Author Archives: Taura Costidis

New Creative Industries Startup Accelerator Welcomes Statewide Applicants

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By Tom Aageson, Executive Director, Global Center for Cultural Entrepreneurship

By Tom Aageson, Executive Director, Global Center for Cultural Entrepreneurship

New Mexico is home to the first U.S. startup accelerator aimed at entrepreneurs in the Creative Industries. That Albuquerque-based business, Creative-Startups <www.Creative-Startups.org>, is accepting applications through the end of August for its inaugural class of startup candidates. Acceptance into the accelerator includes six online classes modeled after the Stanford University curriculum and a five-day “deep dive” with mentors.

The new accelerator aims to bring business sensibilities and savvy into fields dominated by “creatives,” including the fields of advertising, architecture, crafts, design (fashion, graphic, product), film, music, the performing arts, photography, publishing, games and apps creation, television and radio.

Taken as a whole, these sectors of the economy are among the most vibrant, judging by a 2013 United Nations report, Continue reading →

WESST and Etsy Partner to Help Craftspeople Become Entrepreneurs

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By Julianna Silva, Albuquerque Regional Manager, WESST

By Julianna Silva, Regional Manager, WESST

Etsy, the leading online craft marketplace, established its Craft Entrepreneurship Program last year to make it easier for artists, craftspeople and other microentrepreneurs — especially those in underserved communities — to sell their products and services directly to consumers.
That program is coming to New Mexico in September, thanks to a partnership with WESST, a private nonprofit economic development organization that provides business training, consulting and loans to small businesses in New Mexico.

The Craft Entrepreneurship Program is a five-week series of classes in which artistically talented low-income adults learn the basics of business so they can set up online venues that enable them to reach new markets. Continue reading →

Doing Business With State Benefits Government, Private Contractors

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By Lawrence O. Maxwell, State Purchasing Agent and Director, New Mexico General Services Department

By Lawrence O. Maxwell, State Purchasing Agent and Director, New Mexico General Services Department

To serve the people of New Mexico, state government relies on goods and services provided by private-sector businesses. To ensure it spends taxpayer dollars responsibly and gets the best products at the best price, the state uses a competitive purchasing system.

Thousands of businesses each year participate in this $5 billion economy, selling the state everything from cars, trucks, pencils and supercomputers to support services for crime victims, architectural services and museum exhibits.

These businesses all start by learning how to navigate the procurement system — a set of procedures designed to protect public resources. The process isn’t complicated, but it can take time. Continue reading →

Online Tool Helps Manufacturers Measure Themselves Against World-Class Standards

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Claudia Serrano

By Claudia Serrano, Projects Coordinator, New Mexico MEP

New Mexico Manufacturing businesses that want to know how their performance stacks up against industry standards have a new tool to make that measurement — and it’s available at no cost.

The Manufacturing Performance Institute, in conjunction with the American Small Manufacturers Coalition and the New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership, created the Next Generation Manufacturing Assessment Tool after surveying thousands of U.S. manufacturers in 2009, 2011 and 2013.

The biennial survey asks manufacturers what strategic benchmarks they use to measure their efficiency and effectiveness in six critical areas: human resources, supply-chain management, sustainability, process improvement, innovation and global engagement. Continue reading →

Marketing to State’s Hispanic Population Requires Tailored Approach

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By Amanda Molina, Public Relations Director, The Garrity Group Public Relations

By Amanda Molina, Public Relations Director, The Garrity Group Public Relations

Doing business in New Mexico requires an awareness of — and sensitivity to — the attitudes and preferences of people who identify as Hispanic or Latino, because this demographic represents a plurality of New Mexico’s population. Hispanics are 47 percent of the state’s residents — the largest percentage of any other racial or ethnic group.

In its annual statewide perception survey, the Garrity Group learned how Hispanics and Anglos feel about 17 industries and institutions and 14 professions and how people in both groups use different media for news, information and shopping. Continue reading →

Accion’s Presto Loans Offer Quick, Affordable Credit to Small Businesses

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By Alfonso Ramos, Loan Officer I, Accion New Mexico

Metta Smith, Director of Lending and Client Relations, Accion Albuquerque location

Metta Smith, Director of Lending and Client Relations, Accion Albuquerque location

Small businesses in need of a quick, modest-sized loan often have little choice but to turn to high-cost, yet easy to access, alternative credit products. But New Mexico business borrowers have a new option.

Accion had long been looking for ways to speed up the process of making microloans to borrowers who don’t qualify for loans from traditional lenders and need a relatively small amount of money to take advantage of a time-sensitive business opportunity. Accion also wanted to help businesses respond quickly when faced with an urgent need.

Almost a year ago, the nonprofit lender began piloting quick-turnaround “Presto Loans” of $8,000 or less with interested applicants. The pilot project was a success — with 285 loans totaling $939,000 — and Accion has recently cemented its offering of Presto Loans, moving toward Continue reading →

Sustainable Practices Build ‘Triple Bottom Line’ in Business

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By Celerah Hewes-Rutledge, Chief Operating Officer, New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce

By Celerah Hewes-Rutledge, Chief Operating Officer, New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce

Renee Frank is perfectly positioned to demonstrate that sustainable practices can improve a business’s bottom line and its “upper line” — its appeal to customers who want to do business with green companies.

Frank is a real estate agent and a certified “ecobroker” — the leader of Steinborn and Associates’ Smart Living Team and a founding member of the Las Cruces Green Chamber of Commerce.

Her job is to help clients choose wisely where and how they’ll live in a new home. Her mission is to help other entrepreneurs realize how quickly they’ll recover the costs of incorporating energy-efficient and sustainable features and practices by generating savings and attracting customers. Continue reading →

Knowing the Difference Between Goals, Objectives Critical in Business Planning

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By Finance New Mexico

By Finance New Mexico

In the world of business, it can be hard to distinguish between a goal and an objective, but the distinction is more than a matter of semantics. When discussing corporate strategy, the difference is critical.

While both are tools that business owners can use to compare where they are with where they want to be, goals represent that distant accomplishment and objectives are mile markers along the way. Goals can be as hazy as an image on the desert horizon, but an objective is fixed and measurable; it follows a series of steps or a timeline. Continue reading →

Web Presence Begins With a Marketing Strategy

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By Julianna Silva, Albuquerque Regional Manager, WESST

By Julianna Silva, Regional Manager, WESST

Building a business website is much like any other construction project: The better the foundation, the better the results — and the savings in time and money.

While laying the groundwork for an online debut, the business owner should consider how a website furthers the overall marketing strategy and how much of a website presence is needed to accomplish the company’s goals.

A simple, highly navigable website with key information is essential when starting out. If the foundation is laid correctly, the website can expand as the company grows. Continue reading →