Member businesses of the Flagstaff Independent Business Alliance (FiBA) are emerging from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Steeped in and thoroughly integrated within the local community and region, FiBA members are seeing hopeful, positive signs of recovery and growth. A positive outlook also is reflected in their ongoing successes and flows from deep community roots, unique local characteristics and their areas of expertise.
“I’m still in business,” said Linton Real Estate Owner/Broker Susan Weitzman. “There were so many small real estate businesses that have folded.” Weitzman estimated roughly half of them went out of business during the recession. “We’re still going!” Part of the reason for this, she says, is specialized local knowledge of Flagstaff’s real estate market. “I know where all the pockets of private land are.”
Another factor in Linton Real Estate’s success lies in Weitzman’s decision a few years ago to go through the process of becoming an accredited professional in the internationally recognized Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building program. Since Weitzman specializes in commercial real estate and passed the rigorous LEED certification program, she implemented a plan to work with commercial building owners.
Linton also has thrived in its niche as a family-owned “boutique” business – a smaller, more intimate company. “We are a family-owned business and the people that work here – the core group – are still here, too,” said Weitzman. “I feel empowered to be able to be local. I’m happy to be an independent business.”
Across town, another FiBA member, Noah Stalvey, owner of the Allstate Insurance branch on Cedar Avenue, shared his experience with some of the local losses during the recent recession. “Unfortunately, we had a number of clients that lost their homes to foreclosure,” Stalvey said. “A lot of families had to move out of Flagstaff to where it was cheaper. But we’ve seen a lot of growth this past year and we’re seeing a greater range of activity this spring.”
Stalvey explained that his local experience and his role as an insurance broker, combined with the benefits of working with Allstate, give him access to “reach deep into the insurance world to find the right products for our clients.”
Stalvey also is keenly aware of what it takes to grow a business in Flagstaff and how that is completely different from working in the Phoenix market. “My number one growth strategy is to get involved in the community.” He says that includes being involved in groups like FiBA, being a member of the networking group Flagstaff Professionals and his close involvement in the non-profit Flagstaff Leadership Program. Stalvey also is involved in community service activities such as in taking the lead in Allstate’s XTHETEXT campaign. “Our agency reaches out into the local community,” Stalvey said. “We do a lot of things other insurance companies can’t do because they don’t have that local presence.”
Up on McMillan Mesa, the Northern Arizona Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology (NACET) saw tighter credit markets as a big obstacle for local and regional business during the recession. When NACET’s CEO/President Russ Yelton first moved to Flagstaff, he discovered there was no local revolving loan fund. That was motivation for Yelton and NACET to help start their own loan program for entrepreneurs. Yelton said for those startup businesses that qualify, “we can provide capital to clients when they need it. We just started this program late last year. We’re looking to make loans.”
Yelton also noted that there was significant positive news for local and regional business activity during the recession. “Between 2009 and 2011, NACET clients created over 200 jobs in Northern Arizona. Our clients raised over $70 million in capital.”
NACET also recently started the Native American Incubator Network with a USDA grant. The first nine Navajo and White Mountain Apache companies are benefiting from this NACET program that provides entrepreneurship services, including access to business mentors, counselors, trainings, lunchtime seminars and video conferencing that allows NACET counselors to provide direct counseling to tribal entrepreneurs creating businesses.
“We’re looking at regional economic development,” said Yelton. “It truly impacts all of us.” FBN
FiBA is a coalition of locally owned independent businesses and community members working together to develop the economic vitality of Flagstaff while enhancing and preserving its character. Visit www.flagstaffiba.com for more information.
Steele Wotkyns, a FiBA member, is the owner of the public relations firm WotkynsPRplus.