Category Archives: Articles

LiftFund Supports Women-Owned Businesses

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Women entrepreneurs often start businesses to provide a future for their children.

The number of women-owned businesses has increased exponentially in the last 20 years, and many of them have been helped by small business loans and training that supports the unique needs of women. Aleia Shipman’s story is a great example of the passionate women who gain assistance and loans from lenders such as LiftFund and other nonprofit Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) to start businesses and provide for their families.

In 2016, Shipman knew she needed to make a change, not only for herself but for her three children. She had been working in sales at a chemical company for 10 years helping the owner grow the business despite the resistance to her creative ideas and solutions. Shipman turned her frustration into opportunity and decided to branch out on her own. That’s when she founded 3G Chemical Solutions, LLC.

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The Loan Fund Helps Fund Building Purchase

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Brandy Castillo, MS, MSW, LCSW-S, created her behavioral health company in 2013 when she was starting a family and looking for a way to build a home-based practice. Clients were seen at her home on an old farm just outside of the City of Belen in Valencia County, New Mexico.

In 2018, the business name was officially changed to Hearth & Soul of New Mexico when Brandy’s husband Ignacio became co-owner and billing manager after retiring from the New Mexico Department of Corrections.

The business, which is rooted in compassion, expanded to offer services in Mesilla and Albuquerque. Heart & Soul aims to foster a supportive environment that encourages growth, self-discovery, and the realization of one’s fullest potential. Its 35 healthcare providers and staff specialize in a wide range of behavioral health services, including therapy and psychiatry to treat depression, anxiety, substance use, trauma, and more. It does this through individual and group therapy, psychiatry, and enhanced case management.

In January 2024, Brandy went to The Loan Fund for financial help to purchase a building in downtown Belen, where she could serve more clients from a central location.

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RCAC Bolsters Canjilon’s Push for Water Security

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The small Rio Arriba County village of Canjilon is a living testament to the deep-rooted heritage of its community. Home to nearly 300 residents, Canjilon’s roots stretch thousands of years, during which the Pueblo, Apache, and Navajo peoples have called the surrounding lands home.

Water scarcity has always been a defining challenge in high desert communities, with sparse population density and modest financial resources compounding the problem. However, in recent years, prolonged drought and unpredictable climate shifts have nudged the village’s already vulnerable water supply and vital infrastructure toward a tipping point.

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Homewise Helps Couple Buy Building

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Christina and Carlos Davis launched Trendz Beauty Supply in December 2010 in Albuquerque to offer high-quality hair and wigs at affordable prices. Having had several negative experiences at other hair stores, the couple decided to make customer service one of their company’s hallmarks. The strategy has paid off. After opening their original shop of 1,700 square feet, the growth of their loyal customer base propelled the company into filling a 3,000 square foot shop, and subsequently into their current 8,000 square foot location with a nearby warehouse encompassing another 2,850 square feet.

The rented space has served the needs of Trendz Beauty Supply, but the Davis’s always wanted to own their own building. That opportunity arose when they learned the owner of the building housing their store was interested in selling.

With the help of the nonprofit lender Homewise, the Davis’s obtained an affordable commercial real estate loan and purchased the building in June of 2022.

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Gallup Charter School Gets $4.4 M Loan

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Clearinghouse CDFI is supporting public educational services for Navajo and minority students in New Mexico. Douglas Turner and Christopher Taylor of T2 Gurley, LLC are seeking new construction of a public charter school in Gallup, NM, and Clearinghouse CDFI is providing a $4,400,000 loan to help make that possible.

Early College High Schools (ECHS) help bridge the gap between traditional learning and students who are looking to accelerate their future. ECHS focuses on career and technical education for disadvantaged and underrepresented students. Middle College High School (MCHS) is an ECHS in Gallup, NM utilizing temporary trailers in lieu of a school building. Clearinghouse CDFI funding allows T2 Gurley, LLC to fully construct a new school building on a 20-year lease with the option and intention for MCHS to purchase the building in the near future.

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WESST Helps Clients Help Others

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Brenda Ramos Almeida helped her husband start J&B Gardens while working full time as an office manager for another contractor. In 2019, she turned to WESST, a nonprofit business development organization, for one-on-one counseling and workshops to help her manage the Northern New Mexico landscaping business as she maintained the company’s books. It wasn’t long before she spotted a need and decided to start a service to assist others with bookkeeping and acquiring permits and applications for their own small businesses.

Libelula Financial focuses on the Spanish-speaking small business community. Being bilingual, Ramos Almeida knew she could provide customers with the highest quality of service in both Spanish and English, offering bookkeeping and general business assistance.

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NM LEEP Accepting Applications

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The New Mexico Lab-Embedded Entrepreneur Program (NM LEEP) is accepting applications from technology entrepreneurs ready to obtain two years of individualized assistance to commercialize their technology. The program pairs deep-tech entrepreneurs with the unique talent and technology of Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories, matching LEEP fellows with seed capital and a large network of mentors, customers, and investors. Applications will be accepted from February 22 to April 22, 2024.

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Entrepreneur Responds to Market Needs

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When Las Cruces resident Silvia Terrazas looked for videos to rent in Spanish, she found none so she created a store to fill that need. In 2000, she obtained financing to open Video Exitos, where she placed a freezer filled with ice cream and the Mexican-style popsicles known as paletas. 

Terrazas noticed the ice cream treats were popular and she decided to learn how to make her own Michoacan-style ice cream and paletas, venturing to the Mexican state of Michoacan to attend an ice cream-making course. She learned how to incorporate the state’s fresh fruit into popsicles and ice cream.

In 2005, Terrazas was ready to expand her business. She went to the nonprofit lender, The Loan Fund, for a loan to construct a building for her new ice cream and treat shop, Paleteria La Reyna Michoacana where she could also sell pinatas, candy, and other Mexican specialty items.

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Startup Loan Enables Construction Entrepreneur

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Aaron Gutierrez, owner and president of Albuquerque Construction & Concrete, can do it all. That’s because he spent years building and supervising multimillion-dollar construction projects across New Mexico, although always for other people. “I’ve been with some great employers who were pretty well established and had a good system set up,” he said. “I was able to learn a lot from them and pick up what I needed.” 

When he decided to strike out on his own, Gutierrez got his general contracting license and went to school for an associate degree in Construction Management. He had the technical skills, management experience, and rock-solid relationships with tradespeople and suppliers — not to mention clients who were eager to work with him. Now he just needed working capital to get started.  

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New Owners Put Silver City Tile Company on Path for Growth

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Within two years of purchasing Syzygy Tile Works in Silver City, Josh and Carolyn White knew they needed to expand the business to meet national and international demand for their high-end, handcrafted ceramic tiles.

Josh had worked for the company for 16 years before the previous owner retired, and he quickly made improvements to shorten production times. But with employees needing as much as three years to fully learn their craft, customers were waiting four to five months for product delivery.

The Whites knew this was an unsustainable interval. In 2020, they contacted the state Economic Development Department to ask what resources were available to small manufacturers. They were referred to New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership (New Mexico MEP), a nonprofit dedicated to helping small manufacturers streamline production and become more competitive.

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