In Arizona, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration, small businesses account for 99.5% of all companies, employing over 40% of the state’s workforce. My family’s business, The Pines Inn & Suites, is proud to be one of them.

Many American small businesses are in limbo, waiting to see how they’ll be impacted by the escalating trade war and a freeze on federal grants. Dozens of Arizona business owners say they were counting on federal grants to help them expand and improve. One of them is Rachel Opio, an urban farmer in Phoenix who owns the Little Lighthouse Farm in her backyard. “I’m truly here to steward the land and regenerate the soil while feeding the community real food: nutrient-dense produce,” she said.

Riding a boom that stretched across the country, Arizona set a record in 2024 for new solar capacity installed in the state. The Grand Canyon State added 1,793 megawatts of solar capacity within its borders in 2024, its highest amount yet and the sixth-most of all states, according to the U.S. Solar Market Insight 2024 Year in Review report released today by the Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood Mackenzie.