I know what it feels like to be a few days away from payroll and wonder whether you can make it through another pay period.
Having been there. Failing in business and succeeding beyond my wildest dreams. Those experiences shape how I work with business owners every day and how I serve on the Maricopa City Council.
It matters to have people in office who have signed the front of a paycheck, not just the back. People who understand the responsibility of making payroll, paying rent, covering bills, and keeping a business moving when things do not go according to plan.
Too often, people in positions of power believe they know what businesses need without ever having faced that responsibility themselves. There is something you learn when employees and their families depend on the decisions you make.
I have 10 employees, many of whom live in Maricopa. Their paychecks help cover mortgages, rent, car payments, groceries, and the cost of raising children. That responsibility stays with me long after the workday ends.
Through my work at InMaricopa, I work with local businesses every day to help them reach customers, promote their services, and grow. I hear about their successes and their struggles, and I understand how much a slow month, an unexpected expense, or a delayed opening can affect a small business.
We need the people investing in Maricopa to succeed. I know what they are putting on the line.
Elected Office
That experience also guides my work as an elected official.
I supported eliminating Maricopa’s general business-license requirement, which ended January 1, 2019, while retaining licensing for regulated businesses. Removing an unnecessary requirement matters when you are the person spending time and money to comply with it. I also voted for the scallop ordinance adopted this year. It gives the city a way to build qualifying infrastructure and recover costs from the properties that benefit. That can help address an obstacle facing smaller projects: the upfront expense of improvements that also serve surrounding properties. These are practical decisions that can make investing in Maricopa more workable.
My support for transportation and infrastructure investment comes from that same perspective. SR 347, the Sonoran Desert Parkway, local roads, and alternate routes matter to businesses trying to receive deliveries, serve customers, and get employees to work. Reliable infrastructure helps employers consider Maricopa as a place to open, expand, and hire.
As a city, we need more commercial and light industrial space for local contractors, service companies, and growing small businesses. A business owner who is ready to move out of a home office or garage needs somewhere affordable to go.
Development
How we treat people going through the development process matters, too. Someone proposing a food truck court, a small shop, or a new workplace deserves clear answers, fair treatment, and a timely review. Unnecessary delays cost money. We should approach those conversations with a willingness to help people meet the requirements and move forward.
I bring that commitment to my own business by creating paid opportunities for teens and young adults. At InMaricopa, they gain experience in journalism, photography, advertising, marketing, and digital media. They learn to meet deadlines, work with customers, take responsibility, and produce work our community sees.
Those opportunities give young people a paycheck, practical experience, and a place to start. I want more employers to help young residents take that first step toward a career here in Maricopa.
We should also continue pursuing large major employers and preparing our industrial areas for investment. Recognizing the value of a business hiring a local employee, expanding its space, or opening a second location. Those decisions build our economy every day.
Residents deserve more local jobs, services, restaurants, stores, and medical providers. The Council’s responsibility is to help create the conditions that make those investments possible and to listen to the people doing the investing.
My focus will remain on better transportation access, space for growing businesses, fewer unnecessary barriers, and a city that welcomes people willing to take a chance on Maricopa.
The fear of wondering whether a business will survive is something I know firsthand as is the pride of seeing it succeed.
I want that success for everyone putting their money, time, and future into our city.
Vincent Manfredi owns InMaricopa and this is a letter written to the editor. You can view other opinions and letters here.
City of Maricopa: regulated business licenses
