USDA Microloans Aim to Encourage New Crop of Farmers

By Finance New Mexico; photo courtesy newfarmers.usda.gov

By Finance New Mexico; photo courtesy newfarmers.usda.gov

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is making it easier for New Mexicans to take up — or continue — farming in a state that’s famous for its chile and other commercial crops but also produces specialty items derived from agricultural products.

Direct Farm Ownership Microloans, which help agricultural entrepreneurs buy and improve farmland and farm buildings and finance other related capital-intensive activities, are especially helpful to beginning and underserved farmers, veterans and those just embarking on a farming career. Continue reading

Loans Help Atrisco Continue Educational, Cultural Mission

By Cathy Sorenson, Loan Officer for The Loan Fund

By Cathy Sorenson, Loan Officer for The Loan Fund

When the Atrisco Heritage Foundation lost a significant annual contribution to its Legacy Fund in the 2008 recession, CEO Peter Sanchez was thankful his foundation had an existing relationship with the state’s oldest and largest nonprofit community lending organization.

“We had started to forge a business relationship with The Loan Fund,” he said, “so they got a chance to know us not in distress but in a building mode.”

That connection was critical when SunCal, a major real-estate developer, defaulted on the loan it secured with Barclays bank to purchase 57,000 acres of land from Atrisco’s earlier incarnation, Continue reading

New Markets Tax Credit Program Benefits Low-Income Communities

By Finance New Mexico

By Finance New Mexico

Editor’s Note: This article was updated March 21, 2018.

Business people who want to develop property in economically depressed New Mexico communities — or who want to purchase expensive commercial equipment or secure working capital  for use in those communities — often lack the funding they need for such ambitious and capital-intensive ventures.

That’s why the New Mexico Finance Authority created a community development entity, or CDE, in 2006 to raise capital and fill funding gaps for large projects expected to benefit low-income areas.

To be eligible for CDE funding, a project must be in a neighborhood or tract considered low-income in the most recent census. Continue reading

Loan Helps College Student Build Business on Barrel-Racing Bling

Run As One Tack and Equine

By Finance New Mexico

Lyndseyanne Wilken started making custom tack sets to help pay her way through college. Now her small business, Run as One Tack and Equine, is doing so well that she’s starting to think her degree in agricultural sciences will be part of a fallback plan rather than her dominant career path.

The 22-year-old lives in the Doña Ana County community of Salem and attends New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. She acquired the skills to create equine finery for rodeo horses in 4-H leatherwork classes and has refined them over more than a decade. Continue reading

Small-Business Lending Bears Fruit Throughout New Mexico

Russell Cummins

By Russell Cummins, Executive Director, New Mexico Small Business Investment Corporation

The owners of Montoya Transportation in Silver City, Enchanted Smiles in Belen and Santa Fe Thrive in New Mexico’s capital city run vastly different businesses in separate parts of the state. But each of these entrepreneurs has borrowed money from the pool of capital managed by the New Mexico Small Business Investment Corporation (NMSBIC) and made available to borrowers through NMSBIC’s network of lenders.

Loans similar to these are among the 473 approved in the fiscal year that ended June 30. Those loans, totaling $8.1 million, supported 1,308 jobs throughout the state.

Since 2004, NMSBIC’s lending partners — including The Loan Fund, Accion and WESST — have delivered funding for 3,524 loans to virtually every community in New Mexico, including areas underserved by traditional lenders. These loans, totaling $56 million, have supported 9,379 jobs. Continue reading

Evolving Business Returns to Accion for Commercial Real-Estate Loan

By Justin Hyde, Accion Market Manager

By Justin Hyde, Accion Market Manager

Cathy Schueler approached Accion, a nonprofit lender, in 1996 to secure her first business loan for her nascent business — a microloan of around $3,000 — to buy equipment and supplies for her private psychotherapy practice in Rio Rancho.  At the time, Schueler was a sole proprietor who wanted to build her new business.

By the time Schueler returned in 2015, she was planning to purchase a home for her thriving S corporation, Bosque Mental Health, in central Albuquerque.

“Cathy’s a great example of how a client can grow with us,” said Metta Smith, vice president of lending and client relations. “We’re able to work with a wide range of entrepreneurs — from those needing startup capital to launch, to the well-established business owner hoping to purchase a home for his or her business.” Continue reading

Business Development Services Help Clients Improve Bottom Line

By George Kenefic, Director of Enterprise Empowerment, The Loan Fund

By the time a client gets a loan from The Loan Fund, she’s in a committed partnership with the nonprofit lender. That’s because The Loan Fund offers business development consulting to all potential clients — not just those who receive loans.

The Loan Fund loan officers provide “pre-loan consulting” the moment they receive an inbound call or greet an office visitor.  And consulting continues after the client walks out the door — either to get more prepared or to start putting the loan money to work building a business, creating jobs and improving communities. The Loan Fund is fully invested with the people whose business startup and expansion plans it helps finance —even with those who aren’t ready for a loan. Continue reading

Loan Helps Couple Open Studio to Enrich Clients’ Physical, Spiritual Lives

By Metta Smith, Vice President of Lending and Client Relations, Accion New Mexico

By Metta Smith, Vice President of Lending and Client Relations, Accion New Mexico

Empowerment is the core of Mira Rubiano’s mission-driven life. After graduating with a degree in economics from Mount Holyoke College, the Minnesota native worked at the State Department and the World Bank, specializing in efforts to reduce poverty and increase social inclusion.

Now she and her husband, freelance photographer Eduardo Rubiano, are taking charge of their own financial destiny by opening a yoga and fitness studio that helps clients build their energy and well-being. Santa Fe Thrive opened in the Solana Center at the end of May with a commitment “to providing inclusive, community-conscious empowerment in the spirit of holistic health and vitality.” Continue reading

Preparation Matters When Applying for a Business Loan

By James A. McCormick, Senior Vice President Commercial Lending, Century Bank

By James A. McCormick, Senior Vice President Commercial Lending, Century Bank

Lenders let the documents do the talking when a business applies for a loan, which is why a well-prepared loan application articulates why the business needs the money, what it plans to do with it and what other obligations it has.

Most bank lenders have their own proprietary loan application paperwork for the borrower, but all lenders want the same basic information. While the lender will obtain credit reports and scores independently, documentation brought to the loan discussion will demonstrate the borrower’s ability to repay the loan. Continue reading

Character and Teamwork Keep Bus Company in the Family

By Matt Loehman, Development and Special Projects Coordinator, The Loan Fund

By Matt Loehman, Development and Special Projects Coordinator, The Loan Fund

The Silver City economy was thriving in 1996 when Christina Montoya bought her family’s bus company from her parents and continued its contract with the Cobre Consolidated School District to transport students. In 2001, Montoya approached The Loan Fund for money to finance the replacement of two of Montoya Transportation’s older buses.

When two Silver City bus companies announced they were looking for buyers, Montoya secured a loan with local AMBank to buy both fleets and assume their contracts with Silver City schools.

But just as Montoya’s business was expanding, the local economy contracted. Continue reading