Supervisors Accept Audit Honors
They receive update on Copper Corridor

FLORENCE—The Pinal
County’s Office of Internal
Audit is once again recognized
by the Association of
Local Government Auditors
for their work in keeping
county government working
effectively and efficiently.

At Wednesday, June 16th’s
supervisors meeting, Internal
Audit Officer Lori Stripling
announced that the office’s
audit report of the Pinal
County Parks, Recreation and
Fairgrounds earned the 2009
Knighton Silver Award in the
Small Shop Category.

This is the second time the
Office of Internal Audit has
been recognized. Last year,
the Internal Auditor’s website
was awarded a bronze medal
by the Association of Local
Government Auditors.

“This is a very high honor,”
Stripling said. “I’m pleased
we have been recognized
by our fellow auditors from
across the country.”
The Association of Local
Government Auditors was
formed in 1985 to support
auditors working in local
government. The association
now represents 400 local
government auditing or-
ganizations. The Knighton
Awarded was created in 1995
to highlight the best performance
audit reports in local
governments.

An audit report submitted
for the Knighton Award is
judged by five categories:
• Scope and potential for
significant impact
• Persuasiveness of conclusions
• Focus of the recommendations
on effective and efficient
government
• Clarity and conciseness of
communication style, and
• Innovation

Stripling recognized Bill
D’Elia, senior internal auditor
and main author of the
winning report, Kate Witek,
internal auditor, and Jason
Konrad, internal audit analyst,
for their team effort at
making this award possible.
Copper Corridor Annual
Report to Supervisors
The parking lot outside of
the Board of Supervisors
Meeting Room was host to an
exhibit of the Copper Corridor
Economic Development
Coalition’s new Mobile Visitor’s
Center.

“When we purchased and
renovated this trailer we kept
the revenues in the state,”
said Bill Bolin, project manager
for the Copper Corridor
Economic Development Coalition.
“We also put local
people to work on it.”

Liz Harris-Tuck, president
of the Copper Corridor Economic
Development Coalition,
said that the Mobile
Visitor’s Center came about
after it was determined that
many of the towns within the
coalition were too small to
staff and support their own
local visitor’s center.

“When you do a project
like this—you have an idea
of what it will turn out like,”
Harris-Tuck said. “This one
surpassed all of our expectations.”
The Mobile Visitor’s Center
features a television, lighted
panels that show different
tourist attractions throughout
the region and a paint scheme
that recognizes the rich copper
mining history of the
area.

The Coalition is using the
mobile unit and a new website
to help to brand the area,
Harris-Tuck said. (The soonto-
debut website will be
www.DiscoverCopperCorridor.
com.) Chairman Pete Rios, whose
district encompasses the copper
corridor region, acknowledged
that the Copper Corridor Economic Development
Coalition works with limited
resources but is able to make
some significant gains due to
partnerships.

“It’s challenging to get
people from different communities
together,” Rios said. “But this group, with
its excellent leadership, has
the communities coming together
and its members are coming to the meetings.

It’s a positive for the region and
Pinal County.” Vice Chairman Bryan Martyn
took a tour of the Mobile
Visitor’s Center just before
the meeting began and was
impressed with the vehicle.
“Having a chance to tour
around the state and the country
with this information is impressive
and represents the quality
of Pinal County,” Martyn said.
“It’s very forward thinking.”
Supervisor David Snider
was equally impressed with
the presentation of the Copper
Corridor Economic Development Coalition.

“Your board is to be congratulated
for their hard work and for setting ambitious
goals,” Snider said. “I appreciate
the innovative ‘outside the box’ thinking that led to
the mobile center so people
can learn about activities
and attractions throughout
the Copper Corridor region.
This should be a great tool in
our economic development
efforts across the county.”
This article was published in the Apache Junction Newspaper on June 21st - June 27 2010
Brown Motor Sports is proud to be part of the Copper Corridor Mobile Center.