Tag Archives: business assistance

Expansion Has Pet Accessory Company Ready for Holiday Sales

Posted on by

For nearly 15 years, Amanda and Dan Jackson-Miller created custom-made designer dog collars, leashes, and other pet accessories from a 5,000-square-foot building in downtown Albuquerque. With demand outpacing their building’s storage capacity, the couple moved in early 2022 into a 9,000-square-foot building near the Albuquerque Sunport.

They did so with the help of experts from New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership (New Mexico MEP), a nonprofit that helps manufacturers streamline workflow and improve competitiveness.

The Jackson-Millers met New Mexico MEP adviser Scott Bryant several years ago, when Bryant stopped by Mimi Green, which was named for a pug Amanda adopted in 2007 just as the business was launching. Bryant introduced himself and asked if the couple could use MEP’s assistance.

The entrepreneurs did some training with Bryant about five years ago, and that relationship continued through the move.

Continue reading →

STEP Grants Help Businesses Begin Exporting

Posted on by

The New Mexico State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) helps businesses expand into new markets or begin exporting by reimbursing eligible costs such as securing foreign trade show booth space, hiring interpreters, and attending export training programs. The program also offers the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Gold Key matchmaking services in major markets abroad.

Continue reading →

UNM Rainforest Innovations Offers Business Mentoring

Posted on by

The University of New Mexico offers training and technical assistance to entrepreneurs and small-business owners at all of its UNM locations, including downtown Albuquerque (Rainforest Innovations building), Taos, Los Lunas, Gallup, and Los Alamos. Business mentoring is one facet of its services.

Continue reading →

Business Incubator Opens in Valencia County

Posted on by

Valencia County small businesses and startups have another resource to help them grow their businesses. The Valencia County Business Incubator (VCBI), located at 360 Rio Communities Blvd. in the City of Rio Communities, opened in August 2022 to provide consulting, mentoring, and seminars, in addition to office space and workstations.

Continue reading →

New Mexico Startup Gets Help with Pitch to Potential Clients

Posted on by

Working with New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership (New Mexico MEP) shaved at least a year off the time RingIR president Dr. Charles Harb expected to spend getting his company’s portable gas-detecting product ready for market.

And given the disruption and delay caused by the state’s protracted coronavirus-related shutdown, the value of that time is hard to calculate.

“We were working with (New Mexico MEP) on a business plan just before COVID hit, and everything got shut down,” said Harb, who runs the company with his wife and co-founder, Anna.

The couple launched the business in California in 2013 to commercialize the wideband optical spectrometer Harb had developed at the University of New South Wales in Australia to detect airborne chemicals.

Continue reading →

WESST Helps Hobbyists Become Business Owners

Posted on by
Photo by @courtneymcook

According to Brad Crowson, a former regional program coordinator at WESST, more than 70 percent of business registrations in Rio Rancho are for home-based businesses. Crowson, who worked one-on-one with new and aspiring small-business owners as a consultant for the nonprofit business development organization, believes the home-based business trend is supported by the widespread availability of high-speed internet, among other factors.

“It’s also, in most cases, fairly low-risk financially and offers significant upside potential for both personal fulfillment and income generation — not to mention terrific tax benefits if structured properly,” Crowson said in a recent WESST blog post.

Many people engage in home-based hobby activities that turn into a source of income; however, to claim tax benefits referred to by Crowson, individuals must demonstrate to the Internal Revenue Service that their activities are intended to make a profit.

Continue reading →

What is an Entrepreneur?

Posted on by

According to Lorena Schott, entrepreneurs pop up in all types of industries and can have widely different backgrounds. “Really anyone can be an entrepreneur, given the idea and the right tools to develop it into a functional business,” she said.

Schott should know. The director of marketing communications at WESST has met thousands of entrepreneurs since joining the business development organization in 2009. WESST is a nonprofit organization that offers business consulting, workshops, financial resources, business incubation, and support to help entrepreneurs start and grow a business.

“An entrepreneur is someone who sees a need and takes on the financial risk to start a business to fill that need,” she said in a WESST blog post. “It may sound vague, but that’s the point; there is no cookie-cutter entrepreneur…”

Schott contrasts the ‘classic’ entrepreneur — someone who creates a business like a new restaurant or a tech start-up — with today’s entrepreneurs. “There has been a shift in the global job market that has opened the door for entrepreneurship to become more mainstream,” she said.

Continue reading →

MEP Helps Doctor Meet Demand for Healing Products

Posted on by

To deal with the pain of postpartum mastitis, Janine Mahon drew on her knowledge of Chinese medicine to create a soothing topical salve for herself from herbs and oils. In the 20 years since she successfully treated her own breast pain, Mahon, a licensed and certified Doctor of Oriental Medicine, refined the product and shared it with clients at her Albuquerque clinic.

When one satisfied patient asked for a dozen bottles of the healing oil to share with friends, Mahon wondered if there might be a larger market beyond her regular clients. Mahon launched Dr. Janine Mahon’s Rejuvenating Breast Oil exclusively through Violet Grey, a high-end retailer with extensive online reach and sales through its Melrose Place store in Los Angeles.

“I went from no product to a dream store launching it,” she said. “Being in Violet Grey led to other places wanting to carry it.”

Continue reading →