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As serious golfers, fans and event staff descend on Polk City this week for the Allianz Championship, business owners in the quiet community are eager to see if the additional exposure helps spur new business development.
When the Arnold Palmer-designed Tournament Club of Iowa course opened almost two years ago, housing development followed, but new businesses have been slower to materialize.
"With the Tournament Club coming in we had high expectations with other new things coming in, a grocery store being one but none of it has really happened," said Ryan Hemmer, the store manager of Papa's Pizzeria, located on Polk City's town square.
Dave Curtis, president of the Polk City Chamber of Commerce, said the town is closing in on reaching a "critical mass" of residents to attract the attention of new businesses. The official 2000 census head count put Polk City's population at 2,344. Now it's estimated to be around 3,000. The City Council has approved a special...