By Destiny Hagood

Local businesses have seen an increase in customer traffic as a result of ACU’s annual Summit.

The Hampton Inn and Suites near ACU is a popular choice for Summit attendees, said Anna Jane Perrey, administrative coordinator for Ministry Events.

“It houses partners, speakers and class leader,” Perrey said. “They are very successful and wonderful to work with.”

James Moore, assistant manager of Hampton Inn and Suites, worked with Perrey in reserving rooms for Summit guests. He said Summit guests account for half the hotels guests during Summit.

“We set up a block of rooms back in March for Summit,” Moore said. “There is an estimate of about 30 to 40 rooms full of Summit guests.

Hampton Inn prepares itself very well for the incoming guests, Moore said.

“The hotel has 15-20 employees working everyday,” Moore said. “It is a very busy time for us, but not as busy as Homecoming and Sing Song, which is the biggest.”

Moore said he took over as assistant manager two years ago in August, but didn’t start booking rooms for Summit until this year.

A local business like the Hampton Inn benefits greatly from the special events on ACU’s campus, Moore said. The university brings in prospective business the surrounding business.

“We really enjoy having the ACU Summit guests staying at our hotel,” Moore said. “We don’t get many complaints from our guests because they are such great visitors.”

Einstein Bros Bagels is another business that saw customers because of Summit. This is the third year that Einstein’s has been open at ACU for Summit. Einstein’s prepares the schedule and employees for the event. Since working with Aramark, the restaurant has better organization and can adjustment with more or less food.

“The manager’s inform and trust the team members to be ready and on time to work,” said Katie Bendel, junior theatre major from Abilene. Einstein Bro Bagels deals with customer complaints by apologizing and offering compensation to make the customer happy.

“I enjoy working there, sometimes it can be stressful because of all the visitors, but overall yes,” Bendel said.