It takes a village to produce a business, and Daven Lee has done just that -- in the form of her Milk and Honey Soap, which is made in Santa Fe and sold all over the country.

Sales in fact doubled in 2011, despite the weak national economy.

For the success of her business, Lee has been selected by the Santa Fe Small Business Development Center as its Success Client for 2011. She was nominated by center Director Mike Mykris, who has helped Lee over the last four years to develop her business plan and apply for loans and grants.

Other Northern New Mexico businesses were also honored as outstanding clients, including Devin Galloway of Taos, who is owner and operator of Festival Channel. He worked with the UNM-Taos SBDC on his business.

In Las Vegas, Party Plaza is owned by Jonathan Gutierrez, who found advice from the SBDC at Luna Community College.

Katherine Chartrand is executive director of a Los Alamos nonprofit, New Mexico Consortium, which was chosen as the success client of the New Mexico Small Business Development Center Network in Los Alamos.

In Española, the successful clients were three women -- Liana Sanchez, Michelle Peixinho and Mateo Peixinho -- owners of Avanyu LLC, a construction and renovation company.

Lee and other SBDC clients will be honored Wednesday at at awards banquet at Hotel St. Francis in Santa Fe. Lt. Gov. John Sanchez will be the featured speaker.

On Thursday, the businesses will be introduced to the state Senate and House, kicking off a year of celebration of the NMSBDC's two decades of assisting small businesses.

New Mexico SBDCs provide no-cost management assistance, business resources and entrepreneurial education to current and prospective business owners. The SBDCs work in partnership with the federal U.S. Small Business Administration.

In a telephone interview, Lee said her "original assistance" from the Santa Fe Small Business Development Center came in the form of helping create her first business plan and then obtaining a microloan from Accion, a small business lender.

"That started me with the production of my wholesale line of products," Lee said. "They also helped me with the first round of financial projections" for her new company. "I put those together when I was looking for other funding," she said.

Lee also thanked Mykris for helping her with her business, including nominating the company "for this great honor" from the SBDC.

"Daven is extremely passionate about all aspects of her business," Mykris said in a statement. "She considers her goats and bees to be her primary business partners."

Lee's business can be reached at 505-412-1857 or through her website, milkandhoneysoap.com.

Liana Sanchez of Avanyu General Contracting said her business employs about 35 employees and will add another five when the weather is warm enough to begin mud plastering.

Sanchez and her business partners first decided to start a business after they heard about the services of the Northern New Mexico College SBDC in Española.

"I've taken as many classes as I could from the SBDC," she said. "I was pretty much a career student."

She added: "It was totally awesome to progress and set up a business from what I learned."

Avanyu currently is restoring for habitation 56 homes within the core of Ohkay Owingeh pueblo.

"I believe Avanyu will soon be recognized as a model in global green building integrating tribal cultural traditions with future thinking to create sustainable benefits," said Julianna Barbee, SBDC director in Española. "Avanyu owners have the passion to build sustainable homes and create meaningful jobs while sharing their cultural traditions."

The Taos Success Client is Jonathan Gutierrez, who used the facilities offered by the Luna Community College SBDC in Las Vegas, N.M., to create Party Plaza, which offers event planning and equipment rentals.

"Basically they showed me what steps to take to start a business," Gutierrez said. "They showed me that I was going down the right path."

Gutierrez also said his second-year profits rose 300 percent over the first year of business.

For more information, call 800-281-7232.

Contact Bob Quick at 986-3011 or bobquick@sfnewmexican.com.