Business Incubation: Celebrating a Decade of Success in Santa Fe
November 20, 2008 by Mary Ellen
A gala event at the historic La Fonda Hotel in Santa Fe capped the 10th Anniversary year for the Santa Fe Business Incubator. Congratulations to SFBI CEO Marie Longserre for championing an event highlighting good things within the community.
A crowd of politicos, including Former Santa Fe Mayor Debbie Jaramillo, New Mexico Cabinet Secretary for Economic Development Fred Mondragon and many others celebrated with clients, graduates and staff. Debbie Jaramillo presented her speech which launched the project in 1995. She emphasized synergistic collaboration and positive solutions to an economy dependent on tourism in that presentation; a decade later, the Incubator can trace client revenues in excess of $100 million, more than 600 jobs created and over 66 businesses served.
I was lucky enough to join a table with partners from Elemetrics Instruments, developers of a patented, breakthrough technology to detect hazardous element monitoring, 20th Century West Art Appraisal, an art appraisal business and Spa Enrichment Strategies, a retail, consulting and private label resource for spas and salons. These diverse businesses capture the essence of an incubator.
The hit of the night was a video in which Incubator clients talked about their experience. From the heartfelt story of Kokopelli Landscaping’s David and Deborah Martinez to Daryl Ehrmantraut’s prediction of Elemetrics as a $40 million company within five years, the audience was spellbound with real time stories of successful operations, collaborations, and commitments to building business the Incubator way.
Each place setting also featured a 16-page overview of Incubator history, client success and partner participation; this insert will run as a statewide supplement to the New Mexico Business Weekly newspaper later this month. Special thanks to Nancy Salem, publisher, Rebecca Lynch and Brent Woodard from NMBW for their part in the publication.
SFBI represents a reason to believe in community, a modern cache of good news and optimism in a volatile economic climate. I for one am excited to celebrate the inspiration. Congratulations to everyone involved.
Disclosure: I worked on behalf of SFBI coordinating the 10th Anniversary Project.
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