8-Month Business Accelerator Program

The Center for Responsible Entrepreneurship at UNM Anderson School of Business is offering an eight-month business accelerator program to help individuals and businesses take their ideas to the next level. Participants do not have to be enrolled at UNM. Applications will be accepted until August 22 for the program that begins on September 6, 2025.

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WESST Doubles Down to Help Businesses

The nonprofit organization WESST is strategically restructuring to serve businesses and startups throughout New Mexico well into the future. Much like the advice WESST consultants give business owners facing changes in the marketplace, WESST is responding to a volatile nonprofit-funding environment.

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Boost Your Publicity

The New Mexico Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America is hosting a “Meet the Press” event to help public relations professionals and businesses strengthen their ties to the media.  The July 31, 2025, event aims to deepen understanding of today’s media landscape and build stronger, more effective relationships with journalists and media outlets.

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Reaching Rural with Small Business Loans

Carlos and Juany Chico went to several national banks for a loan to expand their lakeside food stand to a brick-and-mortar restaurant location. Like most small and startup entrepreneurs, they were turned down because they didn’t fit the lending requirements of traditional banks. That’s when they turned to the nonprofit lender DreamSpring for a small loan to fund operating and inventory expenses at the new location.

Chico’s Tortas y Pinas Lokas, now known simply as Chico’s Mexican Food, now operates out of a former KFC Restaurant building on Historic Route 66 in Santa Rosa and serves patrons in nearby Tucumcari from a food truck. The business is thriving, thanks to the tight-knit family of 12 and other staff, along with several DreamSpring loans that have enabled the company’s growth.

“DreamSpring is a good option,” Carlos said for people who don’t meet the lending requirements of traditional banks.

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Business Plan is Guide to Success

A business plan is a document that spells out a company’s expected course of action for a specified period, usually including a detailed listing and analysis of risks, uncertainties, and opportunities. For the small business, it should examine the proposed products, market, industry, management policies, marketing policies, production requirements, and financial needs.

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REAP Program Guarantees Small-Business Loans

The Rural Energy for America Program helps agricultural entities and rural small businesses develop renewable energy systems or implement energy efficiency upgrades by making capital available. While the grant-making portion of REAP is closed until at least October 1, 2025 (and perhaps longer depending on Congressional funding), the loan portion of the program is open and accepting applications on an ongoing basis.

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Special Assistance for Rural Businesses

Entrepreneurs and business owners in rural areas can get business assistance from the nonprofit organization Rural Community Assistance Corporation. The nonprofit lender, known as RCAC, offers workshops, business consulting, and loans to entrepreneurs and businesses in western communities with less than 50,000 people.

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