Summer construction has businesses worried

(Park Record) Complaints about road construction can be a self-fulfilling prophecy for businesses, says Vic Saunders, spokesman for the Ogden region of the Utah Department of Transportation.

That's a message Park City officials plan to echo at a marketing meeting April 21 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. that Bonanza Drive business owners are encouraged to attend at the Park City Marriott on Sidewinder Drive.

Starting in mid-June, Bonanza Drive will undergo a major renovation through November. Many fear sales will sink during the an already tough economy.

A few months ago major construction began on Layton's Main Street in Davis County. Saunders and a marketing professional led an information campaign to get merchants to stay positive and talk their clients into coming anyway. If that didn't work, they encouraged owners to "think outside the box" in how they operate or promote themselves.

Matt Cassel, Park City city engineer, said a similar strategy is needed to help businesses along Bonanza Drive overcome the obstacles the work will create.

Saunders said feedback is positive in Layton that the strategy has helped.

"If you could encase it into one phrase, it would be, 'Be Positive.' Construction makes things bad and hard, but when you say it to customers they believe it," Saunders explained. "Forget about the construction. Build up great reasons people should still patronize you."

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