This week The Times is asking the Town Council candidates to address tourism and business development.

The question is as follows: Tourism and business development seem to compete for attention and dollars as key to Fountain Hills’ future economy. Do you believe one should take priority over the other, or do you subscribe to a balanced approach? Should there be a different priority in economic development policy? Should the town continue to partially fund the Chamber’s operations?

Nick Deporter: “Our town economy relies almost solely on sales tax dollars to fund the town needs. Sales tax is generated by our residents spending their hard earned dollars at our businesses, as well as from tourists and visitors.

“I believe there needs to be a balanced approach of tourism promotion and new business development to sustain the town.

“Our economic development priorities should focus on two main areas: First, we need to build a business reputation.   What do we want to be known for? We should look to cluster economic development efforts in growing areas such as biomedical, solar, and other industries to diversify our economy. Secondly, we should aggressively pursue making the downtown vision plan a reality.

“Tourism is vital to the town’s economy. These efforts together will help our existing business, attract visitors and assist in expanding our tax base to fund vital community needs such as public safety and roads.

“The Chamber of Commerce works diligently in the area of economic development on behalf of the town. FH has a single person dedicated to the economic development efforts and this is a job that will take many hands to make a timely and sustainable effort. Everyone must be committed to economic development every day if we are to be successful.

“As a council member I will work with our leaders and partners to create strategies and execute plans that will make us a regional leader in business and attract people to spend time and money here.”

Cassie Hansen: “Tourism and business development should not compete but complement each other balancing dollars to achieve their common goals.

“Economic development includes promoting, retaining and relocating businesses….this requires people through the door to purchase goods and services. Tourism is a tool to attract visitors, market our community, and showcase our regional amenities to entice people to discover the reasons we all moved here.

“Increased spending in our community generated from visitors promotes the vitality of local business.  A healthy, vital business community makes it easier to attract new businesses. New businesses attract more people who support existing businesses and give tourism more attractions to tout.

“While economic development efforts collect data needed for potential businesses to evaluate relocating to Fountain Hills, identify target markets and reach out to new business partners, tourism identifies and markets our amenities to emphasize the positives about being part of our community….it’s a reciprocal partnership of resources.

“A prime example of this partnership is the recent procurement of the 21st American Trails International Trails Symposium scheduled for April 14-17, 2013. This three day conference will bring hundreds of visitors from all over the country to discover Fountain Hills and Fort McDowell.  Fountain Hills is already appearing on the American Trails website.

“In 2010, this event generated an estimated $1.8 million for the community of Chattanooga.  This event is the direct result of the partnership and efforts of our Tourism Bureau, Fort McDowell, Arizona State Parks, Mesa and Scottsdale and is a great opportunity for our community to shine.”

Mary Nickum: “I believe that tourism and business development should go hand-in-hand for attention and dollars. Basically, we can’t and shouldn’t focus on one to the exclusion of the other. Tourism brings needed dollars from outside the community, but business development is needed to attract tourists and to encourage them to stay longer than the 15 minutes needed to view the Fountain.

“I see this as an intricate balance in which business/economic development provides a long-term, stable base for the town’s economy, while tourism provides excitement and the additional revenue needed to make Fountain Hills an even more desirable place to live and work.

“To the extent that the Chamber of Commerce performs specific functions and projects that benefit the community, the Chamber can be funded by contracts on a project-by-project basis. The expected actions and benefits to be provided by the Chamber need to be spelled out in these contracts and the Town must provide appropriate oversight to ensure that the desired results are obtained.”

Nancy Ordowski: “While fiscally linked in some ways, the two issues are often collapsed together. Tourism is just one facet of business development; inversely, business development is one facet of tourism.  Addressed separately, it may be easier to distinguish.

“Regarding business development, the seemingly endless requirements and fees for registrations, licenses, signage, and other limitations are among the core issues stunting business development in Fountain Hills. In some cases it can take two years before a business can open.

“Regarding tourism, I think you must ask the right questions before you get the right answers.  For example, how much money does the Chamber and town generate from the two art fairs? What are the expenses to promote the fairs? How much money does the town give to the Chamber for tourism? What other events could we support together to bring tourists to our community? If the Town government were to get out of the way of businesses, would the businesses be willing to strongly promote Fountain Hills?

“We have a home walk, a business expo; maybe we need to have a “walk through town businesses.” This would give visitors and residents an opportunity to see and experience businesses up close. The atmosphere of a business, plus education of their products, encourages spending. Different sections of town could be opened up each month for a business walk.

“Instead of new businesses paying fees to support the art in town, maybe some of those monies should be used to promote Fountain Hills and tourism.”

Cecil Yates: “Part of the lure of Fountain Hills is the fact that it is a resort destination as well as a beautiful town for its residents. Tourism is essential for the vitality of the town’s economic base, as well as another facet of things to do and see while living here.

“Right now, the priority should be both. We need extensive economic and development activity all around the town; the Shea corridor, the Avenue of the Fountains and all the pockets of commercial space need targeted attention.

“Tourism can be accomplished right here, right now! Most business organizations budget 3 percent to 6 percent of gross revenue towards marketing and advertising. Fountain Hills is budgeting less than 1/2 of 1 percent.  I’m not saying we should now budget $300,000, but I am saying we need to look more closely at what we invest, and the return we need.

“By contracting with the Chamber, as citizens, we get the best of both worlds - a professional marketing group with our best interests at heart because they all have a vested interest in the success of Fountain Hills.

“I look forward to helping strengthen the Town’s partnership with the Chamber on tourism. Together, we can come up with a triple AAA plan to market the town, bring in the desperately needed tourism dollars and objectively measure its success by mapping a comprehensive plan.

“Fountain Hills is open for business.”

Dennis Brown: “Tourism and business development both compete for the town’s dollars, and they are equally important. Tourism brings people to town; hopefully they will do some shopping and eat in our restaurants. Many of our citizens were first tourists, coming to Fountain Hills for any of many reasons and ending up moving here, with some opening businesses, as Judy and I have done.

“Business development is also a necessary focus of town finances. With my enthusiastic support, the town recently helped business development by investing in a public/private partnership with the local Jump-Start Business Incubator. This business incubator is even more exciting because the Chamber is also on the supporting team. Business development should work this way, with all the players working together for the betterment of our town.

“We should also pursue other economic development strategies, to bring in more jobs so people can live, work and play in Fountain Hills. Nearly three out of four Fountain Hills residents who work outside their homes leave town for their jobs.

“We need to recruit new businesses that will thrive here. We have many vacant commercial spaces and lots available (including the Avenue of the Fountains). We should attract medical, education, retail and clean industries that will build our employment base.

“Both tourism and business development are important for the town’s sustainability. As our economy grows stronger, I want to help the town find new and better avenues to support both tourism and business development.”

Dennis Contino: “Tourism is very important to the economy of Fountain Hills. There are not enough people year round to support our business community, so they rely on tourists to supplement their sales. That in turn helps residents as well because the more sales tax revenue that our businesses generate, the less taxes our residents have to pay.

“The Chamber of Commerce has always done a good job promoting tourism. They work through the Visitors Bureau with the Fort McDowell tribe, the town, and our business community. They do our marketing, maintain an attractive website, and promote the town. The chamber also generates over $500,000 in sales tax money for the town from the two fairs they run each year.

“Economic development goes hand-in-hand with tourism. Finishing the downtown will create an entertainment hub that will give tourists more to do after they have visited the Fountain and some of our other attractions, such as the museum and the art collection. They will be able to spend time in the downtown, shopping and eating in our restaurants.

“Downtown development will also benefit our residents because sales tax revenues will climb, more goods and services will be available right here in town and the new development will provide more jobs for our residents.”

Linda Kavanagh: “Tourism and business development do not compete for funds because they are complimentary parts of the town’s economic development effort. When tourism increases, town businesses prosper, sales and bed tax revenues increase and everyone benefits.

“The key to budgeting town economic development dollars is to spend the right amount on each activity and to spend it wisely. While we do spend tourism funds wisely, we need to work on how we spend business development money.

“Rather than reprioritize the town’s economic development activities, I would add a new ingredient – making Fountain Hills an attractive place to locate a business. Fountain Hills has too many unnecessary regulations and a reputation for being unfriendly to businesses. We need to change that.

“Regarding Chamber funding, the town does not fund the Chamber of Commerce’s operations. In fact, because the Chamber’s two annual fairs bring into the town over $500,000 in sales tax revenue, it is more accurate to say that the Chamber funds the town.

“The reality is that the town contributes $103,000 to a dedicated tourism fund that the chamber administers through the Visitors Bureau at no cost to the town. That tourism fund is supplemented by casino money. These funds are then spent to promote tourism based on decisions made by a committee consisting of representatives from the town, the Fort McDowell community, the chamber and our business community. It is an efficient, collaborative and successful process that I would continue.”

Richard Rutkowski: “I believe in a balanced approach to tourism and business development. Both have contributed to the town’s growth and character. Both remain important to the vitality and future success of Fountain Hills.

“We first visited Fountain Hills during a family vacation in the 1990s. That first impression led to return visits, purchase of land, home construction, moving here, and having other relatives follow. To this day, driving into Fountain Hills from Scottsdale and seeing Four Peaks, the mountain panorama, homes on the hillsides, and the fountain remind me of the beauty of this place.

“We should capitalize on Fountain Hills’ natural beauty, our unique assets (like the Fountain), the small town atmosphere, our Fort McDowell neighbor, and proximity to Scottsdale and Phoenix (cities with widespread name recognition and attractions, including spring training, Phoenix Open, automobile auctions, and equestrian events). Tourists financially benefit local business and the town, and may eventually become new residents.

“Business success is critical to the success, prosperity, and survival of the town. Sales tax provides the major revenue source for town services. Local businesses provide income for business owners and employees, helping our local economy. Local business provides convenience to residents – the ability to walk or drive down the street and avoid spending time and money, fighting traffic and crowds driving to Scottsdale or Mesa.

“ We must: 1] facilitate existing businesses by acknowledging their concerns, streamlining licensing, and limiting unnecessary rules and restrictions; 2] actively promote Fountain Hills to new businesses as a great, business-friendly place.”

Henry Leger: “Business development and tourism are important to a thriving economy. To that end, the right balance for funding each of these areas will be dependent on availability of town revenue and the state of our local economy.

“I believe our priority at this time is to expand our current economic policy by developing a comprehensive ‘Economic Vitality Plan.’ The plan should focus on a strategy for job creation across the following sectors: professional, technical and scientific services; and job expansion in healthcare, finance and insurance.

“It should also address business retention and the branding and leveraging of Fountain Hills’ assets to promote tourism. As your council representative, I am committed to bringing a revised ‘Economic Vitality Plan’ to fruition through my involvement in the Business Advisory Committee.

“Tourism plays a key role in the success of our future economy, supporting businesses and our local economy. That being the case, I believe it is important for the town to continue to engage in public/private partnerships to promote tourism.

“Contracting with the Chamber for this service makes sense for two fundamental reasons: 1) The town does not have an in-house tourism department. 2) It is more cost effective to contract out this service than to build these capabilities.

“Finally, I will continue to work on important projects, including the responsible development of the town’s annexed property and the implementation of our ‘Downtown Vision Plan.’ Both of these initiatives will bring additional amenities to our community and contribute to our financial sustainably.”