Arizona. celebrated 30 years of service to this community. At that time. in recognition of the success of their small business loan program. PPEP and Pima County were selected to receive an "Award of Excellence for Economic Development" by the National Association for County Community and Economic Development. Thirty years ago. a man named John Arnold converted his 1957 Chevrolet schoolbus into a traveling classroom for rural Arizonans. He spent his time teaching migrant workers English as a second language and the value of learning vocational and technical skills. This was the beginning of what is now known as PPEP. Today.