About Us - Greater Palm Springs Business Insider
GPS Business Insider is Greater Palm Springs’ independent business and public affairs newsroom – the first call for executives, entrepreneurs, public-sector leaders, and nonprofit innovators who need clear, timely reporting on the forces shaping our desert economy. Every day, we track the deals, policies, developments and people moving the needle forward in the region’s nine cities and unincorporated communities, publishing digital exclusives and a concise weekly e-blast that keep decision-makers a step ahead.
Why our coverage matters
- Local depth, strategic breadth. From Indio redevelopment votes to healthcare expansions and clean-energy breakthroughs, we cover the full spectrum of business and public-sector news, so readers see how one city hall decision can ripple across real estate, tourism, logistics, or water policy.
- Action-oriented storytelling. Each article pairs on-the-ground sourcing with context that helps leaders anticipate risk, spot opportunity, and make faster, better-informed choices.
- Access you can trust. Our newsroom’s relationships across boardrooms, council chambers, and community organizations open doors to voices and data you won’t find elsewhere.
- No “gotcha journalism.” At GPS Business Insider, our default approach is to look for and present the positive in every case possible. If data or direction in the economy or a given sector is negative, we will not shade the truth. However, when it comes to rumors, innuendos, insults, and recriminations tied to individuals and organizations, we won’t do it.
Read, act, and lead with confidence with GPS Business Insider as your partner.
Our Team
Bob Marra, CEO/Publisher
Bob Marra is the CEO and publisher of GPS Business Insider, the hyper-local platform covering business, economic and public affairs news across the Greater Palm Springs and Coachella Valley region, informed in part by his 32 years of high-level involvement in the business community and regional economic development organizations.
He owns and operates GPS Market Intel, the regional research firm behind that platform's data and analysis. Through GPS Market Intel, Bob produces the demographic profiles, special reports, white papers, feasibility studies and market analyses relied on by landowners, developers, lenders, municipalities and operating businesses throughout the valley and helps out-of-region companies consider investing in the Greater Palm Springs/Coachella Valley region. The firm's work is built on primary data, documented sources and a consistent methodology, so that its findings hold up to review by the industry leaders, investors and public officials who read them.
Bob also runs Marra Consulting, a strategic marketing and public affairs practice serving established private companies and public agencies. In that capacity, he has advised regional and statewide law firms, medical practices, CPA firms, community banks, financial planners, municipalities and developers on brand definition and long-term marketing strategy.
During his 32 years as a Coachella Valley resident, Bob has held senior executive positions beyond his own companies. He served as a regional public affairs director for Verizon, as chief executive officer of the Desert Healthcare District, and as CEO of the region's PGA TOUR tournament, now known as The American Express. When the long-running Bob Hope Chrysler Classic became the Humana Challenge, Bob led the event through its transition, broadening it into a more well-rounded, entertainment-focused tournament beyond professional golf. He was a founding board member and board chairman of the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership.
Bob earned a Bachelor of Science in business administration, with honors, from the University of Delaware, with concentrations in marketing and journalism, and pursued graduate studies at Princeton University's School of Public and International Affairs.