Both city and state funding has been secured for the building of a new movie studio in Las Cruces that is being seen as one more indication of a growing film industry in New Mexico’s second largest city.

The project belongs to 828 Productions, which was founded four years ago and has already seen to completion more than a dozen film productions.

Members of the Las Cruces City Council have voted to commit just under $900,000 to the project, funding that will be joined with $3 million earlier awarded through the New Mexico Economic Development Department.

The $3 million comes in the form of a Local Economic Development Act grant.

Located at 106 S. Miranda Street, 828 Productions is billed as a full-service film production and financing company who motto is “We Help People Tell Their Stories.”

The funding for 828 Production’s new facilities comes as Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has signed legislation allowing New Mexico to increase over time the amount of money it spends on tax incentives for film production work in the state.

The annual incentive packages officially offered by the state will now increase from $110 million to $160 million.

828 Productions has said that it wants to build a 300,000 square foot studio facility in the 900 block of West Amador Avenue just to the west of the city that will also include a 20-acre backlot. Phase one of the project will see the construction of four sound stages.
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Formerly headquartered in Glendale, California, the company purchased a 7,500 square foot building in downtown Las Cruces in the spring of 2022 to be used for training and post-production purposes.

By Garry Boulard

New hotel pipeline construction across the country has seen a healthy increase in the first three months of this year, according to a prominent industry survey.

Altogether, there were some 5,545 hotel construction projects between January and March of this year, according to Lodging Econometrics. That number represents a total of 658,207 rooms.

Both in the number of individual projects and the hotel rooms those projects represent, construction was up by 9%. The total 5,545 projects, according to the Portsmouth, New Hampshire-based Lodging Econometrics, is only some 5.7% “behind the all-time high of 5,883 projects” recorded in the spring of 2008.

As of March 31, projects actually being built stood at 1,051—a figure representing 140,365 rooms. But it’s what’s being planned that shows the most promise, with 2,060 projects in the pipeline for the next 12 months. And those pipeline projects mean a big 241,568 rooms.

Notes a Lodging Econometric narrative accompanying the latest numbers: The latest early 2023 numbers mark the “fourth consecutive quarter of total pipeline growth for the U.S., which can be, in part, attributed to the robust recovery of travel demand.”

Increased consumer confidence and spending activity has “fueled strong occupancy and rate growth throughout the last twelve months as well.”

The outlook for the rest of the year looks particularly promising given that “developers are motivated to sign new projects anticipating more favorable financial conditions in the coming quarters.”
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Despite the strong early 2023 numbers, the publication Hotel Management notes that “market volatility, persistent inflation, rising energy prices, elevated transportation costs, materials shortages and supply chain backlogs continue to pose a challenge and slow the timeline to a full recovery.”

​By Garry Boulard

A two-story structure that has served as a church for more than half a century is on the market in Aurora and being advertised as a “specialty building.”

Located in a residential section about 2 miles to the northwest of downtown Aurora at 10600 E 14th Avenue, the building has for well over a decade been the home to the Korean Full Gospel Church.

Built in 1950, the building measures just under 5,800 square feet, and features a balcony with a seating capacity for two dozen people looking out on a massive wooden cathedral ceiling and nave.

Listed for $950,000, the property also includes a 936 square foot residence that has served as a pastor’s residence.
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Located in a defined Opportunity Zone, the church and pastor’s residence are being listed by the Lakewood offices of RE/Max 100, Incorporated.

By Garry Boulard

As part of a larger effort to create more outdoor recreation space in Dona Ana County, plans have been unveiled to develop a park along the west bank of the Rio Grande.

According to those plans, the park will include a playground, fire pit, picnic shelter, boardwalk with benches, and restrooms, among other features.

The oblong-shaped park will be partially bordered by the popular Shalem Colony Trail, with an emphasis on open space: turf lawn, an adventure and nature play space, and access to the river.

Project designer for the park is the Phoenix-based engineering and design firm Wilson & Company.
The land for the park is currently owned by the International Boundary Commission. County officials hope to enter into a lease agreement with that commission but must first submit design plans to that same body.

The project has been the subject of at least one public input meeting earlier this winter, with another scheduled for the first week of May.

There are well over two dozen parks of varying sizes in Dona Ana County, serving a population of around 215,000 residents. According to the website Countyoffice.org, Dona Ana is ranked third out of 33 counties in New Mexico for the number of parks it has per capita.
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Earlier this spring, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham approved $100,000 in capital outlay funding for improvements to the county’s Butterfield Park, along with another $200,000 to upgrade the East Mesa Park.

​By Garry Boulard

Although it has been in decline for most of the last decade, popular support for nuclear energy providing electricity has risen to a strong 55%, according to a new survey released by the Gallup polling company.

That figure represents a clear gain for nuclear power in the last seven years, with support down to 44% in 2016. Meanwhile, opposition has declined in an almost perfect symmetry during that same time from 54% in 2016 to 44% today.

Although the use of nuclear energy has gone through phases of varying critical evaluation among experts, Americans, says a narrative accompanying the survey results, “have generally been more amenable to the use of nuclear energy as one of the ways to provide electricity for the U.S. when oil prices have been high, and less open to it when oil prices are low.”

The strongest nuclear support was registered in 2010 when 62% of respondents said they were either strongly or somewhat in favor of the use of nuclear power. Opposition hit a low of 32% that same year.

The latest Gallup numbers come as the Biden Administration has targeted more than $1 billion in federal funds to keep power plants across the country open.

Past Gallup surveys have indicated that Republican respondents have in general been more supportive of nuclear energy than Democrats, with a high of 76% indicating support in 2009—a figure that now stands at a still-strong 62%.
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Democrat responses have indicated less nuclear enthusiasm, with 46% in favor a decade ago—a figure that remains the same today.

By Garry Boulard

A just over 80-year-old building that serves as the home to the El Paso Rhinos hockey team may be in danger of demolition.

Located at 4100 East Paisano Street, the El Paso County Coliseum was built during the middle of World War II at a cost of $321,000 and initially hosted rodeo events. In subsequent decades the structure housed sporting and musical events, with fans packing the building for an Elvis Presley concert in late 1972.

The coliseum, with a current seating capacity of around 8,000, underwent a comprehensive $9.5 million renovation in 2003.

Now, according to various sources, the 20,200 square foot building could be a thing of the past if a federal project seeing expansion of the nearby Bridge of the Americas port of entry becomes reality.

Three design options have been aired by the General Services Administration, with one of those options proposing that the federal government purchase and eventually demolish the building for the bridge expansion.

The possibility of the coliseum being leveled has sparked opposition from local officials as well as residents, with a public input meeting scheduled for early June.
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The General Services Administration has said that a final decision in the matter has not yet been made. It was earlier announced that the Bridge of the Americas work could begin in 2027.

​By Garry Boulard

A national sporting goods chain may be planning to expand its presence in Colorado with a new 22,000 square foot store on the south side of Durango.

According to city documents, the store will go up on a 2.3-acre site at the intersection of U.S Highway 550 and Turner Drive and will include store, display, and office space.

The building will be constructed as a concrete masonry unit with metal framing. Secondary building materials include wood treatments and metals panels.

The proposal has won the initial approval of the Durango Planning Commission, as well as the city’s Design Review Board. Although the identity of the company has not been officially disclosed, the Durango Herald has suggested that the interested party may be Recreation Equipment Incorporated (REI).

That company is based in Seattle, and specializes in everything from skiing to climbing, cycling, and camping equipment. Founded in 1938, the company has more than 160 locations, with nearly a dozen stores in Colorado and a strong presence on the East and West coasts.
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In 2021, it realized revenue in excess of $3.7 billion.

​By Garry Boulard

A default on the federal government’s debts could cause general economic turmoil, with the impact spreading to the nation’s state capitals, according to a just-published analysis by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

“Federal reimbursements to states would cease,” predicts Brian Wanko, legislative director for the NCSL’s State-Federal Affairs Program, of a Washington default.

In addition, “matching money for partnership programs would no longer be available, and the federal government would suspend funding for state-led projects and programs,” continues Wanko.

Overall state budgets would be severely impacted, too, with the possibility of the U.S. economy even entering a depression.

Interestingly, the last time a state government defaulted on its debts was during the Great Depression in 1933 when Arkansas fell short on its highway bond funding. But the model for what might happen nationally is nonexistent, simply because a U.S federal default has never happened.

Wanko additionally notes that should a federal default occur, “Social Security and federal pension payments might cease, federal agencies would furlough employees.” Such vital agencies as the Federal Aviation Administration and U.S. Customs could only continue to operate with an emergency stopgap measure by approved by President Biden and Congress.

Earlier this month the National Conference of State Legislatures, along with the National League of Cities, and National Association of Counties, among several other groups, sent a letter to Congress asking it to “increase or suspend the debt limit as soon as possible.”

The letter additionally urged the President and Congress to “consider serious long-term reforms that will reduce the national debt and put the country on more sustainable fiscal footing.”
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It is thought that the federal government could run out of funds by as early as July if a solution to the looming debt limit is not reached.

By Garry Boulard

A major supplier of dry bulk processing and handling equipment has announced plans to expand its current manufacturing facilities on the southeast side of Prescott Valley, Arizona.

Superior Industries, which is headquartered in Morris, Minnesota, wants to increase the square footage of its plant located at 9880 E. Superior Lane. The company said the expansion will increase its currently facility footprint by about a third.

In a statement, Jason Adams, president of Superior, remarked: “Our dealers in the region are growing rapidly and we need to increase production space so they can continue supporting their customers.”

Founded in 1972, Superior opened its Prescott Valley location in 2007 in a move designed to better serve its growing markets in both the Southwest U.S. as well as Latin America. The following year Superior was listed by the publication Inc. as one of the fastest growing companies in the country.

Adams added that the new facility will make it possible for Superior to “employ more people, help our dealers grow, and supply more American-made products to the region’s stone, sand, and gravel companies.”
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The company also specializes in screening, washing, and conveying systems, while also supplying parts and services for the aggregate and mining industries.

​By Garry Boulard

A bill designed to increase economic development opportunities in rural sections of Colorado has won approval in the legislature’s House Committee on Appropriations.

As introduced by Representatives Marc Caitlin and Barbara McLachlan, the legislation calls for making official what is already called the Rural Opportunity Office, to assist communities as they transition from economies based on the production of coal.

As proposed, the Rural Opportunity Office will operate under the umbrella of the state’s Office of Economic Development and International Trade and will require that economic development staff must be physically located in rural communities across Colorado.

The legislation, SB23-006, has thus far won approval in the full Senate in advance of a vote before the full House.

As quoted in the Sterling Journal-Advocate, McLachlin remarked that the Rural Opportunity Office will provide a “pathway to promote, diversify, and expand economic opportunities in small towns to meet the needs of our neighbors.”

Nearly 75% of the landmass in Colorado is defined as rural, comprising just under 1,700 square miles. According to the U.S. Census, more than 500,000 people live in rural swaths of the Centennial State, a large percentage of whom have relied on coal-fired power plants and coal mines for employment.
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It is thought that nearly 2,000 people currently work in those industries.

​By Garry Boulard