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Superior By the Number
Since 2009, Superior has seen many changes in the community. Some might call them little changes. Others may have chimed in that some changes have been uncomfortable or unexpected. A few have called them growing pains. But one thing is for certain – Superior has changed quite a bit since 2009.
Some of these changes, “Superior by the Numbers,” were shared with the community during a meeting at the Superior Chamber of Commerce last week.
Since 2009, there are now two Arizona Office of Tourism Visitor Centers. The town went from one bank to two. The local VFW post only hosted four events in 2009 but not host 10 community events. They also increased post membership from 62 to 84 members. In 2009, there were only 18 businesses on Main St. Today there are 25 businesses and the Chamber of Commerce grew from 20 members in 2009 to 125 members.
Attendance at local events have also increased. In 2009, there were 65 hikers for the Legends of Superior Trails Event and, in 2016, there were 250. Apache Leap Mining Festival attendance grew from 600 to 2,800 and the Home Tour grew from 634 attendees to 2,030. Since 2009, 1.5 million pounds of trash has been removed through community clean up days. The catchy tune of “Something Big” by Shawn Mendes played as photos of this progress celebrated these many changes in the community.
The planing project began last year when Resolution Copper and the Superior Chamber of Commerce entered into an agreement begin strategizing a plan that the Chamber could use to attract and retain additional business to the community and diversify the local economy. As the Resolution Copper project has evolved over the years, the company has stressed the importance to local and regional leaders to develop a diversified and stable economy.
The Chamber selected a core group of business and community leaders to develop a request for proposal and determine a scope of work to hire economic development consultants. The Business Attraction Retention (BAR) committee worked diligently for several months developing the RPF and scope of work with the support of Karen LaFrance. After weeks of interviews with various consultants, the Chamber hired three economic professional groups to lead and research the plan. The consultants that were hired were to conduct the study were Ioanna Morfessis with IO Inc, Kimber Lanning & Karalea Cox from Local First Arizona and Juliana Brutsche from AZ Culture. Originally the BAR committee expected that they would hire one consulting firm to conduct the study and develop a starting plan. However, after interviewing several firms ,it was determined that in order to get a well rounded strategy they would need a variety of experiences and approaches for the planning. The chamber hired their top three choices.
Ioanna Morfessis from IO Inc was hired to conduct the community SWOT analysis. She presented her analysis in December which she gathered by talking with local leaders, business leaders in the community and throughout the state, and former residents of Superior. The SWOT analysis set the foundation for the overall plan.
Local First Arizona consultants Kimber Lanning and Karalea Cox set out to determine where there is economic leakage in the community, what businesses and services are needed in the area and how can the Chamber and other local organizations help to promote the community and help local businesses to grow and work together more.
Julianna Brutsche from AZ Culture has helped to identify beatification and art projects that are needed which could help Superior to develop the local economy with peacemaking and public art.
The outcomes of the research and potential next steps were shared in a public meeting last week. Kimber Lanning and Karalea Cox presented several areas where the community coming together and shopping local can improve the economy. Other suggestions included marketing the town more though social media, cleaning up blighted areas and planning for leadership succession in community organizations. One of the concerning things that the consultants found is that despite the local beauty or recent successes, community members maintain a negative perception of the community as a whole and often young people are not being encouraged to return or stay in the community. They stressed the importance of involving young residents in the planning for the community and encouraging them to get involved with the local committees. Much of the recent successes in the community have come to be through many hours of volunteer work. The consultants stressed the importance of training and encouraging new volunteers to get involved in the various community groups that make up Superior’s community.
The meeting closed with the request that everyone in attendance sign up for a committee to help with the next phases of the plan.
The committees are Art & Culture, Blight, Business Attraction & Economic Growth, and Marketing. If you were not able to attend the meeting but would like to learn more about the BAR or the subcommittees, please contact the Superior Chamber of Commerce at 520-689-0200. You can watch the “Something Big Is Happening in Superior” video online at http://bit.ly/1rVteTp.
Mila Besich is a resident of Superior with two children. She volunteers for many local organizations. She is an experienced fundraiser and event planner for Copper Corridor Economic Development Coalition. She covers some of the area town councils and schools.
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