Since opening in March, the Business Resource and Innovation Center team has been steadily expanding its offerings to the Camp Verde and Verde Valley business community.
Beginning as a concept within the Economic Development Department’s former office space, adjacent to the council chambers, BRIC is now coming into its own in the new, larger space on Main Street and is offering a variety of business classes, consultations and more, for both established and would-be business owners in the community.
“The idea was originally [Economic Development Director] Steve Ayers’,” said Economic Development Specialist Sean Brooks. “His whole idea was, how do we support the local business economy in Camp Verde [and] the Verde Valley, because we don’t have co-working space; there’s very little resources as far as where people can go to get business plan help or [to] secure funding for their small business.”
“His idea was to have this Business Resource Innovation Center to pool those resources together, that would then be offered to the community,” Brooks said.
Brooks, Ayers and Economic Development Specialist Crisi Clark are currently the BRIC’s only crewmembers; however, Brooks said that soon enough, there will be a need to hire one more person to help coordinate activities at the new location.
Brooks added that “once we get these walls painted,” the BRIC will include permanent shared spaces for their current on-call consultants from the Small Business Development Centers and Verde Valley Regional Economic Organization.
Prior to forming the BRIC “a lot of people would give us a call [about opening a business] and it would be just a series of emailing or calling [different consultants],” Brooks said. “Now you can set up an appointment and meet [the consultants] here, at your convenience and therefore you can cover all your bases.”
Last month, the BRIC hosted its first Small Business Loans and Assistance Program event, where speakers from the Yavapai College SBDC and VVREO provided information about business financing, loans and grants to small business owners and entrepreneurs in the community.
The event was available at no cost and took place in the BRIC’s classroom and conference space, which can accommodate up to 25 people at a time.
“We want to try to offer [programs] periodically, so [it’s] not just one-time that [people] will have access to that information,” Brooks said. “We want to make sure that at least, a couple times a year we’re circling back to that information.”
Beyond offering classes and consultations, Brooks said the BRIC is also focusing on the future of sustainable development in Camp Verde.
“The change is already happening; from an environmental standpoint to an economic standpoint, these things are already in motion and we can’t stop that,” he said.
While development has been progressing incrementally so far, Brooks said eventually “it’s going to be like a flood and I think housing is the only component to really stopping that; Once more people move here of different demographics and socioeconomic backgrounds you’re going to see a lot more demand for things that never existed.”
Brooks said the challenges most businesses face in Camp Verde are external, such as the current lack of affordable housing.
“The other challenges just include space; there is plenty of space I think, there’s commercial space available but some of the infrastructure is a little outdated and so it might be a challenge for some folks [coming in],” he said.
Brooks said that, first and foremost, the important thing is to make sure that businesses that are setting up in Camp Verde are beneficial to the community.
“We talk to [businesses] about what this town is and where it’s come from and where it is now, compared to the other communities and where it wants to go,” he said. “We do have an idea of what our citizens want and we also want things that will make sense ten, twenty years down the line, so we communicate that with businesses; we’re very upfront about [what our challenges are] and where we want to be and whether they would fit into that paradigm.”
Additionally, Brooks said that water and energy consumption are discussed with businesses, including conversations about ways the businesses can conserve energy.
“I’m also working with the Sustainability Alliance, who works with all the other folks in the Verde Valley who are concerned about the environment and we want [new businesses] to have that information so [they] know what they can do to be more energy efficient going forward and that this is important to us,” Brooks said.
“If [businesses] have any foresight, they can see that there’s a great opportunity here; that this is a prime place to set up [a business] as [the area] is growing so you can be a part of that growth and a part of the community and be ingrained into the whole ethos of [this] place,” Brooks said. “I think that’s more important than getting in some-where to sell your product; being a part of something is much more valuable, in my opinion.”
Brooks said that when it comes to the future of development in Camp Verde, “we have to be forward-thinking; we have some really bright kids coming out of our schools that we want to keep around.”
“We can bring in all the businesses and residential that we want, but if we don’t have any kids growing up here, it’s not going to matter and eventually those industries will move out because there’s no workforce, there’s no community,” he said.
When it comes to the community’s concerns about development, Brooks said he thinks that inherently, people are worried about change they aren’t involved in.
“The more involved they are with the change, I think the more comfortable they are,” he said.
“Everything is public; we don’t keep anything secret, like you see in some other places, but I think there will always be that trepidation, so building that trust and making sure we’re as transparent as possible is super-important,” he said.
