Category Archives: Starting or Growing a Business

Program Offers NM Herbalist Free Technical Help

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Monica Abeita

Monica Abeita, Regional Development Corp. for NNM Connect

In the 29 years since he bought Santa Fe-based Herbs, Etc. from its founder, herbalist Daniel Gagnon has worked hard to meet demand from the more than 2,000 U.S. retailers that carry the liquid herbal extracts and herbal medicines he manufactures.

Because quality control was critical to establishing and maintaining the company’s reputation, Gagnon imposed rigorous anti-microbial standards for his potions. Traditionally, Gagnon eliminated unwanted microbes by processing his herbs with water and alcohol. But in 2000, he developed a way to remove the alcohol to produce an alcohol-free product using olive oil and soft gel encapsulation.

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State Helps Businesses Obtain Certification That Puts Major Contracts Within Reach

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Jeff Abrams

Jeff Abrams, Innovation Director, New Mexico MEP

Winning government contracts can enrich a business and workers in the community where the business is based. But getting contracts from government agencies and private industries that value quality-management certification can seem daunting at first.

To simplify the process for eligible businesses, the state Economic Development Department, in partnership with New Mexico MEP, created New Mexico 9000, or ISO 9000 — a class that trains businesses to procure the ISO 9001:2008 certification that is critical to winning big contracts and doing business with privately held national and international companies.

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Trade Missions Help New Mexico Businesses Expand into Global Market

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Edward R. Herrera

Edward R. Herrera, Acting Director, Office of International Trade, NM EDD

Glenn Mallory traveled to Chile and Argentina this winter to gauge the potential market for Kalwall, an energy-saving translucent building material made and marketed by Illuminación Natural Inc. and its Southwest affiliate, Daylighting Solutions. The trade mission was coordinated by the New Mexico Economic Development Department’s Office of International Trade.

“I had worked in both markets several years ago with no tangible results,” Mallory said. But on this trip, “I got very clear ideas about the potential in both markets. It will take months of follow-up and persistence to determine whether or not there will be direct economic benefit from the mission, but one small order would pay for the cost of making the trip, so it is worth the investment.”

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Private-Public Partnership Brings Export Experts to New Mexico

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Jennifer Sinsabaugh

Jennifer Sinsabaugh, Operations Director, NM MEP

New Mexico businesses interested in exporting their products or services — or expanding their export capacity — can take advantage of special training sessions being offered in Albuquerque by ExporTech, a collaboration of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Export Assistance Centers of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The event is set in Albuquerque because of that city’s central location, but businesses throughout the state are encouraged to attend, even if it means a long drive, to take advantage of the national resources being offered.

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Video Studio to Connect Businesses to Resources

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Doug Lee

Doug Lee, Managing Director, WESST Enterprise Center

A digital media studio that opens soon at the 3-year-old WESST Enterprise Center business incubator in downtown Albuquerque will provide more resources to entrepreneurs and small businesses in New Mexico.

When the Comcast Digital Media Studio opens in July, WESST will have a studio to film workshops we can then stream live to all our offices in New Mexico.  This means our workshops will have a uniform message for our resident and non-resident clients, regardless of whether they’re based in Albuquerque or at our satellite offices in Rio Rancho, Santa Fe, Las Cruces, Roswell and Farmington.  Of the estimated 1250 business incubators in the U.S., fewer than six have video studios.

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Federal Funding Still Good for Small Technology Firms

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Jim and Gail Greenwood

Jim and Gail Greenwood for NNM Connect and TVC

Congress in December voted to continue two federal programs that offer funding to small businesses involved in technology and innovation. The Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR) were reauthorized as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, ensuring their funding through 2017.

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Starting a business requires passion, research and a plan

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Jennifer Craig

Jennifer Craig for WESST Las Cruces

Lenders often find themselves counseling people who are tired of working for others and eager to put their talents and energies into a business of their own. While someone with an entrepreneurial spirit can launch a successful venture even in an unstable economy, he’s more likely to appear serious to a potential lender or investor if he possesses — besides passion and ambition — a business plan and a grasp of the market based on thorough, objective research. He’ll need money to get the endeavor going, and business acumen can minimize rookie errors.

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Getting Down to Business in New Mexico

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Brent Eastwood

Brent M. Eastwood, PhD, Director of Business Advocacy, NM EDD

To launch a business in New Mexico, an entrepreneur needs a legal structure, business name, employer identification number (EIN), state registration, business license and other permits. As complicated as it sounds, it takes most entrepreneurs only a few days to obtain what’s needed.

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WESST Helps Artisans Get the Right Price

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Kim Blueher

Kim Blueher, Director of Lending, WESST

WESST is a statewide small-business development and training organization that works with many small-scale entrepreneurs who have never accounted for all the underlying costs of getting their product or service to market. Some haven’t asked themselves how to know they’re operating at a profit and how few sales they can make and still break even.

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Partners Team Up to Host Entrepreneurs’ Discovery Day

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Monica Abeita

Monica Abeita, Regional Development Corp. for NNM Connect

New Mexico innovators will pitch their discoveries to a panel of experts — and get a shot at up to $10,000 in funding — at the next HD3 Discovery Day on Dec. 8 in Santa Fe. The event takes place at the Railyard District headquarters of the High Desert Discovery District (HD3), a nonprofit entity that helps entrepreneurs give their discoveries a better chance at success in the marketplace. Discovery Day is a collaboration of HD3 and the Northern New Mexico Connect program’s Los Alamos National Security Venture Acceleration Fund (VAF).

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