SENM Economic Development District uses federal grant for future business planning
More than $200,000 in federal economic development funding could assist planning and technical assistance in southeast New Mexico, said the executive director of the Southeast New Mexico Economic Development District (SNMEDD).
The Roswell based agency along with four other economic development entities across New Mexico each received $210,000 of federal Economic Development Administration (EDA) funds, stated a news release from New Mexico’s Congressional delegation.
The EDA investments supports the development and implementation of a comprehensive economic development strategy for each entity, the press released noted.
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U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury said the federal government must invest in an economy that worked for all New Mexicans.
“To help New Mexico families continue to recover from the pandemic, I will continue working hard to deliver smart investments that empower New Mexico’s small business owners and workers,” she said in the news release.
SNMEDD Executive Director Dora Batista said the EDA covered a three-year period for five southeastern New Mexico counties.
SNMEDD represents 21 municipalities including Hobbs, Carlsbad, Ruidoso, Roswell, Alamogordo and the Mescalero Apache Nation, Batista said.
She said SNMEDD assists with multiple functions ranging from acting as a liaison between local governments and the state and federal government to grant administration.
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“During the year we assist our communities with their infrastructure and planning needs and assist in determining the best avenues for funding for their projects,” Batista said.
“Towards the end of each year, we assist our communities with their local capital outlay needs and hold legislative hearings in each county. The municipalities, mutual domestics, counties, (and) schools all get to present their capital outlay requests to their local legislators,” she said.
She said SNMEDD assisted with other federal funding applications and administered grants if a municipality needed assistance.
“One of the big planning projects we have now is funded through EDA as well. We are creating an economic recovery plan. We have worked with each county to identify the effects of COVID (-19) and what steps are needed to recover our economy,” Batista said.
She said SNMEDD worked with a consulting firm and Dr. J. Michael Patrick an associate professor in the Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Business Department at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces.
“We have held focus group meetings in each county as well as meeting regularly with our economic recovery team. We have worked with Purdue University to obtain a drill down analysis of each county and identify the economic factors that drive that county,” Batista said.
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She said an economic recovery report is due later this year.
Mike Smith can be reached at 575-628-5546 or by email at MSmith@currentargus.com or @ArgusMichae on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: SENM Economic Development District awarded $210K for business work
