Chamber injects vitality into business community

The Chamber of Commerce reinforced its business vitality plan with the town and Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation to energize the current and future business base.

The concept focuses on preserving the community’s “sense of place” in ways that support the needs of residents and guests. Visitors come to Fountain Hills for many of the same reasons residents choose to live there: the beauty of the Sonoran Desert, the proximity to recreational offerings and a rich heritage that combines Native American and Southwest cultures.

The Chamber’s goal is to improve the vitality of existing assets and guide regional development that enhances these assets for everyone’s enjoyment.

Organized as a non-profit corporation with approximately 15 members in 1974, the Chamber is the voice of business, supported by a diverse membership of nearly 600 businesses, professional, civic and educational leaders.

The Chamber provides services that principals hope will enable members to increase their business. Among these benefits are the monthly breakfast meetings that provide networking opportunities, monthly social mixers, also for networking, and a member services Web site.

A list of Chamber of Commerce members is reproduced in this Community Guide. The Chamber’s Web site carries a directory of members divided into categories to make finding a product or service easier.

The Chamber recently marked significant events:

• Set an attendance record of 213,000 at the three-day Great Fair in February 2007. Organizers attributed the unusually warm weather and ascension of hot air balloons for bringing out crowds.

• Hosted “Business Showcase” that spotlighted 63 businesses and 7 restaurants or supermarkets to acquaint town residents with the array of businesses and services. An estimated 4,000 attended the four-hour event in October 2006.

• Sponsored the second year of Business Excellence workshops to provide individuals with practical knowledge on business planning, marketing, sales and customer service, people management, cash flow and performance measurement.

• Published new visitors guide showcasing art and sculpture around town and a second map/brochure listing shopping, dining and service businesses with Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation.

• Upgraded the Web site with “Happenings in the Hills”, an online calendar and message board of community interest.

• Generated a marketing and advertising campaign after Phoenix Magazine chose Fountain Hills the Best Place to Live in the May 2006 issue. The town slipped to second place in the May 2007 edition.

The two Chamber-sponsored art festivals in November and February bring a whirlwind of people and provide a major boost to the economy. The Pony Express Days expanded into a week-long “Western Days in the Hills” celebration.  St. Patrick’s Day festivities also grew in size and scope. Community events, such as the largest Thanksgiving Day parade west of the Mississippi, Parada de Los Cerros; Stroll in the Glow on the Avenue of the Fountains, and the lighting of holiday luminaries, provide annual gatherings for locals and visitors.

Selection of Business Person of the Year Sami Jack, Chamber Advocate of the Year Linda Kavanagh and Not-for-Profit of the Year, River of Time Museum, created an extra-special celebration in January.

Mark McDermott of McDermott and Associates became board chair in December. With his 30-plus years experience in the tourism industry, his focus is directed to the business vitality plan that preserves the community’s “sense of place” in ways that support the needs of residents and visitors.

Vice chairman is Francesca Carcozza of Image Weavers. Dwight Johnson of Four Peaks Community Church is secretary. Treasurer is Joe Skehen, representing VFW Post 7507.

A 15-member volunteer board of directors governs the Chamber. Its effectiveness is entirely dependent on member support and involvement. Directors serve for three-year terms, with five members elected each year.

As immediate past chairman, Linda Femiano, owner of Well Dressed Walkers and Wheel Chairs, serves on the board as a non-voting member for one year. Other directors are: Karl Boettcher, Desert Canyon Golf Club; Tom Garrett, McMurry Inc.; Jeremy Hall, MCO Properties; Sami Jack, Sami Fine Jewelry & Unique Gifts; Linda Kavanagh, FH Historical Society; David Rosenbaum, Radisson Fort McDowell Resort; Sherry Sledge, Bodyworks for Perfect Health; Doug Schmidt, Legacy Asset Management; Art Tolis, Saguaro Blossom Mortgage; Michael Tyler, Anchor Business Consulting LLC; Judi Yates, Yates Gallery, and ex-officio members, Rand Hubbell, McDowell Mountain Regional Park, and Mayor Wally Nichols.

Frank Ferrara was appointed executive director/CEO by the board in October 1998. His title was changed to president/CEO, and Ferrara serves as a non-voting member of the board.

The Chamber staff as of May 2007 consists of Ferrara; Sharon Morgan, events producer; Judy Tekesky, office manager; Jean Yanish, data base administrator; Eleanor Bentson, Visitors Center manager; and Diane Cudzilo and Karen Goodwin,  receptionists.

The Chamber office is located at the corner of Palisades Boulevard and Verde River Drive. Prominent is a visitors’ center where local, area and state tourism brochures promote an array of tourist activities, lodging and dining options.

More information about the Chamber is available by calling (480) 837-1654 or visiting the Web site, www.fountainhillschamber.com.

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Fountain Hills - Unique, vital
By Mark McDermott, Chair, Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors

Unique Sense of Place

Fountain Hills is a community in a unique position. It is part of a major metropolitan area, but on the outskirts, and nestled in the scenic elevations that its name Fountain “Hills” actually understates. It should have probably been named something like Fountain Vistas because the views from here are just that – spectacular vistas.

The town also is unique in the way it is bordered – a bit by Scottsdale, and substantially by public lands - and by Tribal lands. Fountain Hills is what in environmental circles is becoming commonly referred to as a “gateway community” – a community that serves as an entry into a protected natural environment.

In this day and age of shrinking open spaces, this makes Fountain Hills very special, and increasingly distinctive as a place. As the gateway to the McDowell Mountain Preserve and Regional Park, as well as to the Verde River Basin and the Tonto National Forest, we need to think ahead to what that means. Our gateway status to one of the few remaining expanses of pristine southwestern natural environment is an opportunity to work with folks seeking the ever-more-unique experience of it.

Perhaps most exceptionally, Fountain Hills shares that special gateway status with a contiguous community that is a sovereign tribal nation – the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation. The combination of all the elements of this geographical and cultural uniqueness creates a very special place indeed. It is a place that combines the awesome Sonoran Desert environment and scenic beauty with a notable heritage and culture indigenous to the Southwest, and a built environment which features an iconic fountain which is one of the tallest in the world, first class attractions in the form of premier golf courses, celebrated resorts, old west adventures, notable public art, arts festivals, acclaimed performing arts, and even casino gaming.

All these features of this place we call home – that give it its unique “sense of place” - are a combination of what make up Fountain Hills and the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation. The Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce is the organization that works to enhance the level of vitality of the businesses of these two communities while, above all, striving to enhance the quality of life of the communities’ residents while sustaining that unique sense of place.

Business Vitality Plan

During the past two years the Chamber has embarked on a new approach to its mission as an organization. Under its revised mission statement, “Stimulating business vitality and enhancing quality of life,” the Chamber has adopted a Business Vitality Plan that seeks to accomplish this mission. The plan is the result of situation analysis, stakeholder input sessions, collaborative process and strategic planning principles that set the direction for the initiative which has now been under way for some 18 months.

The plan takes a “creative economy” approach to business development that basically says, “place is paramount.” The primary goal of the approach is to take this “sense of place” business plan to attract and develop businesses that serve the needs of residents first, but also cater to visitors. It is an approach that reverses the paradigm of traditional “more is better” volume visitation for commercial gain tourism, to an approach that says we can utilize visitor patronage to provide the means for us to develop our community the way we as residents want to see it developed – preserving our sense of place.

The plan has three key goal tracks: (1) Marketing existing product; (2) Desirable, “place-based” product development; and (3) Civic engagement and outstanding customer service. These goal tracks have committees working on each of them, and they are designed to blend efficiently with the adopted strategic plan of the Town.

Perhaps most importantly the Chamber’s Business Vitality Plan is a true “collaborative process.” The advisory committee for the plan consists of Town-elected and administrative leadership; Chamber-elected and staff leadership; Tribal leadership; cultural community leadership; public lands representatives; and representation of the residents in general.

As the Business Vitality Plan evolves, its effectiveness will be evidenced in what happens with new commercial and public developments in town, how the community’s image is projected out into the region and in targeted market areas, how businesses in town thrive and are enhanced by the addition of new businesses; and how revenues generated by resident and visitor spending translate in to employment and tax revenues.

In the final analysis, the true success of the Business Vitality Plan and its collaborators will be measured by {the level of enhancement of} the quality of life enjoyed here by all of us.

Support your Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce. It is working for all of us – stimulating business vitality to enhance our quality of life.

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Visitors Bureau refocusing closer to home

Fountain Hills-Fort McDowell Visitors Bureau is pulling in its reach to go after a regional market rather than the national push it sought a year ago.

Mark McDermott, consulting director for the bureau, said the focus will be on events and activities for the coming year. In the past, marketing the area as a destination was the focus.

“The town is in a new process, and we are part of the process of refocusing and highlighting the events and activities that people enjoy here,” McDermott said.

He said the bureau will feature links to McDowell Mountain Regional Park, the Preserve and the cultural history and heritage of the area. The Fort McDowell Yavapai Community is developing a cultural heritage tour through Fort McDowell Adventures. Golf, cultural heritage and the natural environment will be promoted.

McDermott said Internet marketing will be “ramped up,” and analyzed for what visitors are looking for in the communities.

The bureau, a division of the Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce, also is joining seven other destination markets in the Valley to participate in a customer service class.

“This course will be available to front line personnel who can take this certification program, learning how to provide excellent customer service,” McDermott said. “The program was started in Kansas City and is now in Tucson. Phoenix is starting it now.”

The Visitors Bureau will be focusing on the development side of a 13-acre project on the south side of Avenue of the Fountains. The project was in escrow at press time, but McDermott said the bureau and the chamber’s business vitality initiative are a major part of the planning.

He said economic development is on the bureau’s table to attract visitors, as well as to attract corporations to locate or relocate to the communities.

“We are looking at a higher level of economic development,” McDermott said. “By creating a partnership between tourism and the town, we can go forward with a lot of exciting plans.”

The Visitors Bureau continues to draw funding from a variety of sources including the Town of Fountain Hills, Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, the State of Arizona Department of Tourism as well as Fountain Hills Chamber.

An advisory committee oversees the Visitors Bureau. Karl Boettcher, general manager of Desert Canyon Golf Club is committee chair, and Rick Cibik of Fort McDowell Adventures is vice chair.

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