[1st-mile-nm] Las Cruces, N.M., Launches Online Business Portal

Tue Dec 22 08:43:35 PST 2015

Las Cruces, N.M., Launches Online Business Portal

http://www.govtech.com/dc/articles/Las-Cruces-NM-Launches-Online-Business-Portal.html

For small and large businesses in the area, the portal brings together 
data on revenues, salaries, health insurance costs, supplier locations 
and more.

BY JASON GIBBS, LAS CRUCES SUN-NEWS, N.M. / DECEMBER 21, 2015

There's a new tool in the box to help fledgling and growing businesses 
locate to and compete in Las Cruces, and it's free.

The City of Las Cruces’ Economic Development Office recently launched a 
free online tool designed to help local businesses grow by making 
smarter decisions through data analysis.   SizeUp for Local Business 
Intelligence can be found on the City of Las Cruces’ web site:   
http://www.las-cruces.org/sizeup

It allows businesses to easily obtain highly specific data on revenues, 
salaries, health insurance costs, supplier locations, and more, said 
Cruz Ramos, the city's interim economic development director.

It is the result of months of work to bring as much data as possible 
into one spot to present to potential new companies looking to locate in 
Las Cruces, or to help existing business thrive and better use the 
available data to grow their efforts or to expand and to better target 
specific demographics.

“With SizeUp, any business can instantly access competitive benchmark, 
advertising, demographic, industry, geographic, and cost-of-business 
data that huge corporations use every day,” Ramos said. “While a lot of 
emphasis has been placed on industrial recruitment, we are also 
interested in helping existing Las Cruces businesses grow and thrive. 
This is one of the tools in our ‘Economic Gardening’ program designed to 
help businesses currently in Las Cruces. The City appreciates them and 
wants to help when we can.”

SizeUp for Local Business Intelligence (SizeUp LBI) gathers data from 
public and private sources and provides four main tools:
•	Performance benchmarking: See how a specific business "sizes up" by 
comparing its performance to all competitors in its industry.
•	Competitive assessment: Map where competitors, customers, and 
suppliers are located to determine where to better serve customers.
•	Best places to advertise: Identify areas with the highest revenue for 
an industry, the most underserved markets, and filter for the best 
location based on demographic and business characteristics.
•	Demographic analysis: View an interactive map of demographic, labor, 
and customer expenditure data in the Las Cruces area.

“We want to help businesses in Las Cruces succeed by providing a free, 
intuitive business tool - making it easy to access relevant and dynamic 
data for local businesses across industries” Ramos said. “Now, business 
owners can rapidly access valuable data along with maps and graphs – 
quickly and easily without the need to hire consultants or train staff.

"Companies in Las Cruces can now access valuable business intelligence 
in a matter of minutes, which they can use to help them grow their 
businesses and out-compete competitors, increase their market share and 
identify supply chain providers,” Ramos added
SizeUp LBI is powered by SizeUp’s technology, available at SizeUp.com. 
SizeUp launched in late 2011 as a TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield 
finalist, and was awarded first prize in the Department of Commerce’s 
Business Apps Challenge in 2012. In September, the U.S. Small Business 
Administration began using SizeUp on its website to help small 
businesses.

Area businesses that would like to access SizeUp for Local Business 
Intelligence should go to las-cruces.org/sizeup. For additional 
information about SizeUp or other business assistance programs offered 
by the City’s Economic Development Office contact, or Ramos. You can 
also click the green “Additional Support” tab at the top of the webpage 
to provide city development officials with your contact information. 
Staff will get back to you and answer any questions you may have about 
SizeUp or respond to other business assistance needs you may have, Ramos 
said.

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Richard Lowenberg, Executive Director
1st-Mile Institute     505-603-5200
Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504,
rl at 1st-mile.org     www.1st-mile.org
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