![]() A thriving tortilla production company is planning to expand its Sunland Park facilities. La Primera Tortilla Factory will double its current facility space, located at 102 Palomas Place. The company is receiving up to $50,000 in funding through a Local Economic Development Act grant for the project. That funding is awarded though the New Mexico Department of Economic Development. Altogether, La Primera expects to invest some $2.7 million in the expansion of its facilities, while also adding on to its staff. Launched as a family-owned grocery store in 1984, La Primera initially delivered its products to neighborhood restaurants and stores in southern New Mexico, growing into a multi-million dollar business with a strong regional customer base. The company regularly produces well over 1.2 million corn tortillas per week, as well as tostada chips and pork rinds, among more than a dozen offerings. In a statement, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said the LEDA funding for La Primera’s expansion “shows that the State stands ready to support businesses of all sizes as they grow and create jobs.” By Garry Boulard
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![]() A project in Santa Fe that will see the construction of just over 140 new apartment units is moving forward, despite a decision made in March by a city commission to reject it. As planned, the Escarpa Apartments would go up on some 3 acres at the Santa Fe Place Mall. Members of the Santa Fe Planning Commission, questioning the placing of a sidewalk adjacent to the planned building, as well as the number of designated parking spaces, voted to turn the project down last month. But now that same body has decided to rescind that earlier decision, noting that the design for the project could advance with commission members merely spelling out the conditions for a final approval. The developer, Santa Fe Mall Property, has indicated that it will address those conditions and/or concerns during the commission’s next meeting on April 15. As proposed, the new apartment building would measure just over 161,000 square feet. According to city documents, plans call for the construction of a four-story building that will include a fitness center, lounge space, courtyard, and units ranging in size from studios to one and two bedrooms. By Garry Boulard ![]() Members of Congress are now dissecting President Biden’s big $2 trillion infrastructure plan, which they are receiving as the first of a two-part proposal. The centerpiece of the legislation is asking for $621 billion to target road, bridge, and railway construction and upgrade projects across the country. That $621 billion would also go for public transit, and ports, waterways, and airport projects. Of that $621 billion, some $115 billion will be more specifically allocated for the modernization of around 20,000 miles of highways, main streets, and roads. Another $20 billion will be spent repairing both large and small bridges. The President has also said that he wants to see up to $174 billion spent to grow the nation’s electric vehicle market. Part of that section of the proposal will provide consumers with rebates to purchase such vehicles, while another part will fund the construction of some half a million new electric car charging stations, to be built by the year 2030. While many critics of the bill say they are for its transportation elements, that isn’t completely so with the $400 billion that would be spent expanding access to long-term care services under Medicaid. The bill is also receiving a negative response for the $80 billion that Biden would like to use to spur semiconductor as well as medical product manufacturing. Another large part of the legislation would invest up to $213 billion for the building, renovating, and retrofitting of more than 2 million housing units and homes, with $100 billion going to the construction of new public schools, and ventilation upgrades to existing schools. Because the plan also calls for up to $2 trillion in new corporate tax increases over the next 15 years, raising the corporate tax rate from its current 21% to 28%, it is receiving no small amount of opposition from the business sector. In a statement, Neil Bradley, chief policy officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, noting the tax increases that are a part of the Biden package, has said that it “would make America less competitive, which would mean less U.S. economic growth and less job creation.” Joshua Bolton, chief executive officer of the Business Roundtable, said his group “strongly opposes corporate tax increases as a pay-for for infrastructure investment.” Notes Politico: “The corporate world generally despises Biden’s plan in its current form and is fixated on its defeat.” That opposition may mean less in the wake of a decision just announced by the parliamentarian of the Senate allowing for multiple reconciliation packages to be introduced. That decision makes it possible for the infrastructure package to bypass any filibuster attempts by approving the infrastructure plan with a simple majority vote. By Garry Boulard ![]() A Calgary, Alberta-based company specializing in aluminum production has announced plans to build both its new headquarters and manufacturing facilities on the southwest side of Phoenix. APEL Extrusions plans to spend up to $100 million building its new presence near the intersection of Lower Buckeye Road and Loop 202. In a statement, Gerry Price, chief executive officer of APEL Extrusions, said the new facilities will be designed to “serve the industries in the Southwest who need a quality product, including finishing and anodizing, with short lead times and at competitive prices.” The company, which has another facility located in Coburg, Oregon, was founded in the mid-1970s, offering materials for the construction and transportation industries, as well as solar parts and consumer durables. Initially providing aluminum extrusions for the Western Canada market, the company now serves a client base throughout the U.S. The building of the new plant in Phoenix will allow APEL to provide products and services for the growing West Coast market in a matter of two days or less. As planned, APEL will begin construction later this spring on some 22 acres, with its new Phoenix operations expected to be fully operational by late 2022. The combined new headquarters and manufacturing plant are expected to measure nearly 324,000 square feet. By Garry Boulard ![]() Talks and plans are underway for the construction of a new public recreation center in Silver City that may go up on the campus of Western New Mexico University. Long anticipated, the facility would be designed to replace the city’s current all-purpose recreation center, located at 1016 N. Silver Street. At least $8 million is currently available for the project, with half of that amount coming from the State of New Mexico and the rest from town funds. As discussed, the new facility would most likely house multiple courts that could be used for indoor soccer, volleyball, and pickleball. A survey recently undertaken by the town indicated that respondents most want to see a swimming pool as part of the center, along with such amenities as a weight room and indoor track. Exactly how much a recreation center, with a pool, will ultimately cost, remains to be seen. But Silver City officials have said that addition funding may be secured from the New Mexico Outdoor Equity Fund. That fund was created in 2019 with the idea of providing state backing for local recreational and outdoor facilities. While an exact site for the project has not yet been determined, town officials are weighing the benefits of building the center on the WNMU campus where the Eckles Hall, which was demolished two years ago, once stood. Also under consideration: building the facility somewhere in the vicinity of 32nd Street and Silver Street on the north side of town. By Garry Boulard ![]() Home prices are climbing at their swiftest pace in more than a decade, with a growing market demand for newly-built homes. According to the National Association of Home Builders, home prices are seeing double-digit jumps throughout the country. The Denver market is up by 10%, while Phoenix saw an unprecedented 15.8% gain, one of the largest in the country. Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors is reporting that the average home price in the U.S. has now reached the $313,000 mark. Looking at the trend on a yearly basis, counties throughout Arizona saw home prices increase by up to 27%; Santa Fe County in New Mexico and Denver County in Colorado have also seen double-digit increases. Home prices were generally down throughout the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, and the eastern half of Montana. The housing boom, notes the Wall Street Journal, has been a special benefit to current homeowners, “while making it more difficult for first-time buyers and others with less income to enter the market.” According to an NAHB survey, a notable shift in the percentage of buyers looking for homes in the outer suburbs most likely means an increasing demand for new construction. The NAHB survey, What Home Buyers Really Want, 2021, reveals that 60% of would-be buyers are looking for new homes, significantly up from 54% in 2018. The survey additionally indicated that the new home preference was at its highest since 2007. Adds the survey: Generation X buyers, at 68%, are currently the most likely to want a new home; followed by Millennials at 65%, and Baby Boomers at 55%. By Garry Boulard ![]() Some $20 million in funding has been approved for state park improvements across Colorado. Governor Jared Polis said the funding is particularly crucial given that since the onset of the Covid 19 pandemic, “we watched our Colorado community flock to our state parks in record numbers for solace and the mental and health benefits associated with spending time outdoors.” That money is coming out of the state’s Capital Construction Fund. The projects include improvements to the campgrounds of the Boyd Lake State Park, near the city of Loveland; and new trails, service buildings, and campground space at the Cameo Shooting and Education Complex, just to the east of Grand Junction. Also to be funded: construction of a new educational center and updated restroom facilities at the Cherry Creek State Park; as well as the building of new indoor facilities, complete with bathrooms and showers, at the Steamboat Lake Park in North Routt. Other parks getting state project funding include the Lake Pueblo State Park; Arkansas Headquarters Recreation Area; Ridgway State Park; North Sterling State Park; Chatfield State Park; Jackson Lake State Park; and Navajo State Park. State officials say the park improvement funding is coming at a crucial time: according to statistics, daily park usage in Colorado is up by more than 2 million people since 2014. By Garry Boulard ![]() A plan long in the discussion stage to build a new commuter rail service in Colorado may get a significant boost if President Biden’s big $2.2 trillion infrastructure plan wins Congressional approval. For years transportation officials have talked about building a rail service along the Centennial State’s Front Range. As proposed, that 173-mile service would provide a passenger-moving alternative to the increasingly busy Interstate 25, linking Fort Collins in the north to Pueblo in the south, with stops in between at Denver and Colorado Springs, among other cities. State officials have said a new transit line on the eastern half of Colorado is particularly important, given forecasts predicting a 34% increase in the region’s population to nearly 8 million people in the next two decades or so. Late last year the Front Range Passenger Rail Commission issued a report indicating that it would cost up to $2.5 billion to build the infrastructure for a service offering two to six round trips daily, just between Fort Collins and Colorado Springs. Biden’s Americans Jobs Plan includes some $80 billion for rail construction and upgrade projects. In a statement, Bill Flynn, chief executive officer of Amtrak, said the legislation could help make reality “rail service to up to 160 new communities across the nation.” The President’s infrastructure legislation is now being reviewed in Congress with some observers predicting a final vote by sometime this summer. By Garry Boulard ![]() More than 916,000 new jobs were posted last month, according to the latest Department of Labor figures, the strongest numbers seen since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic a year ago. Overall, the nation’s unemployment rate has now fallen to around 6%, down from a devastating 14% last spring. Analysts said the recovery is partly due to businesses across the country reopening, as well as a wider availability of vaccines. Additional data, reports the Wall Street Journal, shows that “restaurant, hotel, and airline bookings are up, and consumers are spending more at gyms, salons, and spas in recent weeks than they have in more than a year.” The new job gains were led by an increase of more than 280,000 in the Labor Department category that includes hotels and restaurants. But the gains in the construction industry weren’t too shabby either, with more than 110,000 jobs recorded last month. That gain is seen as being particularly significant given that jobs in the industry were off by 56,000 in February, primarily due to cold weather. Total construction jobs now stand at nearly 7.5 million, a number that still remains some 182,000 less than where the industry was in the month before the Covid outbreak. In a statement, Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America, said the “rebound in March is certainly good news, but contractors face growing challenges that imperil further growth in nonresidential employment.” Anirban Basu, chief economist with the Associated Builders and Contractors, called the new jobs numbers a precursor of good things to come. “Here comes the tsunami of economic and employment growth across American,” Basu said in a press release. “With more stimulus on the way, the United States may end up growing faster than China this year, which would be the first time that occurred in decades.” Total nonresidential construction jobs in March came in at 4.4 million, up from 4.3 million the month before, while the nonresidential sector improved from 809,000 jobs in February to nearly 817,000 last month. By Garry Boulard ![]() Work may begin by summer on the construction of a new $3.5 million University of New Mexico athletic training facility. The New Mexico Champions Training Center will be located inside the school’s University Stadium beyond the south end zone and is expected to measure anywhere from 10,000 to 15,000 square feet. Designed to provide training space and equipment for all of the school’s 18 athletic programs, the center will also allow for more efficient rehabilitation services. Long planned, the facility will replace a tented structure measuring some 8,000 square feet where services have often been limited depending upon the weather. That tented facility is located adjacent to the Maloof Administration Building and the Estes Tennis Center at the south end of the school’s south campus. Funding for the center has been partially secured through a $1 million gift from the insurance company New Mexico Mutual. If all goes according to plans, the center is expected to be completed by the end of this year. By Garry Boulard |
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