Entrepreneurs are fond of saying that starting their business was the most fun they’ve ever had and the hardest thing they’ve ever done. Several events in the coming weeks aim to offer some fun as they provide the resources, support, and entrepreneurial networks that offer startup business owners a solid foundation.
Continue readingTag Archives: New Mexico business
Social Media – Made Manageable
Creative Startups, known for its business accelerator programs, is offering a series of workshops designed for businesses in the outdoor recreation and experience industries. The series will focus on social media and will enable business owners to build or improve online sales and marketing.
Continue reading‘Tis the Season
New Mexico businesses rely on the support of local consumers all year, but the holidays are especially critical for many small and local merchants, particularly those on Main Street. Customers who shop locally support small community businesses and the people who work for them. They also keep tax money in the community, where it can be recycled and multiplied to pay for first responders, parks, and community centers. It’s an important proposition because many cities, towns, and villages derive as much as 85 percent of their annual revenue from gross receipts tax (GRT) proceeds.
Not sure where to start your holiday shopping? A number of organizations have created lists of locally-made products and vendors. Here are a few:
Continue readingNew Mexico Tax Holiday Coming
State law encourages holiday shoppers in New Mexico to buy from local merchants on the Saturday after Thanksgiving by providing a one-day gross receipts tax (GRT) exemption on qualifying purchases under $500. The law gives locals an incentive to support small, independent storefront retailers. For small businesses that have 10 or fewer employees, it’s a chance to give customers a discount without giving up revenue.
Continue readingRecovery Grant Program Coming to an End
The New Mexico Finance Authority, which manages the state’s Small Business Recovery Grant program, is accepting applications until December 7, 2021.
The pandemic recovery grant program was authorized by the New Mexico Legislature in the 2021 regular session to assist businesses that suffered financial hardship during the pandemic. Grants are tied to job creation, and funds must be used as reimbursements of rent, lease or mortgage payments.
Continue readingBuilding a Scalable Venture in New Mexico?
ActivateNM powered by CNM Ingenuity offers “office hours” for New Mexico startups and small businesses. Office Hours are a facilitated regular gathering of the growing ActivateNM community of entrepreneurs and mentors who get together to talk about pressing business questions their ventures are facing. The next monthly meeting will take place online on August 20.
Continue readingVelarde Winery Cuts Costs with Help from New Mexico MEP
When the coronavirus pandemic temporarily halted tourist traffic and shuttered restaurants and bars throughout New Mexico, Black Mesa Winery in Velarde had an inventory of wine and hard cider worth $100,000 and fewer avenues to deliver its products to customers. Winery owners Jerry and Lynda Burd were able to keep products moving out the door through online wine tasting events, shipments to wine club members, and creative drive-by tours that kept customers engaged.
The slowdown also gave the Burds time to examine all aspects of their operation and to consider changes that could streamline processes, open new markets, and increase market share when the pandemic ended.
The Burds sought help from New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership (New Mexico MEP), a nonprofit organization that helps businesses transform their operations to improve production, competitiveness, and profitability. New Mexico MEP Innovation Director Scott Bryant worked with the couple and their 12 employees to help them evaluate the entire production line.
Continue readingCAP Program Fills Collateral Shortfall
The Collateral Assistance Program (CAP) helps creditworthy small businesses obtain a loan for which they might not otherwise qualify. To help banks and other financial institutions make loans to small businesses in underserved markets, the New Mexico Economic Development Department can pledge cash to cover a collateral shortfall of a loan to enable commercial financing. Business owners apply through a participating bank or financial institution that can initiate the loan.
Continue readingOutdoor Recreation as Economic Development: New Toolkit Available
The Rural Economic Development Toolkit, created by the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable, outlines best practices for building an outdoor recreation economy. Outdoor recreation offers opportunities for sustainable economic and community development, and most communities need help implementing those ambitious plans. The toolkit contains a list of federal grants and technical assistance programs that can support communities in securing funding and services, along with many other resources.
Continue readingLender’s Loyalty Sustains Business Growth for Disabled Vet
Ron Edwards knew he would start his own business one day, but the path to launching Santa Fe’s Focus Advertising Specialties was paved with a variety of jobs and small-business ventures.
The most influential of his early occupations was his overseas service in the Marines, Edwards said. Thirteen weeks in basic training and four years in the military “challenged me in different ways,” he said. “I learned that I can go further than I think I can.”
Working within fixed budgets also taught Edwards how to keep operations tight.
Those lessons in endurance and efficiency prepared him for the challenges of civilian life. Edwards started a wood-finishing business and restaurant in Crested Butte, Colorado, and then moved to New Mexico. After suffering a debilitating back injury at a construction site in 2002, his days of working physically demanding jobs was over.
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