14 Sept. 1 - 14, 2007
Business
www.SanTanSun.com
Economy from Page 1
National woes can hit home
bit. Certainly the housing market is.” back and reexamine all of that and reestimate where
A bit of good news is that the most recent Blue Chip
Jackson agrees with McLaren that a slowdown in we’re going to end up by the end of the fi scal year.
Job Growth Update, published in August by Arizona
the housing market could cause a ripple effect for We’re very careful about not overspending and we’re
State University, shows Arizona second among all
Chandler businesses. also careful that if we do see trends like we’re seeing
states and the Phoenix area second among all major
“I think there’s always an economic downturn now, that we estimate a lower amount for the coming
metros for year-over-year job growth.
somewhere in some industry. You know, we had such year so that we spend less. We never want to end up
The bad news is that the area’s growth is not as
a peak with the housing market and the opportunity in a situation where we’re negative or have to cut any
strong as last year, leaving the economy at risk. In
for people to get in as fi rst-time homebuyers was programs.”
addition, states like Ohio and Michigan are losing a
really strong. Now it’s unfortunate that the market
large number of jobs, particularly in Michigan’s auto
has turned and people have to walk away from homes.
Natalie Morris is a freelance writer and lives with her husband
and their two sons in Cooper Commons. She can be reached at
sector.
When people have to do that, there could be some
Natalie@SanTanSun.com.
“We have other parts of the nation that could pull us
suffering going on with our local businesses, because
into an overall national recession. We have a housing
people don’t have as much excess cash to spend.”
market that has stopped being so gleeful, shall we
say, in terms of buying,” McLaren states. “That’s a
Wise planning pays
problem because not only do you have building of
Jackson believes local businesses can learn from
houses, you have mortgages and all of the services that
the importance Chandler has placed on diversifying
go along with building and selling houses. That hasn’t
its business base, an approach that can help sustain
RedBrick fi re roasts
hurt us, per se, but it has made us more vulnerable to
a local economy – or an individual business – when
gourmet pizzas
any other shock that could come along. We’re doing
times are tough.
well in the Valley, but it’s fragile.”
“If 80 percent of your income comes from one The RedBrick Neighborhood Pizza Café, open under
Chandler business leaders
or two vendors, then you’re going to struggle in
new management at Alma School and Queen Creek roads
in the Las Tiendas Shopping Center, specializes in fi re-
remain optimistic, yet realistic
the downtimes, so you need to make sure that you
roasted gourmet pizza.
about the local economy.
diversify where your revenue comes from,” says “What makes the pizza unique is the RedBrick (Italian
“If you just drive around
Jackson. “Businesses need to look out into the future
for terra cotta) oven that sears in fl avors by fi re-roasting
Chandler and see all of the
to where they want to be in three years, fi ve years, 10
each pizza at over 1,000 degrees,” says J.J. Bhakta,
operations director of RedBrick Pizza in Arizona. “We can
construction going on and
years and make sure that they put practices in place
serve up a fresh, fi re-roasted gourmet pizza in about six
buildings going up, you can see
to help sustain themselves in times when the market
minutes.”
that our economy has really
is down, so that they do have reserves and they have
Bhakta points out that only fresh ingredients are
used, including pure virgin olive oil, lean meats, crisp
thrived over the last several
diverse vendors or clients.”
vegetables, spices and Qualitá Superiore cheeses. An
years,” says Becky Jackson,
With economic conditions uncertain and sales eclectic choice of toppings is available at the Café’s
president and chief executive
tax revenues slowing, the City of Chandler is already
Express Pizza Bar, allowing patrons to design their own
Becky Jackson,
pizza with help from a friendly pizza ambassador. Also
officer of the Chandler
Chandler Chamber of
looking to the future.
Commerce
served are hand-tossed salads, the Fhazani -- a fi re-
Chamber of Commerce. “I
“In Chandler, at least, we always try to be relatively roasted gourmet sandwich -- and Italian gelato dessert.
think generally the growth in our economy in Chandler
conservative in our estimates so that we’re not
Open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., call 480-782-9900 or
is strong, but there are areas that are struggling a little
surprised,” says Grafstrom. “Come January, we go
visit
www.redbrickpizza.com.
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