design of irrigation systems.
Douglas J. Nicholls founded Core in February 2004. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because he’s also the mayor of Yuma.
“It is exciting to have Jim and his staff join the current Core Team as we begin this next 20 years of Core. Adding their experience and expertise will provide a strong suite of inhouse services for our clients,” Nicholls said.
“After 32 years as an independent firm, we are greatly looking forward to joining forces with Core and the ability to build on their areas of expertise and offering complete civil engineering services,” Davey said.
Core’s technical expertise is extensive.
Its experienced staff is “well-positioned to tackle any civil engineering or land surveying project, and diverse examples of our successful work are visible throughout Arizona and Southeast California,” the company noted.
The Core office is located at 200 E. 16th St., Suite 150. To reach Core, email dicholls@core-e-g.com or call 928-344-5931.
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Several readers sent photos of the banner newly placed on Fortuna Road, between 1st Bank Yuma and Dollar General.
The sign announces the upcoming Chile Pepper
restaurant.
And, let me tell you, readers are excited to see the legendary Mexican restaurant come to the Foothills!
Ross Wait, longtime
developer of the Foothills, sold Chile Pepper the 3-acre parcel last August. This week, B&G Family Limited Partnership, owners of Chile Pepper, added a driveway and
the banner. Plans call for placing a food trailer on the property until the Gutierrez family is ready to build the brick-and-mortar restaurant.
In case you don’t know
the backstory of the iconic Mr. G’s, here’s a short history lesson:
In 1954, Bessie and Juan Gutierrez opened their first restaurant, The Chile Pepper, on 1st Street and
“began the tradition of serving their customers reasonably priced food, using high quality ingredients, made fresh daily,” according to the restaurant website.
That downtown location closed in 1960 because it was too small.
In 1960, they opened
La Casa Gutierrez on South Orange Avenue in Bessie’s mother’s historic home. By 1963, the website explains, Bessie and Juan were ready to expand and
co-founder of digital marketing agency CMYK, has 14 staffers who all usually work in the company’s studio.
In 2014, rather than offer Friday afternoons off, he started offering entire Fridays off during the summer –- every other week. Then, last year, Langer started hearing chatter about the four-day work week, so he decided to try that out during the summer.
Communicating with the company’s tight knit staff, who have all worked together for years, makes the four-day week doable, Langer said.
“We’re small, so, it’s easy to have a discussion with everybody on like what’s real and how everyone’s feeling, if they’re feeling stressed out, can they get their work done,” he said.
If a big project is due, he might call people in on a Friday, but so far, that has only happened twice since CMYK instituted the fourday week.
“It is more stressful in terms of getting the work done throughout the week, but the day (off) was much more of a payoff,” he said.
Of course, summer hours don’t work for every company. Retail stores risk losing customers to big box stores or others that are open for more hours. And employees that are paid by the hour rather than set salaries can balk at getting paid for fewer hours.
Jennifer Johnson, owner of True Fashionistas, a consignment shop in Naples, Florida, thought she would try summer hours in 2022 because Naples is seasonal, with the busiest part of the year wrapping up around Easter. Beginning May 1, she changed her open hours from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. to 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. But the change didn’t work.
“We have a staff of 45 to 50 employees, and it cut their hours and that upset them, and rightfully so,” she said. “It also upset our customers who were used to our hours and wanted to shop.”
She abandoned the effort after two months and hasn’t tried again.
“I really believe that with anything consistency is the key,” she said. “The customers need to know they can rely on you to be open, you cannot always be changing your hours because that is a quick way to lose customers.”