JOURNAL EDITORIAL: Business community needs a sense of urgency

Political violence. A government shutdown. Contentious local and national political campaigns.

Yes, we’re living in a divisive time. But a recent survey of Albuquerque-area residents and business leaders found we agree on a lot more than you think.

The survey found that business leaders and residents alike agree that economic growth is vitally important to Albuquerque’s future; most people think positively of locally owned businesses; businesses can be trusted to do what’s right for the community; and business leaders don’t have too much influence over local politics and the public wants them to step up and exert more leadership. The survey was paid for by Doug Campbell, an Albuquerque native, entrepreneur and startup veteran, on behalf of the Albuquerque Economic Forum Collaborative, which is a group of several business and economic development associations. Full disclosure: The Journal is a member.

Specifically, 96% of residents view economic growth as important, 87% have a positive impression of local businesses and 72% trust businesses to act in the community’s best interest.

The Albuquerque Journal’s Editorial Board and Community Council met last week to get a briefing on the survey, which was done by Research and Polling, Inc. The group made a point to survey residents of different household incomes, political ideologies, ethnicities and ages.

Brian Sanderoff, the president of Research and Polling and a Journal pollster, said the team surveyed 602 Albuquerque residents and 139 business leaders from May to August. Local business associations provided the list of the business leaders.

“It was very clear in the data that people are looking for business to make change happen. They want business. They expect business to improve our quality of life,” Sanderoff said. “And there’s some gaps in how business ... is doing in these areas, (residents) think there are some gaps. But I think that is just a call to action.”

That puts the Editorial Board, Community Council and local residents in agreement: We all want a more business friendly environment in Albuquerque and New Mexico.

And we need a sense of urgency. We’re facing dire times. From 2020 to 2024, Bernalillo County’s population change was -4,699. The lone group that added to our taxpayer rolls was international migrants, who added more than 10,000 people to Bernalillo County.

A prosperous city doesn’t see population decline, and if the trend isn’t reversed it will have negative effects on our community and state. A declining population shrinks the consumer base for businesses. Fewer taxpayers mean reductions to city services. Older populations typically mean fewer entrepreneurs and less people taking risks on disruptive technologies that could be big wins for economic development.

The Albuquerque Economic Forum Collaborative is hoping to use the survey results and launch a two-pronged effort to reshape how lawmakers think about economic development. And we’re in support of the plan.

First, celebrate the results. Local businesses are well thought of by people throughout the community, and they should use their reputation and get more involved in politics and other decisions that could improve the city.

Second: bring business together under a collective voice to hold lawmakers accountable for creating a more business-friendly environment.

There’s plenty of aspects of our economy that we would like to see change — a better permitting environment, less reliance on public sector jobs, a better workforce base, improved quality of life, a better perception of Albuquerque.

The survey results show who can lead those efforts. And hopefully the results will spur a new sense of urgency among business leaders.

As journalists, we’ve long had off-the-record conversations with sources in the business world who have plenty of gripes about issues that slow economic development in Albuquerque. But too often, those leaders are too afraid to speak publicly because of fears of retribution from policy makers.

But these results show that doesn’t have to be the reality. Business leaders don’t need to fear retribution from lawmakers. Lawmakers need to be scared of the business community.

Nearly 9 in 10 Albuquerque-area residents have a positive impression of the business community and trust business leaders to do what’s best for the community. Can you imagine how much Mayor Tim Keller or any other politician would love to have a fraction of that support?

The recent survey was surprising and eye-opening, and we hope it leads to more of us uniting together to try to improve our city’s future. And those efforts shouldn’t be sidetracked by political arguments or pitting wealthy and poor or different groups against each other. Because when it comes to wanting a better future for our city, we’re all on the same page.

Community Council members Dale Dekker, Joanne Fine, Rodger Beimer and BJ Jones contributed to this editorial.