Entrepreneurs Connect With Experts

Posted on April 27, 2014 by Taura Costidis

By Kathy Keith, Executive Director, Regional Development Corporation

Entrepreneurs who seek a “temporary, mutually beneficial relationship” with a scientist or engineer might get lucky at a new and innovative style of event that aims to stimulate potentially productive hookups. The May 14 event, called “The Eureka Effect,” is sponsored by the New Mexico Small Business Assistance (NMSBA) program, the Santa Fe Business Incubator (SFBI) and Los Alamos Connect, the principal economic development investment by Los Alamos National Security, LLC and Los Alamos National Laboratory, administered by the Regional Development Corporation.

The sponsors liken the event to “speed dating, only smarter.” They hope to match LANL scientists and engineers with entrepreneurs who need free technical or scientific assistance to solve their technical challenges. Continue reading →

Coming to Terms: Document Spells Out Investor/Owner Relationships

Posted on April 20, 2014 by Taura Costidis

By Ebetuel (Beto) Pallares, PhD, Founder of Joseph Advisory Services and Investor-in-Residence, Arrowhead Center at NMSU

An entrepreneur who’s ready to let investors contribute equity to her promising venture needs to shape an agreement that allows others to share in the rewards but lets her retain significant control over her creation.

The rough draft of that agreement is called a term sheet. It’s essentially the template for the legal contract that ultimately spells out the responsibilities and relationships of business partners.

Commonly used by professionals during pre-investment negotiations, a term sheet can also be used by small-business owners to discuss terms with investors, including friends and family members. The document aims to protect the interests of all parties to the deal and prevent the disputes that can destroy personal and professional relationships if things don’t work out as expected. Continue reading →

Supreme Court Case Has Lessons for Mortgage Lenders

Posted on April 13, 2014 by Taura Costidis

By Alexia Constantaras, Attorney at Law, Montgomery & Andrews, P.A.

Lenders that resell or buy mortgage loans might feel the impact of a February decision by the New Mexico State Supreme Court that affects their ability to foreclose if the borrower defaults.

The case, Bank of New York v. Joseph A. Romero, involved a Chimayó man who refinanced a mortgage he had taken on a home he inherited from his father decades earlier. Romero secured the original loan to open a business in Española; the 2006 Equity One refinance was done to pay off that older mortgage and other debts.

Romero claimed his business made approximately $5,600 per month, but Equity One didn’t confirm that information Continue reading →

Organization Helps Businesses Procure Government Contracts

Posted on April 6, 2014 by Taura Costidis

By Wendy Ederer, ACAS, Statewide Program Manager, NMSBDC/Procurement Technical Assistance Program

A business owner who believes the federal, state or local government could use his product or service often has little clue about how and where to make a pitch.

Gil Torres found himself in this situation when he purchased Sigma Science in 2013 and wanted to expand the Los Alamos company’s reach beyond the work it did providing risk management and environmental safety and health services for Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories.

Torres needed specific certifications to bid on certain government contracts. He began his search on the Small Business Administration website, where he discovered the New Mexico Small Business Development Center network’s Procurement Technical Assistance Program. Continue reading →

Symbiotic Success: Incubator and Its Tenant Companies Grow Together

Posted on March 30, 2014 by Taura Costidis

By Finance New Mexico

When Allan Sindelar joined the Santa Fe Business Incubator in 1998, both his company — Positive Energy Solar — and the incubator were in their infancy.

Sindelar had previously made his living as a freelance carpenter and had several years’ experience designing and installing solar electrical systems. He had no background in starting and running a business.

The incubator, meanwhile, had just opened in a 10,000-square-foot building with barely enough room for eight or nine tenant businesses. Continue reading →

Term Loans, Lines of Credit Can Finance Business Expenses

Posted on March 23, 2014 by Taura Costidis

By Chris Rowberry, Senior Lending Officer, Los Alamos National Bank

When a business needs to buy expensive equipment and doesn’t have the operating cash to buy it outright — or doesn’t want to commit liquid assets to such a big-ticket item — the owner will often approach a bank for financing. The same is true when a business has cash flow shortfalls because its inflows and outflows are out of sync.

Most banks have commercial lending departments that can offer the business a loan to finance equipment purchases or cover short-term obligations. Two of the most common loan types are term loans and revolving lines of credit. An experienced commercial banker can help the business decide which loan is most appropriate for its situation. Continue reading →

Loan Helps Equine Therapist Treat Veterans With PTSD

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Taura Costidis

By Justin Hyde, Accion loan officer

When Claire Ann Barr-Johnson applied for a loan with Accion in 2013 to expand marketing for her Albuquerque-based equine therapy nonprofit, her primary goal wasn’t the money. She wanted the mentoring and advising that comes with being an Accion client.

Barr-Johnson’s for-profit company, Clinical Solutions, generated enough revenue to provide an income. But she wanted advice about how to build Horses for Healing into her central occupation — especially in light of a new, $50,000 contract with the state Behavioral Health Services Division to work with veterans who are struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder. Continue reading →

Be a Visionary Business Leader

Posted on March 9, 2014 by Taura Costidis

By Finance New Mexico

Planning in business isn’t just a matter of deciding how to assign capital and resources to create a profitable venture. Equally essential is developing a distance vision.

The most effective business leaders are planners and visionaries with creative, dynamic and specific ideas about where they want their company to be three years or five years from now. Their focus is “macro” and “micro”: Continue reading →

Rules of Engagement: Start With Plan for Social Media Outreach

Posted on March 2, 2014 by Taura Costidis

By Kristelle Siarza, Online Account Executive, The Garrity Group Public Relations

It’s not enough to have a physical presence in a world where business is conducted around the planet and around the clock. The most competitive businesses operate in cyberspace as well, because that’s where their customers are — shopping, researching, discussing and buying.

New Mexico residents turn increasingly to digital resources when seeking out all types of information. According to the most recent (2013) annual Garrity Perception Survey, New Mexicans use television as a news and information source 58 percent of the time, newspaper 39 percent of the time and internet news sites 29 percent of the time. Those sources are followed by radio (28 percent), internet blogs (17 percent) and social networking sites (17 percent). When internet news sources, blogs and social media are combined, New Mexico residents turn to digital sources 63 percent of the time, Continue reading →

State Spurs Job-Saving Development in Roswell Rail Yard

Posted on February 23, 2014 by Taura Costidis

By Antoinette Vigil, Finance Development Team Leader, New Mexico Economic Development Department

Roswell officials knew the city needed a new railroad spur if it hoped to save jobs in local industries dependent on rail shipping and to stimulate job creation in emerging industries. Occasional derailments underscored the risk of using the old Burlington Northern tracks, which didn’t meet the weight and gauge requirements of modern railroad cars.

But building industrial infrastructure is expensive — more than the city, the railroad or the rail-dependent businesses could afford on their own.

So the city launched a public-private partnership to upgrade and modernize the rail spur in a way that benefits the entire community and allows more public access to the privately owned tracks. Continue reading →

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