High interest rates impact local businesses

CHUBBUCK, Idaho (KIFI) - One of our local communities has been welcoming a few new businesses, but many more want to come but can’t.

The reason is soaring interest rates that keep loans for building out of reach.

Chubbuck is a great location for any business looking to lay down roots, and with a beautiful new city center and positive changes happening all around, it’s no wonder new businesses are choosing to call Chubbuck home. 

"We love it. The community here is top notch, bar none, and I think we have and I'm biased, but I think we have one of the best communities especially for small business," Idaho Coffee Company owner Diedra Terrell said.

And growth in Chubbuck is booming, especially for new businesses.

Part of Chubbucks appeal is that it is ideally located right here at the crossroads of two major interstates, one north to south and one east to west.  

They also offer a business-friendly regulatory environment and are proactively reinventing their neighborhoods, streets and ordinances to help business owners get their piece of the American dream.

But right now, what Chubbuck and most cities across the state can’t offer is a way for new businesses to afford a start-up loan.

"There are a lot of people who are expressing interest in our area, and as we have conversations with them it’s not a matter of if they are coming, it’s when" Chubbuck Mayor Kevin England said. "And the big thing that seems to be pulling people away right at this time is the interest rates it’s just really hard to go out and borrow the kind of money they would need to have to come in and build in our area."

Mayor England says that is stopping businesses that were once ready to build dead in their tracks. 

"As these individuals and groups have come into my office and talked to me, the very first thing I told them is the city itself is not going to be able to fund those projects. But I can’t go collect more taxes, that’s the bottom line," he said.

So Chubbuck is now trying to help businesses get that funding in other ways including community partnerships like those that helped build Lookout Point and pay for the renovations at Holt Arena. 

"That’s the reason I’m so positive about it. These are not brand new ideas for our area, but this is the first time that people have come together and recognized that if it’s going to happen it’s going to take an outside funding source."

Mayor England says he is confident these streets will soon be filled with even more commerce. 

"We hope probably within the next four to six months we are going to have some pretty neat things that we are going to be able to talk about."