Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to El Paso Public Forum, a weekly half hour
public affairs presentation of iHeartRadio El Paso for over twenty years,
featuring local news and interviews of interest to our listeners
in West Texas and southern New Mexico. All views and
opinions expressed on this program are those of the host
and guest, and not necessarily those of iHeartRadio Management and
now El Paso Public Forum.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Welcome to the al Paso Public Forum. I'm your host,
Amber Banda, and today we have two members from Pioneers
twenty one. We have Laura Butler, executive director. Laura, thank
you for being here with me today.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Thank you, thanks for having us Amber.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
And we have Jaden ESPARTSA Economic Development intern and program
assistant with Pioneers twenty one.
Speaker 4 (00:42):
Jaden, thank you for being here with me today.
Speaker 5 (00:44):
Thanks for having us.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Definitely so Pioneers twenty one. I had not heard of
you all until a few months ago. I think there
was some kind of recognition you got. I was like, Oh,
I want to have them on the program. They're a
nonprofit and according to your Instagram I grab this from there.
It says inspire and incubate business and entrepreneurs. Through mentorship,
training and connection. Did I say that correctly?
Speaker 3 (01:05):
You sure did, And that's exactly what we do every
single day's way stay true to our mission. But you
haven't heard of us because we were the Hub of
Human Innovation. But we've been around since twenty eleven Amber,
oh my goodness, and we've housed and supported over two
hundred companies through that mission. We support startups to innovate
(01:25):
and launch ideas into self sustaining businesses.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
That is amazing. So we're going to get into a
little bit more of that.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
But before I have to ask, are there any startups
or companies that the listening audience might recognize?
Speaker 6 (01:36):
So sure right now?
Speaker 3 (01:38):
You know, actually at the award ceremony that you heard about,
it was the Innovation Awards. We were able to invite
several of our startups and during the award ceremony there
was several videos from companies that are part of our
venture mentoring service, and a success story that came out
(02:00):
of there was super City AI and they're actually launching
their app. They actually launched their app this month and
their app is all about how to make a city
just more.
Speaker 6 (02:15):
Workable through the app. So if you want to pay
your ticket.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
You can just walk up to any store and be
able to pull up the app at that store and
pay tickets and work through an actual city and municipality
a lot easier.
Speaker 6 (02:32):
So you'll hear more about Supercity pretty soon.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
So like parking tickets and stuff like yeah, okay.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Callens of things that municipalities work with. You'll be able
to work through super City. So they're trying to grow
that app, not just here in Alpaso, but in Los Angeles,
in Laredo, hopefully in New York.
Speaker 6 (02:51):
So they're just trying to grow that app. So look
for super City AI.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
On the web and you'll be able to find them.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
A suggestion to them, maybe they can work with the
DMV because the DMV still works like on fax machines
and you know, hieroglyphics, and that would be great if
they could expediate that process. I think a lot more
people would get you know, there's driverized anyway, so that
is amazing.
Speaker 4 (03:13):
So you kind of, you.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Know, the listening audience now has more or less of
an idea of what Pioneers twenty one is.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
But again, what is it? Like, what services do you
offer for the community.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Well, you know, a little bit of history is that
we you know, we wanted to start this Chech incubator
since twenty eleven because you know our city. We just
want to capitalize on these growing opportunities and we want
to ensure that all Pesol stays as a hub for
innovation and P. Twenty one for us to play that
(03:46):
pivotal role in shaping the future of Ol Pesol's economy.
Speaker 7 (03:50):
Right.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
So P twenty one typically serves early stage startups and
entrepreneurs who are in the initial phases of developing their business.
So just when you are an entrepreneur, the things that
you need are resources. Right, So you have an idea,
but you think if I only had a million dollars,
(04:11):
if I only had one hundred thousand dollars to just
start this idea, I could do this. Well, what we
do is through our mentor Service program, which is licensed
by MIT, we get a group of mentors to help
support you and eventually make that idea a reality. If
your idea is already a reality and you need help
(04:33):
with possibly scaling that idea or maybe even getting access
to capital, which could be not necessarily through venture capital,
but if you need venture capital, we also have resources
that can help you get there, but maybe through partners
in lending or partners in maybe grants, etc. We have
(04:55):
access to all of those resources that can help support
you and.
Speaker 6 (04:58):
Get you there.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
So you know, we often lack resources, experience, infrastructure, sometimes
office space as well co work space, and you just
want to be around other entrepreneurs and a community of
entrepreneurs that are all like minded that can help you
get there.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
So you also have an office space for them, like
an area of and that is that the one that's
on five hundred West Overland five hundred, Well it's is
it like different little cubicles or how does that work?
Speaker 6 (05:24):
We actually have.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Yes, there's cubicles, there's open space, there's space.
Speaker 6 (05:29):
There's conference rooms.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Just before we left, one of the mentors came by
and was like, hey, you know, yes I'm here to
say hi, but can I use your offices after five o'clock?
So the cool thing is that our building has security
twenty four hours, so you can use the offices at
all times. But yes, there's co workspace, office space, there's
meeting rooms. If you need to plug in and show
(05:52):
a presentation, we have that available as well.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
So it reminds me like El Paso's version of Shark
Tank and Jayden, what I want to ask you is
basically the same question, but in your words, through your eyes.
What is Pioneers twenty one and what does it have
to offer the community?
Speaker 5 (06:04):
Yeah, Pioneers twenty one is I like to tell people
that it's an entrepreneurial support organization or an EESO. So
a lot of what we do is helping small businesses
and entrepreneurs get off the ground. But we also have
a considerable amount of programming that's designed for small businesses
that need that kind of help. So what I do
specifically is I'm attached to a program that we have
called the Digital Marketing Series, and what that does is
(06:27):
it allocates, well not allocates. We provide service that is
meant to educate small business owners on how to exist
in an online world and how to have their business
in an online world. And additionally, we have funding available
to provide those small businesses with websites that we pay
for to be hosted for up to a year for
those businesses.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (06:47):
So a lot of what I do is helping will
client outreach and keeping tabs on the small businesses that
we're in relation to make sure that they do all
their work on time and sorts of things like that.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Yeah. Yeah, I see that a lot with you know,
my friends that have small businesses and even not so
small businesses, some that are pretty well known. I'll pass so,
but they struggle with and correct me if I'm wrong.
If this falls into what you're talking about, like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok,
you know, like getting because that's really where you're reaching
a lot of people. They go for reviews and pictures
and this and that, and is that kind of what
you're talking about in addition to the website.
Speaker 5 (07:20):
Yeah, definitely. The goal is to educate them conceptually so
that they know how to navigate being online, not just
so that they're posting things on Instagram, but they know
the fundamental principles behind a good online hygiene and existing
as a business to reach more people digitally.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
And it can be a great I mean, you can
pay for some of the advertising there, but it can
be a great free resource too, as long as you know.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
How to do it.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
So that explains a little bit of what you're talking about.
Your title economic development intern And you know, if people
did want to look for these services, maybe they're barely
in the stages. If I have this idea, I have
this business, or maybe they're kind of already going through it,
but they don't know what they don't know?
Speaker 4 (07:57):
How can they qualify or get to these services?
Speaker 3 (08:00):
It's really easy. I mean you could just go to www.
Dot Pioneers twenty one dot org, or they can call
us at nine one five three two one three one
two four and any of us can walk them through. Uh,
there's for mentorship, there's an application that they would fill out.
And really you just need to know a little bit
of information of what type of business you're thinking about
(08:25):
starting or what type of business you have, and what
type of needs you need. I always ask what type
of needs you have? I always ask people what are
your three most critical needs? So do you need access
to capital? Do you need a little bit of support
with learning how to manage finances? Or do you need
(08:45):
some support with For example, I'm having issues with who do.
Speaker 6 (08:50):
I need to hire next?
Speaker 3 (08:52):
So then we start, me and my teams get together
and we start thinking of Okay, what type of mentor
team do we need for this venture?
Speaker 6 (09:03):
And we start putting our minds together.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
Also with our lead mentors and looking for the right
group of mentors for you to start helping you either
start manage or scale your venture, and then we go
from there and your mentor your mentorship sessions are as
often as you need them, So they could be perhaps,
you know, every every three to four weeks or maybe
(09:27):
every four to six weeks, but it depends on what
your group of mentors and you decide, and then you
can receive mentorship for It could be six months, it
could be a year, it could be two years.
Speaker 6 (09:39):
But we've seen some great successes. I can't say the
names of all.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Of the ventures because we have confidentiality clauses that are
aligned with our mentor venture mentoring service, but the ones
that I can say have given us permission. But we
have seen some great successes where we've taken ventures from
idea to where they've opened up a brick and mortar. Really, yes,
and they're and it's it's amazing to see that where
(10:07):
they do when they do their first hire, when they say,
you know what, I need payroll assistance?
Speaker 8 (10:12):
Now?
Speaker 6 (10:13):
Yeah, company do I use for payroll?
Speaker 9 (10:15):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Is there a bookkeeper or CP that I can use?
Speaker 6 (10:18):
And you know that's very rare.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
I wanted to share a stat with you that when
entrepreneurs have mentorship support, reports show that their business will
survive beyond five years at a rate of seventy percent,
Oh wow, versus a fail rate of ninety percent when
they don't have any type of mentorship support.
Speaker 6 (10:39):
Or yeah, no support at all.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
There was some sort of thing where if your business
goes past or was it three or five years, like maybe, yeah,
you've made it. And that's amazing because you just said,
you know, if they're if they have a mentor five
years and you said ninety percent.
Speaker 4 (10:53):
Yeah, wow, seventy percent. Well this is good.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
It's you know, it's it's it's it's a lot better
than if you don't have a mentor and if you're
just joining us. We have Laura Butler, executive director for
Pioneers twenty one, as well as Jaden esparsa economic development
intern and program assistant with Pioneers twenty one.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Now we've talked a.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Little bit, a lot of bit about what the organization is,
how people can qualify the benefits of this organization. There's
so much, I mean, we can get into a lot,
but what I do want to talk about right now
is the event that you have coming up as of
the airing of this program this weekend pretty soon, So
February twenty seventh, Laura, can you tell us a little
bit more about this fun event?
Speaker 6 (11:33):
Sure?
Speaker 3 (11:33):
So we have an event called Tacos in Tequila. Who
doesn't love that, right?
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Right?
Speaker 3 (11:37):
So it is on February twenty seventh, And this event
started about three years ago. And Tacos in Tequila is
one number one is about networking and getting to know
each other.
Speaker 6 (11:49):
But it is a partnership with Microsoft.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
And what we decided to do this year is to
shake things up a bit since we have so many
great ventures in El Paso, and we invited our ventures
and anybody in the community who is who either has
a business, who is an entrepreneur, or who is a
who wants to be an entrepreneur to bring their idea
to Tacos and Tequila and signed up. Sign up to pitch,
(12:13):
sign up to pitch your idea, sign up to pitch
your mentor your venture and guess what you will receive
all proceeds from.
Speaker 6 (12:21):
The entry fee.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
So Pioneers twenty one will not keep any of the
entry fee costs. We will provide all entry fee costs
to the winner. We will not have official judges, so
the the audience will select the winners. Yes, so it'll
be live voting. You will see on the screen who's winning.
Speaker 6 (12:43):
We did a.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Pilot in December and it was it was amazing. We
got to see who was winning, who was catching up.
It was pretty cool. We had tacos, we had palomas,
we had tequila, and it was just so much fun.
But we we usually have a pretty good turnout over
at five hundred WIST Overland, Suite two thirty. If you
haven't come to see us, we are in the in
(13:06):
the building sotoa building behind the Chuhahas.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
Okay, okay, yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
And so these people they're going to pay an entry
few of twenty dollars and everyone that enters you are
the judge, and that money, like we talked about earlier,
say fifty people go. I know more than fifty are
gonna go, but say just fifty people went. That person
that wins gets one thousand dollars towards their idea. And again,
you know we were talking about it earlier. I have
maybe like a seed. I'm not a business you know,
(13:35):
I'm not an entrepreneur. But if you just have an idea,
go and pitch it. Like, don't be afraid. You know,
every idea starts, it has to start somewhere. So they
go and if they did want to get tickets for
this event or they wanted to be a part of
this event as an entrepreneur, they have an idea, can
they go to that Pioneers twenty one dot org website.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Yes, under events and key dates. Will we've already announced
the save the date. We have actually an ounce the
next three dates for Tacos and tequila because we want
people to start getting ready to pitch, because honestly, it
is nerve wracking to pitch an idea.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
Yeah, if you've.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Seen the show Shark Tank, if you've seen the show
Elevator pitch. Some people have thirty seconds to pitch. Some
people have, you know, five minutes, some people have ten minutes.
I think ten minutes is too long. You will have
three minutes to pitch your idea. I think that's kind
of like the perfect ideal time, and then the audience
will have a couple minutes.
Speaker 6 (14:30):
To ask you some questions just.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
To you know, get get more of your idea out there,
and then we'll go immediately into judging.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
That sounds so fun.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
I do have a burning question, Yes, who is your
youngest entrepreneur? Can you say, I know you have the
confidential and who is your oldest because there might be
out there, someone out there be like I'm too young,
I'm too old.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
I'm to this youngest. Like that's a great question. Like
do you have any teenagers early twenty?
Speaker 6 (14:57):
Yeah, okay, most everybody's like early twenty.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Because I remember being like eight years old and having
the idea for dog biscuits, like a certain type. I
swear that was my idea, and someone like, ah, man,
I should have you know, or dog cookie something like that.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
We have early twenties all the way to I mean,
we have people that have brought us like their teenager.
We did have somebody who brought their son that was
still in high school because they were going to Franklin
High School and they didn't know if they could apply
their idea. And they could, but what we decided to
(15:29):
do with that idea is to mentor them until they
turned eighteen. And then I did receive a very nice
email that said, guess what, I'm eighteen and I could
this is what I did with my idea. Yeah, and
we were able to help them start launching it, so
it was really nice. We do have professors that are
(15:52):
part of the venturementoring service and some of them are
in their sixties.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
Yeah, so that is so cool. Stages, that is so neat.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
I'm loving this, this this organization already, so if you
need more information, they actually have a YouTube at Pioneers
twenty one EP, Instagram, Pioneers twenty one EP, Facebook, Pioneers
twenty one. The whole name is Incubator and Co workspace,
but if you look up Pioneers twenty one you'll find
them on Facebook and of course Pioneers twenty one dot
(16:23):
org and on Power one oh two Sunday ninety nine
point nine and ninety six point three k Country on
our Instagram and Facebook. I will be posting pictures of
our guests. The information here, their contact information if you
want to learn more, and the event again. February twenty seven.
Tacos and Tequila their third year. You can go have
some tacos tequila.
Speaker 4 (16:41):
Be a judge here.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Different entrepreneurs pitch their ideas, you know, and be nice
to them. It's scary to get up there, but this
is bringing something really great to the Sun City.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
I had no idea that we had this.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
So Jaden, I want to ask you, I mean, why
did you join Pioneers twenty one?
Speaker 5 (16:55):
What is your connection? So my connection, it's actually pretty interesting.
Most of the interns that I work with are actually
engineering students, and I am the first one that studied economics,
so I'm kind of bringing a different angle that.
Speaker 4 (17:07):
So you know, engineering and economics.
Speaker 5 (17:10):
No, I actually don't know anything about.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
I mean either one is impressive, don't get me wrong.
And Laura, is there anything else that you would like
to tell the listening audience.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
I would like to just invite everybody to come visit us,
give us a chance and see what we're all about.
And we know that El Paso is just a growing
hub of technologies, and just come see what al Paso's
all about. We are in the middle of this great
region and in the heart of downtown where you could
(17:39):
cross the border and come and visit us. You can
come from Las Crus's come and visit us. We're right
by Utep.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
Yeah snit it's ali area. Excellent and go to their Instagram.
I was looking on there.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
There's a lot of you know, things that you can
learn just by looking at their page and again Pioneers
twenty one EP on Instagram. Laura and Jaden, thank you
so much for being here with me today.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Welcome back to the al Paso Public Forum. I am
your host Amber Banda, and today we have Kim Lambert.
She is the Associate director of Administration for the Humane
Society of al Paso.
Speaker 9 (18:17):
Kim, thank you for being here with me today.
Speaker 7 (18:19):
Oh, it's my absolute pleasure. Thank you for having me,
of course.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
I mean, I think a lot of people really love
when we have the animal rights groups or you know,
animal welfare groups on the show. People love puppies, and
today we're going to talk about a couple specifically. But
before we get into ed and poppy and whatever puppies,
you want to talk about my puppies. I mean, I
call them all puppies. To me, they're all puppies.
Speaker 9 (18:39):
They're all puppies, doesn't matter how they are.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
We're going to talk a little bit about the Humane
Society of Al Passo. People have heard of it, but
can you give us a little background in the services
that it provides for al Paso.
Speaker 4 (18:49):
Absolutely so.
Speaker 8 (18:50):
The Humane Society has been around for a long time
since nineteen forty seven, and originally we were created as
a way to combat the radies crisis that was going
on in El Paso at the time. However, we were
really good at our job, and once the rabies kind
of got under control, we shifted our focus from taking
care of rabies to adoptions and we became an adoption.
Speaker 7 (19:11):
Agency for the El Paso area. And so now our
focus we are a no kill shelter.
Speaker 8 (19:16):
We take care of these animals that are in search
of a home, that are looking for a family. We
make sure that they are cared for until they find
their forever home, and we adoptions are our main focus
for everything.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Yeah, my daughter actually earned a majority of her high
school credits fostering kiddens there. I don't know if you
all still offer credits for that. We do still offer.
Speaker 8 (19:35):
Volunteering is always a great way to participate, get back
to your community, learn how to you know, support, and
you get to play with the little tiny animals when
they're bottle fed, which.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Is absolutely amazing. Yeah, you can volunteer there. And then
my daughter is part of the Kiddie Reading book Club.
I haven't been able to take her, but she literally
goes I don't know what's age does it start again?
I think it's like seven, but it's it's you know,
they're at the age where they can read and you
go in you you can find more information at Hslpasso
dot org. And all she did was read to the kiddies,
(20:04):
like read books to them to get them associated.
Speaker 9 (20:06):
With human voices. It's I love it.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
I love seeing her do that, and I think that
is such a cool program for kids to volunteer with.
But the Humane Society of Alpasso, what is the difference
between the people right across from you, Animal Services of Alpasso.
Speaker 8 (20:18):
I'll Passo Animal Services and the Humane Society share a driveway,
so we get confused for each other all the time.
We are a private nonprofit and we're mostly focused on adoptions.
Al Passo Animal Services is run by the city and
they kind of take care of a pleth bra of
services for the El Passo area, So they take care
of the lost and stray animals.
Speaker 7 (20:39):
They're the ones who take care.
Speaker 8 (20:40):
Of any kind of animal cruelty cases. They take in
animals who are also in need of a home. They
also do adoptions, but they provide a lot of the
animal related services for the area, so it's.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
I guess a little bit more on the legal side
and stuff having to do with the city, and like
you said, humane societies specifically geared towards adopting out these animals.
Speaker 9 (20:59):
And I know that you.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Guys are always in need of fosters, of people to volunteer,
of donations. So I had heard of a story of Poppy,
and I understand Poppy right now is in a foster home.
But can you tell us a little bit about Poppy
and then we're going.
Speaker 9 (21:15):
To go into ed.
Speaker 8 (21:16):
Yes, absolutely, So Poppy is one of the dogs that
we have at the shelter, and she is actually technically
our longest resident right now, so she's been with us
for eleven months, which is just about half of her life.
She's been in the shelter for a very long time,
and she's a really, really sweet dog, but she just
doesn't really look.
Speaker 7 (21:33):
Nice in the kennel.
Speaker 8 (21:34):
She suffers from kennel stress, so it kind of displays
itself as kind of grumbling in the kennel and barking,
and people get scared when they see that. However, it's
not indicative of who she is as a canine. She's
actually a very very sweet, cuddly girl, but she spent
a very very long time here, and so we put
her into our Enrichment foster program. And that program was
(21:56):
developed as a way to get these animals who've been
at the shelter for a every long time a chance
to take a break in the shelter, which is fantastic,
but it also kind of turned into like maybe test
driving the dogs a little bit. These dogs who show
these kind of scary behaviors at the shelter, but once
you get them home, they kind of melt and turn
into a completely different animal. And so these fosters come
(22:17):
in meet with these animals here at the shelter consider
whether they're going to be a possibility for their home.
We give them everything they need to take care of
that animal for a couple of weeks, and they can
take animals like Poppy home, give her a chance to relax,
and if it turns into an adoption, fantastic. If not,
she got a vacation for the shelter and she can
come back refreshed and ready to find her new family.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
I mean, think about it as a human, if you're
like in a really stressful situation, I'm going to say
something a little outlandish, say you're locked in a car
and you can't get out, which I know, I know,
like most people can get out of the car, right,
but just say you're locked in a car, you don't
know when you're gonna get out.
Speaker 7 (22:50):
You know you're and.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
People are walking around looking at you. They're not going
to be seeing the real you. They're going to be
seeing the version of you that's panic, stress, trying to
figure out what's going on. And that's what's happening with
the dog, with the kennel stress. They're in there. They're
meant to roam around. They're meant to be free, they're
meant to be love, they're meant to play. They want
to walk around and explore. And so again, like you said,
doggies like that that they're not exhibiting who they truly
(23:12):
are when they're in these kennels.
Speaker 9 (23:14):
So I'm so grateful for the foster family that did
take her in.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
Hopefully they decide to keep her, but if not, like
you said, it is a great break for Poppy to
be able to walk around and you know, kind of destress.
And there is another puppy that we're going to talk
about that I was told his name is Ed. Can
you tell us a little bit more about Ed? Who
is looking for either a foster family or a forever home.
Speaker 8 (23:38):
Yes, so Ed is our next longest resident. He is
the longest resident at the shelter who's available right now.
And so he's a year and a half old sharpay mix,
and he is absolutely amazing. He is a cuddlebug, he's
really sweet, he's playful, he's got all of these incredible qualities.
But once again, that shelter stress, that kennel stress comes
(23:59):
alive with the Ed, and he looks really gnarly in
the kennel. He's growling, he's barking, he's just not the
same kind of dog.
Speaker 9 (24:06):
But Ed has.
Speaker 8 (24:07):
Actually been in a number of different Enrichmond foster homes,
folks who just solely wanted to get him out of
the kennel, and they reported nothing but great things about Ed.
He takes maybe about one day to adjust to the
new home. He calms down, he loves stretching out on
the couch and just being a relaxed, awesome dog. He
gets along great with other animals. He gets to go
(24:27):
along great with everyone in the household. He's well behaved,
so he shows all of these wonderful qualities when he's
in a home, and so that's something that we're struggling
with is getting people to see pass to the kennel
and see who he really is as a canine.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
So, since we're trying to get ed adopted out, my
first question is Sharpay. I've heard the term, but refresh
my memory. What if Sharpai looks like Sharpay's.
Speaker 7 (24:48):
Are the ones with like the squishy nose and all
the wrinkles?
Speaker 4 (24:51):
Yeah, oh yes, the wrinkly dog. So now the question
that I know the listeners are going to have.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Okay, these different foster families have taken him in, they
have adopted them themselves. You being the dog expert, you
can see the potential that these doggies have. So what
about the person that's thinking, okay, well, if he's being.
Speaker 9 (25:08):
Great in these families, why haven't they taken him? And
And this.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
Again, this is just so people will understand and so
they'll want to go and adopt ed.
Speaker 8 (25:16):
Absolutely, So a lot of times the families who participate
in our foster programs, they're not able to adopt whatever
the reason is, whether it's time, space, money, finance that
they're not able to commit fully to an adoption. And
let's be honest, an adoption for a dog is a
lifetime commitment.
Speaker 7 (25:32):
This can be you know, fifteen twenty years, depending.
Speaker 9 (25:35):
On the dog.
Speaker 7 (25:36):
And so these foster families.
Speaker 8 (25:38):
Are coming in, they want to help, they want to
give back to the community, and they want to help
animals like Ed, like Poppy who've been here for a
long time and are showing those intent signs of stress.
So it's not a failure on Ed's part that he
didn't land a family. These are families who want to
help temporarily, so they've done what they could could for
d But like I said, nothing but great things to
stay for that family who finally who is able to
(26:00):
adopt for him.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
And I can definitely speak to that because we've, like
I said earlier, we fostered I think three litters of
kittens and it was during times where I was off
of school, my daughter was off of school, I had
less time from work. So it wasn't that the cats
weren't loving and you know, they weren't adoptable, it's just, yeah,
it was that time period. That's the only thing that
I could that's the only way that I could help
(26:24):
them with that time period. So you know Ed and Poppy,
You'll be able to see pictures of them at Hslpasso
dot org.
Speaker 4 (26:32):
I'm on the.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Instagram and Facebook Humane Society of El Paso as well
as the instagram and Facebook for Sunday ninety nine point
nine Power one or two point one and ninety six
point three k Country all iHeart stations Now, Kim, before
we go on to some of the events that you
have coming up, is there anything else that you would
like to stay in regard to, like Ed or Poppy
or any other animals that have maybe been there for
(26:55):
a while.
Speaker 8 (26:55):
We've got a number of different animals who do have
a longer stay, and I think it's important for people
to realize that it's not it's not that they're staying
here a long time because of a fault or anything
on their end. It's just sometimes these dogs just haven't
found the right family yet. I believe that every single
animal here has the perfect family out there, and we
are determined to find those families for these guys, for Ed,
(27:17):
for Poppy, for any of our other animals who have
been here for a while. Ed and Poppy have a
lot of behaviors that make them look a little bit scary,
but they truly are amazing animals. Some of the other
animals that have long tenure at the shelter are sometimes
animals that are scared, and so they have a hard
time kind of making that connection with people because everything
is so scary. So Jiffy's one that he's just terrified
(27:40):
of everything. So it's really important when people come out
to the shelter to meet these dogs, give them a chance,
even if they look scary, even if they look scared,
take them out, have a chance to meet with them
one on one outside of the kennel, and I guarantee
you're going to find something you're going to love about
these dogs. They are just so sweet and passionate and
they're just looking for their family.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
Not to mention you all go through you know, they
go through specific channels where they're not going to adopt
out an animal that's not ready to be adopted out.
Speaker 9 (28:08):
And like I spoke the.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Last time I had ed ed Robert Shammy on here,
the new executive director, and he was talking about the
importance of adopting an animal from your local shelter, not
getting it from a puppy mill or getting it from
the person you know, selling puppies on the corner of
the street. One you keep buying from them, they're going
to keep selling the puppies. And two, like you're going
(28:31):
to be helping these animals at the Humane.
Speaker 9 (28:35):
Society and they you know, you guys, you have debts there.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
You have people that are checking them medically, so you
know that you're getting a healthy animal.
Speaker 9 (28:43):
And again, like you said, it's just looking.
Speaker 7 (28:45):
Past that they're scared.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
I mean, how as a human you know, I know
animals and humans are different, but as a human, when
you're super.
Speaker 9 (28:51):
Stressed, you're not you.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
You know, when you finally relax and you're around people
that support you and love you and you feel safe,
you're different. And so once animals have that, like you said,
they are a different, a different, wonderful beast.
Speaker 9 (29:03):
And you were just tuning in again.
Speaker 4 (29:05):
We have Kim.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Lambert, Associate director of Administration for the Humane Society of
El Paso. Now, Kim, you have a couple of events
coming up, and you always have events throughout the year,
but can you tell us a little bit more about
some that are coming up for February in March that
people can be a part of Yes.
Speaker 7 (29:20):
Absolutely.
Speaker 8 (29:21):
So the next thing that we have coming up is
going to be our Sith and Paint event on February
twenty eighth, and it's going to start at six pm
right here at the shelter. It'll be after hours, but
you get an opportunity to kind of come in and
paint a portrait of your own pet. You can do
pre registration online. It's also kind of a byob sort
of thing, so you can come in after work, maybe
(29:41):
relax with a glass of wine and some art. So
just athing a little bit fun to kind of feature,
you know, our little shelter here. But that one's coming
up on February twenty eighth, and then we also have
like some day camps for kids coming up in March.
Speaker 7 (29:56):
So we have a couple of.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Pots before we get into the day for the sip
and paint. How much is it if they want to
do it.
Speaker 7 (30:04):
It's going to be ten dollars.
Speaker 4 (30:05):
Oh that's not bad.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
And then you get they you guys provide the paint
and the canvas.
Speaker 8 (30:10):
So we provide the materials that you need. We provide
light refreshments. But like I said, it's b yob, So
you can bring in your favorite adult beverage and just
kind of, you know, kick back and relax. And like
I said, it's a paint a portrait of your own pet.
So you bring in a photo of your pet and
then you can paint it from there.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Well, you know they sell beer for dogs. Can you
can you bring the beer for I'm just kidding they
actually I sound like an animal farmer's market. It was
marketed as beer for dogs. I mean, it's not real beer,
but that, yeah, sounds super interesting. I would love to
take a bottle of I can't remember the name of
that wine, but it's everywhere. I'll think of it later.
So there's the sip in Paint February twenty eighth at
(30:46):
six pm after hours.
Speaker 9 (30:47):
B yob ten dollars gets you all the materials you
can paint a picture of your own pet.
Speaker 4 (30:52):
And now you have the day caps for kids.
Speaker 9 (30:55):
Tell us a little bit more about that one, correct, So.
Speaker 8 (30:57):
Those are going to be a little day camps that
are open fores for kids ages six to twelve. And
we're going to have those on three different days on
the fourth, the sixth, and the eleventh of March.
Speaker 7 (31:07):
And so for both of these events.
Speaker 8 (31:09):
You can hop online and preregister, get everything sorted out.
It's going to be ten dollars for each event, for
each camp or for each person who attends.
Speaker 7 (31:18):
But all of that information is available on.
Speaker 8 (31:21):
Our website, so you can kind of check those out
and get yourself registered for it.
Speaker 7 (31:24):
So she'd be a lot of fun for the kids.
Speaker 4 (31:25):
Awesome.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Yeah, my oldest she's nineteen now, but when she was
in elementary school, she went to one of those camps
and she loved it. She learned a lot about animals.
And again, if you want more information, go to Hslpasso
dot org. On the sip and paint on the day
camps for kids, they're a lot of fun.
Speaker 4 (31:41):
On Poppy on.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
Ed on volunteering, on you know, fostering, and Kim, is
there anything else that you would like to tell the
listening audience.
Speaker 7 (31:51):
Well, you had.
Speaker 8 (31:52):
Mentioned earlier about how important it is to adopt an
animal from a shelter and just you know, kind of
help out these animals.
Speaker 7 (31:58):
That are already here that are homeless.
Speaker 8 (32:00):
I think it's also important to remember the adopting from
a shelter means you get an animal who is vaccinated,
who is already Spade or neutered, which is super super important, especially.
Speaker 7 (32:09):
In our area.
Speaker 8 (32:10):
They're going to have their HeartWare, medication, their de warmers.
So the animals that we're adopting out, we do try
to feed them out that they're getting a lot of care,
a lot of medical care involved with that. Plus it's
really important to remember that when you're adopting an animal
from the shelter, you're essentially saving two lives, not only
the animal that you're taking home, but you're freeing up
(32:30):
space in the shelter for another homeless animal. So if
you really want your actions to you know, kind of
pack a whammy, adopting from a shelter is really the
way to go.
Speaker 4 (32:38):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
If you're just considering adopting a cat or a dog,
just go take a look.
Speaker 4 (32:42):
I used to love just.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
Going and walking and you know, looking at the doggies
and Humane Society of El Paso. That should be your
first stop when you're trying to adopt an animal again.
Instagram and Facebook. Humane Society of El Paso I will
be posting their information as well on Power two Sunday
ninety nine point nine and ninety six point three k Country.
(33:03):
Instagram and Facebook also Hslpasso dot org for more information.
Speaker 9 (33:09):
Kim, thank you so much for being here with me today.
Speaker 7 (33:11):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
You've been listening to El Paso Public Forum, a weekly
public affairs presentation of iHeartRadio l Passo. If you, your
organization or event would like to be featured on an
upcoming program, please email to Epforum at iHeartMedia dot com
or call us at nine one five three five one
five four zero zero. Tune in again next week for
(33:33):
another additional of El Paso Public Forum. The preceding program
was recorded at the studios of iHeartRadio L Passo.
Welcome to El Paso Public Forum, a weekly half hour
public affairs presentation of iHeartRadio El Paso for over twenty years,
featuring local news and interviews of interest to our listeners
in West Texas and southern New Mexico. All views and
opinions expressed on this program are those of the host
and guest, and not necessarily those of iHeartRadio Management and
now El Paso Public Forum.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Welcome to the al Paso Public Forum. I'm your host,
Amber Banda, and today we have two members from Pioneers
twenty one. We have Laura Butler, executive director. Laura, thank
you for being here with me today.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Thank you, thanks for having us Amber.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
And we have Jaden ESPARTSA Economic Development intern and program
assistant with Pioneers twenty one.
Speaker 4 (00:42):
Jaden, thank you for being here with me today.
Speaker 5 (00:44):
Thanks for having us.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Definitely so Pioneers twenty one. I had not heard of
you all until a few months ago. I think there
was some kind of recognition you got. I was like, Oh,
I want to have them on the program. They're a
nonprofit and according to your Instagram I grab this from there.
It says inspire and incubate business and entrepreneurs. Through mentorship,
training and connection. Did I say that correctly?
Speaker 3 (01:05):
You sure did, And that's exactly what we do every
single day's way stay true to our mission. But you
haven't heard of us because we were the Hub of
Human Innovation. But we've been around since twenty eleven Amber,
oh my goodness, and we've housed and supported over two
hundred companies through that mission. We support startups to innovate
(01:25):
and launch ideas into self sustaining businesses.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
That is amazing. So we're going to get into a
little bit more of that.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
But before I have to ask, are there any startups
or companies that the listening audience might recognize?
Speaker 6 (01:36):
So sure right now?
Speaker 3 (01:38):
You know, actually at the award ceremony that you heard about,
it was the Innovation Awards. We were able to invite
several of our startups and during the award ceremony there
was several videos from companies that are part of our
venture mentoring service, and a success story that came out
(02:00):
of there was super City AI and they're actually launching
their app. They actually launched their app this month and
their app is all about how to make a city
just more.
Speaker 6 (02:15):
Workable through the app. So if you want to pay
your ticket.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
You can just walk up to any store and be
able to pull up the app at that store and
pay tickets and work through an actual city and municipality
a lot easier.
Speaker 6 (02:32):
So you'll hear more about Supercity pretty soon.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
So like parking tickets and stuff like yeah, okay.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Callens of things that municipalities work with. You'll be able
to work through super City. So they're trying to grow
that app, not just here in Alpaso, but in Los Angeles,
in Laredo, hopefully in New York.
Speaker 6 (02:51):
So they're just trying to grow that app. So look
for super City AI.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
On the web and you'll be able to find them.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
A suggestion to them, maybe they can work with the
DMV because the DMV still works like on fax machines
and you know, hieroglyphics, and that would be great if
they could expediate that process. I think a lot more
people would get you know, there's driverized anyway, so that
is amazing.
Speaker 4 (03:13):
So you kind of, you.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Know, the listening audience now has more or less of
an idea of what Pioneers twenty one is.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
But again, what is it? Like, what services do you
offer for the community.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Well, you know, a little bit of history is that
we you know, we wanted to start this Chech incubator
since twenty eleven because you know our city. We just
want to capitalize on these growing opportunities and we want
to ensure that all Pesol stays as a hub for
innovation and P. Twenty one for us to play that
(03:46):
pivotal role in shaping the future of Ol Pesol's economy.
Speaker 7 (03:50):
Right.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
So P twenty one typically serves early stage startups and
entrepreneurs who are in the initial phases of developing their business.
So just when you are an entrepreneur, the things that
you need are resources. Right, So you have an idea,
but you think if I only had a million dollars,
(04:11):
if I only had one hundred thousand dollars to just
start this idea, I could do this. Well, what we
do is through our mentor Service program, which is licensed
by MIT, we get a group of mentors to help
support you and eventually make that idea a reality. If
your idea is already a reality and you need help
(04:33):
with possibly scaling that idea or maybe even getting access
to capital, which could be not necessarily through venture capital,
but if you need venture capital, we also have resources
that can help you get there, but maybe through partners
in lending or partners in maybe grants, etc. We have
(04:55):
access to all of those resources that can help support
you and.
Speaker 6 (04:58):
Get you there.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
So you know, we often lack resources, experience, infrastructure, sometimes
office space as well co work space, and you just
want to be around other entrepreneurs and a community of
entrepreneurs that are all like minded that can help you
get there.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
So you also have an office space for them, like
an area of and that is that the one that's
on five hundred West Overland five hundred, Well it's is
it like different little cubicles or how does that work?
Speaker 6 (05:24):
We actually have.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Yes, there's cubicles, there's open space, there's space.
Speaker 6 (05:29):
There's conference rooms.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Just before we left, one of the mentors came by
and was like, hey, you know, yes I'm here to
say hi, but can I use your offices after five o'clock?
So the cool thing is that our building has security
twenty four hours, so you can use the offices at
all times. But yes, there's co workspace, office space, there's
meeting rooms. If you need to plug in and show
(05:52):
a presentation, we have that available as well.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
So it reminds me like El Paso's version of Shark
Tank and Jayden, what I want to ask you is
basically the same question, but in your words, through your eyes.
What is Pioneers twenty one and what does it have
to offer the community?
Speaker 5 (06:04):
Yeah, Pioneers twenty one is I like to tell people
that it's an entrepreneurial support organization or an EESO. So
a lot of what we do is helping small businesses
and entrepreneurs get off the ground. But we also have
a considerable amount of programming that's designed for small businesses
that need that kind of help. So what I do
specifically is I'm attached to a program that we have
called the Digital Marketing Series, and what that does is
(06:27):
it allocates, well not allocates. We provide service that is
meant to educate small business owners on how to exist
in an online world and how to have their business
in an online world. And additionally, we have funding available
to provide those small businesses with websites that we pay
for to be hosted for up to a year for
those businesses.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (06:47):
So a lot of what I do is helping will
client outreach and keeping tabs on the small businesses that
we're in relation to make sure that they do all
their work on time and sorts of things like that.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Yeah. Yeah, I see that a lot with you know,
my friends that have small businesses and even not so
small businesses, some that are pretty well known. I'll pass so,
but they struggle with and correct me if I'm wrong.
If this falls into what you're talking about, like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok,
you know, like getting because that's really where you're reaching
a lot of people. They go for reviews and pictures
and this and that, and is that kind of what
you're talking about in addition to the website.
Speaker 5 (07:20):
Yeah, definitely. The goal is to educate them conceptually so
that they know how to navigate being online, not just
so that they're posting things on Instagram, but they know
the fundamental principles behind a good online hygiene and existing
as a business to reach more people digitally.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
And it can be a great I mean, you can
pay for some of the advertising there, but it can
be a great free resource too, as long as you know.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
How to do it.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
So that explains a little bit of what you're talking about.
Your title economic development intern And you know, if people
did want to look for these services, maybe they're barely
in the stages. If I have this idea, I have
this business, or maybe they're kind of already going through it,
but they don't know what they don't know?
Speaker 4 (07:57):
How can they qualify or get to these services?
Speaker 3 (08:00):
It's really easy. I mean you could just go to www.
Dot Pioneers twenty one dot org, or they can call
us at nine one five three two one three one
two four and any of us can walk them through. Uh,
there's for mentorship, there's an application that they would fill out.
And really you just need to know a little bit
of information of what type of business you're thinking about
(08:25):
starting or what type of business you have, and what
type of needs you need. I always ask what type
of needs you have? I always ask people what are
your three most critical needs? So do you need access
to capital? Do you need a little bit of support
with learning how to manage finances? Or do you need
(08:45):
some support with For example, I'm having issues with who do.
Speaker 6 (08:50):
I need to hire next?
Speaker 3 (08:52):
So then we start, me and my teams get together
and we start thinking of Okay, what type of mentor
team do we need for this venture?
Speaker 6 (09:03):
And we start putting our minds together.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
Also with our lead mentors and looking for the right
group of mentors for you to start helping you either
start manage or scale your venture, and then we go
from there and your mentor your mentorship sessions are as
often as you need them, So they could be perhaps,
you know, every every three to four weeks or maybe
(09:27):
every four to six weeks, but it depends on what
your group of mentors and you decide, and then you
can receive mentorship for It could be six months, it
could be a year, it could be two years.
Speaker 6 (09:39):
But we've seen some great successes. I can't say the
names of all.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Of the ventures because we have confidentiality clauses that are
aligned with our mentor venture mentoring service, but the ones
that I can say have given us permission. But we
have seen some great successes where we've taken ventures from
idea to where they've opened up a brick and mortar. Really, yes,
and they're and it's it's amazing to see that where
(10:07):
they do when they do their first hire, when they say,
you know what, I need payroll assistance?
Speaker 8 (10:12):
Now?
Speaker 6 (10:13):
Yeah, company do I use for payroll?
Speaker 9 (10:15):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Is there a bookkeeper or CP that I can use?
Speaker 6 (10:18):
And you know that's very rare.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
I wanted to share a stat with you that when
entrepreneurs have mentorship support, reports show that their business will
survive beyond five years at a rate of seventy percent,
Oh wow, versus a fail rate of ninety percent when
they don't have any type of mentorship support.
Speaker 6 (10:39):
Or yeah, no support at all.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
There was some sort of thing where if your business
goes past or was it three or five years, like maybe, yeah,
you've made it. And that's amazing because you just said,
you know, if they're if they have a mentor five
years and you said ninety percent.
Speaker 4 (10:53):
Yeah, wow, seventy percent. Well this is good.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
It's you know, it's it's it's it's a lot better
than if you don't have a mentor and if you're
just joining us. We have Laura Butler, executive director for
Pioneers twenty one, as well as Jaden esparsa economic development
intern and program assistant with Pioneers twenty one.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Now we've talked a.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Little bit, a lot of bit about what the organization is,
how people can qualify the benefits of this organization. There's
so much, I mean, we can get into a lot,
but what I do want to talk about right now
is the event that you have coming up as of
the airing of this program this weekend pretty soon, So
February twenty seventh, Laura, can you tell us a little
bit more about this fun event?
Speaker 6 (11:33):
Sure?
Speaker 3 (11:33):
So we have an event called Tacos in Tequila. Who
doesn't love that, right?
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Right?
Speaker 3 (11:37):
So it is on February twenty seventh, And this event
started about three years ago. And Tacos in Tequila is
one number one is about networking and getting to know
each other.
Speaker 6 (11:49):
But it is a partnership with Microsoft.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
And what we decided to do this year is to
shake things up a bit since we have so many
great ventures in El Paso, and we invited our ventures
and anybody in the community who is who either has
a business, who is an entrepreneur, or who is a
who wants to be an entrepreneur to bring their idea
to Tacos and Tequila and signed up. Sign up to pitch,
(12:13):
sign up to pitch your idea, sign up to pitch
your mentor your venture and guess what you will receive
all proceeds from.
Speaker 6 (12:21):
The entry fee.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
So Pioneers twenty one will not keep any of the
entry fee costs. We will provide all entry fee costs
to the winner. We will not have official judges, so
the the audience will select the winners. Yes, so it'll
be live voting. You will see on the screen who's winning.
Speaker 6 (12:43):
We did a.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Pilot in December and it was it was amazing. We
got to see who was winning, who was catching up.
It was pretty cool. We had tacos, we had palomas,
we had tequila, and it was just so much fun.
But we we usually have a pretty good turnout over
at five hundred WIST Overland, Suite two thirty. If you
haven't come to see us, we are in the in
(13:06):
the building sotoa building behind the Chuhahas.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
Okay, okay, yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
And so these people they're going to pay an entry
few of twenty dollars and everyone that enters you are
the judge, and that money, like we talked about earlier,
say fifty people go. I know more than fifty are
gonna go, but say just fifty people went. That person
that wins gets one thousand dollars towards their idea. And again,
you know we were talking about it earlier. I have
maybe like a seed. I'm not a business you know,
(13:35):
I'm not an entrepreneur. But if you just have an idea,
go and pitch it. Like, don't be afraid. You know,
every idea starts, it has to start somewhere. So they
go and if they did want to get tickets for
this event or they wanted to be a part of
this event as an entrepreneur, they have an idea, can
they go to that Pioneers twenty one dot org website.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Yes, under events and key dates. Will we've already announced
the save the date. We have actually an ounce the
next three dates for Tacos and tequila because we want
people to start getting ready to pitch, because honestly, it
is nerve wracking to pitch an idea.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
Yeah, if you've.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Seen the show Shark Tank, if you've seen the show
Elevator pitch. Some people have thirty seconds to pitch. Some
people have, you know, five minutes, some people have ten minutes.
I think ten minutes is too long. You will have
three minutes to pitch your idea. I think that's kind
of like the perfect ideal time, and then the audience
will have a couple minutes.
Speaker 6 (14:30):
To ask you some questions just.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
To you know, get get more of your idea out there,
and then we'll go immediately into judging.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
That sounds so fun.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
I do have a burning question, Yes, who is your
youngest entrepreneur? Can you say, I know you have the
confidential and who is your oldest because there might be
out there, someone out there be like I'm too young,
I'm too old.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
I'm to this youngest. Like that's a great question. Like
do you have any teenagers early twenty?
Speaker 6 (14:57):
Yeah, okay, most everybody's like early twenty.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Because I remember being like eight years old and having
the idea for dog biscuits, like a certain type. I
swear that was my idea, and someone like, ah, man,
I should have you know, or dog cookie something like that.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
We have early twenties all the way to I mean,
we have people that have brought us like their teenager.
We did have somebody who brought their son that was
still in high school because they were going to Franklin
High School and they didn't know if they could apply
their idea. And they could, but what we decided to
(15:29):
do with that idea is to mentor them until they
turned eighteen. And then I did receive a very nice
email that said, guess what, I'm eighteen and I could
this is what I did with my idea. Yeah, and
we were able to help them start launching it, so
it was really nice. We do have professors that are
(15:52):
part of the venturementoring service and some of them are
in their sixties.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
Yeah, so that is so cool. Stages, that is so neat.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
I'm loving this, this this organization already, so if you
need more information, they actually have a YouTube at Pioneers
twenty one EP, Instagram, Pioneers twenty one EP, Facebook, Pioneers
twenty one. The whole name is Incubator and Co workspace,
but if you look up Pioneers twenty one you'll find
them on Facebook and of course Pioneers twenty one dot
(16:23):
org and on Power one oh two Sunday ninety nine
point nine and ninety six point three k Country on
our Instagram and Facebook. I will be posting pictures of
our guests. The information here, their contact information if you
want to learn more, and the event again. February twenty seven.
Tacos and Tequila their third year. You can go have
some tacos tequila.
Speaker 4 (16:41):
Be a judge here.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Different entrepreneurs pitch their ideas, you know, and be nice
to them. It's scary to get up there, but this
is bringing something really great to the Sun City.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
I had no idea that we had this.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
So Jaden, I want to ask you, I mean, why
did you join Pioneers twenty one?
Speaker 5 (16:55):
What is your connection? So my connection, it's actually pretty interesting.
Most of the interns that I work with are actually
engineering students, and I am the first one that studied economics,
so I'm kind of bringing a different angle that.
Speaker 4 (17:07):
So you know, engineering and economics.
Speaker 5 (17:10):
No, I actually don't know anything about.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
I mean either one is impressive, don't get me wrong.
And Laura, is there anything else that you would like
to tell the listening audience.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
I would like to just invite everybody to come visit us,
give us a chance and see what we're all about.
And we know that El Paso is just a growing
hub of technologies, and just come see what al Paso's
all about. We are in the middle of this great
region and in the heart of downtown where you could
(17:39):
cross the border and come and visit us. You can
come from Las Crus's come and visit us. We're right
by Utep.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
Yeah snit it's ali area. Excellent and go to their Instagram.
I was looking on there.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
There's a lot of you know, things that you can
learn just by looking at their page and again Pioneers
twenty one EP on Instagram. Laura and Jaden, thank you
so much for being here with me today.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Welcome back to the al Paso Public Forum. I am
your host Amber Banda, and today we have Kim Lambert.
She is the Associate director of Administration for the Humane
Society of al Paso.
Speaker 9 (18:17):
Kim, thank you for being here with me today.
Speaker 7 (18:19):
Oh, it's my absolute pleasure. Thank you for having me,
of course.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
I mean, I think a lot of people really love
when we have the animal rights groups or you know,
animal welfare groups on the show. People love puppies, and
today we're going to talk about a couple specifically. But
before we get into ed and poppy and whatever puppies,
you want to talk about my puppies. I mean, I
call them all puppies. To me, they're all puppies.
Speaker 9 (18:39):
They're all puppies, doesn't matter how they are.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
We're going to talk a little bit about the Humane
Society of Al Passo. People have heard of it, but
can you give us a little background in the services
that it provides for al Paso.
Speaker 4 (18:49):
Absolutely so.
Speaker 8 (18:50):
The Humane Society has been around for a long time
since nineteen forty seven, and originally we were created as
a way to combat the radies crisis that was going
on in El Paso at the time. However, we were
really good at our job, and once the rabies kind
of got under control, we shifted our focus from taking
care of rabies to adoptions and we became an adoption.
Speaker 7 (19:11):
Agency for the El Paso area. And so now our
focus we are a no kill shelter.
Speaker 8 (19:16):
We take care of these animals that are in search
of a home, that are looking for a family. We
make sure that they are cared for until they find
their forever home, and we adoptions are our main focus
for everything.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Yeah, my daughter actually earned a majority of her high
school credits fostering kiddens there. I don't know if you
all still offer credits for that. We do still offer.
Speaker 8 (19:35):
Volunteering is always a great way to participate, get back
to your community, learn how to you know, support, and
you get to play with the little tiny animals when
they're bottle fed, which.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Is absolutely amazing. Yeah, you can volunteer there. And then
my daughter is part of the Kiddie Reading book Club.
I haven't been able to take her, but she literally
goes I don't know what's age does it start again?
I think it's like seven, but it's it's you know,
they're at the age where they can read and you
go in you you can find more information at Hslpasso
dot org. And all she did was read to the kiddies,
(20:04):
like read books to them to get them associated.
Speaker 9 (20:06):
With human voices. It's I love it.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
I love seeing her do that, and I think that
is such a cool program for kids to volunteer with.
But the Humane Society of Alpasso, what is the difference
between the people right across from you, Animal Services of Alpasso.
Speaker 8 (20:18):
I'll Passo Animal Services and the Humane Society share a driveway,
so we get confused for each other all the time.
We are a private nonprofit and we're mostly focused on adoptions.
Al Passo Animal Services is run by the city and
they kind of take care of a pleth bra of
services for the El Passo area, So they take care
of the lost and stray animals.
Speaker 7 (20:39):
They're the ones who take care.
Speaker 8 (20:40):
Of any kind of animal cruelty cases. They take in
animals who are also in need of a home. They
also do adoptions, but they provide a lot of the
animal related services for the area, so it's.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
I guess a little bit more on the legal side
and stuff having to do with the city, and like
you said, humane societies specifically geared towards adopting out these animals.
Speaker 9 (20:59):
And I know that you.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Guys are always in need of fosters, of people to volunteer,
of donations. So I had heard of a story of Poppy,
and I understand Poppy right now is in a foster home.
But can you tell us a little bit about Poppy
and then we're going.
Speaker 9 (21:15):
To go into ed.
Speaker 8 (21:16):
Yes, absolutely, So Poppy is one of the dogs that
we have at the shelter, and she is actually technically
our longest resident right now, so she's been with us
for eleven months, which is just about half of her life.
She's been in the shelter for a very long time,
and she's a really, really sweet dog, but she just
doesn't really look.
Speaker 7 (21:33):
Nice in the kennel.
Speaker 8 (21:34):
She suffers from kennel stress, so it kind of displays
itself as kind of grumbling in the kennel and barking,
and people get scared when they see that. However, it's
not indicative of who she is as a canine. She's
actually a very very sweet, cuddly girl, but she spent
a very very long time here, and so we put
her into our Enrichment foster program. And that program was
(21:56):
developed as a way to get these animals who've been
at the shelter for a every long time a chance
to take a break in the shelter, which is fantastic,
but it also kind of turned into like maybe test
driving the dogs a little bit. These dogs who show
these kind of scary behaviors at the shelter, but once
you get them home, they kind of melt and turn
into a completely different animal. And so these fosters come
(22:17):
in meet with these animals here at the shelter consider
whether they're going to be a possibility for their home.
We give them everything they need to take care of
that animal for a couple of weeks, and they can
take animals like Poppy home, give her a chance to relax,
and if it turns into an adoption, fantastic. If not,
she got a vacation for the shelter and she can
come back refreshed and ready to find her new family.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
I mean, think about it as a human, if you're
like in a really stressful situation, I'm going to say
something a little outlandish, say you're locked in a car
and you can't get out, which I know, I know,
like most people can get out of the car, right,
but just say you're locked in a car, you don't
know when you're gonna get out.
Speaker 7 (22:50):
You know you're and.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
People are walking around looking at you. They're not going
to be seeing the real you. They're going to be
seeing the version of you that's panic, stress, trying to
figure out what's going on. And that's what's happening with
the dog, with the kennel stress. They're in there. They're
meant to roam around. They're meant to be free, they're
meant to be love, they're meant to play. They want
to walk around and explore. And so again, like you said,
doggies like that that they're not exhibiting who they truly
(23:12):
are when they're in these kennels.
Speaker 9 (23:14):
So I'm so grateful for the foster family that did
take her in.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
Hopefully they decide to keep her, but if not, like
you said, it is a great break for Poppy to
be able to walk around and you know, kind of destress.
And there is another puppy that we're going to talk
about that I was told his name is Ed. Can
you tell us a little bit more about Ed? Who
is looking for either a foster family or a forever home.
Speaker 8 (23:38):
Yes, so Ed is our next longest resident. He is
the longest resident at the shelter who's available right now.
And so he's a year and a half old sharpay mix,
and he is absolutely amazing. He is a cuddlebug, he's
really sweet, he's playful, he's got all of these incredible qualities.
But once again, that shelter stress, that kennel stress comes
(23:59):
alive with the Ed, and he looks really gnarly in
the kennel. He's growling, he's barking, he's just not the
same kind of dog.
Speaker 9 (24:06):
But Ed has.
Speaker 8 (24:07):
Actually been in a number of different Enrichmond foster homes,
folks who just solely wanted to get him out of
the kennel, and they reported nothing but great things about Ed.
He takes maybe about one day to adjust to the
new home. He calms down, he loves stretching out on
the couch and just being a relaxed, awesome dog. He
gets along great with other animals. He gets to go
(24:27):
along great with everyone in the household. He's well behaved,
so he shows all of these wonderful qualities when he's
in a home, and so that's something that we're struggling
with is getting people to see pass to the kennel
and see who he really is as a canine.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
So, since we're trying to get ed adopted out, my
first question is Sharpay. I've heard the term, but refresh
my memory. What if Sharpai looks like Sharpay's.
Speaker 7 (24:48):
Are the ones with like the squishy nose and all
the wrinkles?
Speaker 4 (24:51):
Yeah, oh yes, the wrinkly dog. So now the question
that I know the listeners are going to have.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Okay, these different foster families have taken him in, they
have adopted them themselves. You being the dog expert, you
can see the potential that these doggies have. So what
about the person that's thinking, okay, well, if he's being.
Speaker 9 (25:08):
Great in these families, why haven't they taken him? And
And this.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
Again, this is just so people will understand and so
they'll want to go and adopt ed.
Speaker 8 (25:16):
Absolutely, So a lot of times the families who participate
in our foster programs, they're not able to adopt whatever
the reason is, whether it's time, space, money, finance that
they're not able to commit fully to an adoption. And
let's be honest, an adoption for a dog is a
lifetime commitment.
Speaker 7 (25:32):
This can be you know, fifteen twenty years, depending.
Speaker 9 (25:35):
On the dog.
Speaker 7 (25:36):
And so these foster families.
Speaker 8 (25:38):
Are coming in, they want to help, they want to
give back to the community, and they want to help
animals like Ed, like Poppy who've been here for a
long time and are showing those intent signs of stress.
So it's not a failure on Ed's part that he
didn't land a family. These are families who want to
help temporarily, so they've done what they could could for
d But like I said, nothing but great things to
stay for that family who finally who is able to
(26:00):
adopt for him.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
And I can definitely speak to that because we've, like
I said earlier, we fostered I think three litters of
kittens and it was during times where I was off
of school, my daughter was off of school, I had
less time from work. So it wasn't that the cats
weren't loving and you know, they weren't adoptable, it's just, yeah,
it was that time period. That's the only thing that
I could that's the only way that I could help
(26:24):
them with that time period. So you know Ed and Poppy,
You'll be able to see pictures of them at Hslpasso
dot org.
Speaker 4 (26:32):
I'm on the.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Instagram and Facebook Humane Society of El Paso as well
as the instagram and Facebook for Sunday ninety nine point
nine Power one or two point one and ninety six
point three k Country all iHeart stations Now, Kim, before
we go on to some of the events that you
have coming up, is there anything else that you would
like to stay in regard to, like Ed or Poppy
or any other animals that have maybe been there for
(26:55):
a while.
Speaker 8 (26:55):
We've got a number of different animals who do have
a longer stay, and I think it's important for people
to realize that it's not it's not that they're staying
here a long time because of a fault or anything
on their end. It's just sometimes these dogs just haven't
found the right family yet. I believe that every single
animal here has the perfect family out there, and we
are determined to find those families for these guys, for Ed,
(27:17):
for Poppy, for any of our other animals who have
been here for a while. Ed and Poppy have a
lot of behaviors that make them look a little bit scary,
but they truly are amazing animals. Some of the other
animals that have long tenure at the shelter are sometimes
animals that are scared, and so they have a hard
time kind of making that connection with people because everything
is so scary. So Jiffy's one that he's just terrified
(27:40):
of everything. So it's really important when people come out
to the shelter to meet these dogs, give them a chance,
even if they look scary, even if they look scared,
take them out, have a chance to meet with them
one on one outside of the kennel, and I guarantee
you're going to find something you're going to love about
these dogs. They are just so sweet and passionate and
they're just looking for their family.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
Not to mention you all go through you know, they
go through specific channels where they're not going to adopt
out an animal that's not ready to be adopted out.
Speaker 9 (28:08):
And like I spoke the.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Last time I had ed ed Robert Shammy on here,
the new executive director, and he was talking about the
importance of adopting an animal from your local shelter, not
getting it from a puppy mill or getting it from
the person you know, selling puppies on the corner of
the street. One you keep buying from them, they're going
to keep selling the puppies. And two, like you're going
(28:31):
to be helping these animals at the Humane.
Speaker 9 (28:35):
Society and they you know, you guys, you have debts there.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
You have people that are checking them medically, so you
know that you're getting a healthy animal.
Speaker 9 (28:43):
And again, like you said, it's just looking.
Speaker 7 (28:45):
Past that they're scared.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
I mean, how as a human you know, I know
animals and humans are different, but as a human, when
you're super.
Speaker 9 (28:51):
Stressed, you're not you.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
You know, when you finally relax and you're around people
that support you and love you and you feel safe,
you're different. And so once animals have that, like you said,
they are a different, a different, wonderful beast.
Speaker 9 (29:03):
And you were just tuning in again.
Speaker 4 (29:05):
We have Kim.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Lambert, Associate director of Administration for the Humane Society of
El Paso. Now, Kim, you have a couple of events
coming up, and you always have events throughout the year,
but can you tell us a little bit more about
some that are coming up for February in March that
people can be a part of Yes.
Speaker 7 (29:20):
Absolutely.
Speaker 8 (29:21):
So the next thing that we have coming up is
going to be our Sith and Paint event on February
twenty eighth, and it's going to start at six pm
right here at the shelter. It'll be after hours, but
you get an opportunity to kind of come in and
paint a portrait of your own pet. You can do
pre registration online. It's also kind of a byob sort
of thing, so you can come in after work, maybe
(29:41):
relax with a glass of wine and some art. So
just athing a little bit fun to kind of feature,
you know, our little shelter here. But that one's coming
up on February twenty eighth, and then we also have
like some day camps for kids coming up in March.
Speaker 7 (29:56):
So we have a couple of.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Pots before we get into the day for the sip
and paint. How much is it if they want to
do it.
Speaker 7 (30:04):
It's going to be ten dollars.
Speaker 4 (30:05):
Oh that's not bad.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
And then you get they you guys provide the paint
and the canvas.
Speaker 8 (30:10):
So we provide the materials that you need. We provide
light refreshments. But like I said, it's b yob, So
you can bring in your favorite adult beverage and just
kind of, you know, kick back and relax. And like
I said, it's a paint a portrait of your own pet.
So you bring in a photo of your pet and
then you can paint it from there.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Well, you know they sell beer for dogs. Can you
can you bring the beer for I'm just kidding they
actually I sound like an animal farmer's market. It was
marketed as beer for dogs. I mean, it's not real beer,
but that, yeah, sounds super interesting. I would love to
take a bottle of I can't remember the name of
that wine, but it's everywhere. I'll think of it later.
So there's the sip in Paint February twenty eighth at
(30:46):
six pm after hours.
Speaker 9 (30:47):
B yob ten dollars gets you all the materials you
can paint a picture of your own pet.
Speaker 4 (30:52):
And now you have the day caps for kids.
Speaker 9 (30:55):
Tell us a little bit more about that one, correct, So.
Speaker 8 (30:57):
Those are going to be a little day camps that
are open fores for kids ages six to twelve. And
we're going to have those on three different days on
the fourth, the sixth, and the eleventh of March.
Speaker 7 (31:07):
And so for both of these events.
Speaker 8 (31:09):
You can hop online and preregister, get everything sorted out.
It's going to be ten dollars for each event, for
each camp or for each person who attends.
Speaker 7 (31:18):
But all of that information is available on.
Speaker 8 (31:21):
Our website, so you can kind of check those out
and get yourself registered for it.
Speaker 7 (31:24):
So she'd be a lot of fun for the kids.
Speaker 4 (31:25):
Awesome.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Yeah, my oldest she's nineteen now, but when she was
in elementary school, she went to one of those camps
and she loved it. She learned a lot about animals.
And again, if you want more information, go to Hslpasso
dot org. On the sip and paint on the day
camps for kids, they're a lot of fun.
Speaker 4 (31:41):
On Poppy on.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
Ed on volunteering, on you know, fostering, and Kim, is
there anything else that you would like to tell the
listening audience.
Speaker 7 (31:51):
Well, you had.
Speaker 8 (31:52):
Mentioned earlier about how important it is to adopt an
animal from a shelter and just you know, kind of
help out these animals.
Speaker 7 (31:58):
That are already here that are homeless.
Speaker 8 (32:00):
I think it's also important to remember the adopting from
a shelter means you get an animal who is vaccinated,
who is already Spade or neutered, which is super super important, especially.
Speaker 7 (32:09):
In our area.
Speaker 8 (32:10):
They're going to have their HeartWare, medication, their de warmers.
So the animals that we're adopting out, we do try
to feed them out that they're getting a lot of care,
a lot of medical care involved with that. Plus it's
really important to remember that when you're adopting an animal
from the shelter, you're essentially saving two lives, not only
the animal that you're taking home, but you're freeing up
(32:30):
space in the shelter for another homeless animal. So if
you really want your actions to you know, kind of
pack a whammy, adopting from a shelter is really the
way to go.
Speaker 4 (32:38):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
If you're just considering adopting a cat or a dog,
just go take a look.
Speaker 4 (32:42):
I used to love just.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
Going and walking and you know, looking at the doggies
and Humane Society of El Paso. That should be your
first stop when you're trying to adopt an animal again.
Instagram and Facebook. Humane Society of El Paso I will
be posting their information as well on Power two Sunday
ninety nine point nine and ninety six point three k Country.
(33:03):
Instagram and Facebook also Hslpasso dot org for more information.
Speaker 9 (33:09):
Kim, thank you so much for being here with me today.
Speaker 7 (33:11):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
You've been listening to El Paso Public Forum, a weekly
public affairs presentation of iHeartRadio l Passo. If you, your
organization or event would like to be featured on an
upcoming program, please email to Epforum at iHeartMedia dot com
or call us at nine one five three five one
five four zero zero. Tune in again next week for
(33:33):
another additional of El Paso Public Forum. The preceding program
was recorded at the studios of iHeartRadio L Passo.
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