City council, Chamber board brainstorm on business in Maricopa

If perception is reality, then the city of Maricopa would like to change the perception about doing business in Maricopa.

The city of Maricopa City Council and the Maricopa Chamber of Commerce board held a joint session on Wednesday night to iron out some issues, voice their opinions on the future of business in Maricopa and do some general brainstorming.

“It was nice to hear that we are both doing some similar things to bring businesses to Maricopa, but we would like to try not to duplicate effort, and, hopefully, this meeting will go a long way to eliminate the duplication of efforts,” said council member Carl Diedrich.

One of the major points that came out of the discussion, according to Diedrich, is that the city of Maricopa is perceived by businesses as being difficult to work with.

“If we are perceived as being difficult to work with, then that is one thing that can scare potential business away from the city,” Diedrich said. Diedrich added that the city needs to change that image, and one way they can do so is to work with the Chamber to get better information out to the business community.

Mark Molus, president of the Chamber, said the event was a good forum to discuss the two entities’ visions for growth in the city and to brainstorm what can be done to improve the community.

It was also recommended that the joint sessions between the two bodies meet twice a year, and that the Chamber give a quarterly presentation at city council meetings on the state of businesses in Maricopa.

The next joint session between the two groups will not be until January.

Photos by Scott Bartle