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Thursday, June 7, 2007

Denish to Present Business Forum

By Laura Nesbitt
Mountain View Telegraph
    Lt. Gov. Diane Denish will bring her Lt. Governor's Small Business Forum to the Moriarty Civic Center on Tuesday.
    The goal of the forum is to focus on challenges for small business owners in the area. The event is sponsored by the Moriarty and Edgewood chambers of commerce as well as the municipalities of Mountainair, Estancia and Moriarty.
    Denish has taken her forum to 22 cities around the state since 2003.
    Tuesday's forum is meant for small business owners from Torrance County and southern Santa Fe County. Invitations have been sent to many small business owners in the area.
    "We are there to give them resources, to connect them with resources that will make their business more reliable, and to help them understand more of the state agencies that each small business has to navigate each day," Denish said Friday.
    The business owners who received invitations will attend a business lunch with Denish, local officials and other business leaders from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
    From 1 to 4 p.m. the participants will tour Edgewood Aggregates, Magnum Steel and Sierra Blanca Brewing Company.
    The public is welcome for the final session, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the civic center. Among the scheduled speakers are Denish, Moriarty Mayor Adan Encinias, Phil Archuletta from P&M Signs Inc. in Mountainair and Harlan Lawson from NAPA Auto Parts in Edgewood.
    A break-out session will then give the public a chance to ask questions of representatives from some state departments and nonprofit agencies, including microlenders.
    Denish said the Legislature passed a bill four years ago that made the services of microlenders available to more small business owners.
    "These are people who wouldn't qualify for a conventional bank loan. But if they go to a microlender and have a business plan, they can borrow through the microlender," Denish said.
    A presentation by representatives from Insure New Mexico! is the final event planned for the evening.
    One of the goals of the Insure New Mexico! Council is to increase the number of employers offering health insurance to employees.
    "There will be ways that people can find out about affordable health insurance," Denish said.
    "We want to make sure that everyone knows that they're welcome ... and then let people know how they can be successful," she added.
    Representatives from numerous state agencies and nonprofit organizations, including the Economic Development, Labor and Tourism departments, the Small Employer Insurance Program and the Mortgage Finance Authority, will be available to meet with small business owners individually.