Silvia Terrazas, owner of Paleteria La Reyna Michoacana, was named the New Mexico SBA’s 2024 New Mexico Women-Owned Small Business of the Year. Terrazas’s Las Cruces business makes Michoacana-style ice cream and popsicles, known as paletas, and sells them along with other items such as pinatas, candy, and Mexican party favors. A loan from the nonprofit lender The Loan Fund enabled Terrazas to construct and occupy a new building when she was ready to expand.

The award was one of several bestowed on New Mexico businesses by the statewide district office of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Christopher J. Sweetin, owner of Triskelion Group of New Mexico, Inc., received the top honor as New Mexico Small Business Person of the Year and was invited to join the winner from each state at a celebration in Washington DC.

Terrazas is the quintessential entrepreneur, defined as someone who starts a business to address an unmet need. Read her story, including how she financed her new building, here.

The Loan Fund is a tax-exempt community development financial institution (CDFI) that provides loans, training and business consulting to entrepreneurs, business owners and nonprofit organizations throughout New Mexico and the Navajo Nation.

Learn more about The Loan Fund, and find Paleteria La Reyna Michoacana on Facebook @LaMichoacanaNM.