{"id":64,"date":"2013-09-12T01:06:22","date_gmt":"2013-09-12T01:06:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/reports.cityofsandy.com\/economicdevelopment\/?p=64"},"modified":"2013-09-12T01:06:22","modified_gmt":"2013-09-12T01:06:22","slug":"economic-development-%e2%80%93-monthly-report-%e2%80%93-august-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reports.cityofsandy.com\/economicdevelopment\/2013\/09\/12\/economic-development-%e2%80%93-monthly-report-%e2%80%93-august-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"Economic Development \u2013 Monthly Report \u2013 August 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

Commercial Properties (vacancies, new businesses, etc.):\u00a0 <\/strong>After the <\/strong>Council meeting in which the owner of Bunsenbrewers aired his concerns about the building inspection and permitting process, the city manager and I discussed the situation in one of our regular one-on-ones.\u00a0 As a result of that situation, Seth has instructed me to design a new section for the Business section of the City website entitled \u201cHow to Open a Business in Sandy\u201d, and to make it as all-inclusive as possible.\u00a0 In it, I will discuss the following at minimum: doing your due diligence prior to finding a location (business plan, sample budget, business legal forms (do I want to be an LLC, C corporation, S corporation, etc?) where to get advice on how to do these things, etc.) business types (service, retail, office, restaurant\/bar\/brewery, etc.), the city permitting process (including average costs for each type of permit), SDCs (what they are, why we have them, when we charge them , average charges for certain business types, etc.), county requirements (health inspections \u2013 why? what types of businesses need them?), what\u2019s involved in a change of use\/occupancy, and a whole new section on the I-2 zone, i.e. what you can put there, what you can\u2019t, and what you can but really shouldn\u2019t put there.<\/p>\n

If you as council members have ideas about additional topics you think might be of use to an aspiring small business owner, please don\u2019t hesitate to add your $0.02 (I will be adding a separate inbox for suggestions from Lois, Carl, and Bill to handle the excess volume).\u00a0 However, this is going to be a major upgrade to the Business section of the website and I want to make absolutely sure that I don\u2019t put out any erroneous information.\u00a0 Your patience with regard to this project is most appreciated.<\/p>\n

Bunsenbrewers:<\/span>\u00a0 The saga continues\u2026.after the incident at the City Council meeting, Seth and I met to discuss what we can do as a city to mitigate this issue (see above).\u00a0 Part of the problem seems to be that the owner of this business had no idea of the costs associated with a change of use.\u00a0 Just because we now allow some commercial usage of light industrial sites doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that doing so will be cost effective.\u00a0 Buildings in the I-2 zone were designed for industrial usage, and to convert them to commercial usage (especially where it concerns kitchens) is not cheap, as Mr. Hanson is learning.\u00a0 I will continue to work with him and the Building\/Planning Depts. to see if we can get through this process.<\/p>\n

Buddha Kat Winery<\/span>:\u00a0 We celebrated BK\u2019s 1 year anniversary with a ribbon cutting on August 21st<\/sup>, and it was a positive event all around.\u00a0 We toasted the Wasson Bros. and publicly thanked them for the 3 decades of wine, and then officially welcomed our new winery owners to town with a ribbon cutting photo op.\u00a0 They had the event catered (by Chariteas, I think), both sisters were behind the bar, and the winemaker had cask tastings and a primer on winemaking out on their production floor.\u00a0 The event was very well attended (40+?) by Chamber members and citizens alike, and the mayor looked particularly dapper in a suit and tie (who knew?)<\/p>\n

Verizon Wireless store:<\/span> \u00a0The ribbon cutting for their grand re-opening in their remodeled space went very well.\u00a0 Store management was very impressed that the mayor took the time to show up.\u00a0 Also, as we were prepping for this event earlier we had discussed upgrading them to fiber as their current internet connection (Frontier) is horrible.\u00a0 I took the opportunity after speaking with SandyNet staff to send them a proposal, and they are very interested.\u00a0 They are currently discussing this opportunity at their corporate offices, but preliminary indications are that they are going to try to get out of their current contract and go with SandyNet Fiber.\u00a0 (5 year contract @ $250\/month = $15,000 in revenue to SandyNet!!!)<\/em><\/p>\n

Ox & Marley<\/span>: \u00a0We celebrated the grand opening of this fabulous new store with a ribbon-cutting and refreshments during the September First Friday.\u00a0 The store is easily the best interior decorating job of any retail space in town, and opening night customers raved about it.\u00a0 Their prices are also very reasonable \u2013 particularly when considering the furniture they are selling (I have some experience with antique furniture, and their prices are awesome \u2013 but they assure me they are making a healthy profit despite the prices!)\u00a0 Checked in with both owners the following week, and found that they made quite a bit of money on their opening night and have been doing better than projected since. \u00a0They are operating on restricted hours at the moment (11-6 Wed-Sun, I believe), but plan to expand those hours as they start to become more established.\u00a0 A fantastic start to a future Sandy landmark!<\/p>\n

The Buzz at Bakers<\/span>:\u00a0 A ribbon-cutting\/grand opening at their new location is scheduled for the 25th<\/sup> of September, but they have been fully operational now for a month, and so far, so good. \u00a0Preliminary reports indicate that they have lost a few customers and gained a few as well, so thus far their bottom line has remained about the same.\u00a0 However, now that they have better visibility (visible from both directions on 26, better signage, Starbucks\/BiMart traffic in their parking lot, etc.), I would bet that their volume will slowly increase in the coming year.<\/p>\n

Iris Healing Arts<\/span>:\u00a0 Heather Mich\u00e9t recently lost her subletee \u2013 Dina Yerex moved into her own space over in Cyndi McCool\u2019s building \u2013 and is currently searching for another.\u00a0 Although Heather really likes her current space, there are some issues with it (antiquated heating system, windows with dry-rot and broken panes, etc.)\u00a0 I also have it on good authority that the owner of the Beer Den would love to take over that space for expansion purposes.\u00a0 I will talk with Heather this month about her search for a new subletee, and see if she might be interested in relocating if the search is not fruitful.<\/p>\n

Great Expressions<\/span>:\u00a0 Sadly, I have learned through my secret sources that this coffee shop will be closing within the next 1-2 months.\u00a0 Considering their location, I fear it was inevitable, but I truly feel bad for these folks, as they are exceptionally nice people.\u00a0 Once this store closes, there will be 5 vacant properties in Mr. Picking\u2019s complex \u2013 the other 4 having been vacant since well before I joined the staff here 2 years ago.<\/p>\n

Public Information:<\/strong><\/p>\n