Best spot for a 2nd business location? (Tucson, Yuma: real estate, new home)

[mr penguin]

So it's May and still not warm in Michigan. The older I get the more it bugs me. Maybe just getting grumpy but c'mon! So I have a small manufacturing business that employs 6 other people besides myself. We ship to every state and all of the Provinces. Lots of business in Arizona and California as well as the Pacific Northwest, etc. I take a week in Florida every April and it's like heaven. I toyed with the idea of a winter home there but it doesnt make much sense. I think Arizona would be a more logical choice to open a second plant/warehouse. I could offer faster and cheaper shipping to my west coast customers and be able to enjoy a little nice weather in the winter. I see a few wrinkles to the idea but lots more good than bad. So the question is: where? I grew up in a city of 250,000 and moved to a community of 25,000 30 years ago. It is a MUCH nicer place to be....stable economy, university (steady stream of fresh ideas), closer friends and a safer place to be. So where in AZ would I want to be to duplicate the size of the town, college student help, friendly business climate and decent real estate prices? Am I dreaming?

[Bummer]

Interesting request and requirements, Mr Penguin.

After considering many locations around Arizona and the surrounding areas when I was searching for a "new home" about ten years ago, I chose Tucson and have never regretted my choice.

"Absolute perfect" is tough, if not impossible, to find and my needs are not the same as yours, however, I have a feeling the Tucson area will prove to be the best choice overall.

Good Luck

[observer53]

Well, you want to be near I-10. If western metro Phx is just too big for you. Tucson is certainly an option, as it's smaller than Phx and has the college student employee base, even though it's further from CA.

[LordBalfor]

Originally Posted by mr penguin

So it's May and still not warm in Michigan. The older I get the more it bugs me. Maybe just getting grumpy but c'mon! So I have a small manufacturing business that employs 6 other people besides myself. We ship to every state and all of the Provinces. Lots of business in Arizona and California as well as the Pacific Northwest, etc. I take a week in Florida every April and it's like heaven. I toyed with the idea of a winter home there but it doesnt make much sense. I think Arizona would be a more logical choice to open a second plant/warehouse. I could offer faster and cheaper shipping to my west coast customers and be able to enjoy a little nice weather in the winter. I see a few wrinkles to the idea but lots more good than bad. So the question is: where? I grew up in a city of 250,000 and moved to a community of 25,000 30 years ago. It is a MUCH nicer place to be....stable economy, university (steady stream of fresh ideas), closer friends and a safer place to be. So where in AZ would I want to be to duplicate the size of the town, college student help, friendly business climate and decent real estate prices? Am I dreaming?

I have no idea about the business climate - but if you are looking for nice winter weather (ie don't really want "winter") then Southern Arizona is the logical option. Since you sound like you want to avoid the large metro areas that definitely leaves out Phoeniz and it's suburbs - and quite probably Tucson as well.

So, looking for a college town in Southern Arizona leaves you with:

Yuma
Cooldge
Sierra Vista
Douglas

I left off the list:
Benson
Willcox
Both those towns apparently have a Cochise College campus but I KNOW that the Benson campus is pretty small and I suspect the same can be said of Willcox - however, both should have SOME student labor available, and in the case of Benson, there are mostly likely college student who commute to the larger Cochise College branch in Sierra Vista.

So, assuming my assumption that you don't want any real weather is correct, those are the places I'd start investigating.

If you can handle a some degree of winter then your option broaden out to several other towns and cities in central & northern Arizona, but for "no winter" (or almost "no winter") I believe those are you choices.

Ken

PS -

List of Arizona colleges and universities:

http://u101.com/colleges/Arizona/

[Finger Laker]

i'd be hard pressed to call any of those 4 cities "college towns"

[Havasu]

Not a College town but take a look at Lake Havasu. My Home (http://www.newtohavasu.net/ - broken link)

[azdr0710]

if you have the capital and energy to make a move like you mention, this could be a great time to do it, as commercial property is certainly available now, not to mention residential for yourself.....and lots of people looking for a job....

you may be happy with Tucson despite its larger-than-requested size....been here for 28 years and it still seems hometown-ish to me....as another here said, access to transcontinental I-10 is a big plus and the main line RR goes thru here, too....there is no real place here, though, that meets ALL your requests.....Flagstaff is close, but no place for a snowbird like you!!

[LordBalfor]

Originally Posted by Finger Laker

i'd be hard pressed to call any of those 4 cities "college towns"

That's probably true. I was merely suggesting them because they do have college kids available as a labor force - not because they have a "college town" atmosphere.

Ken

[Finger Laker]

right on

a place that doesn't have the college workforce, but could be an interesting option is wickenburg - close enough to phoenix and the highway network to keep transportation moving - far enough removed to not have the big city issues

or maybe even kingman

[observer53]

Havasu is too far off the interstate system in either direction; Kingman would be a better option overall between those two.