by Ashleigh Sanchez
Daily Lobo
Stephan Hoffman's dream is to open a cookie cafÇ one day.
He was busy working in the kitchen at the South Valley Economic Development Center on Sunday.
"I'm getting ready for the State Fair right now," said Hoffman, owner of cookie company Albucookie. "We are making huge amounts of cookies."
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Hoffman said the center has been a big help to his business.
"It's a great resource for small companies that don't have a lot of capital," he said. "It's a great learning ground."
The center promotes small business growth in the South Valley, said student Ilana Blankman, a volunteer at the center.
Albuquerque's South Valley needs businesses to support its community, Blankman said.
"The South Valley is one of the oldest communities in New Mexico and the longest continuously occupied," she said. "Sixty thousand people live here, but there is very little in the way of services. So, all these people live here, but they spend their money somewhere else."
The center, at 318 Isleta Blvd. S.W., opened its doors in
April 2005.
It focuses on helping develop the South Valley's food businesses, Blankman said.
She said a big part of that is preserving the valley's long-standing agricultural tradition.
"Industry is really cutting down on agriculture," she said. "Now the South Valley is a cool new place to buy a house, the land prices are really going up and the development is really threatening agriculture."
The center offers office space that a small business can rent out for less than market price, Blankman said.
It is equipped with a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen that anyone in the community can rent to cook locally grown produce, she said.
"It helps support agriculture in the South Valley by allowing people to bring what they grow here to process and make into value-added products," she said.
Darren Hale spent Sunday preparing organic soup for Los Poblanos Organics.
"My project involves supplying meals to the community-supported agriculture members that we supply produce to," he said.
Blankman said there is a two-year limit on how long a new business can use the center's services.
"The idea is that they graduate, meaning their business has grown to where it can move into its own building and flourish on its own," she said.
Some of the businesses that work with the center have already had a lot of success, Blankman said.
A woman started a hospice at the center without any employees, she said. Now, the hospice program has a staff of 20 people and is close to graduating from the center, she said.
Other clients include a hypnotherapist, a massage therapist and an insurance agent, Blankman said.
She said the center also hosts workshops, so people who aren't using the building can improve their business skills.
The UNM Architecture and Planning department designed the building, which won an award for style, Blankman said.
The center offers work study, so it's a great opportunity for UNM students to get a job and help the South Valley, she said.
Working at the center has been a positive experience, Blankman said.
"I'm committed to seeing it succeed," she said. "I love this place."
