Jan. 17—If things go according to plan, Santa Fe soon will join several other places in New Mexico with an economic development specialist dedicated to working with tribal entrepreneurs.
The plan involves a partnership between the city of Santa Fe and University of New Mexico Rainforest Innovations, a nonprofit corporation operated by UNM that promotes innovation and economic development, according to a news release Monday.
The job description indicates it is a part-time position of 12 to 15 hours a week with a one-year duration. The liaison would be responsible for identifying barriers to entrepreneurship and seeking solutions to those problems, along with connecting entrepreneurs to existing resources.
The liaison will work out of the city’s Office of Economic Development. Director Johanna Nelson said the position is funded by a nearly $115,000 grant from the federal American Rescue Plan Act passed in 2021.
Nelson said the city would be open to exploring the idea of maintaining the position beyond the two-year life of the grant if the returns are positive.
“At the end of the grant period, we’ll be able to evaluate what worked, what didn’t, and how we can better support the needs identified,” she wrote in an email to The New Mexican. “Additionally, we’re eager to leverage this investment to establish a proven track record and attract other sources of funding for future growth-especially with our regional partners.”
Cecilia Becenti, the nonprofit’s project manager for tribal entrepreneurship, said she hopes to have the job filled by the end of January.
Rainforest Innovations already has liaisons around the state, and Becenti said they have been successful in integrating tribal entrepreneurs into the broader entrepreneurship community.
The nonprofit’s other federally funded tribal liaison positions have been operating at locations near Gallup and in Shiprock for the Navajo Nation, on Jemez Pueblo, in Albuquerque and on the Jicarilla Apache reservation in northwestern New Mexico.
Santa Fe officials heard about the impact those liaisons were having and approached Becenti and the Rainforest Innovations staff a year and a half ago about creating such a position for Santa Fe.
Tribal entrepreneurs tend to face many of the same obstacles to success other entrepreneurs face, Becenti said, although to a greater degree.
“This isn’t exclusive to them, but one of the biggest issues to access to capital,” she said. “Coupled with that is a lack of financial literacy — a lot of tribal entrepreneurs start a business but don’t have the financial literacy to know how to grow and scale their businesses.”
Attracting capital can be particularly challenging, she said — people who start businesses on tribal land or federal trust land can’t claim the land as collateral when they apply for loans, often leaving them handcuffed. The lack of uniformity among tribal governments when it comes to adopting policies and procedures related to business start-ups also can prove daunting, Becenti said.
The experience the Rainforest Innovations staff has accrued working with its tribal liaisons has proven valuable, and much of what has been learned can be exported to other tribal communities, she said.
“Much of what we do is relationship building,” she said, adding the development of a growing network of tribal liaisons across the state is likely to promote that function.
Becenti said she already had received a couple of applications for the position. There is no deadline, but anyone interested in applying is encouraged to do so soon by emailing a resume and letter of interest to cpacheco@innovations.unm.edu.
She said she is interested specifically in hiring someone who has experience as an entrepreneur and already has encountered many of the barriers aspiring business owners face.
Becenti said she hopes other communities follow Santa Fe’s lead.
“I would love to see other cities and counties working with us to fund a liaison position for their city or county,” she said.
More liaison positions will help tear down barriers for entrepreneurs of all stripes, Becenti said.
“This really can help create a more fruitful entrepreneur environment for New Mexico as a whole,” she said.