Category Archives: Articles

Revitalizing New Mexico’s Historic Centers of Commerce

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Jon Barela

By Secretary Jon Barela, New Mexico Economic Development Department

Economic development in New Mexico is often a joint effort of individual communities and the state’s Economic Development Department (EDD), which oversees multiple programs designed to bolster the state’s infrastructure and support the entrepreneurial ambitions of New Mexicans.

Three high profile initiatives are the New Mexico MainStreet Program and two programs that fall under its umbrella: the Frontier Communities Initiative and the Arts and Cultural Districts Program.

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Businesses Turn Accounts Receivable Into Quick Cash

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By Finance New Mexico

By Finance New Mexico

Accounts receivable represents money a business will get when — and if — the client pays his bill. It’s not money in the bank, but it’s money the business expects to collect within 30 to 60 days.

While waiting, many businesses that are owed large amounts of money — either because of generous or traditionally slow payment policies or foot-dragging clients — can struggle with cash flow shortfalls and be unable to pay their employees and vendors on time. Continue reading →

USDA Program Helps New Mexico Farmer Turn Milk and Honey Into Money

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Terry Brunner

By Terry Brunner, State Director, USDA Rural Development Agency

Daven Lee got much more than money when she received a $12,500 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development program in 2010.

After eight years of selling her handmade soaps and lotion bars at the Santa Fe Farmers Market and other local outlets, the owner of Milk & Honey Soap wanted to go from retail to wholesale. But first she needed a business plan – complete with financial projections – that could attract big investors.

“The funding allowed me to bring in a business adviser,” she said of the funding that matched her own $12,500 investment. “I wanted a road map.” Continue reading →

Law Opens Investor Pool for Small Startups

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By Finance New Mexico

A crowdfunding campaign to finance a movie about TV character Veronica Mars recently set a record — $2 million in 10 hours — on the Kickstarter platform. The backers were fans of the show and wanted to see a movie based on the character. In return for this donation, the contributors will get rewards, such as DVDs of the movie or other swag.

That’s a far cry from the typical crowdfunding project, which usually aims at a smaller target. But it suggests the possibilities of micro-financing vehicles that use the global reach of the internet to support projects unable to secure more traditional loans. Continue reading →

Los Alamos Connect Helps Inventor With Irrigation Management Breakthrough

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By Kurt Steinhaus, Director of Community Programs, Los Alamos National Laboratory

By Kurt Steinhaus, Director of Community Programs, Los Alamos National Laboratory

Plant physiologist David Groeneveld started the Santa Fe consulting firm HydroBio 14 years ago to help farmers optimize their use of energy and water — two resources that are increasingly scarce and expensive.

Using data he collected over years as a consultant, Groeneveld devised a way — using satellite data and software-based technology — for farmers to precisely monitor and control how much water their mobile center-pivot irrigation machines emit, reducing energy and water costs and boosting yields.

Groeneveld’s trademarked innovation — Targeted Irrigation Management, or TIM — is a software program that allows a farmer to remotely direct pivot machines to follow a water schedule customized for specific crops, soils and climates. Continue reading →

Social Entrepreneurs Push for Capitalism With a Conscience

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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 →

Yogurt Business Takes Next Step Toward Franchise Goal

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Joe Justice

Joe Justice, Loan Officer, The Loan Fund

Los Angeles-based entrepreneurs Paula and Matthew Pope and Tom and Precious Haines knew they didn’t stand a chance convincing a bank to lend them startup capital for a build-it-yourself frozen yogurt “creative space” in Albuquerque. Besides their distance from the business’s home, none of the four had prior experience in retail.

So the couples pooled all their savings with investments from a few family members to open their first Olo Yogurt Studio in the Nob Hill neighborhood near UNM in 2010.

The store did so well that the partners made plans to open a second store in 2013 in a West Mesa shopping mall. But they hadn’t reached the three-year threshold that most traditional banks require of businesses before they’ll lend. Continue reading →

Strategy Drives Success in Social Media Marketing

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By Julianna Silva, Albuquerque Regional Manager, WESST

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 →

Aztec Company Puts Lean Production Philosophy to Work

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Denise Williams, innovation director, New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership

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 →

QR Codes Create Avenue for Targeted Marketing

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QR_Droid_28848By 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 →