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Tempe welcoming new businesses in downturn

By:Salvador Rodriguez

Published On:Wednesday, October 14, 2009

The city of Tempe’s efforts to maintain its identity have continued to create new businesses during the recession, a city official said.

Kris Baxter, marketing specialist for Tempe, said the city tries to encourage growth as much as it can through programs that help new businesses get started.

“It’s been the consistency and continuing to give [businesses] the things they need that’s made the difference, whether that’s helping them find a location or helping them find the programs and services that they need,” she said.

City officials listen to businesses and follow through with what they need, Baxter said, and this has worked well through the recession because the city had this attitude even before it began.

The city of Tempe has helped businesses by removing obstacles to opening, giving them advice on possible locations as well as promoting the new businesses once they move in.

“It hasn’t been a short-term thing,” she said. “This has been consistently working with people for a very long time building a program that works. This isn’t just something that happened overnight.”

Baxter said it’s important for new businesses to continue opening in Tempe because it’s the city’s goal to maintain its strong identity.

“When you come to Tempe, you know what you’re going to see — you know the kind of feeling that you’re going to get when you come here,” she said. “It’s really been important for us to continue to work toward our community goals of being a forward-thinking community and a creative community, a community where there’s a really great active vibe.”

But even though various new businesses have continued opening in Tempe, Baxter said businesses have also closed.

“It doesn’t mean that we are recession-proof,” she said. “It just means that we are making some strides in the right direction even through all this, but it is a very good sign that we have brand-new businesses opening.”

Brand manager Kurt Riske of Smashburger, a restaurant located on South College Avenue that opened on Oct. 7, said the city of Tempe was helpful while he was in the process of opening.

“They were very good, very cooperative and excited to have us coming into town,” he said. “They were easy to work with.”

Riske said he and his business have been well incorporated into Tempe’s community.

“We were able to get the mayor out to smash the first burger,” he said. “They really put their foot forward in making everything simple and really making us feel a part of the community.”

Riske said Tempe is a really great city to start a business because students, family and friends all over the Valley help tell each other about new businesses in the city.

“Anytime you can put a location, especially being your first, right into a spot where you have 60,000 students that are from all different walks of life, different areas in the Valley and different states, it’s just a really good place to be as far as getting the brand out,” he said.

Engineering senior Derek Harris — who said Smashburger is a nice addition to Tempe — said it’s good Tempe is inviting to new businesses, but that’s part of its job.

“They kind of have that obligation,” Harris said. “In order to succeed as a city, you need to be looking out for the businesses within in your city.”

Harris said even though more and more people are enrolling in online classes, which could potentially hurt the way college towns work in the future, enrollment at ASU is up again and students have necessities that need to be filled.

“People still need to eat, people need to have places to shop, people need to buy food places,” he said, “so as long as there’s people here, there’s going to be businesses and money-making opportunities.”

Reach the reporter at salvador.rodriguez@asu.edu