Chamber director tells Safford council every city dollar returned $427 in value

Vance Spry, executive director of the Graham County Chamber of Commerce, told the Safford City Council the chamber’s 2024 work leveraged the city’s $160,000 annual investment into what he described as $1.29 million in community value.

Spry said the chamber calculated a $427 return for every dollar the city invested, citing a mix of event sponsorships, digital marketing and business retention efforts. “For every dollar that the city of Safford invested we returned $427 in value,” he said during the council meeting.

Spry reviewed specific initiatives the chamber led in 2024, including a tourism package marketed with Mount Graham Golf Club, digital advertising using Placer AI foot‑traffic data, and major events such as Salsa Fest and the Safford Spring Festival. He said the chamber recoups costs through private sponsorships and by leveraging in‑kind services such as the chamber building.

Councilors asked about outreach to neighboring towns and how the chamber measured results. Spry said the chamber has contracts or contributions from surrounding jurisdictions (Thatcher, Pima, Graham County and others) and that digital metrics and sponsorship commitments help demonstrate return on investment. He offered to report back with detailed digital‑marketing metrics.

Why it matters: The presentation framed the chamber contract as a regional economic development tool that the city funds to attract visitors and sponsorships to downtown events. Council members signaled interest in continued partnership and metrics tracking.

Next steps: Spry said the chamber will provide follow‑up reports and metrics; council did not take a formal vote on the presentation.