![]() Although President Biden’s sweeping Build Back Better legislation is currently stalled in the U.S. Senate, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has just reaffirmed her support for the bill before members of the Senate Banking Committee. The BBB legislation was introduced early last year by the President and came with an initial price tag of $3.5 trillion, a figure that was later lowered to around $2.2 trillion. The bill subsequently secured passage in the House of Representatives, but ultimately failed to gain traction in the upper chamber. As proposed, the BBB would include some $555 billion for clean energy and climate change initiatives; $400 billion for childcare and preschool programs; $150 billion for housing; and another $150 billion for home care programs. Critics of the bill have maintained that it is too big, too expensive, and too all-inclusive in terms of the number of programs and initiatives it would fund. But Yellen in her testimony defended all the stimulus legislation proposed by the Biden Administration, including the BBB bill, which she described as “designed to mitigate what at the time seemed to be the most significant risks facing the economy.” The Treasure Secretary added that despite charges that the BBB bill is a budget-buster, “if you look at the president’s budget, you will see that it is fully paid for through higher tax collections, and that the budget also incorporates substantial deficit reduction.” West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, one of the most vocal opponents to the BBB legislation, said last month that he would be willing to back a reduced BBB bill focusing only on climate change, prescription drug prices, and deficit reduction. Congressional analysts, however, say it is not certain that a slimmed down bill would prove successful because it could lose votes among the BBB’s original supporters. By Garry Boulard
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![]() Plans are in the works for the construction of two new fire stations in a mostly rural county in southern New Mexico. Members of the Eddy County Board of County Commissioners have voted in favor of a $158 million interim budget for fiscal year 2023 that includes funding for the building of the facilities. The stations will likely go up on the northern and southern side of the county, thus, according to county manager Allen Davis, providing fire and emergency medical services in both sections. County documents show that a replacement for the Atoka Fire Station, currently located at 26 E. Atoka Road in Artesia, would be staffed 24 hours a day, and built to “allow housing at the station.” The Eddy County Fire & Rescue office is made up of a dozen strategically placed volunteer fire units. Late last year members of the county commission approved applying excise tax revenue to the building of a new substation for the Happy Valley Volunteers Fire Department. That station is designed to serve the McNew Subdivision on the north side of the city of Carlsbad. Other excise tax revenue, to the tune of $1.5 million, is targeting the construction of a building designed to replace the existing Joel Volunteer Fire Department station in White’s City in southern Eddy County. In contemplating the construction of new stations, commission members also voted to approve $5 million for the creation of a full-time fire department that would serve the entire county. That vote additionally authorizes the hiring of nearly two dozen new employees for the Eddy County Fire and Rescue office. For years the county has largely depended upon the services of the fire departments belonging to the cities of Artesia and Carlsbad. By Garry Boulard ![]() The historic three-story El Cortez Theater in downtown Truth or Consequences may soon see new façade work as a result of new state funding. Located at 415 Main Street and built in 1933, the structure has recently undergone renovations and was reopened this year with a film festival featuring several movies made by local filmmakers. Funding for the new façade work is coming through a program overseen by the New Mexico Economic Development Department through a series of grants for downtown revitalization projects across the state. Altogether, sixteen grants varying in size from $2,000 to $6,000 are being awarded through the Resilient Communities Fund program, which is devoted to community revitalization projects in the state, among other endeavors. The Resilient Communities Fund, in turn, is the product of the New Mexico Resiliency Alliance, working with both the McCune Charitable Foundation and the long-standing New Mexico MainStreet program. Other recipients include an art walk project in Albuquerque; a central alley construction mitigation effort in Lovington; and a beautification project belonging to the Navajo Nation’s Ojo Encino community. By Garry Boulard ![]() City efforts across the country to create more affordable housing may see those efforts helped though the adaptive reuse of existing, but abandoned, retail and industrial space. So said a series of speakers participating in a meeting sponsored by the Washington-based National Housing Conference, a non-profit group dedicated to expanding the nation’s affordable housing stock. Participants in the meeting additionally noted that abandoned office space can also be readapted for housing purposes. But David Garcia, policy director for the Terner Center for Housing Innovation, which is based in Oakland, California, cautioned that in order to make such projects economically feasible, any given abandoned structure should have space enough to build at least 50 residential units. Garcia also said that efforts to repurpose an older building may be more expensive than first realized, depending upon the condition of the structure: “You don’t always know the full extent of that until you actually open the walls and get to the building itself.” “There’s a lot of systems that may need to be replaced in older buildings that cost just as much as a new construction project and sometimes more,” Garcia added. It was also noted that if a structure was built more than four decades ago, there could be asbestos, lead paint, or other hazardous material issues to address before any renovation effort can begin. Despite such challenges, it was noted that a former Sears department store that was a part of the Irondequoit Mall in the city of Irondequoit, New York, has been transformed into the Skyview Park Apartments, a project housing nearly 160 senior housing units. A new building housing 84 units was put up next to the existing former Sears store by the PathStone Corporation of Rochester, while the Sears store itself ended up with 73 units. “There’s an idea that you can turn any building into housing,” commented Amelia Casciani, real estate development vice president with PathStone. “And with enough money that’s true.” But Casciani added that there are just some buildings that better lend themselves to being re-adapted than others. “There naturally are a series of characteristics that really lend themselves to adaptive reuse,” she remarked. The larger Irondequoit Mall, opened in 1990 and closed in 2009, has since undergone redevelopment as the Skyview on the Ridge. By Garry Boulard ![]() The City of Phoenix is in the process of reconverting a building that once housed an Enterprise Rent-A-Car outlet into a cooling center for those who are homeless. Located at the intersection of N. 28th Street and E. Washington Avenue, the one-story building was built in 1967 and measures around 8,600 square feet. It houses, besides office space, a storage room, kitchen, and conference rooms. City officials have decided to use the facility, located around 3 miles to the east of downtown Phoenix, as a place where people in the city who have no where else to go can shelter during the hot summer months. It is thought that the center may have enough space to house up to 200 people a day. Phoenix in the summer months sometimes endures temperatures in excess of 120 degrees. Such temperatures are thought to be responsible for the deaths of nearly 200 homeless people last year. Work reconverting the structure is expected to launch immediately, with the facility opening its doors in early June. Funding has been secured to keep the center open until at least fall. Phoenix has previously established a series of cooling stations in recreation and senior centers throughout the city as part of its Heat Relief Network offering free water and temporary daytime indoor shelter. By Garry Boulard ![]() Property containing a long-standing and popular bakery and bistro in southern New Mexico is being listed for sale for $3.8 million. The Old Apple Barn was built in 1941. It is a former apple processing barn that has for decades served as a tourist emporium offering a fudge factory, bistro, and bakery, among other amenities. Located off US Route 82, the property is readily identifiable due to its 12-foot-tall plaster and stucco Apple Boy statue just outside the barn itself. The property, along with the Wild Game Bistro, is being offered for sale by owner Bill Niffenegger. The property offerings additionally include a lodge, cabin, and 70-foot-long deck overlooking Mountain Park. By Garry Boulard ![]() Noting that total labor force participation declined last month to just 62.2%, a U.S. Chamber of Commerce leader is urging Congress to update the country’s immigration system in order to get more workers into the country from other places. “The U.S. now has nearly double the number of open jobs than we have available workers,” Neil Bradley, executive vice-president of the Chamber, said in a statement. Also serving as chief policy officer for the group, Bradley remarked that the lack of available workers in the U.S. is unprecedented, characterizing it as an “extreme mismatch between open jobs and people to fill those jobs.” According to the latest numbers provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 428,000 workers entered the market last month, but the number leaving came to around 363,000. “We hear from businesses every day that the worker shortage is their top challenge, and it’s impacting the country’s ability to ease supply chain disruptions, get inflation under control, and continue our economic recovery,” said Bradley. Altogether, it is thought that there is today a loss of some 3 million workers from where the nation’s workforce was in February 2020, the month before the Covid-19 economic shutdown. According to the BLS, there are now 5.6 million open jobs than people in the country who are looking for work. To tackle the problem, Bradley is urging Congress to “modernize our broken immigration system,” while also doing what it can to “expand affordable childcare options to help fill our 11.5 million open jobs.” BLS statistics show that the nation’s participation rate slowly climbed from 61.6% in the immediate months after the pandemic shutdown to 62.4% in January of this year, before dropping to the current 62.2%. According to a new report issued by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, the labor participation rate for men has been on a slow decline for decades. But women workers in recent years have filled the gap, although their numbers, too, in the last year have been on the downside. The FED report adds in another factor to help explain the gap: age. The aging of the U.S. population has “increased the share of the population that is retired. As life expectancies have risen, the percentage of the U.S. population aged 60 and older, the most likely demographic to be retired, rose from 16% in 2000 to 24% in 2021.” By Garry Boulard ![]() Plans are now underway for the construction of a $2.8 billion battery manufacturing plant that will go up on a sweeping, vacant stretch of land in Queen Creek, Arizona. The project will belong to the company LG Energy Solution Limited, which is based in Seoul, South Korea and wants to build a facility measuring around 1 million square feet. The announcement comes after months of discussions between the company and both state and local officials. LG Energy acquired the land needed for the project through an auction conducted last month. LG Energy Solution has emerged as one of the largest lithium-ion battery producers in the world, in particular supplying the batteries needed for the emerging electric vehicle market. The site for the planned plant is located at the northeast corner of Ironwood Road and Germann Road, not far from the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. Work could begin on the new plant by early summer, with a rough late 2024 completion date. Launched in December of 2020, LG Energy Solution has quickly become a giant in the lithium-ion battery market, seeing revenues of nearly $16 billion. By Garry Boulard ![]() Plans are underway for the construction of a building that will serve as the new home for the New Mexico Department of Health in Roswell, New Mexico. The project will belong to Chaves County and will replace the NMDOH’s current offices at 200 East Chisum Street, which is shared by the Chaves County Public Health department. According to county documents, the current structure, built in 1977, is “beyond its useful life.” Although a site for the project has not yet been announced, members of the Chaves County Board of Commissioners have given their approval to contracting out with ASA Architects, which has offices in Roswell, among other cities, to design the new structure. The new building is expected to cost around $3.5 million to complete. County officials are currently in the process of trying to secure federal funding for the project from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. A site for the new building is expected to be selected and announced soon. By Garry Boulard ![]() Still recovering from the Covid 19 economic shutdown, the nation’s job count posted a 428,000 gain last month, according to just-released figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Although the numbers are on the plus side, the BLS noted that the nation’s “unemployment rate remained at 3.6% in April, and the number of unemployed people was essentially unchanged at 5.9 million.” A steady increase in jobs across the country has been recorded by BLS since the spring of 2020, when some 22 million jobs were lost due to the pandemic. In February of 2020, the total job numbers stood at around 153 million, dramatically dropping to just over 130 million by summer. One year ago, the numbers were just shy of 145 million, reaching some 151 million in February of this year. Despite that steady increase, notes the BLS, the nation’s total employment count to date remains 1.2 million less than where it was the month before the Covid 19 outbreak. The latest numbers provide a snapshot of how the nation is recovering, according to the New York Times, which points out that the “labor supply has not kept up with a record wave of job openings as businesses expand to match consumers’ continued willingness to buy a variety of goods and services.” The publication added that there are now “1.9 job openings for every unemployed worker.” The Wall Street Journal characterized the latest numbers as “mildly encouraging since every major industry added workers. But the report also contains a warning that inflationary pressure may be starting to hurt the labor market.” In a statement, President Biden noted that there have been “only 3 months in the last fifty years where the unemployment rate in America is lower than it is now.” Biden added that the number of people collecting unemployment benefits has dropped from around 20 million in early 2021 to 1 million, which he said is “the lowest since 1970.” The construction industry recorded an increase of 2,000 new jobs in April, with an unemployment rate now of 4.6%. Total national construction employment stands at just over 7.6 million. A press release issued by the Associated General Contractors of America said that the demand for additional construction workers will “grow further as funds are awarded” through the big Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act passed by Congress in November. By Garry Boulard |
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