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If you like games, pizza, chicken and family fun, then you were no doubt pleased by the news that Pizza Ranch is adding a FunZone, a massive arcade of some 40 machines, to its business this year.

But there is more here to consider. This is an investment in Austin as well.

Trisha and John Tietje, along with the Pizza Ranch in general, are showing a confidence in helping build reasons to stay in Austin and keeping your dollars within the community.

To get this kind of entertainment, you have to head to Rochester or even the Twin Cities. That’s taking money spent on food, games and travel out of Austin’s tax base and placing it elsewhere.

Pizza Ranch’s move to build what will be one of the biggest stores in the franchise after completion will give families plenty of reasons to keep spending in Austin. It will also do more to draw in those people from surrounding communities.

It’s a chain. Throughout the year Austin will host, with its many facilities, things like baseball and hockey tournaments. Undoubtedly, these kids will find their way to Pizza Ranch, but it’s also going to turn heads in terms of the possibly of drawing even more the community.

Over recent years the City of Austin and the businesses choosing to call our community home have worked hard to refine the stretch of commerce along 18th Avenue NW. Each move a business makes to settle in that area strengthens Austin a little more.

For the Pizza Ranch, this news represents a smart business move, but it can’t be overlooked how it and any move a business makes toward growth helps to make Austin a destination.