Attending Grand Canyon University as an online student and working mother of two children taught Mila Besich how to efficiently manage her hectic schedule.
It also helped her communicate more effectively, which serves her well as mayor of Superior, Arizona, a town of about 2,400 residents 70 miles east of GCU, and as executive director of the Copper Corridor Economic Development Coalition.
Besich also serves on the executive committee for the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, and she is a member of the National League of Cities' Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee.
She is proud of her hometown roots, as evidenced by her duties as advertising director and reporter for the Copper Area News Publishers and as executive director of the Legends of Superior Trails, an almost 12-mile-long hiking, biking and equestrian recreational trail that travels through Superior.
“I write one big list for the month of what needs to get done and add and subtract to that list every day,” Besich said of her strategy for staying organized. “And then it’s a kind of a balance. I’ve always worked remotely.”
That arrangement helped Besich when she raised her young children – now adults – from home while starting Miracle Executive Services, which provides virtual assistant services to small businesses and nonprofits, as well as contracts with several small businesses to provide marketing and administrative services.
“I’ve always been flexible, so I can handle all the things that come at you,” Besich said. “That’s one thing as mayor – you realize very quickly you have to be flexible because something can change your schedule very quickly.”
Besich had time to reflect after earning a Special Citation Award at the 42nd American Mining Hall of Fame ceremony and fundraising dinner sponsored by the Mining and Minerals Education Foundation in Tucson, Arizona, this winter.
Besich was selected for her commitment to the mining industry and its importance to the community, particularly the Resolution Copper Project, a proposed underground mine near Superior that has the potential to produce nearly 25% of copper demand in the United States, according to Resolutioncopper.com.
“To be honest, it was incredibly shocking and surprising,” said Besich, recalling her congratulatory telephone call. “I’ve been a strong advocate for mining in and around our community, not only as a citizen but, obviously as a miner, we went through one of the largest and most complex environmental impact statements process underneath us.
“So it really required me to learn a lot about our federal polices, state polices, mining polices, economic policies – a lot of policies – and actively participate and, through that, definitely learning a lot more. So it was an honor to be recognized by the industry leaders.”
Besich was moved to have her name on a plaque honoring her Hall of Fame distinction. But she distributed much of the credit to her local team and nonprofit groups to ensure Superior’s involvement in this massive and complex project.
“The vibrancy of the towns and the cities of Pinal and Gila counties have to do a lot with the hard work of Mayor Besich, pushing copper companies to do better and be at the forefront of local, national and state conversations around green energy, energy transition and the role Arizona plays in this very important transition,” Vicky Peacey, president and general manager of Resolution Copper, said in a Mining and Minerals Education Foundation video.
Besich embarked on her college odyssey in 1996, enrolling in hotel restaurant management classes at Scottsdale Community College before getting married.
She started her business while her then-husband was stationed at Camp Pendleton in Southern California. Military loans helped her return to college.
“I knew it was important, especially as my kids got older and I wanted to expand upon a career,” Besich said. “I was a late returner. It was neat to go to GCU and know the campus was 1 ½ hours away if I wanted to have those college experiences. It was accessible.
“But the (online) program was so seamless that it just worked out well. Running a business, having another job, raising kids and running for office, GCU fit right in perfectly for me to complete my degree.”
Besich tells people that GCU makes returning to college easy because of its ability to allow students to align their coursework in a manageable way.
She was running her business while raising two teenage children when she graduated from GCU in 2013 with a communications degree, and she promptly ran for town council while in the midst of a 10-year term on the Superior Unified School District governing board.
“Most important, there were so many lessons from my communications degree that have helped me become a better mayor, allowed me to help my clients in a stronger way, and really being able to evaluate situations to be a better leader,” Besich said.
GCU News senior writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]
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