Summer is in the air. Most students have gone home or have been shipped off to an internship. While the students account for about half of the population of Ames, when the students are gone, many of the businesses in Ames must depend on other ways of getting customers in the door. This year, the city of Ames has a lot of events coming into town to keep both the residents and businesses happy.

Ames has attracted a slew of major events this summer to help the economy of the city while the students are away. If the events were not coming to Ames, it could be assumed that many of the businesses in the area would suffer without students spending their dollars this summer. It is important for our beloved small businesses to not fall between the cracks while the students are away on break simply because the town itself does not have enough people to support them.  

This summer, Ames will host the Special Olympics, Odyssey of the Mind, the Iowa Games and other smaller events. The events — and the people and money that they will bring to Ames — can only help the local businesses and the economy of the city as a whole.

Locally-owned businesses are the ones that face the biggest problems from the lack of students. Campustown businesses depend strongly on the students for their customer base. Campustown during the school year is booming with students and bustling with bodies headed to the bars and restaurants. In the summer, you are lucky to see more than five people on Welch Avenue at the same time.

As a student in Ames during the summer, the dramatic decline in the number of people around is obvious. There are fewer cars in parking lots, shorter lines at restaurants and empty apartments all around town. All of these would be signs of difficult economic times, except the city of Ames has taken huge steps to combat a decline.

Ames is doing a great job bringing in events to help out the small businesses in its community. The Special Olympics — which will celebrate its 30th year on the ISU campus this week — is expected to bring around 2,700 athletes and an additional 3,000 volunteers to Ames over a three-day period.

The Special Olympics is followed up by the Odyssey of the Mind world finals next week. Two years ago, when Iowa State last hosted the world finals, more than 8,000 students came to Ames to compete.

The Iowa Games is hosted in Ames every year and brings families from all over the state to our city to cheer on friends and family members. This is a great economy boost for local hotels, restaurants and attractions such as parks.

Other minor events like the American Solar Challenge and the Ames sesquicentennial celebration will be this summer. Smaller events like these will surely draw even more people to the community.

We are happy to see that our community has a way to be supported when the students are away. The businesses mean a great deal to the students and it would be shame if they had to close down during the summer because they were not getting enough business. Ames, keep the attractions flowing and the money coming in — you’re doing a great job.