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Chin Up Donuts colors outside the lines with pastries

BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI Peoria Times Executive Editor

Valley native Alex McEntire wanted something different. As she worked a corporate job in Seattle, she filled her free time making donuts.

She played with recipes and experimented with flavors. McEntire, who grew up along the Glendale/ Peoria border, was inspired by salty, savory and spicy donuts.

“I found I was having more fun with donuts than sitting behind my desk,” McEntire said.

SEE DONUTS PAGE 10 Chin Up Donuts has unique options such as the Everything Bagel donut, Whoa Wasabi donut and Sriracha-Cha donut. (Photos by Pablo

Robles)

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DONUTS FROM PAGE 9

Just before the pandemic, McEntire opened Chin Up Donuts at 7325 E. Frank Lloyd Wright, Suite 103, Scottsdale.

“The whole mission is to provide joy and positivity,” she said. “I opened during the pandemic, when the world and the community needed a little more of it.”

Chin Up Donuts is known for its Everything Bagel donut, which shares a salty, sweet combination. McEntire acknowledges it’s a little, well, questionable.

“I have to persuade a lot of people to try it,” she said with a laugh. “It’s such a fun combination that your brain gets a little confused.

“We switch up donuts with other fun flavors.”

Whoa Wasabi is a yeast-raised donut with a sweet and spicy wasabi glaze topped with a ginger-infused caramel drizzle. Sriracha-Cha, another yeast-raised donut, has a sweet and spicy Sriracha glaze and is coated in cinnamon sugar sprinkled with red pepper flakes.

“Whatever I eat, I think about how I can turn it into a donut form,” McEntire said. “I just love pushing the boundaries of what’s found in a donut. I don’t think, inherently, they have to be sweet. The more eccentric flavors, the better. I was eating Mexican food and tried to figure out how I can turn it into a donut.”

McEntire once considered a donut with nacho cheese, glaze and Doritos, but the chip became soggy.

For National Donut Day on June 4, she is collaborationing with businesses favored by her guests. McEntire is partnering with Lo-Lo’s Chicken & Waffles for a chicken and waffle donut. With Fired Pie, she’s creating a marinara-glazed donut with shredded mozzarella and pepperoni.

“I did a poll on Instagram to see who the public would like to see me collaborate wish, and it was overwhelmingly Lo-Lo’s,” McEntire said. “So, I messaged them on Instagram, and we set it up.”

Pandemic help

Like most restaurants and bakeries, Chin Up Donuts suffered through the pandemic. However, McEntire will receive a bit of help, thanks to Vans. She was invited to partner with Vans and its Foot the Bill initiative. In this partnership, McEntire designed a shoe as fun merchandise for her shop and to help it grow. She received a cut of the sales of 350 shoes and about 200 T-shirts. McEntire expects to receive the money in about four weeks.

“I filled out an application and then filmed a video in the shop telling our story,” said McEntire, whose older sister, coincidentally, attended the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. “A few weeks later, I found out I was selected to participate in it.

“I designed the shoe, both of which were available for sale. They designed the corresponding T-shirt. It was fun to design shoes. I wanted something gender neutral. I went off the branding of my boxes with stripes and cactus to tie in the Arizona roots.”

The Kellis High School graduate called it a “fairly simple design.”

“People love the saguaro,” McEntire said.

McEntire says she didn’t actually think she would win, but she appreciates it because she could use the help after a challenging year.

“I like to say I knew what I was getting into,” she added. “I built a business plan with projections. The business has been doing well, but we opened during the pandemic. It continues to grow, but the money can help me hire new employees to help the ones on board. It’s going to be great.”

Chin Up Donuts

7325 E. Frank Lloyd Wright, Suite 103, Scottsdale 480-912-1240, chinupdonuts.com

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Peoria Chamber supports aspiring entrepreneurs with website

BY PEORIA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

The number of new businesses has reached a historic high. That is a positive sign for the future of the economy, which last year saw businesses lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Every month in 2021 resulted in the highest number of new business starts compared to the same month for the past 15 years.

To make successful decisions and reduce the risk of failure, aspiring entrepreneurs need resources to help them plan for their business opening. As this large group of new entrepreneurs enters the marketplace, data and market research are needed to create solid business plans.

The Peoria Chamber of Commerce is empowering local aspiring entrepreneurs through an innovative online service called SizeUp West - Peoria, Glendale, Surprise. The free service will be available for local entrepreneurs on the Peoria Chamber of Commerce website at peoriachamber.com/sizeupwest on June 11.

SizeUp West - Peoria, Glendale, Surprise provides powerful market research and business intelligence that is industry specific and hyperlocal. It includes the same and similar data that is used by huge corporations. However, it has been historically inaccessible to small businesses because of the cost and expertise required to analyze data. SizeUp West – Peoria, Glendale, Surprise levels the playing field by empowering local entrepreneurs and small businesses with these data insights so they can make data-driven decisions just like the biggest companies.

Aspiring entrepreneurs and existing businesses can leverage SizeUp West - Peoria, Glendale, Surprise to: • Validate or reject their assumptions about their business performance based on objective industry data. • Discover potential customers and suppliers to grow their business. • Optimize their advertising and mar-

keting to targeted and preferred customers. • Analyze the characteristics and spending of consumers in the area.

“The Peoria Chamber of Commerce wants the businesses that plan to open and are currently operating in the SizeUp West areas of Peoria, Glendale and Surprise to succeed and grow,” said Scot Andrews, Peoria Chamber president and CEO.

“An important way to support our entrepreneurs is by starting them off with a solid foundation in their planning. SizeUp West - Peoria, Glendale, Surprise gives our entrepreneurs information they need to realistically assess their assumptions using data relevant to their industry and to discover business opportunities.”

Research from the Review of Economics and Statistics published by MIT press for Harvard University shows new businesses account for nearly all net new job creation and almost 20% of gross job creation. The creation of new jobs is valuable to the economic growth of SizeUp West - Peoria, Glendale, Surprise, which is why entrepreneur-supporting programs are important.

“In today’s information economy, businesses without access to information are at a higher risk of failure and stunted growth,” Andrews said.

“The Peoria Chamber of Commerce is committed to helping our entrepreneurs start, operate and grow through the support of programs and services like SizeUp West - Peoria, Glendale, Surprise.”

The software powering SizeUp West - Peoria, Glendale, Surprise won the first-place award from the U.S. Department of Commerce for a business app that helps American businesses be more competitive, improve their success, foster prosperity and create more jobs.

For more information, contact the Peoria Chamber of Commerce at peoriachamber.com or by email at memberservices@peoriachamber.com.

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