Chambers of Commerce Offer More than Networking

Chambers of commerce are trade associations charged with creating a business-friendly environment for their members in the communities where they’re based. They do this by advocating, educating and providing a variety of publicity tools.

While most chambers have a singular mission to support commercial activity, others advocate on behalf of businesses whose members represent segments of the community with special concerns or a unifying social mission. New Mexico has Hispano/Hispanic, American Indian, “green” and LGBT chambers. Some members in these tailored groups identify with the dual mission, while others support the chamber’s advocacy or simply want to do business with those who do. For example, Hispano Chamber members don’t have to be Hispanic to prosper from joining that association. Continue reading

Business Owners Benefit When the Numbers Become Their Friend

By Finance New Mexico

Entrepreneurs don’t need to be certified public accountants to start or operate a business, but a basic grasp of bookkeeping principles can help them accurately gauge performance and profitability, keep track of cash flow and make smart decisions about assuming debt or prioritizing payments to creditors based on what the financial reports say.

Though “bean counting” is perceived by some business owners as a time-consuming nuisance, a good accounting system is actually a tool that allows the owner to trace every dollar the business receives from a customer and to monitor dollars owed.When someone pays for a product at the point of sale, the transaction is applied to the appropriate account, where related expenses can be applied to indicate gross profit. When a client is billed on a monthly or quarterly basis, the accounting system can oversee payments to a different account and alert the business when payments are missed so steps can be taken to collect on aging invoices. Continue reading

Businesses Enjoy ROI in Breastfeeding-Friendly Workplace

Employers who provide a space where employees can express and store milk or breastfeed a baby quickly realize the benefits of doing so.

According to the New Mexico Breastfeeding Task Force, employers who comply with state and federal laws requiring them to provide a clean and private space for lactating mothers and to offer flexible break time so mothers can breastfeed or pump milk experience less absenteeism, lower health care costs and turnover rates, higher productivity and employee loyalty and positive community perception.

In other words, businesses that support breastfeeding employees are improving their own competitiveness and profitability. Continue reading

SBA 504 Loan has Bakery-Cafe Baked in Success

by Damon Scott

If you whisk together hard work and passion and then throw in an effective loan program, your chances for small business success will likely be high. Those ingredients came together in Ruidoso, where Steven and Marie Gomez operate the Cornerstone Bakery & Cafe.

Cornerstone serves up a wide variety of bakery items — cookies, muffins, pies, cakes, and New Mexico traditional goods such as biscochitos — along with catering that supplements the full breakfast and lunch menu. The Gomezes were long-time loyal customers of the cafe before buying the business in 2010. Continue reading

Economic Development Course Helps New Mexico Leaders Plan for Sustained Growth

Savannah Jermance

New Mexico communities that plan and prepare for economic development can avoid the chaotic impacts of runaway growth by training the elected officials, public employees and civic leaders who promote that change. A crash course in basic economic development from July 22-26, 2018, at Western New Mexico University in Silver City is a good place to start that training.

The course is one of several offered by the New Mexico-based International Academy for Economic Development that prepares students for certification by the International Economic Development Council. Continue reading

Newcomer maintains small-business tradition with Accion ZipPay loan

When Nick Harrison couldn’t persuade his mom to let him buy her trophy shop in Oregon, he moved with his wife to New Mexico and bought a complementary business in Albuquerque.

Harrison purchased The Ribbon Place in March 2017. The 37-year-old Albuquerque company makes custom award ribbons, rosettes, sashes, buttons and other promotional items. It employs seven people, including Nick and his wife.

The business is a perfect fit for the Harrisons, who maintain other jobs until the enterprise can fully support them. Just as appropriate was the loan the couple procured to purchase the company: The ZipPay loan offered by nonprofit community development lender Accion, allows Harrison to automatically divert a percentage of every credit card sale to the lender to pay off his loan. Continue reading

New Mexico Businesses Start Big with Franchise Ambitions

Olo Yogurt Studio

Olo Yogurt Studio

By Finance New Mexico

Multinational franchises like McDonald’s and KFC started small and worked their way up the food chain over decades. That methodical approach to growth seems too slow for the owners of two Albuquerque businesses.

Before Olo Yogurt Studio opened its first store in 2010 and WisePies served its first pizza in 2014, the owners of both ventures planned to become franchises — and to waste no time doing it.

Olo Yogurt opened a second store — a carbon copy of its colorful original — within three years and was strengthening its brand for further expansion. Continue reading

Collateral Assistance Program

The Collateral Assistance Program, previously known as the Collateral Support Participation Program, allows the New Mexico Economic Development Department to pledge cash to cover a borrower’s collateral shortfall. The program enables small businesses that would qualify for a bank loan if not for the collateral shortfall, to become eligible for a loan. Business owners apply through an authorized bank, which initiates the Collateral Support Program.

The Loan Fund Helps Veteran Buy Building To Expand Business

Joe Justice, Loan Officer, The Loan Fund

By Joe Justice, Loan Officer, The Loan Fund

Jose Ocampo launched his Santa Fe Exclusive Honda and Acura auto repair and parts business 13 years ago in a small building in the New Mexico capital. He outgrew the space within three years and moved to a larger facility nearby.

As his business continued to grow, Ocampo started looking around for “a building with better parking and more room” that would be better to meet his customers’ needs and comfort.

About a year ago he found an ideal spot on Siler Lane with a metal building with 2,000 square feet of warehouse space. The lot was particularly attractive because it could accommodate construction of a 2,000-square-foot workspace addition. Continue reading