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Organizers of the Scottsdale-based Invest Southwest Conference have opened up the submission process for companies interested in being a presenter at the December event.

The annual conference aims to connect emerging businesses with investors. Each year a committee of investors and business experts selects about a dozen companies to present their business plan in an elevator-pitch style to accredited investors.

The conference does not guarantee companies will receive investments, but sponsor SCF Arizona will award $250,000 to one of the companies that is voted the best presenter by organizers.

"Year after year, we see some of the most innovative companies in the Southwest come forward to present," conference Chairman Dave Bittner said in a statement. "This is a testament to the quality of new business emerging in this region and the investment opportunities available right here in our own backyard."

Phoenix-based software company Flypaper Studio Inc. received a $3 million round of early-stage financing shortly after being named best presenter at last year's conference.

Applications are due by 5 p.m. on Sept. 19. Companies must be seeking between $250,000 and $5 million in capital to be eligible.

The conference will take place from Dec. 10-11 at the Four Seasons Resort Troon at Scottsdale North.

Massive losses raise the question: Will banks hike interest rates on credit cards and other consumer products to make ends meet?

Bill Hardekopf, chief executive officer of LowCards.com, doesn't think so, at least not as part of a general industry trend.

"If these huge losses continue, I wouldn't be surprised to see some lenders increase their advertised rate," he said in a statement. "But the credit card industry in the US is so competitive that raising the advertised rate will probably be the last option for many issuers."

Still, it's not unrealistic to think banks will search for revenue in less-obvious ways. For example, he said some issuers already are increasing rates on cash advances, reducing credit limits, hiking default rates, implementing higher fees generally and shortening low-rate introductory periods.

For consumers, that underscores the importance of staying vigilant. Cardholders should regularly check the APR interest rate shown on monthly statements, monitor credit reports and shop around for lower-cost cards when the need arises.

"Some costs will be passed along to cardholders and borrowers," he said. "The best ways to protect
yourself are to pay your bill on time, stay well below your credit limit, pay off your balance and pay attention to all notices that you receive from your credit-card issuer."

Recent legislation passed in Arizona is trying to prevent this. An investigation by the Miami Herald found more than 10,000 convicted felons received mortgage broker licenses in Florida since 2000.

About 4,000 of those people were convicted of fraud and racketeering, key crimes behind the growing mortgage fraud problem.

After four failed attempts, legislation to license mortgage originators passed in Arizona last month.

Florida regulates mortgage brokers, but examples from the Herald showed some convicted felons faked recommendations and job information to get their licenses.

A (now former) Mesa High School PE teacher admits to having a sexual relationship. With a kid. Make that a kid who was her student.

And her plea deal calls for as little as six months in jail and a designation as a misdemeanor? 

Criminal speeding is a misdemeanor. DUI is a misdemeanor. A middle aged teacher having sex with a 16 year old girl...a misdemeanor?

If the girl had been 14, we'd be talking about "dangerous crimes against children" and  a looong prison sentence. But since she's 16, we're talking six months in jail?

Abrams has deferred acceptance of the deal until Gay Lyn Turley's sentencing on Aug. 27.

After each legislative session, I try to chronicle the advances of the Tedious State, the tendency of government to insinuate itself into every nook and cranny of human existence.

Conservatives regularly rail against the Nanny State, but the Tedious State far eclipses the Nanny State.

The Nanny State, after all, at least has benign intentions – to protect us against the vicissitudes of life and our own misjudgments. The Tedious State is often just meddlesome, bothersome, tiresome and irksome.

As always, I am indebted to the Arizona Capitol Times, which did the hard work of actually reading and summarizing all the bills.

The tentacles of the Tedious State are all the state agencies, boards, commissions, committees and task forces. They are always growing, enlarging.

A while back, reformers had the bright idea of trying to tame the Tedious State by requiring all state agencies and enterprises to sunset, or go out of business, unless specifically renewed. It has proved a colossal failure.

This session, the Legislature extended the life of 18 state agencies and enterprises. Some of these were the biggies, constituting core governmental functions such as the departments of transportation, state land and economic security. Some, however, were self-serving industry captives using the coercive power of the state for their own purposes, such as the Arizona Beef Council.

In the Tedious State, apparently nothing can be learned without a committee or a task force being set up. The Legislature established four new ones, to study infection prevention, reservation telecommunications, retraining programs for disabled veterans and education testing.

Sometimes, the Tedious State just rearranges the furniture. The regulatory boards for the homeopaths and naturopaths got new names. The members of the Board of Dental Examiners will get more money for going to meetings. And it was made easier for a home inspector organization to nominate a candidate to the Home Inspector Rules and Standards Committee.

Occupational licensing is one of the fancies of the Tedious State. In this endeavor, the Tedious State pretends to be acting as the Nanny State, protecting the public. For the most part, however, it actually protects the industry purportedly being regulated.

The Legislature understands this problem and passed a noble piece of legislation to do something about it. The legislation says that outside the health professions, no new occupational licensing will be enacted without a cost-benefit analysis documenting that the public benefits outweigh the public costs.

Of course, the Legislature cannot bind itself, and any subsequent occupational licensing can simply bypass the rule. And indeed, this Legislature passed additional licensing requirements for radiologist assistants and the people who arrange home loans. The latter is supposedly in response to the housing bubble, but such regulation didn't prevent the mortgage meltdown in the states that already had it.

The Tedious State likes to tell people how they can conduct their business. The Legislature restricted the sale of pets outside of pet stores. It pondered the weighty issues of when stretcher vans can be used for medical transports and when RV rental parks can charge for utilities.

The Tedious State decided that the laying of eggs was too important to be regulated by local jurisdictions. It was a job that only the state could handle.

Oh, and you can no longer take out a life insurance policy on someone you don't know.

All, however, was not bleak. The Legislature did put an end to the Motor Vehicle Towing Advisory Council. Not sure what we'll do without it.

And the Tedious State did grant some additional freedoms, although these tend to illustrate just how meddlesome it has become.

Pharmacists were given more flexibility about where they display their licenses. The exemptions to the splash guard requirements on trucks were expanded, although that was a muddy fight. The requirements for a sport falconry license were eased.

Liquor wholesalers were given greater latitude to give promotional items to liquor retailers. And sample ballots can now be printed on white paper.

Overall, however, the Tedious State oozed on.

As I've written before, some of these items, taken in isolation, may have some merit. But taken altogether, they represent a continuous restricting of the realm of individual action and initiative.

During the session, legislators expressed support for a national “Day of the Cowboy.” They would better honor that heritage of western independence if they spent more time trimming, rather than advancing, the Tedious State.

(column for 7.25.08)

Agent Drew Rosenhaus didn't come to Flagstaff  Wednesday nightso he could do some high-altitude training, although he did get a Thursday morning run in on NAU's campus.

He met with all of his clients on the Cardinals, as well as coach Ken Whisenhunt. Rosenhaus told me he also met with GM Rod Graves in the Valley Wednesday evening before making the drive to Flagstaff.

It was his first trip here, and he was impressed. However, he's not any closer to a deal for receiver Anquan Boldin. Rosenhaus said there are significant issues to resolve but it's a positive that the two sides are still talking.

Rosenhaus catches some heat in some corners, but Graves has always had a good working relationship with him. Rosenhaus doesn't close down conversations, and he's known for getting deals done.  

The Cardinals are going to see a lot of Rosenhaus in the next few years. His clients include defensive end Darnell Dockett, defensive end Antonio Smith and nose tackle Gabe Watson. That's the team's starting defensive line. He also represents free safety Antrel Rolle and running back Edgerrin James.

That's six players, all of them starters.

It shouldn't take the Cardinals long to come to an agreement with first-round pick Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. In the last 24 hours or so, the 15th overall pick, Branden Albert of the Chiefs, and the 17th, Gosder Cherilus of the Lions, have agreed to terms.

So the financial parameters are place for DRC, the 16th pick, to sign.

Cardinals official remain confident a deal can come together quickly. One of the biggest benefits of not selecting in the top 10 is that the contracts are much simpler. There aren't a lot of fancy clauses and complicated escalators to deal with. As long as both sides are reasonable, there's no reason DRC shouldn't be in uniform by the weekend.

I was told yesterday that DRC was all prepared to come to camp without a contract. He didn't realize he had to have one in order to practice.