Native American business owners are encouraged to utilize the wide range of resources available to all New Mexico entrepreneurs, however, a number of opportunities focus exclusively on the growth of Native-owned businesses.
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Do You Have IP to Protect?
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) launched a new website in May 2021, to help entrepreneurs and inventors navigate the system that protects intellectual property.
Continue readingNorthern N.M. Tribal Economic Diversity Grants
The Regional Development Corporation will begin accepting applications for grants from its Tribal Economic Diversity Fund on July 1, 2021. The deadline to apply is August 2 at 5:00 pm.
Continue readingConference Aims to Inspire Female Entrepreneurs
Tactical training, strategic networking and inspirational speeches from three entrepreneurial trailblazers highlight a two-day WE Mean Business virtual conference July 7 and July 8.
“WE” stands for women entrepreneurs—the target audience for this event, which will link aspiring business owners to training, financing and mentoring opportunities.
Conference organizers are the New Mexico State University (NMSU) Arrowhead Center and WESST, a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that supports minority business owners and entrepreneurs and hosts U.S. Small Business Administration Women’s Business Centers (WBCs) at its six New Mexico locations. Other sponsoring partners include LiftFund, a CDFI whose diverse clientele is dominated by minority and female business owners; the Minority Business Development Agency Business Center; and Peacock Law PC, which specializes in intellectual property and tech commercialization.
Continue readingTax Changes Start July 1
The New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department (TRD) and the New Mexico Economic Development Department (EDD) will hold a webinar on Wednesday, June 23, to assist businesses with transitioning to the new source-based gross receipts tax system and revised reporting website brought about by statutory changes that take effect on July 1, 2021. On that date, businesses will begin charging state, local, and special-district taxes based on the rates in effect where their goods or services are delivered.
Continue readingSecond Round of LEDA Grants Opens
The New Mexico Finance Authority, which manages the state’s LEDA pandemic grant program, is accepting applications under a second round of funding. The first-round application period was widely publicized to end on June 15, 2021. A second-round application period opened as soon as the first round closed. The deadline for application acceptance in the second round is slated for June 30 at 12:00 noon, and additional rounds may be added if funding is available.
Continue readingYour Own Outdoor Recreation Business? Explore the Possibilities
Entrepreneurs and hobbyists interested in exploring the potential for starting or growing a business in the outdoor recreation industry have two new resources.
Continue readingRelationships Energize New Mexico MEP Resources
When tech innovator Dave Keicher requested marketing and sales growth services from New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership (New Mexico MEP), the nonprofit organization saw it as an opportunity to experiment. New Mexico MEP helps manufacturers increase their competitiveness and profitability by improving processes.
Keicher is vice president of Integrated Deposition Solutions (IDS), whose founder Marcelino Essien patented an aerosol printing technology that IDS calls NanoJet. Keicher helped develop the technology at Sandia National Laboratories and was an early investor in IDS.
The request from Keicher revealed a gap in the services that New Mexico MEP typically provides. Rather than relying strictly on its own Innovation Directors, New Mexico MEP contracted with “resource partners” to supplement its services.
Continue readingWESST Launches HOPE Loan Fund
Economic developers believe a key contributor to economic inequality in the United States is the large and persistent racial and ethnic disparity found in business ownership and performance. Barriers to accessing capital that particularly impact Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) entrepreneurs include lack of initial wealth, financial literacy, education, and managerial experience. To address racial and income inequities, WESST launched the HOPE Fund (Helping Open Possibilities for Everyone), a “no barriers to accessing capital” approach for people of color and low-wealth New Mexicans.
Continue readingAccelerator Program Summer Cohort Forming
Libraries as Launchpads, a virtual business accelerator program, has announced that applications for its summer cohort will be accepted until June 20, 2021. The 5-week program begins June 28.
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