Archive for November, 2009

Article Courtesy of The Las Cruces Bulletin

Help is on the way for anyone looking to start a business, but not quite sure how to start.

The Entrepreneurship Institute at New Mexico State University’s Arrowhead Center will hold a grand opening for its Entrepreneurship Laboratory from 3 to 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4, at NMSU’s Academic Research Building A, located on the south end of campus.

“This is an incredible community resource and it’s available for anyone interested in exploring the option of starting or running a business in New Mexico,” said Matt Elgersma, business research and outreach coordinator for Arrowhead Center. “We want to help spur economic development by helping potential entrepreneurs in beginning the process.”

The lab includes a library of entrepreneurship resources, computers equipped with business simulation software and a step-by-step workbook written for anyone interested in starting a business in the state.

The lab is part of Arrowhead’s Entrepreneurship Institute, which also focuses on fostering emerging entrepreneurs and establishing an entrepreneurship network within the state. The institute is funded by a three-year, nearly $1 million grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration and made possible by New Mexico’s congressional delegation.

There will be free finger foods and beverages, and a raffle will be held with the winner taking home a piece of jewelry provided by Boudreau’s Glenn Cutter Jewelers and Gallery, located at 2001 E. Lohman Ave., Suite 125. Entrants must be present to win. The drawing is at 4 p.m.

For more information, email Elgersma at melgersm@nmsu.edu, call 646-7832 or visit www.arrowheadcenter.org.

Article Courtesy of the International Business Accelerator

On November 11 through 13, 2009, the International Business Accelerator (IBA) and the Office of Mexican Affairs & Trade (OMA) organized an outbound trade mission to Juarez, Mexico. The purpose of the trade mission was to promote New Mexico exports by introducing qualified industrial suppliers to industrial buyers from the maquiladora industry, located in Juarez.

The IBA, OMA, the City of Juarez Economic Development Association, and the State of Chihuahua Industrial Development Department worked together to match the participating New Mexican suppliers’ outputs with the demand interests of the participating maquiladora purchasing managers.

The New Mexico companies that participated in this event included:

• Omega Trucking
• Bralco Metals
• Sun Automation
• Monarch Litho
• Georgia Pacific
• Southwest Dowel & Wood Products, LLC
• Albuquerque Printing

These companies had the opportunity to meet with several maquiladora buyers during a series of pre-qualified interviews arranged by the organizers. Each interview had duration of up to thirty minutes. The companies that participated from the Juarez maquiladora purchasing industrial sector included: Crayola, Bosch, ADC, Delphi, Tyco, Strattec- Security, Larco, Matrix Wire, Bell Manufacturing, Radial, Toro, Labinal, Tatung, Lexmark, Del Real, Cardinal Health, Covidien, and Inventec.

The New Mexico suppliers are currently working on production quotes and are conducting follow-up with these companies.

Governor Bill Richardson’s Budget Balancing Task Force will meet for discussion and public input on Tuesday, December 1, 2009.  The meeting will be held at the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum beginning at 1:00 p.m. and will conclude at 5:00 p.m.

The Task Force is actively seeking input from a cross section of New Mexicans on the following revenue options that have already been proposed from a variety of groups and individuals:

• gross receipts and compensating tax (increase the rate and/or broaden the base);
• taxes on tobacco, liquor, insurance premiums and motor vehicles;
• personal and corporate income taxes and withholding taxes;
• taxes on oil, natural gas, coal and uranium;
• tax compliance and administration rules; and
• rules defining business incentive tax credits and requirements for their systematic evaluation.

The agenda for the Las Cruces meeting is:

1:00 – Welcome by Rick Homans, Chairman

1:10 – Personal Income Tax

1:55 – Corporate Income and Franchise Taxes

3:05 – Break

3:20 – Income Tax Withholding

3:40 – Estate Tax

3:50 – Business Incentive Credits

4:35 – Public Comment

4:55 – Closing Remarks

More information is available at http://www.nmrevenueoptions.com/.  You may also comment on-line.

The December meeting of the MVEDA Business on the Border Forum will be held on Tuesday, December 1, 2009 from 11:30 AM until 1:00 PM at the Day’s Inn Columbus Conference Center, 901 Avenida de Mesilla.  The meeting will begin with a hot entree buffet, followed by an update by MVEDA staff.

Jeff Abrams, Project Manager for the New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership (New Mexico MEP) will be the featured speaker.  The New Mexico MEP is part of a national network which provides technical and business resources to manufacturers who are prepared to expand their capabilities and increase profitability. New Mexico MEP is affiliated with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

New Mexico MEP is uniquely positioned to provide a wide variety of services to manufacturers and small businesses throughout the State of New Mexico. Services offered include:

• Lean Systems
• Quality Systems
• Business Services
• Organizational Development
• Information Technology

Luncheon cost is $15.00 per person, payable by cash, check or major credit card. The meeting is open to the public and reservations are not required.

Article Courtesy of New Mexico Partnership

As New Mexico rapidly becomes a global leader in pure energy innovation, we continue to draw international attention to the Land of Enchantment.  The New Mexico Partnership has taken actions and adopted substantive policy measures to stimulate development of solar power projects throughout the state. Those initiatives as well as an aggressive business recruiting strategy have effectively positioned the state as a focal point for this rapidly emerging industry.

One such strategy was attendance at the Solar Power International 2009 Conference in Anaheim, CA during the week of October 26-30. The NM Partnership staff along with representatives from the Otero County Development Council (OCEDC), Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance (MVEDA), Albuquerque Economic Development (AED), Rio Rancho Economic Development (RREDC) and Eastern New Mexico Economic Development Alliance (ENMEDA) walked the show in order to develop new relationships and revisit previous relationships formed during PV America, Intercooler North America and last year’s Solar Power International conference.

On the evening of October 28th, the NM Partnership hosted “An Evening With New Mexico” at the House of Blues.  This solar executive outreach event was generously sponsored by OCEDC, MVEDA, AED, RREDC, ENMEDA, SCHOTT Solar, Emcore Corporation and Sky Fuel, Inc., Taos Ski Valley, the Taos Country Club and Verde Corporate Realty Services.  Governor Bill Richardson kicked off the event with a keynote address discussing New Mexico’s continued momentum in forming a renewable energy cluster in New Mexico.  Mark Finocchario, President & CEO of Schott Solar and Christopher Larocca, COO of Emcore Corporation spoke on their companies’ experiences and successes in doing business in New Mexico.

More than 200 industry executives and guests showed up to learn more about New Mexico and the event was touted the “Best Social Networking Event” of the conference.   Often times the return on investment for these events can be difficult to track.  However, the New Mexico Partnership has already had a site visit from a company who attended the event and has seen two projects come out of the trip.   We would like to thank everyone who helped make this event a huge success for New Mexico.