I See Potential

Every once in a while, I decide to take a drive around Grants. Sometimes for work, sometimes for fun, but each time I do, I am surprised by the buildings or parts of town that I have never seen before. I have lived in Grants all of my life, and yet there are parts of the area I am still discovering.

When I make these discoveries, I often think to myself, “Wow, Grants has so much untapped potential.” I see vacant buildings and I think to myself, “Wow, that would make a great restaurant, store, or other small business.” I see many individuals in our community tapping into this potential by starting up their own small businesses — the 1912 Market, Custom Etching & Gifts, Blended, Journi Jo’s Boutique, Dancing Jalapeño, Burress Barber Shop, and many more! Having done interviews with many of these business owners, I understand that their businesses did not start up overnight. For most, it took years of saving, planning, proper timing, searching, and building up the courage to finally take that leap to start up their businesses.

In saying this, I understand that growth takes time. Improving the community’s gross receipt tax (GRT) so that chain restaurants and brand stores will want to come here takes time. Major construction projects such as the Milan Industrial Park take time. All of the untapped potential takes time to tap into. As much as we wish we could see the effects immediately, it simply takes time. City of Grants Project Coordinator Don Jaramillo said it best at a recent ‘Coffee with the Managers’ when he said that government and projects were centered around the idea of “hurry up and wait.”

Of course, the waiting can be hard. We hear from local politicians and officials all the time about all of the great things that are happening for our area. With a limited view as citizens, I can understand how it is sometimes hard to see that. We look around at all of the vacant buildings, “staff shortage” signs, all the other problems we see, and we think, “What great things?” But we just have to be patient. We can either trust that the politicians we elected are doing their ab solute best for our area and are seeing things we may not see, or we can involve ourselves in the process by attending government meetings and asking questions.

One roadblock standing in the way of this area’s potential that I can’t quite seem to wrap my head around is why so many vacant buildings stay vacant for so long. An explanation for this that I frequently hear is that the owners of the building are asking too much in regard to price. If that is the case, I just don’t understand how some building owners could possibly let a perfectly good building — that could be a huge blessing to a family trying to start up a business and to the community — sit vacant for years because they are unwilling to lower their asking price. Now there may be building owners who kept the same price for years but have at least attempted to lower their price once or twice, and I applaud their consideration. A family who has been dreaming and saving for years to open up a business could be right on the brink of seriously pursuing that dream and one of those vacant buildings becoming available at a reasonable price could be just the thing to get them going.

Nonetheless, I am excited about the potential that I see in Grants. I am excited to see it all unfold, and although the process can be long and tedious, I know there are many parts of it that will be worth it. In this world, there will always be an abundance of issues and problems to focus on, but it’s important to balance our observation of the negative with acknowledgement of the positive. Although this issue is important, we can’t let the fact that many vacant buildings exist in the area negate the fact that many buildings have received new tenets and businesses to serve the community in the past year. After such a trying year, these businesses deserve to be celebrated and supported to the fullest extent. They took that leap of faith and opened up their business during such a scary and unpredictable time, and we need to support them. I see so much potential within the Cibola County community. Let’s continue to tap into it!

God bless and shop local, Cibola!