City programs appear to boost local economy

Chandler’s attempts at stimulating its local economy aren’t as grandiose as those by the federal government, but they appear to be working, says Mike Menner, operations manager of The Great Indoors home decor store on Chandler Boulevard.

Menner credits the city’s Shop Chandler program for the heavier-than-expected turnout at a recent promotional event called “Ladies’ Night Out.” Many of those who attended said they found out about The Great Indoors, 3460 W. Chandler Blvd., through a Shop Chandler city e-mail advertising the event, Menner said.

“We had a large number of people who came in carrying the Shop Chandler article. It was pretty evident that it reached a number of people that had never heard of our store,” Menner said. “We had an incredible sales performance that night.”

Shop Chandler is one of several measures city officials and business leaders are taking to jump-start the city’s economy during the ongoing recession. The program promotes local businesses and encourages residents to spend their money in Chandler. Shopping at Chandler businesses keeps sales tax revenue in the city to pay for services like police, fire service and parks, according to city officials.

Another measure involves city officials bringing together about 50 independently owned restaurants into a coalition called Local Bites. The coalition is meant to promote locally owned Chandler restaurants and small Valley chains with a presence in the city, and allow members to engage in collective advertising, take advantage of group health insurance rates, get group discounts with food suppliers and market to tourists.

This month, Chandler picked up the roughly $1,800 tab for a brochure featuring pictures and information about local restaurants. The brochure is being distributed to hotels and marketing groups, at city facilities and participating restaurants, and online.

James Smith, a city economic development specialist, said the brochures have been getting good circulation.

“That’s an encouraging sign. It does seem that people are paying attention,” he said.

The City Council has taken a hand in helping local businesses, as well. Last month, the council voted to ease city code governing the size and duration of temporary advertising signs and allow businesses much more variety in the use of “significant event” banners. The exemptions will expire next June, by which time city officials hope the economy will show signs of improvement.

City officials have said they hope the move will help boost sales during the holiday season this winter.

Smith said the decision to relax the sign laws is meant to address the increasing number of commercial vacancies by giving landlords and businesses more opportunity to advertise.

“We don’t want to have a lot of vacant shopping centers around the city,” he said. “We want to help these businesses get the word out and prosper in the midst of this downturn.”

Menner said businesses in the strip mall in which The Great Indoors sits have been failing right and left. The home decor store had been having trouble getting noticed, Menner said, so he began contacting city officials about getting featured in Shop Chandler.

“We initially just explored it to see if it might reach customers in our market area,” he said. “We’ve been trying to get the word out about us.”

Jerry Bustamante, president and CEO of the Chandler Chamber of Commerce, said the city’s efforts could help attract additional businesses to Chandler.

“It sends a strong message to the business community that the local government cares,” he said.

Smith said it’s difficult to gauge exactly how much of an economic impact the local economic stimulus programs are having, but they do appear to be helping.

“It’s hard to tell right now because there are so many things happening in the economy,” Smith said.

Menner said he’s thankful for the city’s efforts.

“We need that kind of support,” he said. “It’s been working.”

For more information, go online to www.chandleraz.gov/shop.