To the editor,

The City of Maricopa intends to proclaim at the Nov. 19 City Council meeting that Saturday, Nov. 30, is Small Business Saturday. They have asked that the Maricopa Chamber of Commerce accept the proclamation.

The Chamber of Commerce will not be present to accept that proclamation.

The mission of the Maricopa Chamber of Commerce is to advocate for and lead businesses in our community to success and prosperity. Our vision is to be a catalyst for economic prosperity, creating an environment where businesses can grow and thrive. We will foster collaboration between businesses, government and the community to make Maricopa a great place to live and work. The Chamber fully supports all events and efforts to grow and develop small businesses, and we encourage all members of our community to continue to shop and support locally owned businesses every day, not just those proclaimed.

A symbolic proclamation from the City of Maricopa to support small business one day a year is just that: symbolic. One is hard pressed to identify specific and measurable actions that the city has taken in the last year to support and grow small local businesses. The overall sentiment of small business owners is that the city is not pro small business. A few examples among many are listed below.

Three Member businesses have expressed that they will be soon expanding outside of the City of Maricopa (instead of in the City) or moving their business out of our community all together in the future. One such business is Lotus Evolutions, who after winning Best Skin Services Crème de la Copa 2024, said a sad goodbye to Maricopa and moved their operations to Scottsdale. The other two expressed this privately and will not be named.

Impressive Imaging, a Chamber Bronze Member who opened in Maricopa in 2008, formerly did the bulk of the printing for the City of Maricopa until four years ago. While the Maricopa Police Department still uses Impressive Imaging, no other department does.

The UPS Store, a locally owned business since 2005 and Chamber Bronze Member has never received any printing work from the City of Maricopa.

Water and Ice, a Maricopa Chamber of Commerce Silver Member and local business for over 20 years only delivers water to the Maricopa Fire/Medical Department. There is no other locally owned water delivery company in Maricopa.

The Maricopa Chamber of Commerce is not intending to berate or demean the City of Maricopa. We are very grateful for the opportunity to rent a beautiful City owned space for nearly two years. We appreciate City employees who support local business and serve on our committees. We are thrilled when members of the Council attend ribbon cutting events for new businesses.

We were honored to host Mayor Smith, Former Mayor Smith and Vice Mayor Liermann, Councilman Henry Wade and then-Vice Mayor Rich Vitiello at our most recent awards banquet. We are humbled that Liermann, Councilman Eric Goettl and Councilwoman AnnaMarie Knorr have all gifted scholarships for local small businesses to become members of the Chamber of Commerce. Councilman Manfredi’s own small business is a Platinum Member of the Chamber of Commerce. And we had a great deal of fun with Maricopa Fire/Medical and Maricopa Police Departments at Copa Paws and Claws.

These tangible contributions are very appreciated by not only the Chamber of Commerce, but local businesses as well. But they juxtapose starkly to City Manager Ben Bitter’s comment in a meeting with the Chamber of Commerce’s Executive Director: “If a business doesn’t like the way things are done in Maricopa, they can just leave.”

The Chamber of Commerce supports Small Business Saturday initiatives. Local business grows local business.

Maricopa Chamber of Commerce