Too many storefronts remain shuttered after decades of neglect. With the completion of the Main Street construction a few years ago, we need to turn our focus to the struggling businesses that call Main Street home.
We need to work with existing businesses to help them update their storefronts and bring in new customers. We also need to work with Main Street building owners who could house businesses and provide them with tools they need to fill those storefronts if they want to.
We need to build a city-wide action plan to encourage businesses to come to Gilbert and employ more people.
The City needs to create an economic development team that will recommend strategies for bringing in new businesses compatible with what we want Gilbert to become in 2030.
We need plans in place to determine what types of businesses would help Gilbert grow for the future. Then we need to go after them aggressively to bring them to town.
City services shouldn't be priced differently based solely on if it's business use or residential use. Wherever we have fees labeled as "residential" vs. "commercial" we need to consolidate them into a single price for use.
Businesses don't receive better or more water, sewer, electric and garbage services than residential customers, so why do we charge businesses more for them? Utility cost should be based only on the amount the services are used.
Gone are the days when businesses operate in only specific areas. There are plenty of home-based businesses and gig-economy jobs that don't play by the old rules.
We need to review all of our zoning ordinances to determine how we can encourage home-based businesses without negatively impacting neighborhoods.
If a hairstylist can get licensed by the state to operate an in-home studio, we should encourage it. If someone wants to operate an internet based-business from their home, we should welcome them into the business community.
Our laws need reconsider where a business can and cannot operate.
Gilbert brings thousands of tourists to town every summer. We need a coordinated plan to encourage visitors to spend money in Gilbert at our local businesses.
We need improved signage and wayfinding from our tourism lodging centers to help direct visitors to our bars, restaurants, attractions, etc.
We should also be working more closely with Iron Range Tourism to create Off-Road guides that both promote the City of Gilbert as a destination and that feature our business community.
As a member of the Laurentian Chamber of Commerce, I know the value of working together within the business community.
The City of Gilbert needs to build stronger relationships with the chamber of commerce and draw them in to discussions about the City's long-term business development strategy. The only way we will build a stronger business community is by going directly to the source.
We need to ask businesses what they need to locate or re-locate in Gilbert and then we need to support those needs.
In talking with several businesses on the Main Street, many of us agree that Gilbert is a city that you drive THROUGH, not TO.
In order for businesses to succeed, they need regular customer traffic from people who want to stop in Gilbert rather than simply driving through. Highway 37 (Main Street) and 135 need to be a structural part of getting people to spend time and money in the city. We have great infrastructure that brings people through our city. Now we need a plan that encourages them to stop (and shop).