New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership (New Mexico MEP) is hosting a virtual conference October 26 through 29 to arm manufacturers with information to help them move beyond today’s supply chain, workforce, and other issues that pose challenges to production.
Continue readingTag Archives: New Mexico MEP
Velarde 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 readingYour Own Outdoor Recreation Business? Explore the Possibilities
Entrepreneurs and hobbyists interested in exploring the potential for starting or growing a business in the outdoor recreation industry have two new resources.
Continue readingRelationships Energize New Mexico MEP Resources
When tech innovator Dave Keicher requested marketing and sales growth services from New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership (New Mexico MEP), the nonprofit organization saw it as an opportunity to experiment. New Mexico MEP helps manufacturers increase their competitiveness and profitability by improving processes.
Keicher is vice president of Integrated Deposition Solutions (IDS), whose founder Marcelino Essien patented an aerosol printing technology that IDS calls NanoJet. Keicher helped develop the technology at Sandia National Laboratories and was an early investor in IDS.
The request from Keicher revealed a gap in the services that New Mexico MEP typically provides. Rather than relying strictly on its own Innovation Directors, New Mexico MEP contracted with “resource partners” to supplement its services.
Continue readingGovernment Contractors Offered Cybersecurity Training and Assistance
Soon, contractors and subcontractors to the U.S. Department of Defense will be required to have cybersecurity certification at the level needed for the specific work in the contract. The new Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) guidelines are thought to be the precursor to certification that eventually will be required across all government contracts. To help businesses prepare, the New Mexico Economic Development Department is hosting a CyberReady workshop May 12-14, 2021.
Continue readingThe Flavor of Success
Carla Gallegos-Ortega’s homemade salsa were a hit with family and friends for as long as she can remember. In 2017, she entered the Salsa Festival in Albuquerque’s Old Town and enlisted her daughter and a few friends to help her produce 16 gallons of salsa in an outdoor tent.
She left that festival with an award and the ambition to become a food entrepreneur.
Later that same year, she discovered The Mixing Bowl, a commercial kitchen that offers a food-business incubation program and hourly kitchen rental. By June 2018, Gallegos-Ortega had a license for her business, New Mexico Sabor; a health department permit; training in best practices; and membership at the commercial kitchen.
Continue reading