Monica Abeita, Regional Development Corp. for Northern NM Connect

The New Mexico Small Business Assistance program provides free technical assistance and expertise from scientists and engineers at Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories to New Mexico small businesses facing challenges with testing, design and access to equipment or facilities.  Businesses do not have to be technology-based, however, the challenge they face must be potentially solvable using laboratory resources. While individual businesses can request assistance anytime, the program annually considers leveraged projects involving multiple businesses with a shared problem. 

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Wayne Unze, Director of Business Brokerage at Maestas & Ward Commercial Real Estate

Anyone thinking about buying or investing in a business needs to do due diligence to make sure it’s a viable venture with long-range income potential. But due diligence means more than just reviewing the balance sheets and income statements.

Some other things that warrant close inspection before a buyer signs the final closing documents include:

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Naomi Engelman, SATOP Project Engineer

During his years in the hotel and hospitality business, Nate Mandalia of Alamogordo struggled with a problem experienced by many people who have to dress professionally for work: how to keep the hem of his pants from bunching up on his shoe or dragging on the ground.  Mandalia came up with a solution – an invention he calls the “hemlock.”

With assistance and advice from the Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program (SATOP), Mandalia applied for a patent for his shoe accessory and completed prototypes.  His next step is to proceed from prototype design to mass manufacturing.

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Monica Abeita, Regional Development Corp. for Northern NM Connect

Los Alamos National Laboratory’s MBA Summer Internship Program recently picked four graduate students to be summer interns and help the lab’s scientists and engineers find commercial uses for new technology and to assist real-life companies with business challenges.

The 2010 class consists of four people studying for their masters degree in business administration: Justin Dewey of the University of New Mexico, John Harris of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Ian Soti-Landis of Keck Graduate Institute and Jacqueline Shen of Cornell University, who is returning to the program for a second year.

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Deborah Peacock of Peacock Myers P.C.

Among business assets that fall into the category of intellectual property are the ideas and concepts that lead to the invention of new designs, devices and methods of doing something. If the idea is likely to lead to a commercially marketable product, an inventor should consider protecting it with a patent.

Inventors and innovators can take some steps to decide if patent protection is warranted, but specific legal advice from a qualified attorney or legal expert is essential when applying for a patent.

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Monica Abeita, Regional Development Corp. for NNM Connect

In early 2007, a London entrepreneur who wanted to meet like-minded people used the Internet to invite others to a real-world meeting. He called it Open Coffee to emphasize its informal nature, and he created a social media website where participants could continue their conversations after the in-person get-together.

His meetings became weekly events, and more than 80 Open Coffee Clubs have sprung up around the world. All are based on the original model: to encourage entrepreneurs, developers and investors to organize real-world informal meetings to chat, network and grow.

New Mexico has three established Open Coffee Clubs — one each in Albuquerque, Los Alamos and Santa Fe. As each new group begins, it joins the international homepage of Open Coffee at http://opencoffee.ning.com/.

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By William Hett Dobricky, Procurement Advisor, PTAC at Dona Ana Community College

The federal government, state governments and local municipalities offer various categories of business certifications to make it easier for small businesses to win government contracts. The many types of certifications include 8(a), the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, HUBZone Small Business, Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business, Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, Veteran Owned Small Business and Woman Owned Small Business.           

Why Get Certified

Simply put, business certification offers the small-business owner new marketing opportunities with corporate and government buyers. Business certification programs exist to provide businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals the managerial, technical and procurement assistance they need to compete for government contracts.

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Deborah Peacock of Peacock Myers P.C.

Copyrights and trade secrets can protect two types of intangible assets that can be the basis of business success.

Copyrights apply to original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works. They can protect blueprints, computer software, jewelry, television ads and performances.

Trade secrets are any bits of information or ideas that, if leaked, could be used by another company to undercut the originator’s competitive advantage. A customer list or computer code could be a trade secret, and the precise formula for the Coca Cola soft drink has been a trade secret for decades. An example of partial failure of trade secret protection is when another company reverse-engineers computer software, uses the concepts discovered and writes source code from scratch embodying the concepts. Continue reading →

by Teala Kail, Public Information Officer, NM RLD

The New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department’s Construction Industries Division (CID) is considering two rule changes to the New Mexico Administrative Code (NMAC) that would increase reinspection fees and clarify the ratio of journeymen to apprentices in the construction industry. The agency wants to hear from the public before making the rules official and has scheduled five public hearings around the state to take public comment.

New Rules

One reason the agency wants to increase reinspection fees is to cover the cost of these services. The fee increase applies only to construction projects that require reinspections because they failed the first inspection.

This rule change is expected to encourage contractors to have their construction projects in their appropriate phases before requesting inspections. If the rule change takes effect, reinspection fees will rise from $45 to $80 for a second inspection and to $120 for a third or subsequent inspection.

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Lloyd Calderon, Director, New Mexico Veterans’ Business Resource Center

The stories we hear about veterans tend to be heartbreaking ones that demand the attention of a nation at war in two countries — stories about veterans who are debilitated or made homeless by service-related physical or psychological injuries. But there’s a success story involving vets that few people hear. In New Mexico, that story involves the 22,600 businesses owned by veterans — fully one out of seven of the 158,200 small businesses based in our state, according to the Small Business Administration.

New Mexico is home to 180,000 veterans, 30,000 of whom have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of those former soldiers hope to draw on the same commitment, dedication and courage that served them in battle to operate businesses that serve community needs and provide jobs to other Americans.

Hundreds of the warrior-entrepreneurs doing business in New Mexico find assistance in their quest at the Veteran’s Business Development Office, an office of the New Mexico Department of Veterans’ Services. State Secretary of Veterans’ Services John Garcia started this office about two years ago to help returning veterans establish new businesses or expand existing ventures — but he especially aimed to help eligible vets take advantage of new federal laws that set aside 3 percent of federal contracts for businesses owned by vets who were disabled during the course of their military service.

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