Finding Help

eMercadoNM.com
This website allows small businesses to post information about their products and services and obtain information about becoming suppliers for state and federal governments.
Leading the effort are the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce and New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, with support from Sandia National Laboratories, the City of Albuquerque, and other agencies and organizations.

New Mexico 9000 Program
This is a program to help small businesses in New Mexico achieve ISO 9001:2000 compliance and certification at an affordable cost. ISO 9000 is a quality management system accepted by more than 161 countries. Certification is required for companies wanting to be a supplier for major U.S. manufacturers, government agencies and some foreign countries, including Mexico and Canada.
Sponsors are the New Mexico Economic Development Department, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technology.

New Mexico 9000 provides coursework, facilities and ISO-certified lead auditors who work with participants to implement their quality-management system. The program involves 16, three-hour workshops. Half the fee is refunded when participants pass a compliance audit.

New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership
Manufacturers, large and small, can take their problems to New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership (New Mexico MEP) and find expertise in technology and business practices. The service network addresses efficiency, waste, international certifications, and global supply chains. The New Mexico MEP is one of 50 centers in each state linked through the U.S. Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

New Mexico MEP project managers include engineers, process specialists, and manufacturing managers. The partnership is also associated with a network of laboratories, colleges and universities, and economic development agencies.

New Mexico MEP specialists can help integrate small suppliers into the resource networks of large customers and prime contractors. The technical staff can help companies qualify under the most rigorous buying criteria; meet quality, delivery, and cost control objectives; and obtain necessary certifications.

Services include business planning, product development, supply chain development, lean manufacturing, process improvement, quality assurance, information technology management, and international business development.

Sandia National Laboratories, Small Business Assistance Program
Scientists will help a business with up to 500 employees solve short-term technical problems. For assistance with a maximum value of $5,000 there is no charge; they can provide additional help on a fee basis. Sandia also has a variety of formal partnerships with industry, including Cooperative Research and Development Agreements and licensing agreements. For more information about the Small Business Assistance Program call 1-800-765-1678. For information about partnerships see http://www.sandia.gov/bus-ops/partnerships/sbp/nm-assist/index.html .

SCORE (Service Corp of Retired Executives)
The Albuquerque chapter of SCORE, established in 1976, provides free expertise to small businesses by volunteer counselors. More than 300 counselors have helped more than 10,000 clients in start-up or existing businesses in Albuquerque. You can email a SCORE counselor at counseling@abqscore.org.

SCORE also presents a monthly workshop, "Essentials for Starting A New Business," which covers business plans, management, marketing, tax considerations, insurance, financing, law, record keeping and the U.S. Small Business Administration. SCORE also offers low-cost business training workshops and seminars on such subjects as writing a business plant, e-commerce and marketing.

Small Business Administration

The Albuquerque District Office is at 625 Silver SW, Suite 320. See www.sba.gov/nm/bicnm or call 248-8246.

Small Business Development Centers
The Albuquerque Small Business Development Centers are a source of free, confidential information to small business people and aspiring business owners. They’re two of 21 around the state sponsored by the state of New Mexico and the federal SBA.

Albuquerque has two SBDCs at 2501 Yale Blvd. SE, Suite 302, and 1309 4th Street SW, Suite A. They offer individual counseling in business start-up or acquisition, business liquidation or sale, government procurement, marketing and sales, sources of capital, research and development and international trade.

The center offers training in business planning, market research, basic bookkeeping, cash-flow analysis and financial statements.
And the center also has a business resource library, which includes sample business plans, textbooks, industry guides, periodicals, handouts and online resources.

Small Business Institute
The Small Business Institute at the University of New Mexico provides free management consulting to Albuquerque area businesses by graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in business management courses at the Anderson Schools of Management.
The program gives students some experience working with small businesses and provides management assistance, expertise and guidance to small businesses. Since 1978 the institute has served more than 600 businesses.

Clients include start-ups, entrepreneurs, expanding businesses, nonprofits, and family businesses in service, technology, retail, and wholesale sectors.

South Valley Economic Development Center The SVEDC is a small business incubator dedicated to helping new and existing small businesses in the South Valley and beyond obtain the resources and information they need to thrive. The SVEDC provides services in three major categories: low-cost office space, a commercial kitchen for rent and on-site training in business management. The South Valley Economic Development Center is the product of years of collaboration among Bernalillo County, the Rio Grande Community Development Corporation, and UNM's Resource Center for Raza Planning. We are located at 318 Isleta SW, Albuquerque, NM 87105, two blocks south of Bridge. Office hours are 8am to 5pm, Monday through Friday.”

Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program
SATOP helps small businesses apply the technical expertise derived from the U.S. Space Program by offering up to 40 hours of free engineering assistance. Volunteers within space-related industries and organizations, such as White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico, offer their time and expertise to solve problems of small businesses. SATOP has helped companies with such issues as machine design, process engineering and materials selection. SATOP, located in Santa Fe at Regional Development Corp., is a cooperative program between the states of New Mexico, Florida, New York, and Texas.

Technology Ventures Corporation
TVC, a nonprofit foundation, was founded by Lockheed Martin as a non-profit corporation to commercialize new technologies and create jobs.

TVC helps technology companies develop their business cases and management capabilities. TVC managers work individually with executives to hone their skills and to present them to the investment community. Regularly scheduled classes give small business owners an opportunity to learn how to obtain investor interest and funding. TVC has specialized areas of support in market research, market planning, human resource issues and Intellectual Property review as well. See also Finding Loans and Investors.

WESST Corp (Women’s Economic Self-Sufficiency Team)
WESST Corp is a statewide, nonprofit economic development organization that helps women and minorities start and grow businesses, although services – business consulting, business training and loans -- are available to any New Mexico resident.
In 2008, WESST Corp plans to open a small-business incubator in the downtown area. Funded by the City of Albuquerque and the U.S. Economic Development Administration, with private-industry partners, the incubator will lease space at modest fees for up to three years to about 30 small businesses. It will also provide training rooms, technical assistance and light manufacturing space. A primary focus will be on digital media production and artisan manufacturing. Other targeted businesses will be light manufacturing, and professional, technical and service businesses.

WESST Corp also operates MARKETLINK, a sales and marketing training program that helps carefully screened artisan entrepreneurs with viable products gain access to larger markets. MARKETLINK's website, www.WesstArtisans.com helps New Mexico artisans sell their products.

Other special initiatives serve such targeted groups as residents of public housing, political refugees, and TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) recipients. In 2003, WESST Corp initiated an Individual Development Account program for low-income residents of Bernalillo County.

WESST Corp also provides loans.