Describing himself as "bullish on Internet commerce," Smith believes that "the Internet is the future way of doing business, especially for a small-town business like us. A Web site and E-mail allow us to be part of the world."
India Hatch, owner of Taos Valley Resort Association Inc., a central-booking operation for northern New Mexico that does $7 million in reservations a year, put her business on TaosWebb in December. Hatch estimates that 10% of the inquiries she's gotten on the Internet have converted to actual reservations. "If we could get 20% conversion, which is a great conversion rate for any central-reservation system, we'd be in the profit mode," Hatch says. She says that Internet inquiries are less serious than telephone inquiries, so her staff often asks cyber-visitors for a phone number in order to actually speak to them.
Outside the travel industry, Taos businesses that have ventured onto the World Wide Web have not yet seen a major return on their Internet investment. Surrounded by walls festooned with the brilliantly colored works of contemporary southwestern artists, Fenix Gallery owner Judith Kendall is philosophical about her foray into cyberbusiness. "As a commercial thing, it would be very, very tricky to actually sell fine art on the World Wide Web," says Kendall. "But you would like people to see what you have and maybe be interested enough to inquire further -- or if they're in the neighborhood, you'd like them to come visit."
Since the Fenix Gallery home page went up in December 1995, Kendall has been getting about 500 hits a month on her Web site and a half-dozen E-mail inquiries each week. Several out-of-state visitors have even come to the gallery after seeing it on-line. The site cost Kendall $3,000 to create and runs $50 a month to maintain. Five of her artists contributed $200 each to offset the total cost.
Peering through her black-rimmed glasses, Kendall adds, "It would take only one person to come in and buy one several-thousand-dollar painting to make it worthwhile." That hasn't happened yet, she says, but the Internet "is a link to people, a connection that you would be foolish not to take advantage of here."
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The burgeoning computer culture of Taos has spawned an impressive num-ber of jobs and opportunities. Three years ago basic computer repairs were made in the back of the local vacuum-cleaner repair shop, and it was virtually impossible to get computer supplies in Taos. Today three stores sell and repair computers. La Plaza has put the town government on-line, and contractors can now file and receive building permits electronically without having to wait around in the town hall. You can even complain about potholes by E-mailing the town manager.
As for technology-related jobs, La Plaza alone employs about 20 people. At least three Web-page design houses have sprung up in town to service the demand La Plaza has created, and Michelle Hernandez, a local woman, runs El Valle Technologies, a computer-training school. La Plaza is negotiating an international contract to put a chain of Caribbean travel magazines on-line, for which it expects to hire and train up to four people. The activity and interest in computers mean that businesses not only are finding Taos a technologically friendly place in which to locate; they're also finding employees who can "speak" computer.
"This started out as a technology project and it's ended up a community-development project," Patrick Finn says.
Although the Internet may not yet have resulted in sales of many New Mexican widgets, it has already paid dividends to the Taos community. And in an unexpected twist, the new culture may even be helping preserve the town's oldest culture.
Sitting in the shadow of the ancient Taos Pueblo, former tribal official Nelson Cordova, who is on La Plaza's board of directors, says, "Many people don't want to leave this place, but they have no opportunity here." He explains that unemployment on the pueblo is around 60% to 70%. But with the new infrastructure in place and easy access to computer training, many of the pueblo's residents will be able to find work without having to leave the culture they've spent generations building.
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David Goodman (davgood@aol.com) is a freelance writer based in Waterbury Center, Vt.
WIRING YOUR BUSINESS COMMUNITY
So you want to bring local businesses together on-line. Before you head into cyberspace, lay the groundwork for the project by following these five tips:
Organize. Consider creating an organization to provide Internet access and training within your community.
Do outreach. Talk to people and community organizations face-to-face to explain how the Internet can help their business.
Educate. Provide "quick start" Internet classes to develop a critical mass of technoliterate citizens. Some of those students may end up being employees for the local on-line service.
Target. Offer workshops for specific business groups -- say, real estate agents or retailers -- to demonstrate the benefits of going on-line.
Give it away. Free public access to the Internet at a local library or community center lets people get their feet wet gradually.
