Category Archives: Articles

Businesses Enjoy ROI in Breastfeeding-Friendly Workplace

Posted on by

Employers who provide a space where employees can express and store milk or breastfeed a baby quickly realize the benefits of doing so.

According to the New Mexico Breastfeeding Task Force, employers who comply with state and federal laws requiring them to provide a clean and private space for lactating mothers and to offer flexible break time so mothers can breastfeed or pump milk experience less absenteeism, lower health care costs and turnover rates, higher productivity and employee loyalty and positive community perception.

In other words, businesses that support breastfeeding employees are improving their own competitiveness and profitability. Continue reading →

SBA 504 Loan has Bakery-Cafe Baked in Success

Posted on by

by Damon Scott

If you whisk together hard work and passion and then throw in an effective loan program, your chances for small business success will likely be high. Those ingredients came together in Ruidoso, where Steven and Marie Gomez operate the Cornerstone Bakery & Cafe.

Cornerstone serves up a wide variety of bakery items — cookies, muffins, pies, cakes, and New Mexico traditional goods such as biscochitos — along with catering that supplements the full breakfast and lunch menu. The Gomezes were long-time loyal customers of the cafe before buying the business in 2010. Continue reading →

Newcomer maintains small-business tradition with Accion ZipPay loan

Posted on by

When Nick Harrison couldn’t persuade his mom to let him buy her trophy shop in Oregon, he moved with his wife to New Mexico and bought a complementary business in Albuquerque.

Harrison purchased The Ribbon Place in March 2017. The 37-year-old Albuquerque company makes custom award ribbons, rosettes, sashes, buttons and other promotional items. It employs seven people, including Nick and his wife.

The business is a perfect fit for the Harrisons, who maintain other jobs until the enterprise can fully support them. Just as appropriate was the loan the couple procured to purchase the company: The ZipPay loan offered by nonprofit community development lender Accion, allows Harrison to automatically divert a percentage of every credit card sale to the lender to pay off his loan. Continue reading →

State Program Helps Businesses Clear Loan Collateral Gap

Posted on by

Collateral support programBy Sandy Nelson, Finance New Mexico

Editor’s Note: This program is now known as the Collateral Assistance Program.

Joshua Grassham recognized a novel approach to supporting small business financing when he saw one. The vice president of commercial lending at Lea County State Bank in Hobbs was the first New Mexico banker to secure a client’s loan through a new state program to help collateral-poor businesses.

The New Mexico Economic Development Department (EDD) introduced the Credit Enhancement Program (CEP) earlier this year as a way to help businesses, especially startups, by purchasing short-term certificates of deposit that businesses can use as collateral for larger loans. Continue reading →

Patent Assistance Is Available for Low-Income New Mexico Inventors

Posted on by

Patent pending stampBy Finance New Mexico

Inventors know that patents and trademarks offer protection against the theft of their ideas but hiring an attorney or agent to help prepare and submit the patent application can cost more than low-income applicants can afford.

To help inventors clear that hurdle, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Pro Se Assistance Program pairs qualified low-income inventors with patent attorneys willing to work for free. Patent applications submitted through the program are evaluated by a USPTO examination unit dedicated specifically to examining pro se patent applications. Continue reading →

Startup Success Begins With Team of Top Performers

Posted on by

Startup journeyBy Paul Butler, Managing Partner, Azrael Partners and former Chief Operating Officer of Lumidigm, Inc.

Building a startup or creating a new line of business is hard work, and statistics show the odds of success are long ones. Beating the numbers comes down to a combination of experience, expertise, and commitment.

The last of these three traits is important, but experience and expertise can make or break your venture in three critical areas. Continue reading →

Experts Offer Advice on Entrepreneurship

Posted on by

Expert adviceBy  Finance New Mexico

Peter Anselmo thinks New Mexico needs more ideas. Anselmo, executive director of the Office of Innovation Commercialization at New Mexico Tech, expressed that viewpoint while leading a panel discussion at the Innovators and Entrepreneurs Workshop in April at the college campus in Socorro before more than 100 students, entrepreneurs and investors. The annual event aims to nurture students — and their ideas — by connecting them with advice and experience. Continue reading →

Lender Referrals Help Bankers Maintain Trusted Relationships

Posted on by

The Loan FundBy Matt Loehman, Director of Development and Special Projects, The Loan Fund

Since the financial meltdown of 2008, bankers have endeavored to serve the borrowing needs of their entrepreneurial customers. But laws such as Dodd-Frank — meant to regulate large banks and curb excessive risk-taking — put an overall squeeze on access to capital, especially for those with business startup dreams and little credit history.

Banks now have money to lend, but many entrepreneurs don’t fit a typical bank’s customer profile. Startups often lack a track record of business success and the collateral necessary to secure a traditional bank loan.

But savvy community bankers don’t turn away business customers whose borrowing needs can’t be met internally. Continue reading →

WESST Workshop Teaches Essentials of Marketing Success

Posted on by

Your brandBy Taura Costidis, Finance New Mexico

Employing tactics without a strategy is like hiking into the wilderness without a map, provisions or a plan. Yet many novice and veteran business owners take this cart-before-the-horse approach when marketing their product or services, often with underwhelming results.

As a marketing consultant for the nonprofit economic development organization WESST, Mark Gilboard helps entrepreneurs reach and attract customers by first identifying why their business exists in the first place. Continue reading →

Quick Ratios Help Businesses Take Their Financial Pulse

Posted on by

Liquidity ratioBy the commercial lending team at Century Bank

Operating a successful business requires attention to numbers — especially to basic financial ratios derived from the business’s financial statements.

The current and quick ratios calculate a company’s liquidity, while the debt ratio evaluates its long-term solvency. The gross profit margin shows if sales revenue covers the expenses incurred in making those sales. Continue reading →