Category Archives: Articles

Farmington Manufacturer Seeks Quality-Management Goal With Help From MEP

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PESCO truck

Courtesy photo

By Sandy Nelson and Taura Costidis for Finance New Mexico

Brothers Kyle and Jim Rhodes have big ambitions for the family business they’ve owned since 1970. It’s not enough that their Farmington company Process Equipment & Service Company Inc. (PESCO) has a solid reputation as a manufacturer of natural gas and oil production equipment and that the company continues to grow even as gas prices rise and fall, employing more than 300 people and serving national and international customers. Continue reading →

Cedar Crest Woman Brews Up Business With Help From Nonprofit Lender

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Hannah Johnson in front of Cabra Coffee

Hannah Johnson

By Finance New Mexico

Hannah Johnson left Cedar Crest, New Mexico, to get a biology degree, and after a stint in shorebird conservation, she returned to start a coffee shop in her hometown in the eastern Sandia Mountain foothills.

The owner of Cabra Coffee, which opened in spring 2017, started making quality coffee at college. “My first job working in the industry was when I was going to school at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. It was just the coffee shop in the school, but we were getting coffee from a cafe in Seattle, and they would come down and train us. That’s where I first learned how to make coffee professionally.” Continue reading →

Nonprofit Lenders Lower Startup Funding Risk

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Business LoanBy Finance New Mexico

Entrepreneurs traditionally dipped into personal savings or tapped their friends-and-family network to fund a startup, and they used credit cards and home equity lines of credit to buy equipment or make payroll. If the venture stumbled and revenue evaporated, the owner faced years of compounding debt.

Those risks haven’t disappeared, but today’s business owners have more funding options, including a network of New Mexico nonprofit lenders. Continue reading →

Local Businesses Need Support Every Day of the Year

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Shop LocalBy Finance New Mexico

Small Business Saturday came and went with the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, but persuading budget-conscious consumers to shop locally is not just a one-day effort. If they hope to compete with national chains and internet-based rivals, small businesses need a year-round strategy that highlights how their products or services are superior to what a national or multinational corporation can deliver. Continue reading →

Businesses Unsettled by DACA Uncertainty

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DACA stamp

Photo credit: beebright / 123RF Stock Photo

By Finance New Mexico

Barring congressional intervention, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is ending, and DACA recipients — or “Dreamers” — are subject to deportation when their work permits expire if they didn’t get an extension before the Oct. 5 deadline.

The demise of the program has created uncertainty among employers who are required to fire DACA recipients the day after their permits expire but risk discrimination charges if they act too soon to terminate — or even identify — DACA recipients on their payrolls. Continue reading →

Steeled for Success: Las Cruces Company Grows With Help From Partnership Loan

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By Taura Costidis and Sandy Nelson for Finance New Mexico

Mesilla Valley Metals owners Casey and Chancie RobertsCasey Roberts earned an MBA at the same time he was learning the family trade: welding. Today, the Las Cruces man and his wife, Chancie, own Mesilla Valley Metals, a manufacturer of pipes, structural steel, farm implements and custom-ordered metal products.

“My family has always been in the welding business,” Roberts said. “My dad was a rig welder in Farmington, where my uncle on my mom’s side owns a big fabrication shop. I always enjoyed making something and seeing results at the end of the day.” Continue reading →

Honoring Veterans Through Business Support

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VetpreneurBy Finance New Mexico

New Mexico is home to more than 160,000 veterans, and about half of them are under the age of 65. For those former service members interested in operating businesses, state and federal agencies can help with business formation, certification and contract acquisition that levels the playing field for vets that have spent their careers out of the private sector. Continue reading →

Building a Business Reputation Starts With Basics

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Customer serviceBy Sandy Nelson for Finance New Mexico

A common complaint of people who hire specialists or tradespeople to provide a service is that the person didn’t show up as promised or didn’t even return a phone call. Sometimes all it takes to build a client base is to treat prospective customers with the basic decency you would use in personal relationships that matter to you. Continue reading →

Home Is Where the Startup Is

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Home-based businessBy Finance New Mexico

The blueprint for starting a home-based enterprise in New Mexico can be a simple sketch or a complicated technical drawing. It all depends on the business type and location.

Common to all businesses is the need to pick a structure, secure a Combined Reporting System number, register with the city or county, obtain required permits or certifications and decide whether to hire employees and interact with customers or to work alone as an independent contractor. Continue reading →

State’s Gross Receipts Tax: It’s Complicated

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New Mexico Gross Receipts TaxBy Finance New Mexico

New Mexico’s gross receipts tax is admittedly confusing, but the state still expects businesses to follow the law and pay what they owe from the sale of property or services.

In a nutshell, GRT is a substitute for the traditional sales tax that shoppers in other states pay when they make a purchase. In New Mexico, the seller pays the tax on the sales price of a product or service even if the seller doesn’t collect it from the buyer — and even if the buyer lives out of state. Continue reading →