Industry Council
MTRC's Industry Council is comprised of tourism entrepreneurs and innovators that help identify issues, ground-truth research results, and identify sources of support for MTRC research and policy projects. The Industry Council and the MTRC hope to elevate the role of tourism from one of economic importance to one of social transformation.
Please select a name to learn more about our Industry Council members:
- Joe Cole Former Vice President • Corporate Communications • AZTAR Corporation
- Pam Del Duca President & CEO • DELSTAR Companies
- Barbara Garganta District Manager • Anthropologie
- AnnDee Johnson Director • Research & Strategic Planning• Arizona Office of Tourism
- Rodolfo Madero Navarro President • Descubre Phoenix
- Dan Postal President • Wentworth Webb & Postal, LLC
- David Rauch Partner • Snell & Wilmer, LLP
- Rachel Sacco President & CEO • Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau
- Tom Sadler President & CEO • Arizona Sports & Tourism Authority
- Lauren Simons Marketing Director• Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau
- Michael Uehara President & Managing Director • King Pacific Lodge
- Cady Wolf VP • Partner Marketing, Western U.S., Canada & Hawaii • Travelocity.com
JOE COLE
Former Director • National Investor Relations Institution's Arizona Chapter
Former Vice President • Corporate Communications • AZTAR Corporation
Chair • MTRC Industry Council
Joe Cole is a veteran newspaper journalist and corporate communications executive. He retired in 2007 after nineteen years as the vice president of corporate communications for a New York Stock Exchange company, participating during that time both in the restructuring of the company and its sale to a private company.
Cole previously served for twenty-six years with Arizona’s largest metropolitan daily newspaper, covering courts, education, and business as a reporter, holding various editorial positions and writing a business column. He is a native Arizonan, a graduate of the University of Arizona, and a resident of Phoenix.
PAM DEL DUCA
President & CEO • DELSTAR Companies, Inc.
Pam Del Duca is the founder, president, and CEO of DELSTAR Companies, a retail firm that owns and manages specialty shops in airports, four- and five-star resorts, hospitals, museums and malls. Under Del Duca’s direction, DELSTAR in 1990 created a model showing how a small business can contribute to civic well-being. The program formed partnerships with three non-profit organizations to train, empower, and employ minority and economically disadvantaged people in the Phoenix area. Participants were put on the payroll and, upon graduation, were offered jobs in the company’s Phoenix area retail shops.
To date, more than three hundred students have attended DELSTAR’s Small Business Entrepreneurial Training Program, Supervisor Development Seminars, and Management Training Programs. As a percentage of gross sales, the small entrepreneurial company in ten years has donated more than $600,000 to Chicanos por la Causa, the Phoenix Indian Center, and the Phoenix Urban League.
Del Duca has received numerous awards and recognition, and continues to give her time, money, business acumen, and innovative ideas to many non-profit and civic organizations. A graduate of ASU, she recently founded the DELSTAR Scholarship Program, awarding 4-year scholarships to economically disadvantaged students, first-generation college students, and non-traditional college students who had to drop out of college to take care of families.
BARBARA GARGANTA
District Manager • Anthropologie
Barbara Garganta is a district manager for Anthropologie, an innovative, lifestyle retailer run by Urban Outfitters, Inc. She oversees the southwest district which covers Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico. Garganta has also helped create a “core” social responsibility plan for the Southwest District of Anthropologie, by engaging the stores in multiple fundraising and social conscious activities.
Garganta has established herself as a leader within the community through her various volunteer initiatives. She has served as the regional director of the International Active 20-30 Club. As a direct result of her membership with Active 20-30 Club, Garganta has had the opportunity to work with organizations such as Florence Crittenton, Scottsdale Boys and Girls Club, and also speaks at the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership seminar every year.
Garganta is also very involved with the Cystic Fibrosis’ Arizona’s Finest campaign. She was an Arizona’s Finest honoree in 2003, and in 2007, not only did she chair Arizona’s Finest but also won the National Leadership Award. Her work in the community comes from a commitment to improve Arizona and insure that it is the best place to visit and live.
ANNDEE JOHNSON
Director • Research & Strategic Planning • Arizona Office of Tourism
AnnDee Johnson is the director of research and strategic planning at the Arizona Office of Tourism, the statewide tourism development and promotion agency for Arizona. In this role since 2003, she is responsible for overseeing all research conducted for and by the agency on tourism related issues. This research is used by the divisions of the Office of Tourism to support their strategic planning and marketing efforts, as well as by tourism industry partners, constituents, and government officials. In addition, she works closely with the director of the agency to focus and develop the strategic planning efforts for the Office of Tourism.
Johnson has more than fourteen years of experience in the Arizona business community. Her experience includes four years with World Trade Center Arizona, working with Arizona companies to increase their international business opportunities and managing international economic development projects. She also worked six years in the high tech industry, first, as the vice president of marketing and sales at German-owned ICP Vortex Corporation, and then at Intel Corporation, where she had responsibility for product life cycle management and international strategic marketing of latest generation technology products.
Johnson holds a Master of International Management degree from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona, and a doctorate in Germanic languages from the University of Texas at Austin.
RODOLFO MADERO NAVARRO
President • Descubre Phoenix
Rodolfo Madero Navarro was born in Cd. Obregon in the state of Sonora, Mexico, where he grew up and graduated as a graphic designer. Working in advertising as a creative director and as a radio and television producer gave him the opportunity to develop campaigns for brands such us Tecate, Corona, Pepsi, Alphagraphics and many others in Mexico.
Rodolfo’s work crossed frontiers by the end of the '90s, when he participated in various campaigns aiming at the emerging Hispanic market in Arizona. By 2001, he established his production house in Phoenix, Eureka Productions. Since then, he has produced television and radio commercials for brands such as the Arizona Lottery, Motorola, Maricopa Community Colleges, Arizona Department of Health Services and many others.
While continuing his work in advertising, he developed a project called Descubre Phoenix, with the goal of marketing and promoting Phoenix as a primary destination for visitors from Sonora.
Rodolfo is also a film composer and an entrepreneur, owning a national in-store audio and marketing company in Mexico. Today, he serves as a new member of the board of directors for the Tempe Conventions and Visitors Bureau.
DAN POSTAL
President • Wentworth Webb & Postal, LLC
Dan Postal is a founder and partner of Wentworth Webb & Postal, LLC (WWP), a Phoenix-based state/local tax and site selection services company. Postal was the chief operating officer and co-founder of ITax Group, Inc., a firm that specializes in automated screening for hiring-based tax credits and incentives, until its 2005 acquisition by First Advantage Corporation (NASD: FADV). While at ITax, he also served as a board advisor for WWP, and prior to this was responsible for the technical matters of WWP’s diverse client base. Postal originally managed a wide range of state and local tax engagements for KPMG Peat Marwick.
A graduate of the University of Arizona, Postal is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Arizona State Society of CPAs. He currently serves on the boards of the Brophy Community Foundation, Scottsdale Active 20/30 Foundation, King David School of Trustees, and is the treasurer and executive committee member of the Foundation for Burns and Trauma. He is a co-founder of Brokers for Kids, the past national director of the U.S. & Canada Active 20/30, and was selected as the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s Man of the Year for its 2006 class of “Arizona’s Finest.”
DAVID RAUCH
Partner • Snell & Wilmer, LLP
David Rauch is a partner in the Phoenix office of Snell & Wilmer. His practice is concentrated in general commercial litigation, franchise litigation, professional malpractice defense, and media law. Rauch represents his various clients in multiple alternative dispute resolution proceedings every year. Rauch was the president of the Sandra Day O’Connor Inn of Court and is currently the Arizona liaison for the Franchise Business Network. He is also the loss prevention counsel for Snell & Wilmer LLP.
Rauch has established himself as a leader within the community as a member of Class XXIV of Valley Leadership, a member of The Thunderbirds, and a board member of the Arizona Historical Foundation.
Rauch received his Juris Doctor from the UCLA School of Law.
RACHEL SACCO
President & CEO • Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau
President and CEO of the Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, Rachel Sacco has been an integral part of this highly regarded Arizona organization since 1986. Prior to assuming her duties at the SCVB, Sacco spent seven years at the Phoenix/Valley of the Sun Convention & Visitors Bureau.
She is a member of the Destination Marketing Association International, serves on the board of directors for the Golf Industry Association of Arizona, and is on the National Advisory Board for Arizona State University’s Hugh Downs School of Human Communication.
Among the many forms of recognition bestowed upon this talented professional is the American Airlines Spirit of Excellence Award for her contributions to the tourism industry – this award has been bestowed upon only twelve other recipients. Sacco also received Successful Meeting’s Marketing Achievement Award for her outstanding contributions to both the tourism industry and her community – she is the first individual to ever be given this award. In addition, Sacco was inducted into the Arizona State University College of Public Programs’ Alumni Chapter Hall of Fame, named the 2004 Executive of the Year by the Phoenix Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators, named to the Arizona Culinary Hall of Fame as a Culinary Ambassador in 2005, and named to the Arizona Governor’s Tourism Hall of Fame in 2006.
TOM SADLER
President & CEO • Arizona Sports & Tourism Authority
Tom joined AZSTA in June 2008 after heading up Global Entertainment Inc.’s (Phoenix, AZ) Management and Marketing Divisions as president for nearly three years. Prior to that Tom worked in intercollegiate athletics administration for 23 years, starting at Arizona State University, where he finished his tenure as Assistant Athletic Director for Stadium Management. After his 20 years at ASU, Tom became the Associate Athletic Director for Administration at the University of Hawaii, where he worked for two and a half years. Tom holds a Bachelors in Psychology from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids Michigan and a Masters in Public Administration from ASU.
AZSTA is responsible for owning and operating the University of Phoenix Stadium. In Maricopa County, AZSTA funds: tourism promotion, the construction and renovation of Cactus League Spring Training facilities, and youth and amateur sports projects and programs.
LAUREN SIMONS
Marketing Director • Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau
Lauren Simons has been with the Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau since 2003 overseeing the branding, marketing, research, and visitor services for the Scottsdale tourism industry. Her team at the Scottsdale CVB develops and executes the broadcast, print, and online marketing initiatives for Scottsdale – promoting the resorts, spas, arts and culture, golf, desert adventure, dining, nightlife, and special events throughout the region.
Prior to working at the Scottsdale CVB, Simons handled marketing and merchandising for Harry and David’s Stores Division in Ashland, Oregon. She also held various marketing and public relations roles with Arizona-based advertising agencies, working on clients such as Tiffany & Co., UPS/SonicAir, National Public Radio, Qwest Advanced PCS, Cirilium Technology Corporation, and Phoenix Children’s Hospital events.
Simons holds a Bachelor of Science from the Warrington College of Business at the University of Florida. She and her husband live in Scottsdale with their dog, Jack.
MICHAEL UEHARA
President & Managing Director • King Pacific Lodge
Michael Uehara is president and managing director of King Pacific Lodge, A Rosewood Resort. He founded and built the resort as a triple-bottom-line company that has broken new ground in both community corporate citizenship and ecological conservation. Last year, King Pacific Lodge became the first carbon-neutral property in British Columbia, and Uehara committed to reducing its carbon output by fifty percent in five years.
It all began in 1997, when Uehara convinced Hideo “Joe” Morita, son of SONY founder Akio Morita, to purchase a small, unknown fishing lodge on the BC coast. Uehara’s task was redoing the property to match the luxurious taste of a prominent Japanese family with the demands of one of the most sensitive ecological areas on the planet. He worked with NGOs (non-governmental organizations), BC and Canadian officials, the forestry industry, and First Nation tribal communities to create the Great Bear Rainforest – a protected area the size of Switzerland that won the World Wild Fund’s 2007 “Gift to the Earth” award. He also formed a precedent-setting work relationship with the remote First Nation tribal community of Hartley Bay, which led to the first-ever protocol between a First Nation band of Indians and a private company in BC.
Uehara spent sixteen years in Japan, where he was an award-winning creative director, a journalist, and a magazine editor-in-chief. An American citizen by birth, he has spent much of his life outside in the U.S., living in Thailand, England, Japan, and now Canada. Uehara achieved the high honor of being adopted by the Gitga’at people of the Tsimshian Nation, where his name is Wyi kiaks -- a spirit that leads those lost at sea back to port.
CADY WOLF
Vice President • Partner Marketing, Western U.S., Canada & Hawaii • Travelocity.com
Cady Wolf leads the team responsible for managing Travelocity’s relationships with hotel, destination, attraction, and e-commerce suppliers in the Western U.S., Hawaii, & Canada. Wolf first joined Preview Travel, Inc. in 1999, prior to their merger with Travelocity.com in March 2000. With over 15 years of experience in the travel industry, Wolf has held a variety of positions involving sales, marketing, communications, and PR at leading travel and ski-related companies throughout the United States.
Wolf graduated from ASU’s College of Public Programs with a degree in travel and tourism and received a Master of Hospitality Administration from UNLV in 2008. Wolf lives in San Francisco with her husband and three young sons.
