Category Archives: Articles

Sustainable Practices Build ‘Triple Bottom Line’ in Business

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By Celerah Hewes-Rutledge, Chief Operating Officer, New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce

By Celerah Hewes-Rutledge, Chief Operating Officer, New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce

Renee Frank is perfectly positioned to demonstrate that sustainable practices can improve a business’s bottom line and its “upper line” — its appeal to customers who want to do business with green companies.

Frank is a real estate agent and a certified “ecobroker” — the leader of Steinborn and Associates’ Smart Living Team and a founding member of the Las Cruces Green Chamber of Commerce.

Her job is to help clients choose wisely where and how they’ll live in a new home. Her mission is to help other entrepreneurs realize how quickly they’ll recover the costs of incorporating energy-efficient and sustainable features and practices by generating savings and attracting customers. Continue reading →

Job Training Program Amends Rules to Help Small Businesses

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By Sara Haring, Manager, JTIP Program

By Sara Haring, Manager, JTIP Program

For 42 years, New Mexico’s Job Training Incentive Program has reimbursed qualified companies for some training costs associated with job creation. The program funds a portion of classroom or on-the-job training, reimbursing an expanding or relocating business for up to 75 percent of a trainee’s wages for as long as six months.

The funding aims to help companies that manufacture a product in New Mexico, export a substantial percentage of services out of state or are considered a “green” industry. Eligible workers must be new hires holding full-time year-round jobs in businesses that are expanding in — or moving to — New Mexico. Continue reading →

Knowing the Difference Between Goals, Objectives Critical in Business Planning

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By Finance New Mexico

By Finance New Mexico

In the world of business, it can be hard to distinguish between a goal and an objective, but the distinction is more than a matter of semantics. When discussing corporate strategy, the difference is critical.

While both are tools that business owners can use to compare where they are with where they want to be, goals represent that distant accomplishment and objectives are mile markers along the way. Goals can be as hazy as an image on the desert horizon, but an objective is fixed and measurable; it follows a series of steps or a timeline. Continue reading →

Nonprofits in Need: Borrowing Can Be Tool for Financial Stability

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By Cathy Sorenson, Loan Officer for The Loan Fund

By Cathy Sorenson, Loan Officer for The Loan Fund

A nonprofit isn’t in business to enrich its shareholders, but it still needs revenues and incurs operating expenses while pursuing its community service mission. It, too, can experience cash flow problems or require considerable cash to fund a capital project or expanded services.

When that happens, the nonprofit faces many of the same choices a for-profit business does, though it draws from different funding sources.

While a for-profit business can offer investors a chance to share in the company’s fortunes by buying stocks, for example, a nonprofit relies on a stakeholder who’s motivated by public interest rather than self-interest. Continue reading →

Web Presence Begins With a Marketing Strategy

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By Julianna Silva, Albuquerque Regional Manager, WESST

By Julianna Silva, Regional Manager, WESST

Building a business website is much like any other construction project: The better the foundation, the better the results — and the savings in time and money.

While laying the groundwork for an online debut, the business owner should consider how a website furthers the overall marketing strategy and how much of a website presence is needed to accomplish the company’s goals.

A simple, highly navigable website with key information is essential when starting out. If the foundation is laid correctly, the website can expand as the company grows. Continue reading →

Furniture Maker First New Mexico Manufacturer to Earn B Company Status

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By Finance New Mexico

By Finance New Mexico

At Dapwood Furniture, artisans craft tables and bed frames using wood grown and harvested from American forests that are certified as sustainable by the Forest Stewardship Council. An Albuquerque charity gets leftover wood to use in projects that benefit people in need, and some goes to people who rely on wood for winter heating.

The company hopes to convert its smaller byproducts — sawdust and shavings — into useful products, such as biochar — a type of charcoal used to improve soil and plant health.

Every aspect of the business, in fact, is seen through the prism of sustainability and social responsibility. Continue reading →

Small Business Week Winners Include Family Restaurant Veteran

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By Finance New Mexico

By Finance New Mexico

Angela Atencio-Sanchez grew up busing tables at her parents’ restaurant on State Route 76 in Española, and she was promoted to working the cash register before going off to college and a career as an assistant comptroller for Santa Fe Public Schools.

Today the daughter of El Paragua Restaurant founders Luis and Frances Atencio is the president of Las Brazas Enterprises — a company that owns and manages El Paragua and El Parasol restaurant in Española. The business was just named this year’s Family Owned Small Business of the Year by the Small Business Administration in New Mexico. Continue reading →

Albuquerque Pair Elevates Production of Private-Label Products

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Claudia Serrano

By Claudia Serrano, Projects Coordinator, New Mexico MEP

When Karen Converse of the New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership met André and Keith West-Harrison, the Albuquerque men were manufacturing skin- and body-care products and marketing them to spas and salons from the garage of their Albuquerque townhome.

The self-described “chefs” used a KitchenAid mixer to blend their specialty natural and organic lotions, bath salts and balms. They then packaged and labeled the products for sale under their clients’ brand names.

When demand for their private-label products outgrew the pair’s minimalist operation, they contacted New Mexico MEP for help raising their production processes to match the business’s sophisticated marketing profile. Continue reading →

Businesses Can Learn From Crisis Communications Mishaps

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By Tom Garrity, President, The Garrity Group Public Relations

By Tom Garrity, President, The Garrity Group Public Relations

Good policy fosters good public relations, just as flawed policy fosters bad public relations.

New Mexico residents have only to look at recent crises at the Albuquerque Police Department, Waste Isolation Pilot Plant and state Human Services Department for proof of how an organization can exacerbate its situation with poor communication and vague, inconsistent messaging.

Business owners can learn from these examples how — and how not — to handle crisis communications. First they need to understand why high-profile accidents or events develop into stories with “legs” that carry them forward for weeks or longer. Continue reading →

Entrepreneurs Connect With Experts

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By Kathy Keith, Executive Director, Regional Development Corporation

By Kathy Keith, Executive Director, Regional Development Corporation

Entrepreneurs who seek a “temporary, mutually beneficial relationship” with a scientist or engineer might get lucky at a new and innovative style of event that aims to stimulate potentially productive hookups.  The May 14 event, called “The Eureka Effect,” is sponsored by the New Mexico Small Business Assistance (NMSBA) program, the Santa Fe Business Incubator (SFBI) and Los Alamos Connect, the principal economic development investment by Los Alamos National Security, LLC and Los Alamos National Laboratory, administered by the Regional Development Corporation.

The sponsors liken the event to “speed dating, only smarter.” They hope to match LANL scientists and engineers with entrepreneurs who need free technical or scientific assistance to solve their technical challenges. Continue reading →