Business is good in Palmer

To the editor:

As the owner of a downtown business, it bothers me when people say that Palmer isn’t friendly to business, that the city doesn’t do enough to support business, or that Palmer isn’t a good place to do business. I’m here to tell you that Palmer is a thriving place for small and large businesses, and the city continues to improve its relationships with local businesses.

There was some fallout from last summer’s road construction, even though the city of Palmer did everything it could to repair the damage quickly and got everything put back together in just over 150 days.

Now, a year later, the scene is brighter. Several merchants have expanded into a larger facilities. Valley Locksmith has moved back to Palmer after several years on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway. Hot Hot Chocolate Shoppe, in the Downtown Palmer Plaza, sells the best hand-made chocolates you’ve ever eaten, and has already had to hire additional staff to keep up with demand.

Alaska Cell Repair and Accessories opened its doors in the plaza as well and is very busy fixing all our cell phone mishaps. Rusty’s on Dahlia Street, a new restaurant in the Dahlia Street Market, has been open for a little over a month. Half Moon Creek has moved to our community after years in Anchorage, and is a wonderful addition to Downtown Palmer.

Sidekicks and the Stamp Cache, two great local businesses in the Koslosky Center, just celebrated anniversaries. NonEssentials has moved to a new location in the center of town, right where they belong. We’ve got a new video store, expanded and upgraded tanning salon, and a new preschool. We’ll soon have a new deli adding another great dining option in downtown. My own business, Cover Ups, has doubled its sales from last year already, and we’re still going with expanded products and two great new workers, too.

Palmer does a lot to support local business. The city’s job is to provide the infrastructure we need so we can do business. We have clean and safe streets, good sidewalks and walking paths, great police and fire protection, and a well-maintained community. But they go a lot further, by supporting the visitors center and its showpiece gardens, joining with downtown businesses and the chamber of commerce in creating walking maps and other marketing to bring people to Palmer, and making sure that our community is clean and beautiful.

One city council member, Kevin Brown, has taken that commitment to local business a step further by creating a free local newspaper, the Palmer Community News, as a way to help local businesses and not-for-profits tell the world “a relentlessly positive and cheerful story about Palmer.” He donates his time and money to make the project a success because when he saw the impact road construction and the economy had on our local businesses he knew that the best way to bring in more business was to let us tell our positive stories. It’s the most effective advertising I’ve ever found.

I love Palmer. It’s beautiful here, the people are friendly and supportive, and we all feel like we are part of a community that cares. When people go around saying that Palmer doesn’t support its businesses or that Palmer is a bad place for businesses to invest, they hurt us all. Come on down to downtown Palmer. You’ll see that small business is alive and well, and that this really is “Alaska at its Best!”

Teresa Roy

Cover Ups

Palmer