North end launches own
chamber
By Shanna Hogan
East Valley Tribune
December 6, 2006
In recent years, north Scottsdale’s residential
growth has fueled a booming business market as
shopping malls, stores and restaurants all sprung
up to accommodate the new crop of residents.
To serve the area’s expanding business
community, a group of north Scottsdale business
owners recently formed the city’s second
chamber of commerce, which focuses on businesses
northeast of the intersection of Shea and Tatum
boulevards.
“North Scottsdale area is growing
a lot faster than some people anticipated,” said Lisa
Kaiser a real-estate agent and treasurer of the group. “There’s
so much growth in that direction that I think it’s almost
become its own little community up there.”
The North Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce is set to officially
launch next month. Although the chamber doesn’t yet have
a physical address, it has already taken in more than 60 charter
members.
“A lot of people are very excited about this,” said
president Don Rice, an individual health benefit broker. “We
knew there was a need for this.”
In the past 15 years, population in the city north of Shea has
tripled to 125,527 and large-scale projects including Desert
Ridge and the Kierland Commons, have emerged.
Besides convenience, grocery and drug stores, many luxury shops
also have surfaced catering to the expensive tastes and incomes
of northern residents.
The average income of a north Scottsdale resident is $99,567 — nearly
twice the south’s $55,125, according to the 2000 U.S. Census.
“To be a specialty shop in this day and age, you have to
have a customer base with the income that is willing to come
into your shop and not always pay the lowest price,” said
Jeff Davis, owner of Epicurean Wine Bottles and Bar near Thunderbird
and Scottsdale roads. “For us, as a wine bar, we have to
be located in a place that is surrounded by upper incomes.”
Officials from the new chamber say they don’t plan to compete
with the venerable Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce, and are
just offering additional networking opportunities and educational
seminars.
Inaugural memberships cost $200 a year.
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