Local Economic Development Update

Lif Strand

Catron County will receive its Certified Communities Initiative (CCI) Award from NM Economic Development Department (NMEDD) in January. The CCI glass plaque award will be received by Catron County Treasurer Sarah Merklein in Santa Fe during legislative session.

A grant of $5000 is also awarded for the CCI designation. These funds are earmarked for the Catron County Citizens Group (CCCG) to inventory businesses in the county. This work will begin once the funds are received by CCCG. It will involve identifying every business in Catron County and visiting each one to perform an economic survey, then compiling the data. The work must be completed by June 30, 2009.

The inventory will be available to NMEDD and Catron County, and will be used as part of the baseline for supporting local economic development. Participation by businesses is voluntary but is highly encouraged. As a reward for providing the information for the inventory, participating businesses will be provided a free listing in a Catron County Business Directory available online at www.catroncitizens.org/econdev and in printed form available around the county. If your business is interested in participating, please contact Lif Strand at econdev@catroncitizens.org or (575) 773-4835.

A public hearing for the K&B Economic Incentives Ordinance will be held at the February 4, 2009 Commission meeting. A copy of the Ordinance may be obtained at the County Commission office. This Ordinance is required by NM statute in order to set the stage for County’s receipt of capital outlay funding from NMEDD to construct a building at the County Sawmill outside of Reserve. K&B Timberworks has applied for the economic incentive of use of the building.

Catron County Citizens Group is sponsoring a 4-day endurance ride to be held May 21-24 near Quemado Lake. This ride is sanctioned by the American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC). The ride is managed by Lif Strand, with co-managers Ray and Kathy Sansom of Datil. Ray Sansom, a multi-champion endurance rider, is competing for his sixth national award and has been promoting the ride all over the west at the various races he attends. Kathy Sansom is the ride secretary. Work on identification and measuring (by GPS) of the 100 miles of trail is on hold until risk of snow is less. The website is up and working at www.discovercatron.com.


The CCCG website has been updated and a new CCCG calendar has been uploaded - check it out at www.catroncitizens.org/events.


Lif Strand is Catron County’s Local Economic Developer, designated by the Catron County Commission and under contract with the Catron County Citizens Group. Strand acts as liaison between local businesses and the County, and between the County and state and federal agencies involved with economic development. For more information: www.catroncitizens.org/econdev