Small-business owners and empowerment zone residents can get help on topics including how to build a quality business plan and how to understand your credit at an eight-part workshop.
“Small Business Made EZ: Start & Grow Your Business — 8 Part Workshop” will be from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Feb. 16-18 and Feb. 22-25 at the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, 2401 E. Missouri.
The series is free and for small-business owners and empowerment zone residents only. It is sponsored by the El Paso Empowerment Zone and the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Information: Adriana Valverde, 566-4066 or avalverde@ephcc.org
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Laurie Paternoster co-owns Lynx Exhibits with her husband Mike. What they do is an important piece of the El Paso downtown revitalization efforts and the exhibits they bring in give the opportunity to El Pasoan’s young and old to learn about subjects that might not be as accessible without an institution like Lynx.
First, a big thank you is owed to you and Mike for starting up Lynx, it truly is a wonderful learning facility for all of El Paso. What brought the two of you to start it, especially downtown?
We love this community. We had a dream for a venue the whole family could enjoy and we thought Downtown El Paso – with its vibrant culture, character and endless possibility – was a great place to start. Funny thing is, the project started out as something else – an indoor playground made of recyclables. But over inflated construction estimates and a floundering economy got in the way, so Mike came up with a less capital intensive dream – a showcase for first-class traveling exhibits that never seemed to make it to El Paso. And so, El Paso’s only traveling exhibit museum was born.
What do you think makes El Paso stand out from the rest of the crowd?
Wow. Where do I start? Although El Paso is a major city, it retains that small-town feel in a good way – people are kind and care for their neighbors, you can still park close to any business you patronize; the pace is slow enough to allow us to appreciate life and one another. Our children can learn a foreign language and actually use that gift daily. You can’t beat the weather most of the year and the cultural diversity rivals that of any city in the nation.
You have seen a lot of change already in downtown El Paso, what else would you like to see happen?
I would love to see a cohesive partnership for promoting Downtown businesses. With all that is going on, most El Paso small businesses and developments still operate in a vacuum. Restaurants and museums should be partnering together and developers of hotels and lofts should be partnering with retail businesses they don’t own. Everyone should be partnering with entertainment venues. We have a Border Museum Association that is trying to bring those entities together, but there still is a territorial aspect that prevents some from becoming committed partners. And what happened to the Downtown Development Plan? I would love to see the city take visible steps toward rewarding those putting dollars on the line. Those of us who are investing our own money – not relying on government funding in any way – need recognition and support. And by the way, how about free meter parking on Saturday?
To read the rest of this interview please visit Living in El Paso
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Apple Contracting, Inc works hand in hand with their customers from the initial damage inspection to filing an insurance claim, project planning and after project customer service. As one of the fastest growing storm reconstruction companies in the country, they have the expertise, experience, and qualified disaster staff to care of all their customer needs. Apple Contracting, Inc. will open operations at the Intelligent Office east side location at 2300 George Dieter. Alan Fails, Project Manger will head operations in El Paso.
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Attorney Mark Smigiel was born in Montgomery, Alabama and raised in Central Texas. He earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Marquette University in 1994 and his Doctor of Jurisprudence Degree from Southern Methodist University and Dedman School of Law in 1997. A member of the American Bar Association and the El Paso Bar Association, Mr. Smigiel is licensed to practice law in the state of Texas and has been practicing law for nine years. The new “Law Office of Mark Smigiel” will be located at the Intelligent Office complex located at 7362 Remcon Circle Westside location.
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