Carrie WattersThe Arizona RepublicJan. 29, 2008 12:00 AM
Glendale has spent seven years surprising the Valley with ambitious plays that culminate on Sunday with one of the most high-octane events of all: Super Bowl XLII.
But the city that grew a sports Mecca from cotton fields wants more than a Super Bowl ring.
Glendale, which lags similar-sized Valley cities in jobs and has a smaller sales-tax base, aspires to become a regional employment hub.
The city enjoys a prime location in a Valley sprawling westward, but sports have been a major catalyst to its rapid development.
When Super Bowl XLII winds down, city leaders hope to have created a national brandfor the city and have their pockets bulging with business leads.
"We are going to every single event we know of except the game itself," said Brian Friedman, Glendale's economic development director.
Around the country, development experts and leaders in other Super Bowl host cities, offered insights on Glendale's strategy.
When the Super Bowl came to Jacksonville, Fla. in 2005 Jerry Mallot was vice president of economic development for the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce.
"The Super Bowl will be one of the most important marketing opportunities Glendale will have," Mallot said.
A growing Jacksonville, Fla., landed 3,612 new jobs a year before the game, the chamber reports. That jumped to 4,449 in 2006 and tapered back to 3,129 new jobs in 2007, according to the chamber.
Companies don't move to a city because of a football game, but adding Super Bowl host to a city's resume bolsters people's confidence, Mallot said.
"It put us on a stage we weren't on," he said. More here.
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