Silver City Business Incubator Makes Great Strides Under New Management

The CODC Story: 2006 Mid-Term Report by CODC Management Team.

Silver City, NM, June 29, 2006 --(PR.com)-- The Cooperative Ownership Development Corporation (CODC), a Silver City-based business incubation center, has rapidly developed into a premier grass-roots economic development center in southwest New Mexico.

Since taking over as CODC’s executive director in Fall of 2004, Walt Schwarz and his leadership team have created four programs designed to help Grant County’s underserved, low income business owners.

1. CODC’s bread and butter service is to provide custom business training, support, and guidance to 25 clients. CODC’s guiding philosophy is to help clients manage the trade-offs between their business and personal lives. Depending on the scope of each business situation, some clients arrive with strategic business issues that require multiple meetings over many months, while others come in with issues needing just a few hours of counsel in a single session.

2. Since starting the class in October of 2005, CODC has graduated 10 clients from the MARKETLINK basic business training program. CODC’s MARKETLINK training program, which is directed by local metal artist Coit and staffed by 8 trained volunteer consultants, is designed to help new and existing business owners learn basic business operations ranging from the start-up phase though new product development and expansion. The program is based on WESST Corp’s award-winning Perfect Pitch curriculum which has been successfully delivered in New Mexico for over 15 years.

3. Last year, CODC identified and is now responding to the rapidly-growing non-profit sector as a critically underserved component of Grant County's economic development future. Beginning in Spring 2006, the CODC Unity Project has provided no-cost professional support to 9 Grant County non-profits who are actively serving the community.

The CODC Unity Project, headed by Melissa Harbert, a local consultant who has held non-profit leadership positions for the last 20 years, is a network of experienced professionals who are making themselves available to assist Grant County non-profits with strategic support and project management.

4. The latest business training program offered by CODC is Advanced Business Training curriculum. CODC’s advanced curriculum is geared toward clients who already understand business basics, and need an extra edge on managing through all manners of organizational and personal transition.

Rick Davis, a Silver City-based life coach, and Schwarz are the primary instructors for advanced training. Together, they represent over 35 years of professional experience delivering advanced holistic business training to corporate, education, and government clients around the country.

Whether its planning, strategy, operations or reorganization, Schwarz stresses that CODC offers additional advanced training that addresses ongoing strategic business issues above the basic operations covered in the MARKETLINK course.

He says, “CODC is just what the doctor ordered for Grant County businesses who are finding it increasingly tough to operate. In the landscape of southwest New Mexico business training, we are the only place offering advanced training that goes well beyond Business 101 basics.”

CODC is a 501(c)3 non-profit located in Silver City, Grant County, New Mexico. Founded in 1987 by a group of local Hispanic activists and churches, CODC continues to strive to meet its grass-roots mission to effect social and economic change by providing education and business opportunities for low-income, Hispanic, and other traditionally underserved minority communities of Southwest New Mexico.

For more information, please contact Walt Schwarz, Executive Director @ 505-388-1604 or acslt@zianet.com .

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Walt Schwarz – Executive Director - 505-388-1604 - asclt@zianet.com
Rick Davis – Program Coordinator – 505-534-1544 – rickdavis@stanfordalumni.org

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Cooperative Ownership Development Corporation
Rick Davis
(505) 388-1604
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