Coworking redefines the traditional office space into a more collaborative, knowledge-sharing environment with varying terms and amenities and lower costs. Continue reading
Author Archives: Taura Costidis
USDA Program Helps New Mexico Farmer Turn Milk and Honey Into Money
By Terry Brunner, State Director, USDA Rural Development Agency
Daven Lee got much more than money when she received a $12,500 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development program in 2010.
After eight years of selling her handmade soaps and lotion bars at the Santa Fe Farmers Market and other local outlets, the owner of Milk & Honey Soap wanted to go from retail to wholesale. But first she needed a business plan – complete with financial projections – that could attract big investors.
“The funding allowed me to bring in a business adviser,” she said of the funding that matched her own $12,500 investment. “I wanted a road map.” Continue reading
Law Opens Investor Pool for Small Startups
By Finance New Mexico
A crowdfunding campaign to finance a movie about TV character Veronica Mars recently set a record — $2 million in 10 hours — on the Kickstarter platform. The backers were fans of the show and wanted to see a movie based on the character. In return for this donation, the contributors will get rewards, such as DVDs of the movie or other swag.
That’s a far cry from the typical crowdfunding project, which usually aims at a smaller target. But it suggests the possibilities of micro-financing vehicles that use the global reach of the internet to support projects unable to secure more traditional loans. Continue reading
Los Alamos Connect Helps Inventor With Irrigation Management Breakthrough
By Kurt Steinhaus, Director of Community Programs, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Plant physiologist David Groeneveld started the Santa Fe consulting firm HydroBio 14 years ago to help farmers optimize their use of energy and water — two resources that are increasingly scarce and expensive.
Using data he collected over years as a consultant, Groeneveld devised a way — using satellite data and software-based technology — for farmers to precisely monitor and control how much water their mobile center-pivot irrigation machines emit, reducing energy and water costs and boosting yields.
Groeneveld’s trademarked innovation — Targeted Irrigation Management, or TIM — is a software program that allows a farmer to remotely direct pivot machines to follow a water schedule customized for specific crops, soils and climates. Continue reading
Social Entrepreneurs Push for Capitalism With a Conscience
By Finance New Mexico
People start businesses to make money, but that’s not enough motivation for growing numbers of entrepreneurs who want to make a positive impact while turning a profit.
These self-described social entrepreneurs feel constrained by traditional structures that put a company’s fiduciary responsibility to shareholders ahead of social or environmental considerations. But some also feel boxed in by the nonprofit approach to social change. Continue reading
Yogurt Business Takes Next Step Toward Franchise Goal
Joe Justice, Loan Officer, The Loan Fund
Los Angeles-based entrepreneurs Paula and Matthew Pope and Tom and Precious Haines knew they didn’t stand a chance convincing a bank to lend them startup capital for a build-it-yourself frozen yogurt “creative space” in Albuquerque. Besides their distance from the business’s home, none of the four had prior experience in retail.
So the couples pooled all their savings with investments from a few family members to open their first Olo Yogurt Studio in the Nob Hill neighborhood near UNM in 2010.
The store did so well that the partners made plans to open a second store in 2013 in a West Mesa shopping mall. But they hadn’t reached the three-year threshold that most traditional banks require of businesses before they’ll lend. Continue reading
Strategy Drives Success in Social Media Marketing
By Julianna Silva, Albuquerque Regional Manager, WESST
Many business owners feel a sense of urgency and peer pressure about creating a social media presence before they’re ready because they assume they’re losing business to more tech-savvy competitors.
But panic is a poor driver of decisions, and that’s why the entrepreneur needs to begin with a set of clear business objectives that will guide his use of these versatile tools.
When it comes to business and marketing planning, strategy comes first and tools second. Continue reading
Market Research Data
When researching their market, New Mexico business owners and entrepreneurs can find useful demographic and economic statistics Continue reading
ABQWest Chamber of Commerce
Chambers of Commerce are charged with creating a business-friendly environment to help their member businesses grow. Continue reading
Aztec Company Puts Lean Production Philosophy to Work
By Denise Williams, Innovation Director, New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership
About 18 months ago, Aztec Machine and Repair of Bloomfield sent its management and supervisory personnel, as well as its production floor workers, to a class in the fundamentals of lean manufacturing given by the New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership, or MEP – a nonprofit agency that helps small and midsized U.S. businesses create and preserve jobs by implementing money- and time-saving production and administration measures.
Aztec – which provides machining and fabrication services for the many oil, gas and mining industries in the Four Corners area – had two goals for the training: to increase the lean manufacturing literacy of its work force and to generate momentum toward its next goal of becoming ISO registered. Continue reading