Tag Archives: business help

USDA Helps Businesses Upgrade Energy Systems

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Terry Brunner

Terry Brunner, State Director, USDA Rural Development Agency

An energy-efficient water pump just went online at the San Miguel County ranch of Robert Quintana, and solar panels now power the Lifestyle Medicine office building in the county seat of Las Vegas, N.M. Both projects received partial funding from the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) — a rural development program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that offsets the cost of replacing outdated or inefficient energy technology in eligible rural businesses.

The Quintana ranch’s new electric pump powers a circle irrigation system that provides water to 193 acres of farmland; REAP contributed a $5,439 grant toward the $21,000 system that replaced the old diesel pump setup. Fourteen solar panels were installed on the roof at Lifestyle Medicine in downtownLas Vegas, and they produce enough electricity to reduce the facility’s energy costs. Owner Dr. Bradley Kanode received a $4,854 grant to help install the $19,000 solar-power system.

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Succession Plans Keep Legacy Alive

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Ray Roberts

Ray C. Roberts CPA, Managing Partner, Accounting & Consulting Group LLP

More than 95 percent of New Mexico businesses are defined as small by the U.S. Small Business Administration, and many were founded by entrepreneurs who intend to pass the assets they build to their children. Yet less than half take the steps necessary to ensure their heirs will inherit a viable enterprise.

Whether a business owner plans ahead for retirement or is forced to leave her company by illness or death, a succession plan is the single greatest tool for ensuring that her family and employees are protected. A succession plan can be the glue that keeps a business from breaking apart and destroying the assets an owner has worked hard to build.

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Getting Down to Business in New Mexico

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Brent Eastwood

Brent M. Eastwood, PhD, Director of Business Advocacy, NM EDD

To launch a business in New Mexico, an entrepreneur needs a legal structure, business name, employer identification number (EIN), state registration, business license and other permits. As complicated as it sounds, it takes most entrepreneurs only a few days to obtain what’s needed.

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Future Improving for New Mexico Businesses in 2012

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Paul Goblet

Paul F. Goblet, Financial Advisor, NM SBIC

While national indicators show unemployment beginning to ease and consumer confidence rebounding, the depth and duration of the recession that began four years ago exacted a heavy toll on businesses as sales revenue plummeted and cash flow dropped to a trickle.

Traditional bank lending dropped by $1 billion annually since 2008, and companies have seen their lines of credit reduced or eliminated during the banking crisis – just when they needed them most.

But 2011 was not all gloom and doom in New Mexico– Continue reading →

Venture Capitalists Put Market Before Product

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Trevor Loy

Trevor Loy, Partner, Flywheel Ventures

When searching for investors, many entrepreneurs and inventors first present their product or technological innovation and then vaguely present the target market as “people who need this product.” But this isn’t how customers think when deciding whether to spend money.

Consumers start with a problem or “pain point” they desperately want to go away. They watch for anything that proposes to solve this problem. Discovering it, they decide whether it’s affordable or whether another product offers a better or cheaper solution. They might even decide they’re willing to live with the inconvenience if the solution is too costly.

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WESST Helps Artisans Get the Right Price

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Kim Blueher

Kim Blueher, Director of Lending, WESST

WESST is a statewide small-business development and training organization that works with many small-scale entrepreneurs who have never accounted for all the underlying costs of getting their product or service to market. Some haven’t asked themselves how to know they’re operating at a profit and how few sales they can make and still break even.

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Partners Team Up to Host Entrepreneurs’ Discovery Day

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Monica Abeita

Monica Abeita, Regional Development Corp. for NNM Connect

New Mexico innovators will pitch their discoveries to a panel of experts — and get a shot at up to $10,000 in funding — at the next HD3 Discovery Day on Dec. 8 in Santa Fe. The event takes place at the Railyard District headquarters of the High Desert Discovery District (HD3), a nonprofit entity that helps entrepreneurs give their discoveries a better chance at success in the marketplace. Discovery Day is a collaboration of HD3 and the Northern New Mexico Connect program’s Los Alamos National Security Venture Acceleration Fund (VAF).

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Funds Connect Growers to Burgeoning Industry

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Monica Abeita

Monica Abeita, Regional Development Corp. for NNM Connect

Economic developers Robert Naranjo and Lucia Sanchez were pleased to see boutique wineries spring up along the high road to Taos. But when they discovered that grapes were being sourced from outside the immediate area, they jumped into action. With funding from Northern New Mexico Connect and the county of Rio Arriba, Naranjo and Sanchez helped organize local micro-growers – those with one quarter- to two-acre plots – into a grape growers association. Barely a year later, the group has received advice from multiple experts, pooled funds to order root stock in bulk and planted thousands of vines. In two years, when the vines reach maturity, the association plans to begin selling their combined harvest to local wineries.

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Names Matter to Business Identity

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Mike Mykris

Mike Mykris, Director, NMSBDC at Santa Fe Community College

A business’s legal name is usually that of its owner, though businesses often assume a made-up moniker that says more about what the business does than who runs it.

When the business is a sole proprietorship, its legal name is the owner’s full name, even if it does business under something else. A partnership’s legal name consists of the partners’ surnames or whatever name is assumed in the partnership agreement. Corporations and limited liability companies have a little more latitude to register a legal name with the state; their legal name doesn’t need to mention the individual owners’ names.

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Truck Puts Chef on Road to Prosperity

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F. Leroy Pacheco

F. Leroy Pacheco, CEO, The Loan Fund

Kimberley Calvo relishes creativity. The former executive chef at Intel and UNM introduced healthy cuisine to employees and students before starting The Seasonal Palate, a catering company. While looking for a restaurant location to expand her business, Calvo realized that her business model could be just as creative as her cooking.

“It was going to be a small fortune,” she said about the cost of renting and equipping the building she was considering in the small town ofPlacitas. She also wondered if there were enough residents to support a full-time restaurant. “So instead of trying to bring them to me,” she said, “I would bring me to them.”

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