News Release

June 6, 2005

Caterer to the Stars, Organic Ice Cream Maker and Woman
Rancher Among Businesses Recognized by PNM and WESST Corp

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Albuquerque: A catering company that serves film stars and crews, a woman who makes basil flavored ice cream, and a woman rancher who oversees a 1,600-acre farm were recognized June 2 by PNM and WESST Corp at the Seventh Annual Entrepreneurial Leadership Awards luncheon in Albuquerque.

The following small business owners and small business advocates were recognized with a plaque and cash gift for their achievements:

Gwen Florio Clapp and Scott Clapp, owners of Blue Plate Special in Albuquerque, received the Entrepreneurs of the Year award. Four years ago, the Clapps pursued their passion for catering and created Blue Plate Special. With a company motto of “Passion Beyond the Plate,” the company has rapidly set itself apart for its elegant presentation, cuisine and impeccable service. In 2004, Blue Plate was asked to cater a movie production filming in Albuquerque. Their outstanding performance earned them additional film production catering jobs, which, with the addition of a 55-foot cab and trailer that serves as a mobile kitchen, has become a specialty of their business. The company has experienced an enormous growth in their sales and has created seven full-time jobs, including providing two victims of Hurricane Katrina with positions at Blue Plate Special.

This year, two business owners earned the Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year award. Tara Esperanza, owner of Tara’s Organic Ice Cream in Santa Fe, began her business at home after receiving an ice cream maker as a housewarming gift. Now, Esperanza sells her unique desert through a retail shop that opened in May and in stores like Whole Foods, La Montanita Coop, 10,000 Waves and the Tesuque Village Market. The ice cream is made with certified organic products and features unique flavors like basil, orange cashew and white pepper chocolate chip. Hector Rodriquez, also a recipient of the Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year award and owner of Topline Maintenance & Repair in Los Lunas, opened his business after being laid off. Knowing he had to identify a way to support his family, Rodriguez created Topline, a shopping cart repair service, which has since expanded to provide parking lot restriping and power washing. He also coaches his son’s basketball team at Los Lunas High School and is working toward a bachelor’s degree at the University of New Mexico.

Kori Mannon, owner of Mannon Motion in Elephant Butte, received the Rural Entrepreneur of the Year award. In 2000, Mannon opened the first and only complete physical therapy and fitness facility in Sierra County with a mission of providing local residents with comprehensive services. Since then, she has opened the Jungle Gym, a full-service fitness center that offers cardio equipment, weights, aerobic classes, yoga and personal trainers. In the last three years, her business’s gross sales have doubled and Mannon Motion now employs four full-time staff members.

Tammy Vineyard, owner of Small Grain in Clovis, earned the Pioneer Award. After the birth of her third child, Vineyard decided to be a stay at home mom and to begin running a cattle operation off the 690 acres of dryland on which her family lived. After receiving a “disadvantaged gender” loan from the Farm Service Agency, she purchased an additional 640 acres of farmland near Clovis. Later, she added an additional 320 acres where she is raising native grasses and varieties of peas. With a total of 1,650 acres now under cultivation, Vineyard enjoys being her own boss, being innovative and maintaining contact with her children.

Dorothy Baca Koenig, owner of Koenig’s in Albuquerque, earned the Rising Star Award. Koenig assumed control of her husband’s family business after losing him to cancer. The business, a local metal shop, had been male-owned and operated for more than 35 years. Along with the business, Koenig inherited five years of back taxes, a mountain of bills and rumors of the shop’s closing. Determined to bring the company back to profitability, Koenig put her own twist on the business and began offering decorative security window covers. Under Koenig’s leadership, the metal shop has successful increased its sales.

Joann Miller, CEO of First New Mexico Bank of Deming, received the Leadership Award. Miller started her career in banking in 1969 as a teller and worked her way up to her current position, which has enabled her to advocate on behalf of ranchers and farmers throughout southwestern New Mexico. A role model for involvement in local community development, Miller has served as president of the Deming Chamber of Commerce, the Luna County Fair Board and the Southwestern New Mexico State Fair Association.

The Honorable Diane Denish, Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico, received the Entrepreneurial Advocate of the Year award. As a former small business owner, Denish understands the challenges of small business ownership and has supported more investment of permanent funds into organizations that make loans to small and microbusinesses throughout the state. She has also helped create incentives for small business owners to provide health insurance to their workers; set up small business forums in communities throughout the state; and visited more than 20 cities across New Mexico to meet with small business owners, facilitate access to business and financial resources and learn from small business owners themselves how state government can better serve their needs.

Vern Raburn, president and CEO of Eclipse Aviation, presented the keynote address at the luncheon. With more than 25 years experience in the information technology industry, Raburn is a successful entrepreneur who has helped shape the course of the information technology revolution and the high-technology industry. “I understand how difficult it is to be an entrepreneur,” said Raburn during his keynote address. “I am humbled by the winners today. And, I say to them, keep it up.”

Cynthia Izaguirre, anchor of KOAT Action 7 News, facilitated the ceremony.

PNM and WESST Corp started the Entrepreneurial Leadership Awards Program in 2000 to acknowledge entrepreneurial excellence in New Mexico. The program is designed to honor New Mexico’s most successful women- and minority-owned small and microbusinesses that are frequently excluded from traditional awards programs.

WESST Corp is a statewide non-profit economic development organization that has helped people start and grow businesses since 1989. The organization has offices in five cities across New Mexico and provides training, technical assistance and loan funds to entrepreneurs. For further information, please contact 1-800-GOWESST, or log on to www.wesst.org.

PNM is a subsidiary of PNM Resources, an energy holding company based in Albuquerque, N.M. PNM provides electric utility service to 426,000 customers and natural gas service to 481,000 customers in New Mexico. The company also sells power on the wholesale market in the West. PNM Resources stock is traded primarily on the NYSE under the symbol PNM. For more information, see the company's Web site at PNM.com.