By Finance New Mexico

People start businesses to make money, but that’s not enough motivation for growing numbers of entrepreneurs who want to make a positive impact while turning a profit.

These self-described social entrepreneurs feel constrained by traditional structures that put a company’s fiduciary responsibility to shareholders ahead of social or environmental considerations. But some also feel boxed in by the nonprofit approach to social change. Continue reading →

By Julianna Silva, Albuquerque Regional Manager, WESST

Many business owners feel a sense of urgency and peer pressure about creating a social media presence before they’re ready because they assume they’re losing business to more tech-savvy competitors.

But panic is a poor driver of decisions, and that’s why the entrepreneur needs to begin with a set of clear business objectives that will guide his use of these versatile tools.

When it comes to business and marketing planning, strategy comes first and tools second. Continue reading →

By Denise Williams, Innovation Director, New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership

About 18 months ago, Aztec Machine and Repair of Bloomfield sent its management and supervisory personnel, as well as its production floor workers, to a class in the fundamentals of lean manufacturing given by the New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership, or MEP – a nonprofit agency that helps small and midsized U.S. businesses create and preserve jobs by implementing money- and time-saving production and administration measures.

Aztec – which provides machining and fabrication services for the many oil, gas and mining industries in the Four Corners area – had two goals for the training: to increase the lean manufacturing literacy of its work force and to generate momentum toward its next goal of becoming ISO registered. Continue reading →

By now, most Americans have seen a QR code, even if they didn’t initially understand why these two-dimensional matrix bar codes were suddenly appearing on products, advertisements and business cards.

Called QR for “quick response,” the codes were created in 1994 by Japanese automakers to track parts. Now companies around the world use them to link consumers directly to their websites, where they can shop and find coupons, special offers and product information. Continue reading →

By Harry Buysse, Consultation Program Manager, New Mexico Occupational Health and Safety Bureau

While employers in New Mexico are required to provide safe, hazard-free workplaces, they don’t have to hire expensive consultants to identify and eliminate potential dangers.

The New Mexico Occupational Health and Safety Bureau has compliance specialists who work with small businesses, trade groups and unions that want help establishing worksites that are as risk-free and healthy as possible. That goal of such cooperative programs is to reduce industrial injuries and illnesses and lower the costs associated with workplace hazards, including workers’ compensation claims and loss of business productivity.

These consultations are voluntary and confidential, and they cost the employer nothing. On-site consultants don’t issue citations or penalties during their visits, and they don’t report to the bureau’s inspectors the unsafe or unhealthy conditions they discover. They only require a commitment from employers to swiftly correct any safety hazards or dangerous practices identified in the visit. Continue reading →

By Luis Duran, Functional Site Manager, New Mexico Workforce Connection, Santa Fe office

Rose Marie Law first used the employment screening services of the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions even before she became director of human resources for Jemez Mountain Electrical Co-op, a nonprofit utility started in 1947 to serve residents of Jemez Springs and now generating electrical power for Rio Arriba, Santa Fe, San Juan, McKinley and Sandoval counties.

While the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union Local 611 provides journeyman electricians through its apprenticeship program, Law is responsible for hiring clerical and warehouse workers for the utility’s offices in Jemez Springs, Cuba and Española.

When jobs come open at the utility, the Department of Workforce Solutions helps Law assess the skills and abilities of her top candidates with a WorkKeys test. Continue reading →