Business View Civil and Municipal | Volume 3, Issue 3

70 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 3 USDA Rural Development, and the Arizona Commerce Authority, among others. “We also participate with our regional and State economic development partners in a seamless, comprehensive response network designed to provide local site, zoning, and utility information to large- and small-scale industrial prospects,” says Barkley, adding that the construction of a four-story hotel is also underway, in the city’s northern commercial area on I-40, which he suggests, “will serve as another visible sign of progress in our great city.” Using an application called Placer AI, Wirkebau has been gathering data about the number of people coming into the community of Winslow, and where they are spending time. This information is being gathered to help inform the city’s vision for the future. She shares, “We have something called an Entertainment District, which is really our Route 66, historic downtown five-block area, and for the last 12 months there were 839,000 visitors, which is huge for a tiny little town. You can see where these visitors are coming from, and though there are clusters, from Los Angeles or from Phoenix, they are coming from all over the world to come and stand on our corner for the Eagles, or drive Route 66, or just experience what the Old West looked like and felt like. It is absolutely incredible.” Noting that the average time for those visitors to stay in Winslow was 73 minutes, she admits that the city is an untapped opportunity for tourism, which is an area of focus for future growth. “We definitely have some attractions in our community that have been underleveraged for far too long. Route 66 is a very popular drive for not only American citizens but for people from all over the world. People know about Winslow, but when it comes to actually staying and understanding that there’s far more in the area to do and see and experience, that has never happened before.” Being selected as one of six rural communities