Community Banks Essential to Business Success

Posted on April 3, 2016 by Taura Costidis

By Finance New Mexico

Ramiro Alcala learned the value of community banks in 2013 when he needed a loan to expand the parking lot at his Las Cruces restaurant, Las Trancas, and to add walk-in refrigerators to the kitchen.

Despite his long and successful track record with the business, which he opened with his mother in 1996, Alcala couldn’t find traditional financing until he approached the local office of Century Bank. It wasn’t the only financial institution in town, but it was the only one that would lend Alcala the money to continue the expansion he began in 2010 to meet ever-growing demand. Continue reading →

Conference Enlightens Veterans About Business Opportunities, Resources

Posted on March 27, 2016 by Taura Costidis

Veterans come to the private-sector workforce with a lot to offer, including advanced training in specialized fields such as logistics, security, information technology, personnel management and administration. They understand the complexities of doing business with the U.S. government and the importance of following instructions and protocol.

Veterans have a mission-driven mind-set and work well under pressure. They appreciate the need for teamwork and leadership. Continue reading →

USDA Microloans Aim to Encourage New Crop of Farmers

Posted on March 20, 2016 by Taura Costidis

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

Posted on March 13, 2016 by Taura Costidis

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 →

Mediation Helps Businesses Resolve Conflicts Quickly and Affordably

Posted on March 6, 2016 by Taura Costidis

By Stephen S. Hamilton, attorney and mediator, Montgomery & Andrews, P.A.

Mediation can save disputing parties time and money, which makes it an increasingly popular — and sometimes mandatory — form of conflict resolution for businesses and individuals involved in civil litigation. In a mediation or settlement conference, a neutral negotiator tries to help adversaries reach a mutually acceptable agreement.

Mediation is relatively new in the U.S., but its success has prompted many New Mexico courts to require that parties try to reach pretrial accords.

Why Mediation?

Mediation reduces the expense of settling a conflict and increases the likelihood that parties will quickly reach a satisfactory outcome. Continue reading →

LANS’ Fund Gives Native American Businesses Traction for Growth

Posted on February 28, 2016 by Taura Costidis

By Kathy Keith, Director, Los Alamos National Laboratory Community Relations and Partnerships Office

After a successful trial run of its new arts and farmers market last October, Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Council Inc. (ENIPC) solidified plans to make the markets a weekly event each Saturday this year from July 9 through the Columbus Day weekend. To maximize the economic benefits to market vendors — Native and non-Native farmers and artists from Northern New Mexico ENIPC — knew it needed to expand marketing to reach potential customers during the busy tourist season.

So ENIPC applied for — and received — funding from the Native American Venture Acceleration Fund (NAVAF), a pool of money distributed by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, and the Regional Development Corporation to help Native enterprises create jobs, increase their revenue base and diversify the Northern New Mexico economy. Continue reading →

Accion Teams With National Craft Brewer to Coach Local Entrepreneurs

Posted on February 21, 2016 by Taura Costidis

By Justin Hyde, New Mexico Market Manager, Accion

Nico Ortiz needed money in 2001 after exhausting the startup capital that helped him launch Turtle Mountain Brewing Company in Rio Rancho two years earlier. But without a five-year track record, he said, “no lender would touch me.”

Loan officers suggested Accion New Mexico, and there Ortiz’s luck changed. “It wasn’t a big loan,” he said. “Maybe $20,000. But it enabled me to get over the hump” and sustain the business until its fifth birthday, when traditional lenders were willing to lend. Today the company employs nearly three times as many people as it did in 1999, and its gross revenue has quadrupled.

“Accion is critical, because the (business) failure rate for zero to five years — especially for restaurants — is ginormous,” Ortiz said. “They help fine companies survive.” Continue reading →

Old-School PR Can Raise Business Profile Without Stretching Its Budget

Posted on February 14, 2016 by Taura Costidis

By Sandy Nelson, Team Member, Finance New Mexico project

Small businesses that lack the bloated advertising budgets of their larger competitors can raise their profile with some old-school public relations techniques. Before launching a PR campaign, however, they should understand that PR is different from advertising.

When a business advertises, it pays to place its message on a highly visible medium — a newspaper, magazine, Internet website or billboard — or it pays for airtime on radio or television. It has complete control over the message, as long as the content doesn’t violate industry standards.

By contrast, the public relations approach aims to generate positive news coverage about the business by presenting newsworthy material to a media outlet in hopes an editor will reprint the press release as written or assign a reporter to write an original piece. Continue reading →

Counterfeit Awareness Critical for New Mexico Manufacturers

Posted on February 7, 2016 by Taura Costidis

By Claudia Infante, Projects Coordinator, New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership

Counterfeit products — from pharmaceuticals to steel parts to electronics — proliferate in the global economy, posing enormous risks to businesses and consumers.

Manufacturers lose big when warrantied products fail because of phony components, especially if injuries and fatalities result. The Federal Bureau of Investigation estimates that counterfeit parts in consumer and industrial products cost U.S. businesses more than $250 billion annually.

When counterfeit parts infiltrate the government supply chain, the cost falls on taxpayers. Counterfeit electronic products alone cost contractors and the federal government billions of dollars every year. Continue reading →

Workshops Aim to Help “Creatives” Learn Career-Shaping Business Basics

Posted on January 31, 2016 by Taura Costidis

By Julianna Silva, Marketing Director and Managing Director, WESST Enterprise Center

Artists, artisans, designers and other “creatives” don’t need an M.B.A. to make a living from their artistic talents, but attaining some fluency in the language of business and finance gives them more control over a creative career.

To that end, WESST and ArtSpark, two New Mexico organizations dedicated to business development and entrepreneurship, are co-sponsoring an immersive, interactive “Business Canvas Workshop for Creatives.” The training will help arts-oriented professionals fashion an uncomplicated and useful blueprint for their chosen vocation.

Continue reading →

Resource Tool for Start-up and Small Businesses in New Mexico