By Matt Loehman, Development and Special Projects Director, The Loan Fund

Jordan Perez, left, and Aaron Perez

Aaron Perez isn’t sure how he heard about The Loan Fund, but he’s certainly glad he did. Twelve years ago, the Albuquerque entrepreneur needed about $16,000 for equipment and working capital for the auto shop he co-owns with his brother, Jordan Perez, but the two were having a hard time getting a bank loan because they didn’t have adequate collateral or a credit history that would help them qualify.

Over the years, his company, Perez Collision Center, borrowed several times and took out lines of credit for $10,000 and $50,000 to finance growth. One of the larger loans was for $35,000 to update a frame rack, which is used to repair damage to the inner frame of a vehicle — “it’s a frame-straightening machine that pulls the frame of a car back into place like bubble gum,” said Aaron during a recent phone interview. Continue reading →

By Sandy Nelson and Taura Costidis for Finance New Mexico

Nonprofit lender Accion is partnering with the U.S. Small Business Administration to offer a type of business loan — the Community Advantage loan — that allows more entrepreneurs to have their loan requests approved.

Accion is the only Community Development Financial Institution in the state to participate in this pilot SBA program that began in 2012. And Accion offers the loan in all five states where it does business: New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and Texas. Continue reading →

Desert Blends of Taos; photo courtesy of the company

By Finance New Mexico

Vendors who supply products to retailers don’t always have the capital needed to fill a large order. If the vendor can’t get the money — or can’t spend all its capital delivering a big order it has to wait 90 days to be paid for — it misses a chance to increase its profits and expand demand.

This is a common situation for many startups and small businesses that can’t borrow from traditional banks or even nonprofit community development loan institutions because the business principals have no track record, uneven credit histories, scant collateral or unclear citizenship status. Continue reading →

By Claudia Infante, Projects Coordinator, New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership

X-Men Pinball Wolverine Bracket made by the company on a 3-D printer; courtesy of Mezel Mods

It started three years ago with a 3-D printer and a lifelong passion for pinball. Former Intel engineer Tim Mezel now runs a small company that makes “mods,” 3-D printed plastic after-market parts installed in pinball machines to make the games more challenging or personalized.

There’s a niche market for these products, and Mezel Mods caters to it.

In 2015, Tim Mezel and his wife, Kristin, moved production from their home to a 1,500-square-foot manufacturing facility in Rio Rancho, where they and two employees design and fabricate novel add-ons and replacement parts for tricked-out pinball machines. Continue reading →

Photo courtesy AMSD

By Finance New Mexico

When Robert Sanchez got a chance to buy the shop where he started his machining career, it was too good to pass up. That was 20 years ago, when Tremble Navigation purchased the Albuquerque machine shop of Terra Avionics and prepared to move the company to Austin.

The new buyer proposed to sell the machine shop to Sanchez and offered him a two-year contract to build parts for Tremble — mostly radios and transponders for small aircraft. That contract alone provided enough revenue for Sanchez to cover the purchase price.

Within four years, the renamed Advanced Machining and Sheetmetal Design (AMSD) had sold off that product line and ended its work with Tremble. By then the company had acquired new customers, and it needed more equipment. Continue reading →

Patrick Jenkins demonstration

By Finance New Mexico

In the early 2000s, Patrick Jenkins needed help meeting customer demand at his barbershop, A Better U, in Albuquerque’s Southeast Heights. But good barbers were hard to find, so Jenkins decided to cultivate a younger generation of ambitious hair-care entrepreneurs.

He opened A Better U Academy in 2007 on Lomas Boulevard between Carlisle and San Mateo boulevards and incorporated his original business into the school. Of Albuquerque’s 16 barber colleges, Jenkins said, it’s the only one that trains students not just how to cut, style and shave hair but also how to run a business built on those skills. “We’re committed to being the best,” he said. Continue reading →

By Finance New Mexico

Gary Peterson’s Albuquerque auto shop is a profit-generator with philanthropy at its heart.

Peterson, a 22-year Air Force veteran, started One Community Auto in Albuquerque to refurbish rundown vehicles and donate the sales proceeds to a variety of charities, from Assistance Dogs of the West to veteran suicide-prevention and domestic violence prevention programs. He calls this aspect of his business “social entrepreneurship.”

The company’s newest endeavor involves providing abandoned or wrecked cars to organizations that demolish them in training exercises. Continue reading →

By Russ Cummins, Executive Director and Investment Advisor, New Mexico Small Business Investment Corporation

Economic development is what motivates New Mexico’s nonprofit lenders: The Loan Fund, Accion and WESST. All three organizations promote grassroots economic development by lending money to businesses that need cash to get started or to expand.

Designated by the U.S. Department of the Treasury as certified community development organizations (CDFIs), they support economically disadvantaged communities and provide loans to small businesses that lack access to traditional funding. Funding for these loans is provided by the New Mexico Small Business Investment Corporation (NMSBIC). The Legislature created NMSBIC 15 years ago to generate new job opportunities and support new or expanding businesses in New Mexico.

The NMSBIC lending program also provides funding to the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority for construction loans and to Rio Vista Growth Capital for mezzanine growth funding to enable communities and businesses to grow. Continue reading →