Category Archives: Articles

Clear Business Plan is Key to Getting a Loan

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Marci Rulon

Marci Rulon, CEO, Southwest Federal Credit Union

Whether an entrepreneur is starting a new business or expanding an existing venture, applying for a loan can be daunting. A good business plan makes the process less intimidating and more likely to succeed.

In writing a business plan, the business owner should consider her business from the lender’s perspective and demonstrate why she is a good credit risk.  The business plan should include the following sections:

Executive summary: This one- or two-page narrative appears first but is written last – after the owner has prepared the other components. The summary highlights the plan’s contents and explains why the loan is needed. Continue reading →

Program Brings Space Research Down to Earth

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Naomi Engelman

Naomi Engelman, SATOP Project Engineer

During his years in the hotel and hospitality business, Nate Mandalia of Alamogordo struggled with a problem experienced by many people who have to dress professionally for work: how to keep the hem of his pants from bunching up on his shoe or dragging on the ground.  Mandalia came up with a solution – an invention he calls the “hemlock.”

With assistance and advice from the Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program (SATOP), Mandalia applied for a patent for his shoe accessory and completed prototypes.  His next step is to proceed from prototype design to mass manufacturing.

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Grad Students to Launch LANL Projects

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Monica Abeita

Monica Abeita, Regional Development Corp. for Northern NM Connect

Los Alamos National Laboratory’s MBA Summer Internship Program recently picked four graduate students to be summer interns and help the lab’s scientists and engineers find commercial uses for new technology and to assist real-life companies with business challenges.

The 2010 class consists of four people studying for their masters degree in business administration: Justin Dewey of the University of New Mexico, John Harris of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Ian Soti-Landis of Keck Graduate Institute and Jacqueline Shen of Cornell University, who is returning to the program for a second year.

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Albuquerque Woman is State’s SBA Small Business Person of the Year

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John Woosley

John Woosley, SBA New Mexico District Director

Albuquerque entrepreneur Tamara Marquez-Nugent is New Mexico’s Small Business Person of the Year and that puts her in the running for national recognition by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) at the National Small Business Week celebration May 23-25 in Washington, D.C.

Marquez-Nugent is president & CEO of Moving Solutions Inc. of Albuquerque, a wholly woman-owned company founded in 2006.  The company assists companies in developing comprehensive relocation plans to minimize downtime and get on their feet quickly and efficiently in new surroundings. In four years, Moving Solutions has grown from a one-woman venture to an enterprise with 30 employees. 

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Planning is What Separates Economic Development from Runaway Growth

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Linda McArthur

Linda McArthur, Administrator for the NM Economic Development Course

Growth and development aren’t the same thing — and many communities have learned the hard way that attracting new industries and businesses to an area doesn’t automatically translate into more jobs and a higher standard of living.

Cities and towns eager to recruit businesses often overlook the invariable population growth that accompanies job growth, and some don’t anticipate the increased pressures on public services and infrastructure. As a consequence, many communities are forced to spend money they don’t have to expand services and then to raise taxes on residents to cover the costs.

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Patents Aim to Protect an Innovator’s Ideas

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Deborah Peacock

Deborah Peacock of Peacock Myers P.C.

Among business assets that fall into the category of intellectual property are the ideas and concepts that lead to the invention of new designs, devices and methods of doing something. If the idea is likely to lead to a commercially marketable product, an inventor should consider protecting it with a patent.

Inventors and innovators can take some steps to decide if patent protection is warranted, but specific legal advice from a qualified attorney or legal expert is essential when applying for a patent.

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Nineteen Startup Tech Companies to Pitch Ideas to Investors

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Michelle Mang

Michelle Mang, Promotions & Advertising Analyst, TVC

Nineteen startup companies will pitch their business plans before investors May 19-20, 2010 at the 17th annual Technology Ventures Equity Capital Symposium hosted by Technology Ventures Corporation (TVC). The annual Albuquerque forum gives investors a chance to invest in companies that are commercializing advanced technologies developed in national laboratories, universities and other research institutions.

“Even in this challenging economy, TVC was able to select 19 great presenters from more states with a broader diversity of technologies than ever before,” said Sherman McCorkle, president and chief executive officer of TVC. The nonprofit, charitable foundation funded by Lockheed Martin Corporation and the Department of Energy bridges the public and private sectors to find commercial uses for technological discoveries made at publicly funded research centers, including Argonne National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, Savannah River National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex

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Open Coffee Club: Where Old School Networking Meets Cyber Socializing

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Monica Abeita

Monica Abeita, Regional Development Corp. for NNM Connect

In early 2007, a London entrepreneur who wanted to meet like-minded people used the Internet to invite others to a real-world meeting. He called it Open Coffee to emphasize its informal nature, and he created a social media website where participants could continue their conversations after the in-person get-together.

His meetings became weekly events, and more than 80 Open Coffee Clubs have sprung up around the world. All are based on the original model: to encourage entrepreneurs, developers and investors to organize real-world informal meetings to chat, network and grow.

New Mexico has three established Open Coffee Clubs — one each in Albuquerque, Los Alamos and Santa Fe. As each new group begins, it joins the international homepage of Open Coffee at http://opencoffee.ning.com/.

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Certification Can Help Small Businesses Win Lucrative Contracts

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By William Hett Dobricky, Procurement Advisor, PTAC at Dona Ana Community College

The federal government, state governments and local municipalities offer various categories of business certifications to make it easier for small businesses to win government contracts. The many types of certifications include 8(a), the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, HUBZone Small Business, Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business, Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, Veteran Owned Small Business and Woman Owned Small Business.           

Why Get Certified

Simply put, business certification offers the small-business owner new marketing opportunities with corporate and government buyers. Business certification programs exist to provide businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals the managerial, technical and procurement assistance they need to compete for government contracts.

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Retention Marketing Matters Now More Than Ever

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J. Roy Miller, State Director, NMSBDC Network

As recently as a few years ago, when a customer had a bad experience and moved his business elsewhere, he shared his story with neighbors or business associates. These days, online social networks provide forums that can spread both facts and rumors to many more people at cyber speeds.

Bad customer service today can cost a business not just one customer but potentially hundreds or thousands more who decide not to try a product or service based on one customer’s negative experience. That’s why it’s more important now than ever to retain existing customers and keep those customers happy so negative comments never have the opportunity to spread.

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