The “New Mexico Tribal Entrepreneurship Enhancement Program & City of Sant
a Fe Tribal Liaison Spinoff” has been selected as the 2025 recipient of the Entrepreneurial & Small Business Development Award, presented at the New Mexico IDEA Economic Development Excellence Awards on September 25th.
Hosted annually by New Mexico IDEA, the Economic Development Excellence Awards celebrates the people, projects, and partnerships driving economic growth, supporting local talent, and building stronger communities across New Mexico. The Entrepreneurial & Small Business Development Award specifically honors a program that offers a unique approach to enhancing the entrepreneurial culture in a community or region.
Launched in 2022 with an $800,000 American Rescue Plan Economic Adjustment Assistance grant from the federal Economic Development Administration (EDA), the New Mexico Tribal Entrepreneurship Enhancement Program (NMTEEP) was created to help break down barriers and generate opportunity through entrepreneurship in historically underserved communities in New Mexico with a primary focus on coal-impacted tribal communities.
Led by UNM Rainforest Innovations over the past three years, the program has identified gaps, needs, and barriers and compiled them into a discovery report, engaged with multiple communities, countless entrepreneurs, connected many nodes within New Mexico’s entrepreneurial ecosystem that may have otherwise never met, and had an impact far beyond the program’s original vision.
As NMTEEP’s original grant concluded in 2025, UNM Rainforest Innovations implemented a transition plan to sustain NMTEEP’s momentum through partnerships and new funding streams. A key outcome of this strategy was a formal, two-year collaboration with the City of Santa Fe’s Office of Economic Development to fund a Tribal Liaison role focused on supporting tribal entrepreneurs in the region. In February 2025, Deborah Torres was hired for the role with extensive experience in tourism, legislative affairs, and community development. As a leader in Native American tourism initiatives, Deborah has worked closely with tribes to promote cultural preservation, economic growth, and meaningful representation.
The NMTEEP team and its partners are honored to receive the Entrepreneurial & Small Business Development Award from New Mexico IDEA. We are deeply grateful to all the Tribal Liaisons, community members, entrepreneurs, and partners who made this work possible.
Learn more about the NMTEEP program here https://innovations.unm.edu/program-activities/tribal-entrepreneurship/.
About New Mexico IDEA
New Mexico IDEA is the statewide economic development professional association with membership from economic development professionals to private sector businesses across New Mexico. We support New Mexico’s economic growth by elevating the economic development profession and advocating for policies that promote prosperity and opportunity for all. Learn more here: https://www.newmexicoidea.com/