Category Archives: Articles

Historic Childcare Center to Double Capacity

Posted on by

Christina Kent Early Childhood Center (CKECC), Albuquerque’s oldest continuously operating childcare center, is set to significantly expand its services through the purchase and renovation of a new building, thanks to a community-centered partnership with Homewise. The expansion will allow CKECC to double its capacity, offering critical early education to even more families in the Barelas neighborhood and across Albuquerque. 
 
Established in 1919, CKECC has served the Albuquerque community for over a century, providing high-quality childcare and early childhood education to low-income families. The center, accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), currently serves 62 children in three classrooms and is committed to ensuring accessible education through a sliding scale tuition model that considers both income and family size. Through its participation in the NM PreK program, CKECC also offers free tuition for 3- to 5-year-olds. 

Continue reading →

Line of Credit Boosts Security Entrepreneur

Posted on by

Like many entrepreneurs, Adrian Chavez, Sr. did not intend to start a security business.

Chavez created Lobo Protective Services in 2017 after working as a security guard to earn income while studying political science at university and paying for his wedding. It was working that job that he was approached by someone who noticed his work ethic and integrity.

“This woman said, ‘I never met someone like you in the industry. If you open your own company, I will hire you for my next project,’” Chavez recounted.

Chavez wasn’t well versed in the security field at the time, but he would hear that there weren’t many reputable or state-licensed security companies.

After that conversation and a discussion with his wife, Chavez decided to take the entrepreneurial leap. “It’s not rocket science. It’s doing good, doing what you say, and saying what you mean,” Chavez said.

Continue reading →

Loan Enables Contract Fulfillment for REI

Posted on by

Jonathan Ballesteros is the inventor, founder, and CEO of Geyser Systems, a manufacturer of portable water systems. When the company obtained a large contract with REI Co-op, Ballesteros turned to the small-business lender B:Side Fund for a loan to expand production.

Geyser Systems designs and manufactures products that address real-world problems faced by 2.3 billion people: water-scarcity and sanitation. Their flagship product is a hot, portable shower that uses less than one gallon of water and is ready to use in as little as five minutes. 

Continue reading →

New Mexico MEP Helps Company Go Lean

Posted on by
Largo Tank received assistance from NM MEP

In 2014, Adam Wagoner attended a Lean 101 workshop conducted by Denise Williams, Northwest Region Innovation Director for New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), when it hit him that lean strategies would be a good fit for Largo Tank’s longstanding company culture of promoting from within and encouraging professional development among workers.

Wagoner is an owner and vice president of Largo Tank and Equipment, a three-location manufacturing and service facility for truck-mounted equipment, fire equipment, truck tanks, and tank trailers in the Four Corners region.

Largo’s focus is welding and mechanical service work on all types of semi-trailers, tankers, and truck-mounted equipment. The company holds an American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) U-stamp for pressure vessel manufacturing and an R-stamp for pressure vessel repairs.

Continue reading →

Nonprofits in Need: Borrowing Can Be Tool for Financial Stability

Posted on by
The Loan Fund at St. Elizabeth Shelter
The Loan Fund at St. Elizabeth Shelter

A nonprofit isn’t in business to enrich its shareholders, but it still needs revenues and incurs operating expenses while pursuing its community service mission. It, too, can experience cash flow problems or require considerable cash to fund a capital project or expanded services.

When that happens, the nonprofit faces many of the same choices a for-profit business does, though it draws from different funding sources.

While a for-profit business can offer investors a chance to share in the company’s fortunes by buying stocks, for example, a nonprofit relies on stakeholders who are motivated by public interest rather than self-interest.

Continue reading →

Small Business Loan is Most Recent Help for Gallup Family Business

Posted on by

Robert Slover leaned on the WESST Farmington Women’s Business Center for extensive one-on-one consultation sessions in the early days of his cell phone repair business. Cell Phone Doctor sells new and factory-refurbished phones, including iPhone, Samsung, LG, Motorola, and Android, and it services all brands of cell phones and tablets. The business also sells PlayStation and Xbox gaming systems and can network unlock phones. When the Gallup business was ready to expand, Stover turned to WESST again, this time for a small business loan.

Slover’s relationship with WESST initially focused on cash flow and financial planning. Soon after, Slover worked with consultant and trainer Holly Patterson to understand how to use digital marketing tools to improve his social media postings. Help with marketing strategies aimed at growing his target markets was next.

Continue reading →

LiftFund Supports Women-Owned Businesses

Posted on by
Women entrepreneurs often start businesses to provide a future for their children.

The number of women-owned businesses has increased exponentially in the last 20 years, and many of them have been helped by small business loans and training that supports the unique needs of women. Aleia Shipman’s story is a great example of the passionate women who gain assistance and loans from lenders such as LiftFund and other nonprofit Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) to start businesses and provide for their families.

In 2016, Shipman knew she needed to make a change, not only for herself but for her three children. She had been working in sales at a chemical company for 10 years helping the owner grow the business despite the resistance to her creative ideas and solutions. Shipman turned her frustration into opportunity and decided to branch out on her own. That’s when she founded 3G Chemical Solutions, LLC.

Continue reading →

The Loan Fund Helps Fund Building Purchase

Posted on by

Brandy Castillo, MS, MSW, LCSW-S, created her behavioral health company in 2013 when she was starting a family and looking for a way to build a home-based practice. Clients were seen at her home on an old farm just outside of the City of Belen in Valencia County, New Mexico.

In 2018, the business name was officially changed to Hearth & Soul of New Mexico when Brandy’s husband Ignacio became co-owner and billing manager after retiring from the New Mexico Department of Corrections.

The business, which is rooted in compassion, expanded to offer services in Mesilla and Albuquerque. Heart & Soul aims to foster a supportive environment that encourages growth, self-discovery, and the realization of one’s fullest potential. Its 35 healthcare providers and staff specialize in a wide range of behavioral health services, including therapy and psychiatry to treat depression, anxiety, substance use, trauma, and more. It does this through individual and group therapy, psychiatry, and enhanced case management.

In January 2024, Brandy went to The Loan Fund for financial help to purchase a building in downtown Belen, where she could serve more clients from a central location.

Continue reading →

RCAC Bolsters Canjilon’s Push for Water Security

Posted on by

The small Rio Arriba County village of Canjilon is a living testament to the deep-rooted heritage of its community. Home to nearly 300 residents, Canjilon’s roots stretch thousands of years, during which the Pueblo, Apache, and Navajo peoples have called the surrounding lands home.

Water scarcity has always been a defining challenge in high desert communities, with sparse population density and modest financial resources compounding the problem. However, in recent years, prolonged drought and unpredictable climate shifts have nudged the village’s already vulnerable water supply and vital infrastructure toward a tipping point.

Continue reading →

Homewise Helps Couple Buy Building

Posted on by

Christina and Carlos Davis launched Trendz Beauty Supply in December 2010 in Albuquerque to offer high-quality hair and wigs at affordable prices. Having had several negative experiences at other hair stores, the couple decided to make customer service one of their company’s hallmarks. The strategy has paid off. After opening their original shop of 1,700 square feet, the growth of their loyal customer base propelled the company into filling a 3,000 square foot shop, and subsequently into their current 8,000 square foot location with a nearby warehouse encompassing another 2,850 square feet.

The rented space has served the needs of Trendz Beauty Supply, but the Davis’s always wanted to own their own building. That opportunity arose when they learned the owner of the building housing their store was interested in selling.

With the help of the nonprofit lender Homewise, the Davis’s obtained an affordable commercial real estate loan and purchased the building in June of 2022.

Continue reading →