5th Annual Veterans Day Parade at Chaffee Crossing sees 400% growth from year one

Randy DeCanter came to Chaffee Crossing in Fort Smith on Nov. 12 for a typical Saturday at the office, but paused to contact Lorie Robertson of the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority (FCRA) when he saw his street was blocked.

The day coincided with Chaffee Crossing’s 5th Annual Veterans Day Parade, which FCRA helps to organize, and traffic had picked up considerably from the previous year. Robertson and other FCRA staff were able to help clear a path, so DeCanter could open his furniture store. That’s when business picked up. By the end of the day, DeCanter said he had sold $15,000 in merchandise.

When DeCanter shared that story with board members, FCRA Executive Director Ivy Owen began pondering the economic impact of the 80-minute parade to area businesses and the Chaffee Crossing development as a whole.

Beyond the anecdotal, the impact could prove significant, Owen said in recent comments to Talk Business & Politics. Looking at the numbers, participation has increased “exponentially” since 2011 (year one), hitting 1,200 after a participant total of 300 initially – 400% growth. Meanwhile, total spectators started at “no more than 1,000” in the first year, Owen added. This year, the number has almost tripled. From last year alone, the numbers have grown by about 50%.

When asked if FCRA has looked at doing an official economic impact study for the parade, Owen said, “No, but we’re going to.”

“I think this year, hearing news from the furniture store like we heard, there is a direct impact it’s going to have through sales,” Owen said. “But there’s an indirect impact that I want to calculate as well, which is, over the coming year, how many land sales have we made based on people being out here for the parade that wouldn’t normally come, or what about people wanting to move out here that normally wouldn’t have thought about it? That’s what I want to start calculating.”

Compiling the information will be the challenge, requiring phone calls and interviews to private businesses, who may or may not wish to participate as well as surveying land/property buyers at the time of purchase to see what impact the parade might have on their decision to relocate to Chaffee Crossing. The FCRA might also be able to inquire of the city of Fort Smith and Barling regarding any sales tax collections for that day.

“It would take some time,” Owen acknowledged. “It’s going to be hard to track. It’s a nebulous number when you start doing it that way, but I think we’re going to do that this coming year.”

FCRA REAL ESTATE ACTIVITY
At the FCRA board’s meeting on Thursday, Nov. 17, there were $202,620 in land and property sales approved with an additional $50,000 if the interested party accepts the Real Estate Review Committee’s counteroffer from the original $40,000 request. Additionally, the Board agreed to buy back 12.3 acres from Southpointe Assembly of God Church at the original purchase price of $125,000 after the church decided not to build at the site located across from Ben Geren Park.