The Regional Development Corporation is hosting its Business Connectivity Event to help Northern New Mexico businesses located in Abiquiu, Rio Arriba County, and the surrounding region learn about free and low-cost resources and opportunities that will help their businesses grow. The event takes place on February 23, 2023 from 8:30 am to 12:00 pm at the Abiquiu Rural Event Center, House #122A, State Road 554, Abiquiu, NM 87510.
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Regional Agencies Still Have Money to Lend
Money is still available through New Mexico’s regional Council of Governments (known as COGs) that created emergency loan funds during the height of the pandemic. The Working Now Revolving Loan Fund created by North Central New Mexico Economic Development District and the Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) created by Northwest New Mexico Council of Governments continue to accept applications from small businesses in their service areas.
Continue readingTechnical Assistance Advisors Offer More Than a Loan
Matilda Scheurer purchased Teresa’s Tamales in January of 2021, and she did it with help from The Loan Fund, a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). In addition to obtaining a loan to purchase the long-time Cleveland, New Mexico restaurant, Scheurer got access to a technical advisor she can call when she needs business advice, feedback, or an answer to a question.
Joaquin Amador is The Loan Fund’s Technical Assistance Advisor in the northern part of the state*. Based in Santa Fe, Amador helps provide loans and lines of credit to small businesses and nonprofits and then offers technical support to ensure those businesses thrive.
Amador is well-positioned to offer assistance. With more than 20 years of management and marketing experience ranging from tech startup to multibillion-dollar global businesses, he is equipped to offer advice on strategic issues like business improvements, as well tactical challenges such as online marketing and search engine optimization. Two advanced degrees – an MBA from the University of New Mexico and a Master of Science from the University of Chicago – give Amador a wide range of business knowledge he can share with The Loan Fund’s clients.
Continue readingGas Service Company Grows with Help from LiftFund
After years of working for a large corporation in the gas & propane industry, Randy Peralta decided to pursue his own entrepreneurial project that would allow him to draw on his experience and be his own boss. In 2021, Peralta launched Gas Register Specialty Services, known as GRS Services, a mobile gas meter calibration company. Peralta’s specialty business serves commercial clients from Lea to San Juan counties.
While 28 years of technical experience in the propane industry were imperative for the nature of work that GRS Services set out to offer, operating a sole proprietorship did not come without its challenges.
“Having experience in the propane industry did not necessarily prepare me to handle all of the business and operational aspects,” said Peralta, adding that while he learned a lot in the field during his years in the industry, financial reporting and project management were new to him. He also needed to attend what he calls ‘meter school’ to be able to legally calibrate both electronic and mechanical meters.
Continue readingTrueGrit Loan Aims to Recharge Small Businesses
The TrueGrit Growth loan, offered by the nonprofit lender DreamSpring in partnership with Wells Fargo,* provides eligible business owners continuing to recover from the pandemic with up to $10,000 to rebuild the business and position it for long-term growth. The unsecured, low-interest, fixed-rate loan offers flexible terms that are hard to beat.
Continue readingDreamSpring Helps Restaurant Launch – and Recover from Setbacks
Twenty-two years after moving to Albuquerque to attend the University of New Mexico on a basketball scholarship, Frank Willis and his sister Tiffany moved their home-based catering operation, Frank’s Famous Chicken and Waffles, to a building on San Mateo Boulevard. The siblings did so with a $1,500 starter loan from the microlender DreamSpring and business advice from their mother Lola Beavers.
The Willises moved to New Mexico from California, where Frank grew up eating his signature dish and other traditional soul food at the Los Angeles eatery Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles. Finding no such cuisine in New Mexico, Frank and Tiffany started cooking dishes in their shared apartment and selling them via Facebook orders.
In 2019, their first restaurant moved to a larger facility at 400 Washington St. SE. “It’s a much bigger, nicer restaurant,” said Beavers, who moved to Albuquerque in 2016 after retiring from her state government job in California. “The décor is similar, in that it has a music theme with photos of musicians on the walls, but it’s a little more classy.”
Continue readingSmall Business Pros and Funding Available at All Levels
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, the top reasons for starting a business have not changed much in the past decade. Chief among those reasons is the desire to be one’s own boss and have greater control over one’s income. New Mexico, whose businesses are predominantly small (as defined by the SBA), is fortunate to be home to so many people with a drive for personal self-determination.
Continue readingSmall Business Recovery Loan – One Month Left to Apply
The application window for the Small Business Recovery Loan Fund program is about to close. Authorized by the State of New Mexico and available through the New Mexico Finance Authority, the Small Business Recovery Loan program offers loans of up to $150,000 to businesses that were negatively impacted by the pandemic. Applications must be submitted by early- to mid-December in order for a loan to close by the program’s deadline of December 31, 2022.
Continue readingSmall Biz Builder Program for Eddy and Lea County Businesses
Nonprofit lender LiftFund has partnered with ConocoPhillips to provide a three-week program to help Permian Basin entrepreneurs develop and grow their businesses.
Continue readingThe Loan Fund Fuels Adobe Tradition
Albuquerque Joinery is a small design-build company that specializes in new home construction using traditional adobe building techniques and fine carpentry.
Kenny DeLapp and Esther Fredrickson launched the business in February 2020 after building their own adobe home in Albuquerque’s South Valley. Built under an owner-builder permit, their 1,600 square foot home is a showcase of modern construction and traditional materials with brick floors, exposed vigas, adobe mud plaster walls, and site-built solid wood doors.
DeLapp, who is skilled in masonry and fine carpentry, learned traditional building techniques while working with his uncle Win, a long-time adobe builder known for custom furniture, cabinets, and museum exhibits.
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