Santa Fe New Mexican - CONNECT
BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES
Santa Fe’s Economic Development Division works to cultivate a vibrant business community and to build a diverse and innovative economy that provides opportunities and prosperity.
Business and Entrepreneurial Initiatives
Office for Business Growth: Provides local businesses individual consultation and connections to resources for growth. 505-955-6092, OBG@santafenm.gov.
Recruitment Portfolio: Recruits targeted growth companies, including television production, technology and outdoor recreation businesses, to locate in Santa Fe.
Santa Fe Fiber: Improves access to and the speed, reliability and pricing of internet service in Santa Fe.
Film/Digital Media: A regional partnership designed to expand and leverage all aspects of the film and digital media industry in Northern New Mexico. Contact the Santa Fe Film Office at 505-986-6353.
Career Services and Resources
As Santa Fe is a small community, with a population of 80,000, the best way to find a job is through personal contacts and networking. Chamber of Commerce events and the Chamber’s business directory offer optimal opportunities to find and contact local businesses. Go to santafechamber.com/employment.html for more information.
The Santa Fe Chamber does not maintain a list of job postings, but the following members can assist with job searches and placement:
Northern Area Labor Workforce Development Board: Administers Federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act grants to employ adults, dislocated workers and youth. Its New Mexico Workforce Connection offices are located in 10 Northern New Mexico counties. 505-986-0363, northernboard.org
Santa Fe Community College Career Services: Offers free web posting of employment and internship positions. Postings are usually up for 30 days and are broadcast around campus, to other local colleges and career programs and to the Santa Fe community at large. 505-428-1303, sfcc.edu/offices/career-services
Santa Fe Workforce Connection: Provides services in the areas of applicant screening, employer tax credits, classroom and on-thejob training, candidate listings, customized workshops and ongoing mentoring and support for workers. 505-986-0363, jobs.state.nm.us/vosnet/Default.aspx
SER Jobs for Progress: Operates One-Stop Career Centers in 10 counties throughout Northern New Mexico. Services include career guidance, case management, business services, employment and training. 505-473-0428, serjfp/org/
The Hire Firm: Santa Fe’s preeminent staffing services provider, offering permanent and temporary employment solutions. Since 1987 it has built lasting relationships with companies and candidates by adhering to the highest levels of professionalism and service. 505-983-7775, thehirefirm.com
Useful Employment Links
City of Santa Fe: santafenm.gov/job_opportunities
Los Alamos National Laboratory: lanl.gov/careers
Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce: santafechamber.com/ employment.html
Santa Fe Community College job postings: sfcc.edu/job-postings/
Santa Fe Community Foundation: santafecf.org/nonprofit/ jobopportunities
Santa Fe New Mexican classified adds: santafenewmexican.com/ sfnm_classifieds/
Internships
High school and college students can be valuable additions to your staff. The more specific you are about intern duties and expectations, the more successful the internship match will be. Contact the following organizations to arrange internships:
Capital High School: 505-467-1166
Career Services at Santa Fe Community College: Internships are arranged on a case-by-case basis through individual departments. 505-428-1406, sfcc.edu
New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions: dws.state.nm.us
Santa Fe High School: Flexible internships are available during the summer, after school and on weekends. Students are not offered school credit, so an employer stipend is helpful in recruitment. 505-467-2431
Santa Fe Young Professionals: This partnership between the public and private sectors of Santa Fe matches college students and graduates with local businesses and organizations for summer internships. 505-955-6042, internsantafe.com/job-seekers
St. John’s College: Summer internships are available through a competitive program. Students apply by February for collegeawarded intern stipends. Internships can be in any type of business, with either a formal job description or an individualized “build your own” job description. 505-984-6132, 505-984-6067, stjohnscollege. edu/admin/SF/career.shtml
Chambers of Commerce
American Indian Chamber of Commerce of New Mexico: Promotes the development of a healthy, self-sufficient American Indian economy, both on and off the reservation. Provides networking, training, marketing, referrals and minority certifications. 505-766-9545, aiccnm.com
Santa Fe Green Chamber: Through a public awareness campaign, the chamber encourages consumers to support locally owned businesses and connects businesses to each other through networking opportunities and events. 505-501-0222, santafegreenchamber.org
Santa Fe Hispanic Chamber of Commerce: Serves as a catalyst and promotes organizational leadership; focused on Hispanic entrepreneurship. 505-428-9013, sfhccnm.org
Entrepreneurship Resources
Biz Calendar: Find business workshops, webinars, networking events, conferences and training. bizcalendar.org
Grow It!: The New Mexico Municipal League created the Grow It! database to connect business owners and entrepreneurs to resources such as maker-spaces, co-working, networking and business consulting. 505-955-6334, growitnm.org
Make Santa Fe: A makerspace is a community work space where people can access tools, resources and workshops to create or repair anything they can dream of. Make Santa Fe provides access to both high-tech and traditional tools. 505-819-3502, makesantafe.org, build@makesantafe.org
MIX Santa Fe: MIX is a talent development project that hosts networking events and an annual start-up business plan competition. Mixsantafe.com, Mix@mixsantafe.com
Santa Fe Business Incubator: A community resource for all levels of business development; can arrange biotech lab space, separate office space and light manufacturing space with affordable, shortterm leases in a 30,000-square-foot facility. 505-424-1140, sfbi.net
Start-up Santa Fe: Provides online access to entrepreneurial resources throughout New Mexico. creativesantafe.org/initiative/ startup-santa-fe
SFID: New Mexico’s first curriculum-based, investor-funded and ROI-focused accelerator program. It focuses on helping highgrowth, scalable companies led by dynamic entrepreneurs who understand how to lead while accepting coaching. sfid.co, webb@SFid.co
Finance Programs
ACCION: A micro-lender dedicated to assisting established and emerging entrepreneurs who face barriers to obtaining business credit in New Mexico. ACCION offers loans from $200 to $150,000 and lines of credit from $35,000 to $150,000. 505-243-8844, accionnm.org, accion@accionnm.org
Advanced Technology Program: ATP invests in long-term, high-risk research with the potential for large payoffs to American industry. It provides cost shared funding for research and development projects. The primary basis for project selection and is based on the innovation, technical risk, potential economic benefits and strength of the commercialization plan. 301-975-4447, nist.gov/tip
Enchantment Land Certified Development Company: Helps small business owners receive business development loans for the purchase of commercial real estate, equipment and improvements. 505-843-9232, elcdc.com
Finance New Mexico: A web portal that helps businesses get access to capital. Rather than providing funding, Finance New Mexico directs businesses to the appropriate source of capital. 505-989-5337, financenewmexico.org
Small Business Administration: The SBA is an independent federal agency created to aid small businesses. The SBA provides a number of loan programs and guarantees that make it easier for lenders to loan to small businesses. 505-248-8225, sba.gov
Tri-County Regional Revolving Loan Fund: The Tri-County Loan program is administered by the North Central New Mexico Economic Development District. A business plan demonstrating market and financial feasibility and the necessity of loan fund assistance is required. Businesses should create and/or retain one job for each $25,000 of funds. 505-476-1019, ncnmedd.com
Venture Acceleration Fund: The VAF award is structured as a zero-interest loan, with repayment required only if a company is acquired, achieves certain revenue goals or leaves New Mexico within a certain time frame. The fund is administered by the Regional Development Corporation. Originally created to commercialize technologies developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory, VAF now works with all types of businesses in every stage of development. Vafnm.org
WESST Santa Fe: Provides free one-on-one consultations, webinars, workshops and small business loans; specializes in working with artisans, entrepreneurs, growing businesses and community-based nonprofit organizations. 505-246-6900, wesst.org/santa-fe/
Local Business Associations
Business Women of New Mexico and Santa Fe: 505-919-9698, pbwnm.org
New Mexico Association of Commerce and Industry: 505-842-0644, nmaci.org
NAIOP Commercial Real Estate Development Association: 505-345-6976, naiopnm.org
New Mexico Brewers Guild: 505-660-7423, nmbeer.org
New Mexico Distillers Guild: nmguild.distillery365.org
New Mexico Hospitality Association: 505-506-8624, newmexicohospitality.org
New Mexico Restaurant Association: 505-343-9848, nmrestaurants.org
New Mexico Technology Council: 505-847-6840, nmtechcouncil.org
New Mexico Wine Growers Association: 575-649-8994, nmwine.com
Santa Fe Association of Realtors: 505-982-8385, sfar.com
Santa Fe Area Home Builders Association: 505-982-1774, sfahba.com
Santa Fe Downtown Merchants Association: 505-474-3806, santafedowntown.org
Santa Fe Gallery Association: 505-982-1648, santafegalleryassociation.org
UNM Bureau of Economic Research: 505-277-2216, bber.unm.edu
Research Institutions
Los Alamos National Laboratory: Serves the nation by applying world-changing science and technology to current and emerging national and global security challenges. Through partnerships across government agencies, laboratories, universities and industry, LANL delivers the best possible science and technology results for the nation while making a positive impact on New Mexico communities and economy.
Santa Fe Institute: A private, nonprofit, independent research and education center founded in 1984 for multidisciplinary collaborations in the physical, biological, computational and social sciences. Understanding of complex adaptive systems is critical to addressing key environmental, technological, biological, economic and political challenges. The institute is devoted to creating a new kind of scientific research community emphasizing multidisciplinary collaboration in pursuit of understanding the common themes that arise in natural, artificial and social systems. 505-984-8800, santafe.edu
National Center for Genome Resources: Since its inception in 1994, NCGR, a nonprofit, bio-informatics research center, has devoted itself to pursuing research in the scientific community and catalyzing collaborative projects that contribute to improvements in agriculture, health and quality of life. 505-982-7840, ncgr.org
Chamber Partner Programs
MIX Santa Fe: A structure for interaction and collaboration among inspired individuals, entrepreneurs, innovators, businesses and organizations. Through monthly events that showcase talent and
local resources, MIX provides an avenue for personal contact and networking. Through innovative web tools, social media and microstimulus, MIX provides a mechanism for the development of ideas, businesses and projects, with corollary opportunities for promotion, recognition and start-up funding. mixsantafe.com
Leadership Santa Fe: The Chamber’s Leadership Santa Fe program gives civic-minded people a vehicle for their communityoriented energies and provides access to community leaders and policy makers. In the adult program, 30 participants attend workshops focused on civic awareness and building leadership skills. Over the course of eight months, participants meet with established leaders in county and city governments and in business, education, human services and the arts and explore ways to meet the challenges of Santa Fe’s future. 505-204-8046, leadershipsantafe.org, info@leadershipsantafe.org
Bienvenidos: Chartered in 1961 as the Woman’s Division of the Chamber of Commerce, the organization was renamed Bienvenidos in 1995. Its primary function is to serve the thousands of visitors who come to Santa Fe from all over the world. From early May through the second week in October, members operate the Plaza tourist information booth. Bienvenidos functions with generous support from the Chamber of Commerce, local banks and local businesses. Monthly luncheon meetings with speakers are held from February through December. The speakers, from various businesses and organizations in Santa Fe, provide valuable information, which volunteers impart to visitors in the information booth. Bienvenidos has nearly 100 members. 505-428-0005