Bird to rent electric scooters in Yuma
Ally Snow of Chronic Wellness opens brick-and-mortar; MSZS Furniture has moved
Did you catch the news of the electric scooter rental company coming to Yuma? As reported this past week in the Yuma Sun,
the company that rents scooters, intends to come to town at the end of the month or early March. Initially the company planned to make its Yuma debut early this month but agreed to hold off until the city updates its rules on scooter use.
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Bird encourages clean, car-free alternatives. The company is working with cities and universities across the world to provide new transportation options, complement public transit systems, and invest in safety infrastructure that benefits everyone, according to its website.
“Bird eliminates the need to endlessly search for car parking, which causes traffic on already crowded streets and pollutes the air in the process. One traditional
Fcar parking spot can fit 10 scooters, and Bird reimagines these spaces as multi-purpose parklets where dockless bikes and scooters can easily park,” the company said.
To rent a scooter, the rider finds the closest scooter by checking the map in the Bird app. Scooters can be reserved up to 30 minutes in advance. To start a ride, the rider scans the scooter’s QR code with the app, hits the throttle on the right to go and pulls the brakes to slow. Riders must be at least 18 years old
To begin with, the rentable electric scooters will be limited to sections of northern Yuma, including downtown (Interstate 8 to Avenue B, from the Colorado River to 8th Street). The scooters are equipped with GPS devices, and
Bird fleet managers will retrieve and redistribute them to the appropriate locations. The company plans to start with 50 to
100 scooters and might eventually move to 150
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Sun STaFF WrITer
or Jovani Ford of the Arizona Lighting Company, one of the hardest challenges of running a business is retaining workers. The small business only has a handful of employees, so even being one down can have a huge impact on the company.
Retaining workers for the long-term is also a challenge. “Getting a person who wants to stay is the hardest part,” Ford said.
It’s a challenge faced by many employers, particularly those in the retail sector. Now, throw in a pandemic, and the entrance can literally become a revolving door.
To help employers attract and retain workers, the Yuma Chamber of Commerce and Greater Yuma Economic Development held a Lunch and Learn webinar called “Getting Your Workforce Back to Work” on Jan. 26. RetailWorks AZ, an initiative designed to help make it easier and faster for retail workers to move up the career ladder, presented the information, with Holly Kurtz, director of workforce development, and Orlando Casarez, project manager of the retail sector initiative, leading the conversation.
Retail workers are considered frontline workers, and as such, they don’t have the option to work from home. Kurtz noted a shift in the industry that has gone from thinking retail workers are “expendable” to recognizing the important role they play in the economy.
“They are people, we need them, we need to care about them,” Kurtz said, adding that to hold on to workers, employers need to provide a quality work environment.
In Yuma, the retail trade is the third largest sector, with food and recreation the second largest and healthcare at the top. Retail is the fourth largest employment sector in the state, with 47% of the region’s retail workforce under the age of 35. For many people, retail is their first job experience and work.
Kurtz and Casarez highlighted the results of a University of Arizona survey of frontline workers entitled “Frontline Essential Workers at Risk in Arizona: The Safety, Health, and Financial Impacts of COVID-19.”
The research goals were to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the personal experiences of retail workers, their work environments, and individual and family health and well-being. These are the things that are important for them to stay at a job, Kurtz said.
The researchers then provide recommendations for how employers can
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