The Loan Fund
High in the Sangre Cristo Mountains in Northern New Mexico lies a unique business for coffee lovers. Raymond Jaramillo created Blacklake Roasters in 2009 in Angel Fire after leaving the New Mexico Piñon Coffee Company where the master roaster had learned the art of coffee roasting, the process of using …
Born and raised in Northern New Mexico, Jerard Carlos Vigil wants visitors to experience this part of the state like he did growing up. Vigil created Vigilante Guides LLC after he and his wife moved from Austin to Santa Fe. Vigil, who grew up in Chama, a small rural town …
From the outside, the building’s windowless white walls may project a sterile feel to visitors who may not be aware of the vibrant community inside that this building has supported for more than four decades. The Albuquerque Social Club opened in 1983 initially under the name The Heights, stemming from the gay …
The New Mexico Small Business Investment Corporation (NMSBIC) has allocated an additional $2.5 million to The Loan Fund, making its total investment to the nonprofit $37.5 million. The state legislature created the NMSBIC more than two decades ago when legislators decided to take a tiny percentage of a tax fund …
For the past five decades, the Dominguez family in Las Vegas, N.M., has been operating one of Northern New Mexico’s most reliable heating and cooling companies. The company started in 1973 under Frank Dominguez, who created Shillinglaw, LLC. The company worked on housing developments in Santa Fe and other similar …
He started growing in his garage about 12 years ago. It was an interest he developed in high school after he went vegan and he was trying to get more protein in his diet without eating so many beans. “Beans get old really fast,” said Estevan Hernandez, owner of New Mexico …
The Chaco Trade Center is a small convenience store that has provided some necessities for the Navajo people living in the Pueblo Pintado community. The store has a coin-operated laundromat, mailboxes, propane sales, and a gas station. It is the only commerce that provides gas and propane in about a 70-plus-mile …
After nearly three decades in business, the owners of Santa Fe-based Reflective Jewelry have endured the many challenges of entrepreneurship, including three recessions, but the biggest challenge of all was theft. But Helen Chantler and Marc Choyt are thriving and recently had their best year in 10 years after an employee …
Although Juan Zambrano opened his auto repair shop in Santa Fe more than six years ago, his entrepreneurial story actually begins nearly two decades ago as he continues to grow his business and other skills. Mr. Zambrano was servicing mostly non-commercial vehicles for individuals before the 2008 recession when the …
Nearly 21% of New Mexico’s businesses that have employees are owned by women, according to the U.S. Census. At The Loan Fund, about 20% of the loans currently have been allocated to female entrepreneurs. In celebration of International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, The Loan Fund highlights some of the female-owned businesses …
It was a desire to pull a camper that sleeps four with a Fiat that led a Santa Fe couple to an idea to create a super lightweight trailer. Angel Irlanda and Laura Esteves have created the Earth Traveler teardrop trailer, a 300-pound towable camper with different options, including a …
Melissa Salazar was a manager at a Las Cruces McDonald’s when she and her father, Jaime Salazar, an executive chef at the Holiday Inn, took over La Nueva Casita Café, a Mexican restaurant in the historic Mesquite District in 2005. “My brother was driving through the neighborhood and saw the …
Holly Chavez created H2 Academic Solutions, a K-12th grade tutoring center, six years ago with a vision of helping Valencia County youth attain academic success. The Belen-based academic center also offers camps and intensive reading programs. While there is a cost for tutoring, Ms. Chavez, a former teacher, also created …
The print and graphic design shop grew out of a home-based business created in 2010 after Evelyn Reyes quit her job at Savers and wanted to use her graphic design skills. When Reyes left Mexico to move to Las Cruces with her husband, Agustin, she put her career aside but …
The New Mexico Small Business Development Center (NMSBDC) has kicked off a series of bilingual workshops for Spanish-speaking entrepreneurs. Dr. Marvin Lozano, author of “The U.S.-Latino Entrepreneur’s Guide to Balancing Business, Family and Culture,” and his wife, Dr. Miquela C. Rivera, are teaming up on some of the workshops to …
It was a desire to have their own private practice and bring much-needed collaborative services to Belen, a small town of 7,400 about 30 miles south of Albuquerque. Jennifer Tafoya-Trujillo, M.S., PA-C, who grew up in Belen, and Cassandra Otero, PA-C, who grew up in Los Lunas, both were in …
For more than 30 years, The Loan Fund has relied on partnerships to fulfill its mission of providing loans and assistance to improve the economic and social conditions of New Mexicans. One such important partner is the New Mexico Small Business Investment Corporation (NMSBIC), which the state legislature created two decades ago when …
