Hacker Prevention for Business Owners on April 14
The Innovators’ Forum will present “How not to get hacked: Simple tasks for a business owner,” on Thursday, April 14, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Santa Fe Complex, 624 Agua Fria Street.
The presentation is designed to “leave you with a clear and easy path to follow so you, the non-techie business owner, can rest easy knowing that your web site won't be one of the thousands that are hacked each day.”
The event is free, and cookies and drinks will be provided. Please RSVP by contacting Kim Sherwood at (505) 665-1305 or ksherwood@lanl.gov by April 12, 2011.
The Innovators’ Forum is sponsored by LANS, LLC through Northern New Mexico Connect and Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Community Programs Office and Technology Transfer Division.
Coronado Ventures Forum Event April 21
Coronado Ventures Forum will host an event focusing on leading-edge developments driving the next major revolution in healthcare and life sciences: personalized medicine. The event will run from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 21, in Albuquerque. The cost is $22.50 in advance and $25 at the door (cash and check only). Please register for the event no later than midnight, Wednesday, April 20.
Invited experts will focus their discussion on an overview of personalized health care and what it means for the decade ahead, along with key business challenges and market opportunities.
For more information, go to http://www.cvf-nm.org/.
Los Alamos National Laboratory helps sponsor this event.
Changes to LANL’s Venture Acceleration Fund
Each year, Los Alamos National Security, LLC (LANS) invests $1 million in economic development programs through Northern New Mexico Connect (NNMConnect), which include its Venture Acceleration Fund (VAF). The fund began in 2006 to give an investment boost to Northern New Mexico companies seeking to commercialize their technologies and take them to market faster. To date, 16 innovative technology companies have been awarded up to $100,000 each to support business-development activities such as creating proof-of-concept, prototyping, product engineering, customer identification, and market validation.
This year, there have been two major changes to the VAF program:
• VAF proposals are now accepted year-round, rather than through scheduled calls for ideas.
• Proposals with a connection to LANL technology or expertise will receive preference, and the link to the Lab is no longer required. Proposals will be evaluated for regional impact, technical feasibility, market opportunity, and the availability of matching funds from the company.
Through NNMConnect, LANS and LANL are growing an environment for enterprise development for long-term economic growth in Northern New Mexico. For more information on this and other programs available to grow New Mexico businesses, please visit www.nnmconnect.net.
NMSBA Celebrates 10 Years Helping Businesses
The New Mexico Small Business Assistance (NMSBA) program was created through legislation passed by the State of New Mexico and is celebrating its 10-year anniversary. Since it began, it has helped provide technical assistance to 1,736 New Mexico small businesses. Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and, since 2007, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) have worked together through NMSBA to help New Mexico small businesses facing unique technical challenges. The resources provided come from a variety of sources, including LANL, SNL, and partners such as the New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership, University of New Mexico’s Anderson School of Management and Management of Technology Program, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology’s Department of Management, and New Mexico State University’s Arrowhead Center. NMSBA "Leveraged Projects" allow multiple small businesses that share technical challenges to request collective assistance for larger projects. Leveraged Projects are competitive and funded once a year.
Some success stories:
Armed Response Team
The Armed Response Team (ART) was founded in 2004 by a group of retired Albuquerque Police Department officers. It identified a unique market related to the remote surveillance of outdoor storage and construction yard areas. Help for the company came from both NMSBA partners: SNL helped with video motion detectors, and LANL helped with solar energy needs, since many of the sites are not close to regular power sources.
Over the years, ART’s revenues have grown by 70 percent and it expects to expand by 2012. “Our partnership with NMSBA has absolutely paid off,” says ART’s president, David Meurer. “The expertise of our national labs allowed us to get into the marketplace faster, at a lower cost, and with better technology.”
Eldorado Biofuels
Paul Laur, along with partner Alfonz Viszolay, of VM Technology, quickly realized that the large amount of water required for algae production would pose constraints for his business. After consulting with a friend and investor who formerly owned a petroleum company, Laur realized that millions of gallons of “produced water” were wasted each year as they are pulled from the ground during oil and gas production. “It seemed like an ideal water source if we could figure out how to use it,” recalls Laur.
LANL resources provided chemical analysis and demonstrated successful algal growth in the treated waters. “Through NMSBA, we found that the water produced by oil and gas production in Jal [New Mexico] had the right constituents for algal growth,” says Laur, “and we also learned how to customize the treatment process for different types of produced water.”
If you would like to learn more about how the NMSBA can help your small business, to go www.nmsbaprogram.org.