In November 2016, the Town of Camp Verde entered into an arrangement with Retail Strategies LLC, a consulting firm that aids municipalities in bringing businesses into their area.
Administrators in Camp Verde hoped that the completion of State Route 260 would lead to the creation of a new business corridor from increased traffic to other parts of the Verde Valley, and hoped to capitalize on the new construction.
So far, the town has spent $80,917.14 contracting with Retail Strategies.
At a work session on Jan. 9, Steve Ayers of the Camp Verde Economic Development Office informed the council that his office had “pulled the plug” on the partnership with the firm. He pointed to the fact that the representatives at Retail Strategies the town had originally cooperated with had left by February 2018, and that he felt the company has since been unresponsive.
He pointed specifically to conversations that Retail Strategies had had with Dunkin’ Donuts and Dutch Bros. regarding their interest in opening new locations in Camp Verde. Ayers said that discovering that both companies intend to open locations in Cottonwood was the last straw.
“Given all those factors, I just decided there was little likelihood we were going to see positive results out of this and I didn’t want to ride a dead horse to the finish line,” Ayers told the council. As of Tuesday, Jan. 15, the town’s partnership is over.
Ayers did tout some of the data provided by Retail Strategies as useful for the town’s economic development projects, even after the town canceled its partnership.
The Camp Verde Town Council accepted Ayers’ rationale for breaking off the partnership with Retail Strategies, but questioned what the town’s strategy would be going forward without them.
“If we spent $80,000 and didn’t get any retailers, you won’t hear any argument from me about pulling the plug on them,” Councilman Bill LeBeau said.
“We’ve got these vacant spaces in the shopping center down there. We’ve got vacant spaces on Main Street,” Councilman Joe Butner said.
“We need somebody out there beating the bushes and trying to bring businesses to Camp Verde and to [show] businesses what a great place Camp Verde is to raise your kids.”
Ayers brought up the idea of hiring headhunters on a case-by-case basis, rather than contracting a long-term partner like Retail Strategies, though he said that would probably be expensive. Butner suggested the possibility of elevating Ayers’ position to recruit companies directly himself, which Ayers said was possible, but would require some serious training and changes to his duties.
“I’m open to that. I’m a pretty decent salesman,” Ayers said.
“I think you probably are,” Butner said. “I have to listen to it on occasion.”
Butner also asked about the importance of easing regulations in the town to attract business, which Ayers insisted that the town had already been trying its best to do.
In Other News
Also at the meeting on Jan. 9, the council discussed possibilities for a new recycling setup, including discussing the pros and cons of various arrangements with private companies, the county or a public utility. The discussions remain ongoing.
The council also discussed the possibility of shifting responsibility for certain town events such as Ft. Verde Days, Spring Heritage Festival and Corn Fest away from Camp Verde promotions to a possible public board or city employees, though they did not make any final decisions.
Jon Hecht can be reached at 634-8551, or email jhecht@larsonnewspapers.com
