As light-rail construction shakes up the valley, ASU business students are stepping in to keep small operations on track.
This summer, seven honors business students are working with the Center for the Advancement of Small Business to help valley businesses combat the effects of Valley Metro Light Rail construction.
Alex Hopson, a finance and supply chain management sophomore, said he and the other students are working with 35 small-business owners this summer to plan and develop strategies for dealing with the impact of light-rail construction along Phoenix streets.
"It's going to be kind of tough," Hopson said.
Nevertheless, Hopson said the program has been a good experience for him.
"I think this program gives you a lot of experience because you're working with real businesses," Hopson said. "It's real-world experience you don't get within the business school."
Ann Sondrol, a finance junior , said she has been working with various Phoenix businesses since spring 2004. Sondrol began her involvement with Honors Consulting, a business run and staffed by business honors students.
"[Businesses] do take Honors Consulting very seriously," Sondrol said. "We have the best and the brightest," she said of the students working for Honors Consulting.
"We go in and analyze a business in teams of two, and then submit analysis of the business in written form," she said.
Consulting with the business, creating the evaluation and writing the report is generally a seven-week process, Sondrol said.
"But time varies depending on the size of the business and the amount of research that needs to be done," she added.
Sondrol said the project has helped her develop analytical skills.
"It forces us to be extremely creative, and it helps our problem-solving skills," she said.
The project also teaches responsibility, Sondrol said. "You have to be very professional. You have to be accountable."
"It really polishes all the skills you've put together."
One of the businesses Sondrol has worked with is a card and gift store called Unique on Central. Sondrol described the business as a "resource center for the gay community."
"They have a bath line, greeting cards, basically anything a gay individual would be interested in," Sondrol said. "The biggest threat is the light-rail construction because this business relies so heavily on walk-in customers."
Unique on Central's owner, Doug Klinge, said during the utility relocation in front of his business, he experienced a drastic decrease in business.
"I'm right on the route," he said.
Klinge said Honors Consulting has made many suggestions that could benefit his business.
"One of the suggestions was to update my web catalog," Klinge said. "They felt my website was inadequate to what it could be," he added.
Klinge said he was working on plans to update his store's website.
"Everything else [they suggested] is in line with what I am doing," Klinge said.
Reach the reporter at emilia.arnold@asu.edu.
