Ahead of the start of the 2022-23 fiscal year, The Times sat down with the Town’s Economic Development Director, Amanda Jacobs (AJ), to gauge her thoughts on the current economic conditions of the Town and chat about topics ranging from housing prices to COVID-19 recovery.

As many may not be familiar with your position, what are your responsibilities as economic development director?

AJ: I am responsible for business attraction and business retention. This includes partnering with the Chamber of Commerce and meeting with current business owners and asking them about their current business climate, what is going well and what are areas for improvement so that we retain them here in Fountain Hills. We want to understand sooner rather than later if there are growth plans to expand and make sure as a community, we can meet their needs.

I also work closely with Bo [Larsen] on marketing through social media marketing, brochures, print advertising – making sure we’re putting Fountain Hills on the map. Our department is also responsible for tourism, as we serve as the designated marketing organization (DMO) for the town.

What is your sense on how Fountain Hills is recovering from COVID-19?

AJ: The Town is recovering well from COVID-19 with growth in bed and sales tax. In FY21, the Town budgeted $13 million for transaction privilege tax (TPT) and the actual was $16 million. Next year, the Town is estimating the TPT at $17.4 million. Additionally, the sales tax in FY20 was $9.1 million and the budget estimate for FY23 is $14.4 million.

The increase in the transaction privilege tax is a good indicator that we are recovering as people are either making more business investments or seeing new businesses around town, but it also indicates that our residents and visitors who come here are actually spending more money.

It is common to see empty storefronts in town. What is your take on what might cause this and what might prevent this in the future?

AJ: It is common in the current post-pandemic environment for municipalities to see some empty storefronts. However, Fountain Hills is starting to rebound, as evident in the growth we are seeing in TPT.

Some of the storefronts in Fountain Hills could be a change in ownership, a change in broker, a location not actively being marketed or an opportunity to reimagine the site. I am beginning to meet with developers and brokers to build a relationship and determine the best way the Town can assist in marketing the available store fronts and continue to work with regional and state economic development agencies.

With rental and housing prices where they are, it can be difficult to entice individuals, couples and young families to live in Fountain Hills. What can be done to ease high rental/housing prices?

AJ: The Town does not have control over rent/housing prices. While the nation is seeing higher rental/housing prices, Fountain Hills has not been negatively impacted. For example, The Havenly at Fountain Hills has an occupancy rate of 52% and a lease rate of 76.19%. Park Place at Fountain Hills has an occupancy rate of 94% and Luna at Fountain Hills has an occupancy rate of 93%.

This shows that one, we are doing well as a community, and two, as we start getting some more data, it helps support us as we look for other opportunities to build mixed use or multifamily or single-family residential.

You were previously the economic development manager and strategic initiatives manager for the Town of Oro Valley. Are there any comparisons you see between there and Fountain Hills?

AJ: I worked in Oro Valley for 19 years and saw some of the same struggles of being a small community looking for opportunities to grow.

At one point in Oro Valley, we were known as a bedroom community, but through growth, changes in policy and leadership, we started to see more businesses, workforce and retail. We started to see a shift in the demographics and become more oriented towards families.

The level of interest and involvement from the citizens is the same, which is good.

What are your thoughts on joining forces with Arizona Small Business Association and what it means for local business owners?

AJ: The Arizona Small Business Association (ASBA) is committed more than ever to driving a better business environment by ensuring their members have the tools, resources and competitive intelligence needed to move forward and thrive in 2022, which is why they created a Community Give Back program. The Town of Fountain Hills' investment in the program directly supports the small business community and helps ensure future economic prosperity.

In the time that you have been here, is there anything that stands out that you feel needs to be done?

AJ: In the few months I’ve been here, I think there are opportunities in what some folks call our town center. If you look off of Parkview Drive, there are vacancies. And not just vacant storefronts but vacant land. I think there’s an opportunity for the Town to work with property owners, developers and brokers to reimagine the area, invest and put together schematics to get more mixed-use concepts where we're seeing the success of what Park Place has done.

Is there anything else you’d like the community to know?

AJ: The community has just been so warm and embracing. People have said to me, “If you need anything, if you need our support, give me a call,” and so I appreciate that. It’s good to know that there’s an openness.

If anyone wants to have a conversation, I am always open. I have enjoyed getting out there meeting with businesses, the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, the Chamber and both the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation and Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community – to learn and be open to the ideas that the community needs and to share best practices. It goes a long way to be able to have those conversations early.