Local Businesses Already Making Money On “Coachella”
The Coachella music festival takes over the desert this Friday for Week 1. The 3-day concert brings thousands of people to our valley as well as millions of dollars into our local economy.
While festival-goers likely won’t arrive until the end of the week, some local businesses are already seeing some big numbers. Hundreds of guests fly in to the valley for the festival, which comes as welcome news to Tradition Aviation in Thermal. “We’re extremely busy,” said Ann Goodwyn, the Director of Operations. “No, I really can’t give you any names but a lot of the people, a lot of the who’s who, will be traveling to the desert for the weekend.”
Ann and her twin sister Lynn run operations at Tradition. Even though they can’t reveal the names of their A-list passengers, they have played host to former presidents like George Bush. Much of the draw to their airline has to do with their personal relationship with their guests. “I think the overall personality, personal service, the easiness, the seamless nature is what the passengers and owners like very much,” said Christian Scmid. He and his son flew into Tradition from Munich, Germany.
The service features a passenger’s ability to drive right onto the tarmac, board their private aircraft then have wheels up in the next ten minutes. The service is a big reason for the upcoming weekend traffic. “All the entertainment people that come does bring extra activity to our facility and we’re very grateful for that,” said Goodwin. “We try to help them in their production, and it boosts our economy as well.”
Tradition isn’t the only business benefitting from the Coachella business. Blake Miraglia is the founder of Links Nursery in Thermal. They provide many of the trees and shrubbery for the festival. “We’re bringing hundreds of trees out here, and we’re probably doing 50 to 60 thousand dollars worth of work for them out here,” said Miraglia. “It’s great for our nursery especially in these economic times.”
The expansion of the festival to two weekends is also welcome news to the locals. “The extra weekend means the trees are here a little bit longer and we generate a little more money, it’s good stuff for us,” said Miraglia.
“To carry the momentum through a couple of weeks and then to have Stagecoach fall right on its heels, we’re looking forward to a terrific month,” agreed Goodwin.
