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August 29, 2003/Elul 1 5763, Vol. 55, No. 53
AZJBA connects with Jewish newcomers
JESSICA BARBER
Staff Writer
When a Jewish newcomer arrives in the Valley, he or she may not know where to begin looking for needed businesses and services. The Yellow Pages offers thousands of names and phone numbers with no guarantee of responsible service. And word-of-mouth only works when one is familiar with their surroundings.
Enter the Arizona Jewish Business Alliance, a co-op and marketing organization of Jewish businesses, business owners and professionals in the greater Phoenix area.
"When Jewish people relocate here ... we want them to feel comfortable knowing that there is an organization out there that is a group of Jewish people you can trust and believe in," says Robert Harris, exclusive agent for Allstate Insurance Agency and member of the group. "It's more personable."
The AZJBA was founded in fall 2002 by Bob Reichard, the organization's current president.
"I knew all the initial charter members and I put everyone together that I thought would be interested in being together," says Reichard, a real estate agent at Realty Center of Arizona. "Since this is a non-geographical community, we have to make it easier for people to find each other."
The group currently has nine members. Besides Reichard and Harris, members are Perry Buckman, financial adviser with UBS PaineWebber; Lauren Cohen, chiropractor; Laura Bramnick, mortgage consultant with American Mortgage Group Inc.; Melissa Mulera, Web and graphic designer with Emjai Studio; Brad May with the May Marketing Group; Barry Warshaw, who specializes in promotional products; and Jewish News of Greater Phoenix.
"We are constantly looking for new members and new businesses that share the same type of philosophy that we do," says Harris. "The businesses that join have to have a good, solid reputation in the community. They also have to give back to the community."
All group members, according to Harris, volunteer or contribute to various Jewish organizations in the Valley. In addition, all dues collected from group members are put back into advertising for the AZJBA.
"Most leads groups meet on a weekly basis and part of their dues ... goes to buying everybody breakfast," says Harris. "We don't do that. That's not what we're about. We're not together because we want to send leads back and forth. We are more like a community directory."
AZJBA members also stress that they are not a conventional leads group.
"Everybody else is meeting and passing leads," says Reichard. "They are not operating under an advertising co-op mentality. All our money is spent where the membership feels they need advertising. We have a target market - the Jewish community - and we give back to that community."
The group publishes newsletters and participates in community events, including the Jewish Community Center Tradeshow 2003. They also runs ads in local publications and Jewish newspapers in Detroit, Chicago and Canada.
The AZJBA holds monthly meetings at Harris' Scottsdale office. Membership dues are $150 a year for foundations and nonprofit organizations, $300 a year for sponsorship membership and $1,200 a year for exclusive membership.
"We're really looking for people who want to work on a higher ethical plane," says Reichard.
"One of the beliefs we have is that Jewish ethics should be the cornerstone of our Jewish practices," adds Harris. "You do things the way we were all raised to do things."
Call 602-234-5740 or visit www.azjba.com.
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