Apr. 25—Funds awarded for small affordable rental projects

Ventana Fund, a New Mexico Community Development Financial Institution, was awarded $580,405 by the U.S. Department of Treasury to fund the rehabilitation and construction of small affordable rental projects throughout the state. The award will be used to capitalize Ventana Fund's new loan program, Thresholds, which provides loans for affordable rental projects under $5 million. It also provides loans to affordable housing developers who serve New Mexico's low-income residents and high-need communities.

"New Mexico has a high percentage of older, smaller affordable rental units that will soon be functionally obsolete," said Todd Clarke, Ventana Fund Chairman and Executive Director. "Thresholds will provide low-interest rate loans for mom-and-pop property owners to rehabilitate these units — owners who might not be able to find financing elsewhere."

Ventana Fund has funded eight construction loans totaling $4,350,000 for affordable housing projects in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Vegas, Roswell, Santo Domingo Pueblo, and most recently, Carlsbad. Funders and partners include the CDFI Fund, the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority (MFA), First National 1870 and Washington Federal.

UNM shines in Customer Champion Awards

Emburse, a spend optimization firm with 18,000 customers globally, announced the winners of their inaugural Customer Champion Awards and the University of New Mexico stood out as Ultimate Advocate. The UNM finance and business team led by Lorrie Black used Emburse tools to eliminate tedious tasks for finance and to enable users with intuitive mobile tools.

Each winning organization realized tangible business results including time savings, cost savings, improved employee experience, and other strategic wins by leveraging Emburse solutions, according to a news release.

"Customers are the heart of all we do at Emburse. We created these awards to shine a spotlight on the incredible teams and individuals whose work makes their colleagues' lives better and delivers real value to their employers," said Johann Wrede, Chief Experience Officer at Emburse.

More than 18,000 organizations in 120 countries count on Emburse systems of automation, analytics, and spend control to streamline processes and deliver positive financial outcomes.

Placitas builder recognized with national award

The Structural Insulated Panel Association (SIPA) selected Placitas-based homebuilder Spiegel-Kinsley as a national runner-up in its 2023 Annual Building Excellence Awards. One of the most prominent offsite construction award programs, the Building Excellence Awards showcase the projects that best demonstrate the design flexibility, long-lasting energy performance and resiliency of structural insulated panels (SIPs).

The Spiegel-Kinsley home was named runner up in the under 3,000 square-foot, net zero energy home category.

Spiegel-Kinsley is building 11 custom homes in Placitas. Each 'Net Zero' house is representative of New Mexican traditional architecture and includes 11.56 KW rooftop solar system, structural insulated panels (SIPs), all electric power, carefully sourced nontoxic and sustainable building materials, Zero- VOC paints, Heat pump systems, Energy Recovery Ventilators, Electric Car charging station, and xeriscape, all native, low water input landscapes. The goal is for every home built to be Net-Zero: where the home produces more energy than it consumes.

"We are humbled by the national recognition we continue to receive," said Evan Kinsley, Spiegel-Kinsley General Contractor. "We will continue to build sustainable homes and do what we can to minimize our carbon footprints in the area."