Tempe businesses persist through the pandemic despite economic hardships
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Tempe Business Advocacy in Action
The work that we’re doing has been recognized by our businesses for the advocacy that we do on their behalf at the local, state and federal level, to make sure that Tempe remains a great place to work with”
When the novel coronavirus spurred changes to day-to-day life, businesses had to adapt quickly in order to avoid falling under.
At the Tempe Chamber of Commerce, the team worked diligently to get its members the proper support needed to handle pandemic-related problems, according to Anne Gill, president and CEO of the chamber.
“We had to pivot quite quickly to make sure that our businesses [had] the resources they needed to help weather the pandemic,” she said of the early days of the pandemic.
The chamber’s web presence hosts a multitude of resources including a COVID-19-specific page, which contains a place for proprietors can find assistance for things like applying for grants as well as updates on business operations in the city.
For those working at the chamber during this time, the work they’ve accomplished has been challenging but simultaneously rewarding, officials there say.
“I have a wonderful team that’s doing everything that they can to help our businesses in the community,” Ms. Gill pointed out.
As a privately funded membership organization, the business-advocacy group relies on membership fees to continue operations. While many have seen a decline in business as a result of the coronavirus, the chamber has actually increased its memberships for this year in comparison to the previous.
“The work that we’re doing has been recognized by our businesses for the advocacy that we do on their behalf at the local, state and federal level, to make sure that Tempe remains a great place to work with,” Ms. Gill said.
Some of this work includes working with government officials to secure funding through the CARES Act for different members that the chamber works with.
In one instance, Ms. Gill described a manufacturer in need of federal assistance that decided to switch its line of production to produce personal protective equipment instead of its normal product.
“Working with Congressman Stanton’s office, we were able to get those dollars down to the manufacturer so that they can produce the much-needed PPE for our community,” she said.
While the chamber ultimately lost a few businesses, it was able to retain a lot of its members through the different types of aid that it provided.
A story of advocacy
Laura’s Gourmet Granola is a line of artisan granola sold online and at grocery chains such as Whole Foods, Safeway, and many others throughout Arizona and the country.
The business only recently joined the Tempe Chamber of Commerce last January, however, throughout the year, the business was able to benefit from the resources and support from the chamber, they say.
“I’ve belonged to many chambers in the past, and this is the only chamber I’ve ever renewed my membership at because it had that kind of value in the first year,” said Laura Briscoe, owner and founder of the business.
When the pandemic began to impact small businesses like hers, she initially struggled like many others to continue at the same rate of production.
“In March of 2020 when everything shut down, a very generous portion of our business also shut down significantly,” Ms. Briscoe said.
As a manufacturer, her business also supplies other businesses like restaurants and hotels with her product. With many hotels and restaurants shutting down early on in the pandemic, this is where her business suffered the most.
“While our retail has grown and our direct consumers has grown, it is not the same thing because of margins and everything else between food service and retail,” Ms. Briscoe said.
In order to continue supporting and operating her business, Ms. Briscoe hired a PR agency to market her products as well as applying for federal and state grants.
“We have [also] engaged with other manufacturers and created new flavors that can be integrated into their final product that would also become a retail product,” she said.
Recently, the business has shown some success with the release of these new and limited-edition flavors to attract new customers.
A resource at the Tempe Chamber was able to provide her business the opportunity to join the Business Owners Forum, where business leaders meet to discuss their experiences at each gathering.
“It’s been very beneficial for me to hear how some other companies and how other individuals are handling change that has been brought upon us all by COVID,” Ms. Briscoe said.
She also cited the chamber’s newsletter and city updates to be very helpful in navigating as a business owner throughout this time. Not all businesses, however, have been as successful despite resources that the chamber has organized.
An end sparks a new beginning
Special Moments Catering and Events, a long-time Tempe business and member of the chamber, was acquired early last year by another catering company in April after the previous owners retired following the onset of the virus.
Sue Carlisle, owner of Straight to the Plate Catering, and her husband bought Special Moments because of their longtime relationship with the owners.
“We really respected each other over the years,” Ms. Carlisle said. “So, they wanted us to purchase their company to take care of their clients.”
With most of their clientele being corporations or weddings, business slowed down considerably for both of the branches of Ms. Carlisle and her husband’s business.
“Our business overall has been down about 70% from the previous year,” Ms. Carlisle said.
Because the timing of the purchase coincided with the beginning of the pandemic, Ms. Carlisle has not been able to work with the chamber a lot. Luckily, Straight to the Plate has been able to keep its staff on and the “micro-events” that they have hosted continue to pay the bills.
In order to continue business operations, the company has changed what services they offer to cater smaller or micro-events, like intimate weddings for immediate family members. In December, around 20 events were catered by the business according to Ms. Carlisle.
“We’ve had to modify, and our clients really appreciate the extra effort that we’re doing,” she said.
At any event that their team caters, extra safety precautions have been put in place to ensure guests enjoy these gatherings with less risk of infection.
Along with increased sanitization measures, some precautions they’ve put in place include removing salt and pepper dispensers from tables along with serving individual meal boxes for some of their corporate clients to eliminate any cross contamination.
“We can still give them a very safe event while doing a great event at the same time,” Ms. Carlisle said.
For larger weddings, which are allowed according to safety guidelines, the company encourages their clients to implement a protocol so that guests can mingle comfortably.
Guests wear different colored bracelets that represent if they are okay with “hugging it out,” maintaining that standard six feet of distance or would rather not be approached at all by fellow event goers.
“It’s all about having guests feel safe so that they stay at the event and enjoy it,” Ms. Carlisle said.
In light of the news regarding COVID-19 vaccines beginning to be distributed, businesses remain hopeful for more success in the coming year. Ms. Carlisle however doesn’t think great improvement will come until September or October of this year.
“It’s going to take a while for corporations to come back and for the guests to go up again at weddings,” she said.
With some businesses just getting back on their feet and some having to permanently close, there is still uncertainty for small businesses like these. For Ms. Briscoe at Laura’s Gourmet Granola, although the team has been able to pivot to more success, she also believes it will be a while for businesses to fully recover.
“I’d like to see a bump in 2021, but I have a feeling that it’s going to take until 2022 to get the economy to start rolling like it was in the beginning of 2020,” Ms. Briscoe said.
Meet Caroline Caroline Yu joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2020 as a summer intern covering Scottsdale. As an intern, she continued her coverage of Scottsdale, Paradise Valley and Tempe. After graduating in 2022, Caroline became a full-time reporter for Scottsdale and Paradise Valley. She is currently reporting for the Tempe market.
Community: She is a supporter of the environment and tries to get involved with related community events.
Education: Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications, with a minor in French.
Random Fact: She used to be a ballet dancer for 10 years.
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