Last week, the Winslow Chamber of Commerce hosted its monthly networking event, Good Morning Winslow. The presenter was Economic Development Director Una Wirkebau.
Wirkebau shared with community members the results of a month long SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) survey conducted online and in person. The survey, answered by over 200 Winslow residents offered insight into what the City needs.
She explained, “Some of the strengths pointed out in the survey were our hospital services, community college, I-40 access, location and access to outdoor activities. However, when it comes to weaknesses, lack of housing and jobs were at the top of the list along with the overall appearance of the town which includes blight, weeds, the rubbish and not having a plan on how we are going to tackle those challenges.”
She also mentioned that a lack of shopping options were listed among weaknesses. According to Wirkebau’s survey, Winslow residents are leaving town for shopping, whether to Flagstaff or larger cities several times a month. The main reasons were to shop for home improvement needs, to visit restaurants and bars and grocery options. Over 25% of Winslow residents go to Flagstaff once a week for these things.
The opportunities referenced in the survey answers included increasing tourism. Wirkebau said, “We are dead center, the epicenter, of a vast amount of outdoor recreational activities which we are not leveraging. That is a huge opportunity. We also have the opportunity for entrepreneurial projects and our low cost of living is also a great opportunity. The Valley, which is what you refer to the Phoenix area as, is becoming very ineffective for living situations. Flagstaff is out of control. Here, comparatively, is a much lower cost. That, again, is a great asset along with our location and lower tax rates.”
She then revealed the results of the threats portion of the survey. She said, “Drugs and lack of facilities and policy related to drugs are a threat. So is our aging infrastructure and our flood zone. These are definite threats, and conversations are already taking place to address these. Another issue is our permitting. It is clunky and it takes too long. This is something we want to address in the very near future.”
The desire for public art and improvement of parks and other outdoor recreation options also made the list of wants and needs for Winslow.
Wirkebau said, “When asked about arts and culture in our community, overall, the answers included the need to have large paintings on the sides of our buildings, having a cultural arts center, arts camps for children and having art related events.”
Wirkebau continued, “For the most part this survey was very positive. We do have issues we need to face.”
Winslow business owner Dan Simmons had a question following Wirkebau’s presentation. He asked, “Have you had any success at all on working toward housing?”
To which she responded, “Yes. I have been speaking to various entities who are looking to partner with rural communities. We have also had conversations with a modular company who is looking to bring their business to Winslow. They are looking to do a site visit in January.”
She continued, “Also, people are interested it seems, in rent to own programs, or low interest loan rates. That should be something we could look in to. Having more housing options here will keep more of our money here in our own community.”
Wirkebau also intends on implementing a downtown task force. She explained, “We really want to bring together a group of people who have an interest in the historic corridor of our community to talk about what we can do better. We would like to talk about what we can do better like supporting our businesses and tourists and how we can get more people to spend more money in our town. If you are interested in that, please contact me on the Why Not Winslow Facebook page.”
Good Morning Winslow is held at 7 a.m. on the first Wednesday of each month in the Hubbell Building, located at 523 W. Second St. with the next one occurring on Jan. 5.
