Business

A Chat With Pet Pangaea Owner Cyndi Wells

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Pet Pangaea owner Cyndi Wells with customers Sarah and John Gustafson’s dog Isabelle. Courtesy photo

By Greg Kendall

Cyndi Wells is the owner of Pet Pangaea. Wells started Pet Pangaea in early 2005. Since that time, Wells has been searching for a location to build a store. Recently, I sat down with Wells and discussed the state of small business ownership in Los Alamos. 

Wells came to Los Alamos in 2000 for a post doctorial position at Los Alamos National Laboratory and became a technical staff member. She has a PhD in Chemistry.

Wells is married to Mike Warren. He works at LANL as an astrophysicist Read More

Co-op Surpasses $3 Million in Sales

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Co-op Board Member Nancy Savoia and General Manager Steve Watts. Courtesy Photo

COOPERATIVE MARKET News:

The Los Alamos Co-op Market has announced that on Dec. 16, it reached another major milestone with year-to-date sales exceeding $3 million.

The Co-op opened March 2, 2011 and has grown to 1,703 members with approximately 75 percent of the sales being from its member-owners.

The Co-op is open to all whether they are a member or not.

“This is a most exciting milestone for our Co-op,” said founding board president and current board member Nancy Savoia. “It is quite gratifying Read More

NNSA Tops $290 Million in Small Business Contract Obligations in FY 2012

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NNSA News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In recognition of its commitment to working with small business partners, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) today announced that it provided more than $290 million in small business obligations for federal prime contracts in fiscal year 2012.

Nearly 80 percent of new federal award actions went to small businesses. NNSA’s Management & Operating (M&O) contractors provided an additional $1.65 billion to small businesses in FY 2012, equal to 49 percent of all money subcontracted by the M&Os.

“Small businesses are the heart of the Read More

Column: Smart Management!

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Column by Elena Yang
Smart Management!

No, I am not joking. Besides, I really want to end 2012 with the last column on a high note. 

A few recent reports, from different media outlets, on “in-sourcing” and “octopus management” have highlighted some smart management practices:

Learning Read More

What’s in a Number?

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Courtesy/NIST

NIST News

By Ken Voytek: 12–12-12, the Mayan calendar, your lucky number, or your birth number. We obsess about data. Well, maybe only I do. Maybe I should take up numerology.

The most recent BLS reports compiling data on manufacturing provides an interesting picture. Uncertainty seems to the word of the day given the broader economic and policy environment.

If you read the headlines as my colleague Mark Schmit does, you come away with one picture. It appears that job growth in manufacturing has stalled according to BLS data and has leveled off since the spring of this year. Read More

Small Business Owners Question Economic Vitality Administrator

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Staff Report

“Small businesses form the backbone of any vibrant community and we realize the unique challenges faced by small business in Los Alamos and want to help,” County Administrator Harry Burgess said.

Los Alamos County hosted a question and answer session for small businesses last week. Business owners were provided an opportunity to ask questions of Economic Vitality Administrator Greg Fisher.

During the discussion, Central Park Square owner Phillip Kunsberg addressed questions about the proposed teen center displacing businesses.

"No tenant will Read More

Trinity Site Plan Reveals Four Retail Pads; Two Eateries

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Kroger’s Trinity Site Conceptual Site Plan dated Dec. 10, 2012. Courtesy rendering
By Greg Kendall

 County officials share activities that indicate the long-awaited Trinity Site Revitalization Project is in fact underway.

“Smith’s is very proactive in moving this project forward,” said Director Anne Laurant of the County’s Capital Projects & Facilities Department. “They are scheduling preliminary meetings for January for site plan approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission and will be submitting for building permits.” Read More

Letter to the Editor: To Catch A Thief

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By Nancy Coombs, Marketing Director
Fuller Lodge Art Center

On behalf of the staff at Fuller Lodge Art Center I’d like to extend a heart-felt “thank you” to our volunteer Deborah Stone-Richard and to the Los Alamos Police Department for their efforts in chasing and apprehending a shoplifter on Nov. 28.

Although our staff was suspicious that the woman was pocketing items as she walked around the gallery/gift shop, there was no direct evidence of theft inside the shop.

Deborah’s shift ended just as the woman left the Art Center, and she chose to follow her. As the suspect Read More

County Survey Results Now Available – LA Daily Post Leads Online News Sources

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COUNTY News:

Los Alamos County’s bi-annual citizen survey results are now available for the public to review on the News page of the County’s website at www.losalamosnm.us.

In addition, copies for public review are available at the 311 Customer Care Center located at 150 Central Park Square or at the reference desk of either public library.

The firm under contract to conduct the County’s survey was CRC & Associates, LLC. They randomly selected approximately 400 County residents to participate in a 20-minute phone survey or street interview.

The survey included a variety of questions Read More

Money IQ: Are Trusts Just for the Wealthy?

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Money IQ
By Dan Monte
 
Are Trusts Just for the Wealthy?

As an attorney who has practiced primarily in the areas of trusts and estates for the past 20 years, I frequently hear people say that they are simply not wealthy enough to have a trust.

There is a very common misconception that somehow the use of trusts in estate planning is only for the wealthy. The intended purpose of this short article is to dispel this misconception.

As each one of us has a unique personality, each one of us has a unique set of circumstances which will dictate the form of our estate plan.

Contrary to common belief, it is not Read More