A healthy community needs business growth and a truly thriving community relies on the establishment and growth of small businesses. But some of the other challenges that Torrance County faces tend to inhibit its economic development. It’s hard to encourage outside business concerns to locate to Torrance County when we have water issues, bad roads and sub-standard Internet access, all of which many businesses rely on quite heavily. Likewise, county residents with hopes of starting up a small business here may be discouraged by these obstacles. There are, however, some types of businesses that require only a limited amount of water, manpower, street traffic or high-speed web access. For instance, there may be a plumber, electrician or other tradesman in your neighborhood, but odds are good that they actually work for a company in Albuquerque, making that long commute every day, with dreams of starting up their own business. What’s keeping them from fulfilling that dream right here?
There are several factors that might be standing in our hypothetical entrepreneur’s way. First, they would likely need to rent an office and hire a part-time receptionist/bookkeeper to answer the phone and take care of basic paperwork requirements. They may also need to find an accountant or lawyers to stay in compliance with state and federal paperwork requirements. Add the cost of phone service and a few other incidental expenses, and the cost of starting up a new business becomes daunting for most hard-working people. That’s where a small business incubator could be helpful.
Torrance County has a large number of boarded up buildings of various sizes that are just sitting there, waiting for someone to come along and utilize them. A small business incubator could provide prospective entrepreneurs with a base of operation, a phone number answered by a real human, light bookkeeping services and legal advice for a very nominal fee. Such an incubator could also accommodate white collar professionals who might want to move to Torrance County for the fresh air, light traffic and scenic views.
Growth is possible for Torrance County, but it will take thinking outside of the box at the county government level to make it happen.
