February 25, 2010 | NEWS ARTICLES
Denish Exhorts Small Business
By Rivkela Brodsky, Journal Staff Writer | The Albuquerque Journal
Lt. Gov Diane Denish told a group of about 200 small-business owners on Wednesday they are the backbone of the state's economy and the key to creating jobs.
"I look out across this room and that's what I see," she said. "I see job creators. That's what small business is ... and it's very important that you come together and you figure out how you create that one job that will create 300, 400, 500 jobs in Bernalillo County."
Denish spoke at Bernalillo County's Business Summit at Albuquerque Studios focusing on the county's Increment of 1 Initiative, along with Rio Rancho Mayor Tom Swisstack, Albuquerque Mayor Richard J. Berry, chairman of the Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners Art De La Cruz, Bernalillo County Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins and other county officials.
The five-year initiative focuses on reaching out to small-business owners and providing them with resources in order to help them expand and create more jobs.
"It's about all of us working together to make sure we are doing the things that help small business grow and survive in New Mexico because it's just about one thing," Denish said. "It's about jobs. It's about jobs for you. It's about jobs for your children. It's about jobs for your neighbors, It's about jobs for other people. It's about New Mexico's economic security and you're going to be the leaders, not us."
The event included a series of panel discussions and a networking reception.
Margo Dominguez and Kathleen Gallegos attended the event in the hopes of finding some resources for their new business, Hands Up LLC. The company makes green chili cheese meat balls and is currently using another company's kitchen to produce the product.
"We need support with getting a kitchen," Gallegos told the Journal.
