Five questions with the new head of the Better Business Bureau for New Mexico and Southwest Colorado
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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鈥檚 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?
鈥淩ealtor. 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鈥檚 a good way to have your finger on the pulse of what鈥檚 happening in our business community.鈥�
Why did you want to take on this role with the Better Business Bureau?
鈥淚t鈥檚 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鈥檚 not necessarily the trade that you鈥檙e doing. It鈥檚 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 鈥� One thing that most people don鈥檛 understand or think correctly about the Better Business Bureau is we鈥檙e not a regulatory commission. We don鈥檛 report to the government. We鈥檙e not a government agency. We are a member-driven organization. Our members are how we pay for things. We don鈥檛 get any government funding.鈥�
Are there any scams that are especially popular right now that you think businesses should be wary of?
鈥淏usiness identities are being stolen all the time, in which then they鈥檙e 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鈥檚 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.鈥�
Are there any new projects or any new directions that the BBB for New Mexico and Southwest Colorado is taking?
鈥淭he first is Shred Day 鈥� We do it twice a year and it鈥檚 a public awareness campaign in which we remind the public of why it鈥檚 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鈥檚 got your name, and your address, and all kinds of stuff, so shred that stuff instead of throwing it away 鈥� Now that COVID is in a manageable place, we鈥檙e going to be doing much more public outreach. We鈥檙e going to have more networking opportunities for our fellow accredited businesses to do business with each other, as well as, we鈥檙e 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鈥檚 how people make a buying decision 鈥� they go on the website and they check reviews.鈥�
What do you hope to accomplish in this new role?
鈥淢y number one goal is to work on the public perception that we鈥檙e 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.鈥�
