Altoona's Chance of a Lifetime

By Jeff Neff

With an economy in a deep recession, this is the opportune time for new businesses and entrepreneurs to step up in the Altoona area. Real estate prices are low and more people are looking for jobs, which means lots of opportunities for the little guy. Some of the most familiar household names in business took a giant leap during the Great Depression. New industries like the automobile, radio, and print media expanded largely by keeping their eyes open to all of the opportunities around.

Remember that in capitalism, there are always opportunities available for anyone. When big companies struggle, smaller companies can grow. When the national economy is down, local economies can grow. Big cities are expensive to live in, and the national employment rate typically reflects the unemployment of larger cities rather than less populated areas like Altoona. If you hear of an economic crisis, but the only thing in your life that has changed is that gas prices went down; then it means that opportunities are everywhere to be found for you.

Altoona is a town full of entrepreneurs. A while ago two residents, Josh Klausman and Aaron Tippett, created Altoona's first concierge service called Your Personal Services. This was great news for Altoona . Although I have not heard much in the news about their progress, companies like this are what Altoona needs. If I were a city government employee or policymaker, I would seek out ways to encourage entrepreneurs to establish new businesses. More Keystone Opportunity Zones, tax breaks for advertising in Altoona, or donating seized city property to start-up businesses. There are hundreds of ways for Altoona to make the best of the national "crisis."

Some resources for new businesses:

http://www.sba.gov

http://www.dos.state.pa.us/dos/site/default.asp

For this short period though, let's put our minds together to see how Altoona can use its resources to make it easier for entrepreneurs to take advantage of this situation by working with community members, Blair County officials and other communities. Does anyone out there have any ideas?