By William Fulginiti, Executive Director, New Mexico Municipal League
Robin Hartrow, partner in the Alamogordo nonprofit spay-neuter clinic All About the Animals, didn’t have time before opening her business last October to look carefully through a “welcome packet” of information she received while registering her business at City Hall. Continue reading
By Justin Hyde, Accion Loan Officer
Hoa Tran Luong and her husband, Vi, were in a relatively enviable position when they approached Accion New Mexico ∙ Arizona ∙ Colorado in 2012 for a loan to expand their Boba Tea Company beyond Albuquerque.
The Luongs had financed their own startup in 2005 using money from another Albuquerque business — Noble Collectibles. Over the next seven years, that first Boba Tea Company location spawned four more stores.
“Boba Tea came to us with strong fundamentals in place for their loan request and a great vision of the next stage of their business’ growth,” said Jordan van Rijn, a senior loan officer at Accion.
By Cindy Wilson, Regional Program Coordinator and Trainer, WESST
Anthony Urquidez sees two types of clients at the Roswell office of WESST, where he is regional manager: the aspiring entrepreneur who walks in the door – almost on a whim – armed with little more than an idea, and the would-be business owner who arrives with a business plan and a clear idea of what she needs, whether it’s a loan or instruction in computer skills or tax preparation.
All are welcome at WESST, which serves small businesses from offices in Roswell, Albuquerque, Farmington, Rio Rancho, Las Cruces and Santa Fe.
The nonprofit small business development and training organization helps clients find loans when traditional lenders have turned them down, and it provides expert advice for people who don’t have the resources to hire a certified public accountant or attorney, Urquidez said.
By Dr. Beverlee J. McClure, president and CEO, Association of Commerce and Industry
RIEtech Global had reached a transitional stage with its high-precision motion control products when the Albuquerque company was chosen in 2012 to participate in a pilot program designed to help successful companies expand their reach and refine their business models for the next stage of growth.
The pilot program, called Economic Gardening and sponsored by the Association of Commerce and Industry, PNM and Lovelace Health System, was created by Chris Gibbons in Littleton, Colorado. The Edward Lowe Foundation scaled the program to be applied nationally. The program takes an intensive, interventionist approach to economic development by helping second-stage growth companies enhance job and revenue growth. This is different than focusing on startups or recruiting outside businesses.
By Kurt Steinhaus, director of the Community Programs Office at Los Alamos National Laboratory
Customizabooks, a digital publisher of children’s books, is one of nine New Mexico businesses to receive a total of $340,000 in Venture Acceleration Fund awards from Los Alamos National Security LLC and Los Alamos County.
The Rio Rancho company plans to use its $50,000 award to expand distribution channels for its digital book applications, which create electronic books and convert existing books into digital content that’s accessible on all major mobile platforms, according to founder Tom Anderson, who manages the company with his brother, Bill.
The money also will help the Andersons finish developing their latest product, the Blackfish Story Creator, which allows people to create and share their own digital stories.
What makes Customizabooks different than other e-books, Anderson said, is its high level of interactivity, functionality and customization Continue reading
By Russ Cummins, executive director, New Mexico Small Business Investment Corporation
On the surface, Albuquerque’s Clínica la Esperanza, a medical clinic, has little in common with Desert Aire Copy & Fax Services, a convenience store and copy center that serves residents of the isolated border colonia of Chaparral. And it apparently has nothing in common with SSC Construction, a Native American-owned construction company based in San Felipe Pueblo that builds homes on tribal lands throughout New Mexico.
Yet all of these businesses got an early boost with loan funds that originated with the New Mexico Small Business Investment Corporation (NMSBIC) and were channeled through its network of lenders.
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
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
Eric Renz-Whitmore, Founding Executive Director, New Mexico Tech Council
Developers, designers, marketers, product managers and startup enthusiasts gathered March 1-3 in Santa Fe for a marathon of brainstorming, team building and product testing aimed at transforming entrepreneurial impulses into viable ventures.
More than 60 people showed up for the inaugural Startup Weekend Santa Fe, a 48-hour intensive, immersive collaboration known to the tech world as a hackathon. Participants pitched 32 ideas for marketable products or services, formed 16 teams around the most feasible ideas and ended the weekend with 10 groups presenting projects to judges.
A proposal to develop a broadcast platform for amateur sporting events — dubbed SportXast by its Santa Fe and Los Alamos team members — emerged the winner. Continue reading
Terry Brunner, State Director, USDA Rural Development Agency
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development agency is encouraging nonprofit organizations in rural communities to apply for a Rural Business Enterprise Grant to help them finance projects designed to develop small and emerging private businesses. State and local governments, Indian tribes, nonprofits and public and private nonprofit higher education institutions in communities with 50,000 or fewer residents are eligible to apply.
During the last fiscal year, the program provided $283,000 to six New Mexico recipients. It helped the Southwest Regional Housing and Community Development Corporation establish a revolving loan fund to benefit micro businesses in four New Mexico counties. And it awarded $50,000 to the Ramah Navajo School Board Inc. to pay for a preliminary architectural feasibility report and schematic design for CedarBluffTravelCenter and the Cedar Bluff Restaurant and Business Complex in Ramah, New Mexico. Continue reading