Mind Your BusinessMay/June 2012

A Publication of the Los Alamos Commerce and Development Corporation

WHAT’S INSIDE:

LACDC 1, 2, 3

SBDC 4

CHAMBER 5, 6, 7

MAINSTREET 8, 9

LAMVB 10, 11

Saturday, June 9th - 10 am to 2 pmJune 9th - is the date to save for the Chamber’s annual ChamberFest and Car Show! And it’s FREE to the public!

We are looking forward to a great event. There will be a plethora of Chamber businesses out to meet and greet the public. Most will have some sort of giveaway or prize.

The car show will include classic cars, Corvettes, hot rods, motorcycles and much more. There will be a special raffle for a $500 gift certificate for new tires. Be sure to visit the information booth in the parking lot of the Chamber.

Of course, there are the usual kid activities. It wouldn’t be a ChamberFest without the giant sand pile, bubble pit and bouncy houses. Many delicious food vendors will be there to satisfy any craving you might have.

Finally, The Nomads will be playing, so be sure to come out and show your support. It will be held downtown on Central, between 15th and 20th Street. The road is closed so feel free to roam the street!

For more information, or to register for the event, go to fyiLA.com and click under calendar. See you there!

FAN ClubsFood & Networking

5:30 pm to 7 pmMay 2

Dance Arts Los Alamos

June 20Betty Ehart Center

Contact Katy Korkos505.661.4816

or emailkatyk@losalamos.org

to promote your business

LACDC News

Los Alamos Commerce and Development Corporation2

Los Alamos Creative District (LACD) - Welcoming the world to experience Los Alamos’ unique creativity!At press time for this edition of MYB, Los Alamos County is set to make a decision on April 24th about adoption of the Los Alamos Creative District Plan and boundary.

Adoption would lead to full designation of the district by the State of New Mexico and would kick off consideration by the County over the next 180 days of funding and priorities (no County funding is connected to the decision of whether to adopt the plan).

Lacking adoption, there would still be a variety of the ideas in the plan that would be worked on, but without the organizing framework of the plan and without the State support afforded to New Mexico Arts and Cultural Districts. The State designation brings with it tax advantages for historic properties within the district, a commitment to develop State resources within the economic development, tourism, cultural affairs, and historic preservation departments

to assist the ACD’s, and the ability to use provisions of the State’s Local Economic Development Act (LEDA) to aid in implementation of the district.

In other words, retaining the designation will provide a greater range of tools and resources to be put into play to enhance cultural and downtown vitality. The plan establishes goals, strategies, and an implementation in six key areas: *Programming (ongoing activities and events that reflect the cultural identity of the community) *Branding and marketing *Physical development and facilities *Economic development *Management, and *Funding

The initial boundary for the district was the subject of considerable discussion. To receive State endorsement of the plan, it was critical to link the boundary to clear strategies

Continued on page 3

LACD Steering committee members Kelly Stewart, Marlane Hamilton, and Ken Nebel with “HATS ON” in support of the Los Alamos Creative District.

3May/June 2012

Los Alamos Creative District (continued from page 2)for implementing a cultural district. Without this, the State indicated they would not be willing to accept the plan. The State has fully endorsed the plan that is proceeding for adoption by the County Council. The plan includes the idea that success within the designated boundaries could lead to enlarging the district at a later date if there were a reason to do so. Los Alamos MainStreet has led the process of applying for the designation, forming a steering committee of stakeholders, and meeting a series of requirements of the State program leading up to developing the plan for the district. A wide variety of organizations and Chamber members have partnered with the initiative including the County itself. A nationally prominent consultant that specializes in cultural planning, the Cultural + Planning Group of San Diego guided the development of the plan under the direction of the steering committee. The consultant was hired using State grant funding obtained by Los Alamos MainStreet. The planning process entailed multiple public meetings and input gathering sessions over the past year and a half. Cultural districts are being implemented throughout the country and are a proven method of increasing tourism traffic and revenues, while simultaneously supporting local economic and cultural development. Districts create a stronger argument for coming downtown, by promoting a stronger mix of local businesses, cultural activities, visitor amenities, and successful urban design. Districts enhance the attraction of a walkable downtown area, so they serve residents as well as visitors, and generate greater synergy among the unique elements of a place. Los Alamos County would be the source of funding to begin the implementation process. Longer term funding sources would be a proposed downtown tax increment development district (TIDD) and a proposed elective 1/16 GRT increment. TIDD resources would be used for physical and facilities improvements. The GRT increment would be used for programming, marketing, and support of cultural organizations. The TIDD would require no change to tax rates nor impose any additional tax burden on local individual taxpayers. The GRT increment could only be established by a successful general referendum indicating support for the initiative.

Who Are Your Farmers? by Barbara Mann

The Los Alamos Farmers Market starts its regular season on Thursday, May 3rd. If we are lucky, the Trujillos will be there.

Rose Trujillo was one of the original vendors when the market began in the 1970’s - which means she’s been doing this for around 40 years. Rose is a lively woman with a ready smile and feet that can’t stay still when there’s music playing. She still makes the best tamales, and her children (Gloria and Junior) and granddaughters have carried the tradition on.

Their farm is the largest on Nambe Pueblo. There they grow the chilis which find their way into delicious dried spice blends and dips, plus award-winning fresh and jarred salsas. You will find all those neatly lined up along one side of the booth, along with small packages of biscochitos and sometimes prune or apricot pies and whatever produce is in season. And don’t forget about the tamales!

Come visit with Rose and her family and sample some local history!

Rose TrujilloTrujillo Farms

May

1 Time Management for the Entrepreneur! 1:00 - 4:00pm Fee: $25.00 Speaker: Rosanne Roberts R. M. Roberts and Associates

8 Strong Marketing Messaging that Resonates 1:00 - 4:00pm Fee: $25.00 Speaker: Rubina Cohen, Firefly Innovation Group

10 Information Session for CRS Taxpayers 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. FREE Speakers: Reps from New Mexico Tax & Rev

Spring Workshops @ SBDC 190 Central Park Square

UNMLA Small Business Development Center

Los Alamos Commerce and Development Corporation4

$25 Workshops are FREE to Chamber members if you register at www.losalamoschamber.com. For more details about the workshops, contact Heather Campbell at 661.4803

Los Alamos Commerce and Development Corporation in conjunction with UNM-LA Small Business Development Center is providing a unique opportunity to youth in the communities of Los Alamos, Jemez Springs, Espanola and Pojoaque to experience the rewards of starting a new business. The Youth Business Grant Program will provide up to $400 to enterprising young business people, ages 13-19, who want to start a business this summer.

Will You Support the Youth Business Grant Program? This program relies on the support of local business people. We are seeking volunteers to support the program by either being a panelist or a mentor or both.

As one of the panelists, you would be interviewing the applicants and evaluating their Mini-Business Plan. The interview days are May 18, 25, 30 and 31. Even if you are not available for all of the days, any time you can donate is greatly appreciated.

Another option is to be a mentor to the young entrepreneurs. As a mentor, you would need to be available (usually by phone) to provided your experience and expertise to help these new entrepreneurs succeed. In the past, the time commitment has been around four hours over the course of the summer but the reward lasts a lifetime. If you are not able to be a panelist or mentor, any and all financial support to help us to fund these grants will be greatly appreciated.

This is a great program to help teach young entrepreneurs about the rewards and struggles of running their own business. It is a great learning opportunity about what it takes to start and run a business. This program helps show youth there is an alternative to a wage or salary job, not just for the summer but for the future. For more information about the program, please visit the website at www.ybgp.org.

If you have any questions or would like to volunteer, please contact Katie Stavert at (505) 661-4805.

Please welcome these new Chamber members to our organization- they have joined with us to help improve the economic, civic and cultural well-being of our area.

The Medical Associates of Northern NewMexico is one of the busiest medical practices in the Medical

Center, with 10 doctors, 2 Physician Assistants and one Nurse Practicioner. They’ve been very involved and active in the community for many years, and have joined the Chamber to get even more involved.

Dr. Khalsa has an established acupuncture practice in Espanola, and has recently expanded his practice to Los Alamos. His office is in the upper part of Mari Mac, on the same strip as Curves.

The Relay for Life is an annual walk to raise funds and awareness for the American Cancer Society. It will take place on June 15 and June 16. They are looking for sponsors, teams and committee members to help with the event.

LA Guild of the Santa Fe Opera This is the oldest Santa Fe Opera Guild in the state- founded to support the Santa Fe Opera in the same year as the Opera was founded, 1957. Provides support for the Santa Fe Opera through educational and community outreach fundraising.

Comcast Business Class - This is the arm of Comcast that serves business with telephone systems, internet and cable services.

Kenny’s North Carolina Barbecue. “Come and get it while it’s hot” is Kenny’s motto. Serving breakfast and lunch from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m inside UNM-LA, 4000 University Drive, across Diamond from the high school.

Chamber Business Spotlight

5May/June 2012

Welcome to the Chamber!

Southwest O�ce Solutions Los Alamos-Santa Fe

1789 Central Ave. Ste. 4 Los Alamos, NM 87544 505.661.2554

Albuquerque 8500 Menual NE Ste. A145 Albuquerque, NM 87112

505.338.2627www.sos-nm.com

We Are Color!

If your work demands the best-possible color print quality, Southwest O�ce Solutions O�ers a variety of Xerox Color Phaser Printers. With the winning combination of consistentlysuperior image quality and professional-level color-matching technologies, no other color printer line gives creative professionals the freedom to produce more customer-facing collaterals in-house.

Print shop-quality color, without the print shop

Solutions Inc.

Southwest Office

Tracy Maddox-Agent Owner

Economic well-being by Katy Korkos

Chamber News

Los Alamos Commerce and Development Corporation6

What’s it going to take to reach our goal of a vibrant community through a flourishing economy? It’s just like that old saying about advertising: “About half of all your advertizing dollars are well-spent, you just don’t know which half.” In our case, we know that all of the time we spend

supporting existing businesses is time well spent - those are the businesses and people who already have shown their commitment to the community.

The Los Alamos Commerce and Development Corporation staff, including us here at the Chamber, spends quite a bit of time on projects that we aren’t sure are going to pay off, but we think they’re vital to the effort.

We’re calling our legislators on behalf of lab contractors who have lost work from the CMRR project, and we’re talking to the County’s broadband people about the usefulness of community-wide broadband, and we’re going to meetings to

review the sign code to make sure that input we gave a few years ago hasn’t gotten lost. We sit on the White Rock master plan committee, in the hopes that our presence there is a constant reminder that the projects need to be good for the business community. We’ve engaged with the Quality New Mexico people and helped to make it easier for the Quality principles and programs to reach Los Alamos. We’re pursuing the Creative District plan and looking forward to the day when the County Council adopts the plan. We’re working with the committee to bring development to the Trinity site, and we’ve proposed two separate plans for additional development in downtown Los Alamos- a commercial condo development and the Place project.

What these projects have in common is their ability to make a lasting impact on the economic well-being of our community.

What the Commerce and Development Corporation can do is turn a great idea into a project with tangible results.

What if the Chamber could:…offer increased opportunity for members and their employees to network and connect with other members and their employees?…provide routine opportunities to network in small groups in a structure that makes participation very simple and easy, and to maximize networking that systematically mixes people?…facilitate new connections and new potential relationships through a systematic process?…support our member eateries? Many of our members routinely take advantage of the networking opportunities offered by Food and Networking (FAN) meetings held throughout the year as well as networking opportunities through committee participation, business breakfasts, ribbon cuttings, and other Chamber events. But larger events certainly are not every member’s preferred venue for networking. To provide an opportunity for regular, small group networking, the Chamber will be offering a new benefit in the near future called FAN For Four (FAN44). FAN44 will schedule participants affiliated with four member businesses to meet for Friday lunch at a member eatery to network and get to learn about each other. The eatery will have a table reserved, and will provide separate checks (everyone pays their own way). Participants can be managers, employees, volunteers, and/or board members

of Chamber member businesses and organizations. The program is designed to schedule participants for a lunch on the second and fourth Fridays each month and to mix up the foursomes and the restaurant assignments to maximize variety. The groups are scheduled automatically so no effort is required on the part of participants. It will be easy to opt out for a given week in the event of schedule conflicts. The program may begin as soon as June. Does this sound interesting to you? We would like to hear from you about your questions and interest. Email fan44@losalamos.org to express interest or request more information.

FAN44 to Offer Members a New Networking Option

Welcome New Members!Business Name Contact Name Phone Type of BusinessMedical Associates of No.NewMexico Dr. Carolyn Linnebur 505-661-8900 Health & MedicalKhalsa Acupuncture Seva Khalsa 505-661-9620 Health & MedicalACS Relay for Life John Hofmann 505-930-1200 Health & MedicalLA Guild of the Santa Fe Opera Dr. Mary Cummings 505-672-3102 Non-profit or ClubComcast Business Services Charles Petit 505-271-3740 Business ServicesKenny’s North Carolina Barbecue Kenny Miller 505-661-4682 Dining & Treats

7May/June 2012

DateBusiness Name Joined

MayChamber Member Anniversaries

June DateBusiness Name JoinedAdelante Consulting, Inc. 2009Casa De Luz Apartments 2003CHRISTUS St. Vincent Regional Medical Ctr 2011Enrique Posada D.D.S. 2000Enterprise Computing Systems 2010Farm Bureau Financial Services 2009First Baptist Church of Los Alamos 2008Hampton Inn & Suites 2004HDR Constructors 2011High Flyers Gymnastics 2009Hollywood Roofing 2010Home Run Pizza 1997Hot Rocks Java Cafe 1999KRSN AM 1490 2006Los Alamos Council on Cancer 2009Los Alamos Properties - Ina Acomb 1998Los Alamos Safety & Environment 2000Los Alamos Sister Cities Initiative 2005Los Alamos Sportsmans Club 1999Navarro Research and Engineering 2010P. Reid Griffith, P.A. 1999Real Estate Associates PVW 2011Rotary Club of Los Alamos 2005Sage Cottage Montessori School 2010SAV Associated Services 2008SMSI 2008Son-Shine Art 2008Southwest Office Solutions 2007Terranear PMC 2010The Education Plan 2011Vista Control Systems 1989

A.D.A.P.T. and Recover 2011AAA New Mexico 2002Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine, 2004American Legion, Post 90 2011Automotive Collision Experts 2011BAC Enterprises, Inc. 2000CAFE-The CoffeeHouse Cafe 2004CASA, First Judicial District 2006Cottonwood Technology Group 2006DorMoni’s Hair Studio Boutique 2011Energy Related Devices 1998Film Festival at Home 2004Foot and Ankle Associates 2007Georgina Williams 2011Hilltop House Spa 2007Hope Fellowship 2006Hope Pregnancy Center 2009Lorraine Hartway, CPA 1989Los Alamos Little Theatre 2011Los Alamos Retired & Seniors Org (LARSO) 2000MOSAIC Architectural Solutions 1998Mountain Canine Corps Search and Rescue 2010New Mexico Dance Theater 2005Party to Go! 2008Pueblo Electric 2000Quemazon Communities Master Association 2004Ruby K’s Bagel Cafe 2005 TOTH Episcopal Church 2002Yours Truly Diana’s 2002Zia Credit Union 1997

For more information on the MainStreet Program please contact: Suzette Fox 505.661.4844 E-mail: suzette@losalamos.org www.LAmainstreet.com

MainStreet News & Events

Los Alamos Commerce and Development Corporation8

Sept. 14th - STEM Student Day - 4 pm to 7 pmSept. 15th - Next Big Idea - 11 am to 3 pm - Fuller LodgeSAVE THE DATES! STEM student day won’t want to be missed...or The Next Big Idea’s Showcase of Ideas - A Festival of Discovery, Invention and Innovation!

Hands on Activities - Kids Discovery Zone•

Music/Food/Technology/Arts•

A family-friendly event designed to inspire illuminate and educate through science, technology, arts, food and music! To be an exhibitor, register at www.nextbigideala.com

May 11th - Golf Tournie - Los Alamos Golf CourseLAST CHANCE TO SIGN UP for the Chamber of Commerce Golf Tournament to benefit United Way of Northern New Mexico! This year’s tournie will be held at the beau-tiful Black Mesa Golf Course - shot gun start 1 pm.

We want people who play golf to participate ensured that this Tournament will be the best ever! You need not be a Chamber member to play. Special Auction Item - 5 day stay at Park City, Utah! What a fabulous trip! But you can only play golf in this tournament to be eligible for this vacation!

Contact Suzette Fox at 661-4844 or email suzette@losalamos.org

August 11th - Fair & Rodeo ParadeSave the Date for Fair & Rodeo Weekend - August 10-12!

If you would like to participate in the Parade, go to www.fyiLA.com under events to register. The more the merrier!

Parade starts at 10 am on Central Avenue.

Be sure to participate in all the events for the weekend including: County Fair Exhibits at Mesa Public Library, Festival and Fair at Ashley Pond, Arts and Crafts Show at Fuller Lodge, LA Concert Series, Dinner at Posse Lodge and the Rodeo of course.

National MainStreet Conference - Baltimore, MDMarch 30 - April 4th was the dates of the National MainStreet Conference in Baltimore, MD. What a great place to visit! They have three different MainStreet Programs there.

The conference was a great opportunity to network with other MainStreet Programs around the nation and see what is working for them. I must admit our Los Alamos Main-Street Program is leaps and bounds among others out there. We should be really proud of the accomplishments of our local MainStreet... “More people downtown, more of the time.”

9May/June 2012

Los Alamos MainStreet Improves Curb AppealLos Alamos MainStreet was successful in pursuing funding from Los Alamos County to use for matching funds grants to downtown businesses for curb appeal. With this funding, potentially ten MainStreet businesses can apply for curb appeal grants.

Have you noticed the changes to places such as the YMCA, LA Fitness, REA, Finishing Touch, Dr. Lee Acupuncture, BiLingual Montessori School, Pet Pangaea, ReMax, and Southwest Office Solutions to name a few? All of these businesses have previously applied and received curb appeal grants.

“This award helped us address a much-needed landscape issue on the corner of our property. Assistance positively impacts our ability to use operating funds in other much needed areas, such as scholarships for our after school or camp programs, or for maintenance and equipment in the facility,” said Linda Daly, Executive Director of the YMCA.

The Curb Appeal Program has been a proven success and is destined to become a staple in the community.

This round of grants is available until late May. Contact Katie Stavert at 505-661-4805 or email: Katie@losalamos.org

MainStreet Small Projects Grants still availableAbout $3,000 is still available for Small Project Grants to be used for marketing of events and promotions in the MainStreet District. Up to $1,000 matching grants will be given away. Events must be held by June 1, 2012.

Contact Suzette Fox for more details at suzette@losalamos.org or 505-661-4844. Tracy Maddox, Owner of Southwest Office Solutions

The Finishing Touch Storefront

2012 Calendar of EventsMay

1 PEEC presents Quiet, Gentle Walk 2 LAAC Brown Bag Performance 3 Mesa Public Library FREE Film Series 4,5 Los Alamos Little Theatre Presents Cowboy Poet11,1218,195 LAAC’s Spring Arts & Crafts Fair - Fuller Lodge lawn8 Los Alamos Historical Society Lecture10 Fairy Tale Film Series- Hansel and Gretel/UNM-LA10 Wildflower Walk with PEEC10,17 LA MainStreet’s Farmers Market @ Mesa Public24,31 Library parking lot11 Chamber of Commerce Golf Tournament/Black Mesa12 PEEC’s Natural Wonders of LA - Cave of the Winds13 LACA’s - St. Lawrence String Quartet16 PEEC’s Bandelier Talk: Take a Walk on the Wild Side18 Fuller Lodge Art Ctr Art Opening Reception/Naked18-20 Kite Festival @ Overlook Park/WhiteRock18 LA Summer Concert Series @ Overlook Park Tiho Dimitrov Band plus DK & the Affordables 19 High Altitude Athletics’ Jemez Mountain Trail Runs24 Authors Speak Series’ - Frances Levine, PhD @ Mesa Public Library 25 LA Summer Concert Series - The Red Elvises @ Ashley Pond26 LAAC’s Guitars @ the Lodge31 PEEC Class - Intermediate Nature Photography

June1 LA Summer Concert Series 2 SummerFest at Pajarito Mountain 4 Henry C. Finney: Images from the Fire Gate Poems @ Mesa Public Library 5 PEEC’s Summer Family Evenings:Taxidermy Museum5 PEEC presents Transit of Venus Viewing7 Mesa Public Library 2012 FREE Film Series 7,14 LA Farmers Market at Mesa Public Library parking lot21 8 LA Summer Concert Series - Greg Abate with the Pete Amahl Trio- – location TBA8,9 Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce presents Chamberfest weekend in downtown Los Alamos 9 LA Summer Concert Series at the LA ChamberFest – Nomads9 Valles Caldera’s Run the Caldera Full/Half Marathon10 PEEC’s Mountain Hawk’s Medicine School/the Jemez 11-15 PEEC’s Nature Odyssey, Super Sleuths Valles Caldera12 PEEC’s Summer Family Evenings: Owls 15 LA Summer Concert Series - The Police Experience 16 Relay for Life at Ashley Pond 16 PEEC’s Hike to Guaje Canyon Overlook 17 Tour de Los Alamos/downtown Los Alamos19 PEEC’s Summer Family Evenings: Critters21 PEEC’s Wildflower Walk22 LA Summer Concert Series – Guy Forsyth Band

LAMVB News

Los Alamos Commerce and Development Corporation10

for a complete and detailed list of events.

Go to:.

N2NM by Claire Roybal

Looking for a way to cross-promote events, activities and attractions? Check out the N2NM, a social network collaboration campaign. The goals of this project are to build your social networks and generate referrals to your social networks, attractions, and events. How it works? Individuals will be able to download the N2NM app on their Smartphone’s and track how N2NM they are by “checking in”, “blogging”, “tweeting” or “sharing” participating partners events, activities and attractions. Users will receive information about partner events, activities and attractions throughout the state and even be able to earn points on how often they are participating. If you have an attraction, event, or activity and would like to partner with us on this campaign contact Claire Roybal at 661.4836 or email her at claire@losalamos.org

The LAMVB, a program of the Los Alamos Commerce and Development Corporation, operates the Visitor Center in Los Alamos and the White Rock Tourist & Information Center (WRTIC). The LAMVB also produces and distributes advertising and marketing materials such as the Los Alamos Visitor Guide. We also maintain the online visitor guide at visit.losalamos.com.

11May/June 2012

Brian Kelley by Cindy Whiting

You name it, he’ll do it. That’s Brian Kelley!

Brian is this month’s volunteer extraordinaire! Brian is always accompanied by Athena his 14 month old daughter. She is probably the most patient baby I have ever seen...and she really enjoys her snacks! Anyway, Brian has helped a great deal around the Visitor’s Center and Chamber office from heavy lifting to IT work that would normally cost the company a lot of money.

Brian is always so polite and helpful, which I didn’t realize I valued so much until he started volunteering here.

Atomic City Transit drivers got oriented to Los Alamos and White Rock through the visitors eyes on Saturday, April 14, when representatives from the Chamber of Commerce and the Meeting and Visitor Bureau conducted a special training for 35 Transit employees. Those shuttle drivers will be the first point of contact for a visitor to the area, and we wanted them to know about the wide range of businesses and services that are available in the community, so their training included going inside several businesses in addition to the visitor centers and the museums.

The County has approved the operation of shuttles to and from Bandelier, operated by Atomic City Transit, seven days a week, for May through October beginning June 1, for three years. Bandelier National Monument requested help from the County to accommodate visitors after they lost nearly half of their parking spots in the wake of flooding after the Las Conchas fire. On an average day in peak tourist season, Bandelier sees 275 to 350 cars.

Visitors can now book their lodging directly from our website by Cindy Whiting

There is a new way for visitors to book a room. We now have lodging booking engine capability on visit.losalamos.com. What that means is that now travelers can go to the website, click on “Plan your visit,” plug in their stay dates and browse through our local hotel sites to pick where they would like to stay while here in Los Alamos. Check it out!

Bandelier shuttle drivers trained as ambassadors

PRSRT STDU.S. Postage

PAIDLOS ALAMOS, NM Permit No. 152

P . O . B O X 4 6 0 L O S A L A M O S , N M 8 7 5 4 4

Newsletter Managing Editor: Suzette Fox - 505.661.4844 email:suzette@losalamos.org Contributions by: Suzette Fox, Kevin Holsapple, Katy Korkos, Claire Roybal, Cindy Whiting

Marketing & Promotions Fair was a

HUGE success!