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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Gena Wilimitis, Investor Education Coordinator, NM Securities Division

The fourth annual Lieutenant Governor’s Summit on Financial Education is a place where New Mexicans can get schooled for free on how to manage their personal finances. 

The one-day summit, a joint project of the New Mexico Coalition for Financial Education and the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department’s Securities Division, convenes at 8:30 a.m. April 19 at The Hotel Albuquerque, 800 Rio Grande Blvd. N.W.  The event ends at 3 p.m. 

The summit is a place for educators, business owners, community leaders, policy-makers and experts in economic and financial education to share their expertise with one another and with the public in workshops, educational events, classes and seminars. Breakfast and lunch are free to participants. 

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Youth Business Plan Competition Award Winners, left to right: Iliana Sanchez, Avery Causey, Ashley Lober, Dulce Avitia, Sophia Trujillo

Two young people from Albuquerque, two from Española and one from Las Cruces won cash prizes to use in developing their businesses in this year’s statewide Youth Business Plan Competition, sponsored by the New Mexico Youth Entrepreneurship Network.

A first-place award of $800 went to Avery Causey of Albuquerque for Causey’s Aunion Clothing Company. Causey designs all the clothing sold by Aunion Clothing Company, which sells shoes, hats, shirts and hoodies for skateboarders from the company’s online store.

Iliana Sanchez of Las Cruces took second place of $600 for Cookie’s Doggie Cookies, and Ashley Lober of Albuquerque earned a third-place prize of $500 for her venture, Fliptastic Tumbling. Dulce Avitia of Espanola came in fourth, netting $300 for her Dulce’s Fashions company. And Sophia Trujillo of Española won $150 and came in fifth for her custom silk-screening company, Pro-Ink Printing.

Encouraging entrepreneurial spirit

The five winners were chosen from among nine finalists in the competition; those nine were selected from 32 plans submitted by middle school and high school students. The annual competition aims to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit among young people and to nurture feasible business ideas.

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Scott Beckman, State Coordinator, NM Youth Entrepreneurship Network

At a time of rising unemployment in New Mexico and across the nation, lawmakers want to make sure the state’s young people aren’t forgotten – especially young people who hope to start their own businesses one day and help build the New Mexico economy.

Three bills before the state Legislature aim to help prepare the business leaders of tomorrow. Senate Bill 191 and House Bill 623, sponsored by House Speaker Ben Luján, would appropriate $50,000 from the general fund in the next fiscal year starting in July to contract with a nonprofit organization to develop a self-supporting entrepreneurial program for youth. Senate Bill 29 would set aside $200,000 to support a variety of entrepreneurial development measures, including programs oriented toward young people.

All this is good news to Mollie Kelly. The 19-year-old Santa Fean wants to run her own boutique and start her own clothing line one day, but first she needs to complete an associate degree in business administration and earn a certificate in fashion design at Santa Fe Community College. She worries about what the future holds for aspiring entrepreneurs of her generation, but she intends to stay positive.

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Trevor Loy, Managing Partner, Flywheel Ventures

With America’s high-tech industries showing signs of maturity, some observers have predicted the demise of the venture-capital economy. Were it true, this would be troubling news, as entrepreneurs funded by venture capital have been the flywheel of the American economy in recent decades, producing 10 percent of all private-sector jobs and 10 percent of gross domestic product from investments of just two-tenths of a percent of GDP in the past 30 years.

Those of us in the business of investing venture capital see maturity in high-tech sectors as the short-term masking of a promising adjustment by entrepreneurs and investors to the changing realities of expanding global market opportunities with a broader base of technology innovations than ever before.

A World of Needs

In recent years, many international markets for innovation-based products — especially energy, physical infrastructure, human health, mobile computing and communications and security — have grown faster than the U.S. market for those products. Because developing economies need to satisfy their needs in more sustainable ways for cost and environmental reasons, a higher level of technological innovation is called for. Given that the venture-capital industry’s core skill is investing in highly innovative technologies to address large, rapidly growing markets, we believe venture-capital investment is more broadly relevant than ever.
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Lt. Governor Diane Denish

New Mexico business owners now have two new web-based business tools at their fingertips: Ed, a calendar of business meetings, networking events and economic development activities across our state; and A2C – short for Access to Capital, a comprehensive listing of capital providers, including banks, micro-lenders, venture capital providers and more.

Along with this launch, I’d like to tell you about the work this administration has undertaken to improve the financing environment for small businesses.  A2C and Ed resulted from a partnership of the New Mexico Economic Development Department, New Mexico Finance Authority, New Mexico Small Business Development Center Network and New Mexico Venture Capital Association. It was developed and maintained by New Mexico Community Capital.  Both sites are continuously updated – A2C as an online directory of places to begin a search for financing, and Ed as a one-stop calendar of business events.

The vast majority of businesses in our state have fewer than 25 employees.  I believe their growth and success is the cornerstone of expanding our state’s economy.  That’s why, as New Mexico’s Lieutenant Governor, one of my highest priorities has been to improve the environment for these firms.
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Paul F. Goblet, Investment Advisor, NMSBIC

The Small Business Investment Corp (SBIC) was created by state legislation in 2000 to provide equity or loan capital to small businesses in New Mexico. Support for this legislation rested on the knowledge that small businesses – those with 25 or fewer employees – are the backbone of the state, sustaining the economies of local communities where they are located.   Most new jobs in the state have been generated by small businesses, and small firms represent the majority of business enterprises in New Mexico.

While it may be a cliché, investing on Main Street instead of Wall Street has paid big dividends in New Mexico, where existing businesses have been strengthened and new businesses have sprouted as a result. Improvements in the economy are visible from Clovis to Farmington and many towns in between, where jobs, employees and communities have flourished.

The challenge recognized by the Governor, Lt. Governor and Legislators was attracting new capital to businesses in small communities. Delivering capital to start-up firms was a similar priority, but difficulties arose around how to do it in a timely, cost-effective manner. The SBIC was created to address these challenges and to focus on making equity investments and business loans to New Mexico small businesses.

Most banks use a type of credit scoring matrix to determine if a loan will be made. Small businesses, particularly those just starting out, often have trouble qualifying for loans based on this type of scoring. In addition, small loans of $5,000 or more – those typically needed by small firms – are not very appealing to traditional lenders.
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Lt. Governor Diane Denish

As New Mexico’s lieutenant governor, one of my highest priorities has been to support small businesses throughout the state. I’ve owned a small business and know the challenges that confront people like me – particularly in finding the money and getting well-founded advice on how to start and maintain a business. The largest chunk of the business community is businesses that have fewer than 25 workers. While major employers like state, federal and local government, the military, financial service industry and health care providers provide a large number of jobs, small businesses are the ones creating new jobs and providing stability to smaller communities around the state.

In addition to an improved business environment and tax structure, providing investment capital has been a priority of our administration. Investments in large projects like Eclipse Aviation capture the headlines, but they’re not the only ones. Statewide, money to small businesses has been increasing. Private equity capital has been flowing into New Mexico at an accelerated pace, much of it aimed at the vast pool of technology developed at the national research labs and universities.

The State Investment Council has played a leading role in attracting venture capital funds. Since 1996, it has given money to funds that agree to set up shop in the state and invest in New Mexico companies. Those investments have increased over the past few years as nearly 20 funds have helped New Mexico businesses. One of them, Mesa Capital Partners, helped Aridien, Inc., a Belen company that makes the desiccant products you find in packaging. Aridien, which had four workers when it began searching for money to grow, will likely employ 30 people by year’s end, thanks to Mesa’s investment.

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