EMDR Therapy in Queen Creek, AZ

Christ’s Church of the Valley (CCV) joined with local officials, including Queen Creek Unified School District Superintendent Perry Berry and Principal Sherry Towns of Faith Mather Sossaman Elementary School, on their long-awaited groundbreaking ceremony. Also in attendance were the CHASSE Building Team, Next Idea Architects, and 200+ CCV attendees to celebrate this incredible milestone.

READ MORE: LG Energy Solution will invest $5.5B in Queen Creek battery complex

The 16-acre campus is set to be completed in the Spring of 2024, officially welcoming CCV’s first-ever setup/teardown campus home. The permanent location is on the southeast corner of Ellsworth and Chandler Heights.

“At its full build-out, the campus will feature dynamic, engaging environments for kids, students, and adults to learn about the life-changing power of Jesus. In addition to these offerings will be a dedicated space for children and adults with special needs to experience relationships with peers as they learn about God's great love for them,” said CCV Executive Pastor Tony Burgarello.

According to Burgarello, the surrounding area of the church will be built with just as much intentionality.

“Community is at the core of who we are. That’s why we prioritize practical outdoor spaces where relationships can be formed over food, coffee, and yard game fun,” said Burgarello. Attendees and guests will experience an incredible courtyard filled with canopies, grass turf, and an outdoor baptismal where people can express their life change for all to see and celebrate.

CCV has announced Next Idea Architects and CHASSE Building Team, both locally owned and operated, as its formal partners on the project.

“One of our favorite parts of this project is how intentional CCV was during the entire planning process, so much so that they purposefully set aside more than 2.8 acres of the property for athletic fields that will support CCV Stars, a youth recreation program offering a variety of sports,” said Barry Chasse, President of CHASSE Building Team. CCV's youth sports program, Stars, is on a mission to make sports "more than a game" by prioritizing community, character, and healthy competition.

Beyond the thoughtful design, CCV Queen Creek is also special because of their rapidly growing community.

“We launched a portable campus in Queen Creek in March 2021 that has grown to more than 500 attendees,” said CCV Queen Creek Campus Pastor Curt McReynolds. “Caring for our portable campus, which is currently housed at Faith Mather Sossaman Elementary School on Sundays at 8:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., has been a labor of love.”

According to McReynolds, CCV has a team of dedicated volunteer drivers that pull their trailers of equipment to and from the school on both Saturdays and Sundays. Once there on Saturday morning, anywhere from 30 to 40 volunteers come together to collectively unload, set up classrooms, and construct a makeshift auditorium in the school’s gym. On Sunday after service ends, additional volunteers help with the entire teardown process for several hours and re-load the trailers so as not to disrupt the school week.

“Given our growth and the dedication of our volunteers, we are excited, honored, and very ready for our new, permanent home,” said McReynolds.

“At CCV, we are on mission to reach this Valley for Christ. Once construction is complete, this campus will have the stamina to press forward in the mission for years to come,” said Burgarello.

If you want more information on Christ's Church of the Valley's Queen Creek Campus, you can check out their website by visiting ccv.church/queencreek. To learn more about upcoming sport season offerings with CCV Stars, visit ccvstars.com.

Two cities on the far urban fringe of Phoenix grew faster in the past year measured than any other community in Arizona.

In fact, new figures Thursday from the U.S. Census Bureau put Queen Creek and Maricopa among the Top 15 nationwide for population increases between July 1, 2021 and a year later.

That, however, doesn’t tell the whole story.

The federal agency, in crafting its rankings, only ranks what it considers “large cities.” And that means those with 50,000 or more residents.

But a deeper dive finds that Coolidge, fueled by new factories and economic development, outpaces both of those cities with a one-year population change that equals 11.9%.

The new report also finds that about one out of four Arizona communities actually lost population. And the biggest loser was Douglas which, according to Census Bureau statistics, shed 4.6% of its residents, dropping the city below 16,000 — essentially back to where it was at the turn of the century.

Much of what is in the new national report is no surprise. The fastest growing communities tend to be on the edge of existing cities.

And most of them are in the south or west and, like Queen Creek and Maricopa, on the edges of major urban areas. Consider Georgetown, Texas, considered by the Census Bureau as having grown the fastest by percentage in the past year at 14.4%. It is about an hour outside of Austin.

Kyle and Leander, Texas, which tied at third and fourth at 10.9% year-over-year growth, also sit outside of Austin.

And No. 2 Santa Cruz, Calif., at 12.5%, benefits from its location south of San Jose and the Silicon Valley.

Much of the same proves true in Arizona.

Decades ago, it was communities like Glendale and Mesa that grew by leaps and bounds. These communities rapidly filled up.

At the same time, additional freeways were built, widened and extended. And that promoted living farther out as it cut down commute times for those who need to travel into the main city for work to acceptable levels. Queen Creek is a key example.

Not only did the state — much of it with county tax dollars — complete the Loop 202 freeway into the southeast valley, it now is building and extending what had been a one-mile stretch of State Route 24 from the 202 all the way into Pinal County.

And that’s just the beginning: The new budget signed earlier this month by Gov. Katie Hobbs gives Queen Creek $87.5 million to further extend SR 24, including a traffic interchange at Ironwood Road.

Even with the freeway still not complete, Queen Creek managed to add another 4,416 residents in the year ending July 1, 2022. And that computes out to a nearly 6.7% increase.

Maricopa was not far behind with its 3,844 new residents registering a nearly 6.2% increase.

Other communities in — and beyond — the fringes of the Phoenix area also racked up strong year-over-year population increases, including 4.6% for Casa Grande, 3.8% for Goodyear and nearly as much for adjacent Buckeye. Wickenburg and Surprise also managed growth in excess of 3%.

Coolidge also qualifies as being on the fringes of Phoenix. But its growth has been aided by lots of new economic development.

And there’s more to come.

Last November, for example, Procter & Gamble announced a $500 million investment in a manufacturing facility.

And the community has available land to accommodate both industry and residential.

The pattern of growth on the edges of urban areas repeats itself around Tucson, though to a much lesser extent. Marana added another 1,290 residents in the one-year period, bringing its population up to 55,962, according to the Census Bureau. But that was enough to post a growth rate of something less than 2.4%.

And Sahuarita registered less than 1.2%. By comparison, Tucson itself came close to — but did not crack — the 1% mark.

After Douglas, the other community posting the largest population loss was Florence. But that is highly affected by the number of inmates at state-run facilities there, which has been declining over the past few years.

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- A major electronics maker is making a historic commitment to Arizona, announcing that it is double-downing on its investment into a high-tech battery manufacturing plant.

In a news release, LG Energy officials called the move the “largest single investment for a stand-alone battery manufacturing facility in North America.” Initially, only about $1.4 billion was expected to be invested into a cylindrical battery factory to power electric and clean-energy vehicles, slated to be built near Ironwood and Germann Road. Now, LG says that another portion of the plant will create lithium iron phosphate (LFP) pouch-type batteries for energy storage systems (ESS). In total, it’s an investment worth about $5.5 billion.

“With this historic investment from LGES, Arizona has become the battery manufacturing capital of the country,” said Governor Katie Hobbs. “These Arizona-made batteries will power green, sustainable technologies around the world, cementing Arizona’s reputation as an innovation hub for renewable energy. We’re grateful to LGES for their legacy investment and for committing to making thousands of good-paying jobs for Arizonans.”

But not everyone is happy with such a major manufacturing site coming to the otherwise quiet and smaller community. Reporter Holly Bock spoke with Vicki Baack last April who gathered nearly 4,000 signatures in an online petition to stop development.

“There have been a lot of articles we have uncovered this weekend that have illustrated the danger of factories in nearby neighborhoods. They are having fires; there are explosions. These are lithium-ion batteries and are not safe to be in a community like this,” Baack said. “I want jobs here too. I want people to move to the city and town and have an amazing quality of life,” Baack said. “What we don’t want are factories that could be potentially dangerous for our families and kids and loved ones.”

The Arizona Commerce Authority notes that its part of a sleuth of battery manufacturing announcements in the Valley and across the state. Earlier this year, Ecobat announced a lithium-ion recycling plant to be built in Casa Grande. And late last year, American Battery Factory announced a $1.2 billion lithium-ion plant in Tucson.

LG expects the plant to be operational in 2025.

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After a two-year wait, residents in the southeast Valley can rejoice as Costco opened its doors Thursday at its newest location in Queen Creek.

Over 100 residents showed up to the grand opening, Queen Creek Town Councilmember Robin Benning told The Arizona Republic. "It was so exciting for our community to open the store," Benning said.

The town council deferred up to $1.5 million in impact fees as long as Costco employs 100 people. The town will waive $300,000 of deferred impact fees every year the store is in business and meets its employee requirement until it reaches the $1.5 million cap. Normally, cities collect impact fees to help cover the cost of extra services a development creates.

Benning said he is sure the town will recoup the costs and more from sales tax revenue created by Costco.

The store located at 20260 S. Ellsworth Road will be open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It also includes a fueling station.

Plans for the southeast location were announced in 2021 after Legacy Group, a local development company, sold nearly 20 acres to Costco at the northwest corner of Queen Creek and Ellsworth roads.

The Costco is an anchor to the Queen Creek Crossing shopping center, which The Legacy Group is developing in partnership with Vestar real estate company.

Construction on a Hobby Lobby and Ashely Furniture store began in August, Rachel Forman, Vestar's marketing vice president, told The Arizona Republic in an email. Those stores are expected to open in the fall, she said. Restaurants and specialty stores are planned on the remaining 50,000 square feet.

Queen Creek is among one the fastest growing cities in the nation. It had the third-largest percentage population growth in the nation between July 1, 2020, and July 1, 2021, according to data release by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Reporter Maritza Dominguez covers Mesa/Gilbert and can be reached at maritza.dominguez@arizonarepublic.com or 480-271-0646. Follow her on Twitter @maritzacdom.

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QUEEN CREEK, AZ — Despite a surge in student population, Queen Creek Unified School District is "fully staffed" this school year, according to district human resources director Keegan Bassett.

"This year, we were very excited to be one of the only schools in Arizona that was fully staffed for teachers at the beginning of this year," he said.

Bassett said they first used more common ways to draw in teachers, like an increase in pay, marketing campaigns for job openings, and networking at job fairs both in and out of state. From there, though, he said they had to get creative.

The newly announced program, Aspire2Teach, is one method they're hoping will be a successful solution to maintaining full staff.

Bassett described it as a "grow your own" type model.

"The Arizona State Board of Education just approved our classroom-based education preparation program," Bassett said. "We'll be able to target prospective teachers that are current classified employees, substitute teachers, and then community members that hold a bachelor's degree where we could consider them for positions where we would then provide them the education preparation program training for their careers."

Bassett also said QCUSD is planning at least two new schools within the next couple of years to help with a rise in student population.

Growth in the East Valley has not been slowing down. QCUSD has opened seven schools in the past six years, according to Bassett.

"Projections right now are we anticipate having another two elementary schools in our north region," Bassett said. "In addition to that, we're going to need to add on wings to Crismon High School and Eastmark High School as well to continue to absorb the student population that we anticipate receiving."

Silver Valley Elementary is in the district's north region. Bassett said it has roughly 1,100 students right now, which is why the district wants to open more schools in that area.

"Eleven-hundred kids as a former elementary school principal, that's probably on the upper echelon of the largest populated elementary schools in the state," Bassett said.

Bassett said the district is also fully staffed for bus drivers as of January, and no longer needed to use a third-party vendor to help with bus routes. He said that was due to a marketing campaign increase, an increase in hourly wage, a sign-on bonus, referral stipends, and a cross-department training program.

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