Five questions with the new head of the Better Business Bureau for New Mexico and Southwest Colorado

David Swope is the new President and CEO of the Better Business Bureau in New Mexico and Southwest Colorado. He started the job Sept. 1.

The Better Business Bureau was created in 1911 and came to New Mexico in 1945. The BBB is a nonprofit that offers information and education to businesses, accredits member businesses that adhere to a high standard of conduct, and resolves consumer complaints with mediation and arbitration services.

The New Mexico and Southwest Colorado branch has 3,500 members and is working to recruit more. The area the nonprofit serves is 60% rural and 40% urban.

Swope is a serial entrepreneur who has been on the BBB Board of Directors for seven years. He’s lived in Albuquerque most of his life and is a graduate of the University of New Mexico and Valley High School. He prefers his chile Christmas.

The Journal sat down with Swope to get to know his background in business, why he wanted to take on the role of leading the BBB and what his hopes are in leading the organization.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What was your last job?

“Realtor. I actually still have my real estate license for my own portfolio, and I like to keep abreast of what our business community is dealing with as far as commercial real estate. Through that industry, I learn a lot about businesses that are coming into our area and moving and growing. So, it’s a good way to have your finger on the pulse of what’s happening in our business community.”

Why did you want to take on this role with the Better Business Bureau?

“It’s very exciting to help more people and to help businesses. I have an understanding of the challenges that it takes to keep a business going. And it’s not necessarily the trade that you’re doing. It’s all the other things that you have to do: taxes, regulation, permits. All of these other things affect a business and its ability to be effective at what it does … One thing that most people don’t understand or think correctly about the Better Business Bureau is we’re not a regulatory commission. We don’t report to the government. We’re not a government agency. We are a member-driven organization. Our members are how we pay for things. We don’t get any government funding.”

Are there any scams that are especially popular right now that you think businesses should be wary of?

“Business identities are being stolen all the time, in which then they’re sending out invoices to their customers, regular looking invoices, and basically reaching out for payment as if they are the company. That consumer makes the payment, thinks it’s done and all of a sudden, they get another one from the business, which is actually the accurate one. So, we have businesses that are spending a lot of time with not only identity theft with executives within the business, but theft actually from business proceeds.”

Are there any new projects or any new directions that the BBB for New Mexico and Southwest Colorado is taking?

“The first is Shred Day … We do it twice a year and it’s a public awareness campaign in which we remind the public of why it’s important to protect your information. The number one way to steal an identity is off a piece of paper or solicitation that you thought was fairly inert but it’s got your name, and your address, and all kinds of stuff, so shred that stuff instead of throwing it away … Now that COVID is in a manageable place, we’re going to be doing much more public outreach. We’re going to have more networking opportunities for our fellow accredited businesses to do business with each other, as well as, we’re going to offer a monthly class on how to actually leverage and use your membership with the BBB. We have a free tool with a membership that allows a business to actually seek reviews, because that’s how people make a buying decision — they go on the website and they check reviews.”

What do you hope to accomplish in this new role?

“My number one goal is to work on the public perception that we’re an old and stodgy organization. We have some very dynamic, very smart and gifted people working out of our BBB here in New Mexico and Southwest Colorado that do tremendous work and have developed tremendous resources for our business community.”