Featured Clients - Spring 2010
Clovis Cardiology Associates
American Document Services
Dean Baldwin Painting, Inc.
Route 66 Restaurant
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Dawn Sanchez Creations
Dawn Sanchez, Owner
Albuquerque, NM
Dawn Sanchez has been called the Curandera of Chocolate for her near-magical skills in working wonders with the beloved condiment. She has been a chef for more than 25 years, specializing in chocolates and cakes, and she has a broad range of culinary skills, not to mention her business expertise. Ms. Sanchez started Dawn Sanchez Creations in 2001 with the assistance of the South Valley SBDC, which helped her secure a start-up loan. In 2007, the SBDC assisted her in taking out a Small Business Administration loan for $350,000. Over the years, the South Valley SBDC has provided Dawn Sanchez with start-up assistance, business planning, and help with accounting, marketing and loans. She has received a number of awards, including being named the Public Service Company of New Mexico’s Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year. Several local magazines and newspapers have featured her business, and she was voted top caterer in Albuquerque by the readers of Albuquerque magazine.
Clovis Cardiology Associates
Mahamadu Fuseini, MD, Owner
Clovis, NM
Dr. Mahamadu Fuseini was selected as America's Top Cardiologist in 2006, 2007, and 2008 by the Consumer Research Council of America. When he decided to open an independent practice, he turned for help to the Clovis Community College SBDC. Dr. Fuseini came to the Small Business Development Center at the recommendation of a local lender. After discussing Mahamadu's dreams for his medical practice, the SBDC staff helped him develop a list of items to prepare a business plan for financing. Dr. Fuseini and the SBDC did the research to project sales, expenses, equipment, personnel, and capital requirements. After several months of working on the business proposal, Dr. Fuseini successfully secured a business loan, and soon opened Clovis Cardiology Associates with a staff of six. Currently he is looking to expand his workforce to ten employees
American Document Services
Rick Jackson, Owner
Las Cruces, NM
In 2001 Rick Jackson came to the Doña Ana Community College Small Business Development Center with his business concept for American Document Services, LLC (ADS). ADS is a full service records management company in Las Cruces that provides records destruction and retention while ensuring that its customers comply with federal and state privacy laws. That year the SBDC helped him secure the first of three Small Business Administration (SBA) loans. In 2004, again through SBDC services, ADS secured an SBA 7A loan for inventory and working capital. Recently, Mr. Jackson acquired another SBA 7A loan to purchase his only competitor in the area. The demand for his services has forced Mr. Jackson to search for finances and land for a larger facility, and the SBDC is helping in that quest.
Dean Baldwin Painting, Inc.
Barbara Baldwin, Owner
Roswell, NM
In the 1970s, Dean Baldwin, while working for Eastern Airlines, began painting airline parts as a side business. The business grew, and Mr. Baldwin's son Larry took it over after he completed high school and military service. Larry Baldwin and his wife Barbara grew the company, and upon his retirement, Barbara Baldwin assumed management. In its first year, the business took in $120,000, and by 2008 the figure had multiplied by 100 to become $12 million. In 1998 Ms. Baldwin first went to the Eastern New Mexico University SBDC in Roswell, seeking help with writing a comprehensive business plan. "That was only the beginning," says Ms. Baldwin. "It's been ten years now, and I keep coming back to the SBDC." Among the issues for which the SBDC has supplied ongoing assistance to the company are business planning, marketing, taxation matters and accounting.
Route 66 Restaurant
Mary, Patricia and Jennifer Velasquez, Owners
Las Vegas, NM
For the past 27 years, Route 66 Restaurant has been serving the community of Santa Rosa and travelers on Route 66 a wide variety of foods, from northern New Mexican favorites to the all-American burger. Patrick Velasquez founded Route 66 Restaurant in 1982, leasing the building that it still occupies today. When Mr. Velasquez passed away, his wife Mary, daughter Patricia Velasquez and granddaughter Jennifer Velasquez took over as owners. The Velasquez family contacted the Las Vegas Small Business Development Center in May 2007 for help with a business plan and a loan package. SBDC staff members went to work, helping the Velasquez family gain the confidence to move forward with the loan and present their business plan to the bank. The SBDC was so important in helping us with our business plan," said Jennifer Velasquez. "They provided much guidance and help for us, and we were able to complete a plan and our financial projections. We are so thankful to them, and we know that they will always be there when we need them."
