Author Archives: Admin

Collaboration is Ingredient for Success of Culinary Business Incubator

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Tony Gallegos

Tony Gallegos, CEO, Rio Grande Community Development Corporation

New Mexico is home to delicious and distinctive foods and to one of the largest commercial kitchen incubators in the country.

Albuquerque’s South Valley Economic Development Center— a collaborative effort of Bernalillo County and the Rio Grande Community Development Corporation — houses a 3,500-square-foot commercial kitchen that’s available to entrepreneurs who want to turn their cooking skills into money-making ventures. More than 60 small businesses share the nonprofit Mixing Bowl Community Kitchen at any given time, and 200 potential entrepreneurs hatch their food-based businesses at the incubator every year.

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Energy Efficient Lighting Slashes Costs for Deming Manufacturer

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Terry Brunner

Terry Brunner, State Director, USDA Rural Development Agency

A new energy-efficient system installed at Compass Components Incorporated (CCI) is expected to save the Deming company more than 50 percent on its lighting bill. A $48,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Energy for America (REAP) made the upgrade possible in late 2011.

Lighting is critical at the company’s high-ceiling plant, where electrical components and wiring harness assemblies for buses are manufactured. CCI replaced the plant’s 630 fluorescent tube lights and fixtures with 48 T-8 Hi-Bay lights. In doing so, it removed and safely disposed of old ballasts containing liquid polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); these highly toxic materials haven’t been produced in the United States since 1979 due to their classification as persistent organic pollutants.

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Buying Business Property Offers Numerous Perks – and Potential Pitfalls

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Alexia Constantaras

Alexia Constantaras, Attorney at Law, Montgomery & Andrews

Business owners can sometimes save money by buying the building where they’re housed. Rather than monthly payments going toward rent, mortgage payments build an asset the business can sell or use as loan collateral. Corporate business owners can buy property privately and rent it to the business, providing income for the owner and a deductible expense for the business. When the business owns the property, depreciation expense is maximized and the asset side of the balance sheet is strengthened. However the property is purchased, several aspects of the purchase agreement require review.

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State Helps Businesses Obtain Certification That Puts Major Contracts Within Reach

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Jeff Abrams

Jeff Abrams, Innovation Director, New Mexico MEP

Winning government contracts can enrich a business and workers in the community where the business is based. But getting contracts from government agencies and private industries that value quality-management certification can seem daunting at first.

To simplify the process for eligible businesses, the state Economic Development Department, in partnership with New Mexico MEP, created New Mexico 9000, or ISO 9000 — a class that trains businesses to procure the ISO 9001:2008 certification that is critical to winning big contracts and doing business with privately held national and international companies.

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Board Membership Offers Connections, Fulfillment

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Leslie McCarthy Apodaca

Leslie McCarthy Apodaca, Director, Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce; and Partner, Rodey, Dickason, Sloan, Akin & Robb, P.A.

Serving on the board of a nonprofit organization can be professionally and personally satisfying, or it can be an exercise in boredom and frustration. Getting the most from board membership requires a good fit between individual and organization, and that requires some research.


Pros and Cons

The benefits of board service are generally recognized, which is why the busiest and most successful members of a community often serve on community boards. Board membership offers an opportunity to collaborate with others who are interesting and like-minded. Board members can learn new skills and use skills they already possess to improve and benefit an organization they support. Most people who volunteer to serve on boards say they do so because of a desire to have an impact, to effect positive change and to give back to the community.

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Trade Missions Help New Mexico Businesses Expand into Global Market

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Edward R. Herrera

Edward R. Herrera, Acting Director, Office of International Trade, NM EDD

Glenn Mallory traveled to Chile and Argentina this winter to gauge the potential market for Kalwall, an energy-saving translucent building material made and marketed by Illuminación Natural Inc. and its Southwest affiliate, Daylighting Solutions. The trade mission was coordinated by the New Mexico Economic Development Department’s Office of International Trade.

“I had worked in both markets several years ago with no tangible results,” Mallory said. But on this trip, “I got very clear ideas about the potential in both markets. It will take months of follow-up and persistence to determine whether or not there will be direct economic benefit from the mission, but one small order would pay for the cost of making the trip, so it is worth the investment.”

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National Lab Assists Dental Implant Developer with Technical Problems

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Information Sessions Coincide with Next Funding Deadline

Monica Abeita

Monica Abeita, Regional Development Corp. for NNM Connect

Three New Mexico men – metallurgist Terry Lowe from Metallicum, a subsidiary of Manhattan Scientifics; designer and manufacturer Dan Blacklock from Danlin Products; and dentist and educator Walt Schuman from BASIC Dental Implants — recently collaborated to develop, manufacture, and market dental implants that use an enhanced variant of titanium made by Manhattan Scientifics. Titanium improves the way dental implants are anchored into the jawbone.

But the team needed special equipment and expertise to evaluate and describe the distinctive characteristics of their breakthrough material, which goes by the trademarked name of Biotanium. The partners applied for help from the New Mexico Small Business Assistance program – a joint project of Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories and the state of New Mexico. Continue reading →

Telling a Story that Drives Investment

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Trevor Loy

Trevor Loy, Partner, Flywheel Ventures

When presenting an opportunity to investors, entrepreneurs usually begin by describing their invention and explaining why people need it. Next they present the financial team’s projections about what customers would probably pay for the product or service and what the entrepreneurs want to charge. They end by introducing the entrepreneurial team and detailing members’ credentials.

This approach is the inverse of what venture capitalists like me care about and consider when evaluating an investment. I want to hear about a venture the way I want to read a book or watch a movie: I want a story. Who are the protagonists and the other main characters? What goals do the characters hope to achieve, and how valuable would the goal be if it’s reached? What challenges do the characters anticipate and how will they respond to them? Finally I want to know my role so I can decide if I want the part.

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More than Microloans: Accion Helps Trio Launch New Brewery

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Walt Taylor

Walt Taylor, Commercial Loan Officer, Accion New Mexico ∙ Arizona ∙ Colorado

A new brewery is coming to Albuquerque in June, run by three local beer-loving entrepreneurs. Bosque Brewing is the brainchild of partners Jotham Michnovicz, Kevin Jameson and Gabe Jensen; in their corner is nonprofit lender Accion, which extended a loan of $100,000 to help the partners build a brew house and cover their initial operating expenses.

The idea for the brewery started two years ago, before any of the partners had ever made a batch of home brew, Jameson said. The three were united by longtime friendships, one family tie — Michnovicz and Jenson are cousins — and membership in the same church. All three attended New Mexico State University in Las Cruces.

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How Businesses Can Protect Themselves From Hackers

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Caroline Dennis

Caroline Dennis, President, Wired Nation

Given the numerous products and promises of the information technology (IT) security industry and the frequent news stories about data breaches, it’s not surprising that business owners don’t know where to start when it comes to protecting themselves from information-highway robbers. Some wonder why they should spend money on sophisticated security systems when hackers can get around them.

Even if a business doesn’t hire someone to watch over its systems, it can implement some basic IT security measures to significantly reduce its vulnerability.

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