The goal of greater diversity in the workplace remains one that is solidly supported by most respondents in a new survey, even if success is sometimes elusive. The survey conducted by the Pew Research Company shows that 56% of respondents had a positive view of workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, while only 16% regarded such initiatives as “a bad thing.” A somewhat large 28% in the survey indicated no opinion one way or the other, regarding such efforts as “neither good nor bad.” The push for greater workplace diversity accelerated after the 2020 murder in Minneapolis of George Floyd, an African American man who died due to a lack of oxygen as a white police officer knelt on his neck. In the immediate aftermath of Floyd’s death, many corporations such as Comcast, Nike Inc., and the Bank of America announced financial support for diversity measures. Noted the Reuters news service just three weeks after Floyd died: “At least a dozen other big companies announced gifts between $1 million and $100 million for similar efforts.” But according to labor reporter Khorri Atkinson in a story published earlier this year for Bloomberg Law, many of those hired to diversify the workplace “have been let go over the past year amid ongoing layoffs as cost-cutting measures.” The number of what are called DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) workers laid off, according to the Bloomberg Law report, was in excess of 300 as of the spring of this year. The Pew survey shows that whatever the fortunes of DEI employees, some 61% of respondents indicated that their companies have in place policies designed to ensure fairness in hiring, pay, and promotions. A smaller 52% said their companies having meetings and training session on DEI. The survey also shows that 61% of women thought DEI policies were a good thing, compared to just 50% for men. Those aged 18 to 29 expressed the greatest support at 68% for such policies, while those in the 50 to 64 age range revealed the lowest support at 46%. Noted the Pew narrative that accompanied the survey: “Views also differ by educational attainment, with 68% of workers with a postgraduate degree saying focusing on DEI at work is a good thing, compared with 59% of those with a bachelor’s degree, and only 50% of those with some college or less education.” By Garry Boulard
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A two-day auction is set to begin on June 6 for a just over 43,000 square foot healthcare building in Louisville, Colorado. Located at 1107 W Century Drive on what was just a decade ago a vacant site, the modern two-story structure was built in 2016 and sits on a 2.6-acres on the west side of Louisville. The building currently houses the Flatirons Health & Rehab, a service providing both extended care and short-term patient rehabilitation for patients challenged with such issues as strokes, cancer, and general debility, among other things. The building includes offices, dining space, and recreation area space. Situated in a tree-lined neighborhood populated with office buildings and apartment complexes, the 1107 W Century Drive property is classified as a Class B structure. The property is being listed with Benchmark Commercial Real Estate of Denver. Starting bid for the building is $2.8 million. Unlike other cities in the metro Denver area, Louisville has experienced marginal population growth in the last two decades, increasing from 18,900 people in the year 2000 to just over 21,200 in 2020. Commercial property prices in Louisville, meanwhile, have gone from $189 per square foot in 2018, to around $220 as of last year. By Garry Boulard A Louisiana company specializing in a wide variety of pepper products has announced plans to set up operations in southern New Mexico. Based in New Orleans, the Louisiana Pepper Exchange has emerged as a big player in the pepper puree, pepper mash, and pepper powder market both nationally and internationally. Launched in 2010, the company has “grown in step with the gourmet hot sauce business, and also the move for spicy food and chili pepper flavor to the culinary mainstream,” noted a recent article in the Times-Picayune of New Orleans, charting the company’s rapid ascent. With a distribution center in New Orleans, the company now wants to launch a plant on some 14 acres inside the Ironhorse Industrial Park in Santa Teresa. Plans call for the company, whose supplies are grown on farms in Central and South America as well as Mexico, to set up a 40,000 square foot processing warehouse capable or storing up to 30 million pounds of pepper mash. In a statement, Zach Foster, Louisiana Pepper Exchange chief financial officer, called Santa Teresa “the perfect location for Louisiana Pepper to thrive.” Continued Foster: “The Mesilla Valley has a long history and heritage with chili peppers; New Orleans has the same culture, so this is a natural fit.” The project has received $300,000 in Local Economic Development Act funding via the New Mexico Economic Development Department. By Garry Boulard In what could be described as a race against time, President Biden has met with Congressional leaders to reach an agreement on the U.S. debt ceiling just weeks before a possible federal government debt default. In talking with Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy and Democrat Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, the President said he “wanted to hear what their exact proposal is.” For his part, McCarthy told reporters that the groundwork for further talks between the White House and Congress has now been established, adding that it is “possible to get a deal” within the next several days. While McCarthy has suggested that the nation’s debt could be decreased through a series of social program spending reductions, Biden has said he will not negotiate any new restrictions on Medicaid spending. A particularly thorny issue is centered on a Republican push to expand work requirements for those receiving public assistance, in particular the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. “When you’re talking about work requirements, remember what we’re talking about: Able-bodied people with no dependents,” remarked McCarthy. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, meanwhile, has once again warned that a default on the government’s debts is likely to happen sooner rather than later. While earlier estimates thought that the government had at least until mid-summer for a debt day of reckoning, Yellen said Washington has the ability to pay its bill only until June 1. Yellen added that failure to reach an agreement on the debt ceiling “could lead to a recession that destroys many American jobs and businesses.” By Garry Boulard Demolition is scheduled to begin sometime this summer in Colorado Springs of one of the state’s oldest and largest power plants. Located on the southwest side of the city on around 40 acres at 700 Conejos Street, the original Martin Drake Power Plant became operational in 1925, providing up to 25 megawatts of power for residents of the city and surrounding region. It was replaced some fifty years later by a more modern facility. Although plans were in the making for years to decommission the big facility by at least 2035 due to the health hazards associated with coal burning, it was a fire in 2019 that prompted its owner, Colorado Springs Utilities, to agree to a 2023 demolition date. Operations at the plant were discontinued in the fall of 2022 as Colorado Springs Utilities officials announced what will be a roughly one-year schedule for the big demolition of the big plant. The facility has long been problematic for a city touting its natural attractions and striking views of the Rocky Mountains. Its presence has also seen as a hindrance to area real estate development. According to the Colorado College political science professor Corina McKendry in the 2020 book Climate Urbanism, “local business owners and developers” in Colorado Springs had emerged as “the most effective proponents of shuttering Martin Drake.” If all goes according to plans, the demolition will take place in eight phases, beginning with the abatement of internal asbestos. The stacks most readily identifiable with the plant will be taken down during phases three and four. Once the building is at last leveled in the late summer of 2024, the site is scheduled for a reseeding and regrading, which will take up much of the fall weeks of next year. By Garry Boulard An effort is now officially underway in Albuquerque to bring new life to a part of a major thoroughfare in the city that has seen better days. Menaul Boulevard runs east to west through the city, parallel with Central Avenue, and, according to New Mexico Department of Transportation figures, sees upwards of 25,000 vehicles a day. But the stretch of the boulevard just to the north of Interstate 40 and east of Interstate 25, where a sizable portion of the structures were built between the 1950s and 70s, has seen a growing number of store closures and both blighted and vacant properties in recent years. A Menaul Boulevard business owner survey conducted by the City revealed concerns centered on vandalism and property crime, as well as loitering and a large number of people experiencing homelessness, not to mention poor lighting and a dearth of general visual attractiveness. Now members of the Albuquerque City Council have given their approval to what is officially being called the Menaul Metropolitan Redevelopment Area Plan. That plan is specifically designed to provide financial incentives for private development projects on the avenue, while also “identifying and removing barriers and constraints that have been discouraging private investment.” The plan is also calling for a greater investment in transportation and public infrastructure projects on Menaul, while encouraging “public-private partnerships for larger projects.” By Garry Boulard In a move designed to provide clarity, the U.S. Treasury Department has announced the parameters for solar energy project tax credits. “These tax credits are key to driving investment and ensuring all Americans share in the growth of the clean energy economy,” Janet Yellen, the Secretary of the Treasury, said in announcing the official guidance. Under that guidance, developers can qualify for subsidies that are made with American-made products. But in what some analysts say is a nod to the realities of today’s solar industry, such projects will be eligible for a tax credit even if they use solar panels cells made up of Chinese materials. Industry leaders have pushed for the exemption, noting the abundance of materials that are imported for such projects from China. The Treasury Department guidance, months in the making and developed in partnership with the Departments of Energy and Transportation, will apply only to facilities using steel and iron produced in the U.S. Solar production has greatly accelerated in the U.S. since the passage last year of the Inflation Reduction Act, with offers tax credits worth billions of dollars for projects designed to accelerate the decarbonization of power. The tax credit, said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, is of a piece with a larger effort “strengthening American manufacturing and enhancing our national security products stamped ‘Made in the U.S.A.’” The new rules are being regarded by many in the industry as something of a compromise. Notes the publication CleanTechnica: “While America would love to break China’s stranglehold on solar cell manufacturing, it can’t afford to wait for domestic supplies to become available.” By Garry Boulard Three separate referendum questions, all of which were related to building a new 16,000-seat arena in Tempe for the Arizona Coyotes hockey team and surrounding entertainment district, have gone down to defeat. In comments after the results were finalized, Xavier Gutierrez, chief executive officer of the Coyotes, remarked: “The Coyotes wish to thank every single person who supported our efforts and voted yes. So many community leaders stepped up and became our advocates, and for that we will forever be truly grateful.” Gutierrez added that “what is next for the franchise will be evaluated by our owner and the National Hockey League over the coming weeks.” All three of the ballot questions lost by margins of better than 12%, after a vigorous campaign by advocates both for and against the proposal. In a victory statement, the group Tempe 1st, which organized to oppose the arena and entertainment district, commented: “This is a victory by Tempe for Tempe. Tonight, we want to say congratulations and thank you to our fellow Tempe residents.” The group added that the election results “show that Tempe residents love our community, we know what’s best for it, and must be part of every conversation when it comes to our land, our tax dollars, and what we value as our city grows.” If passed, construction of the project was expected to cost at least $2.1 billion. The Coyotes have been playing at Arizona State University’s Mullett Arena. Team officials had been in talks with City of Tempe leaders regarding the details of the project, set to go up just to the west of the city’s downtown core at Rio Salado Parkway and Priest Drive. As a result of those talks, members of the Tempe City Council in late 2022 voted unanimously to put the question of the new arena and entertainment district on the ballot as a referendum to be decided by Tempe voters. As proposed, the entertainment district would have seen the construction of at least two hotels, along with a retail center, space for a series of restaurants, and medical office campus. The Tempe 1st group especially argued that the city property tax incentives designed to get the project off the ground amounted to a give-away to a private business. Referencing billionaire Alex Meruelo, owner of the Meruelo Group, which owns the Coyotes, the Tempe 1st group’s campaign literature read: “No New Handouts for Billionaires.” By Garry Boulard With a population of around 22,000, nearly 13% of which are made up of residents over the age of 65 years, Gallup, New Mexico has a need for senior recreation services. Now nearly $7.5 million in capital outlay funding has been approved by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham for the planning, design, and construction of such a facility in the northwestern city. That project is one of just over seventy earlier submitted to the New Mexico State Legislature by the New Mexico Aging and Long-Term Services Department, which was created nearly two decades ago and is tasked with providing programs for the state’s fastest-growing demographic. Other big-ticket projects submitted to the legislature by Aging and Long-Term Services and subsequently approved by lawmakers and the Governor include $3 million allotted for renovations to the Palo Duro Senior Center of Albuquerque; and just over $1.6 million targeting upgrades to the Robert B. Munson Center in Las Cruces. A similarly large outlay of around $1.3 million has been approved for work on the Fort Sumner Senior Center in the central eastern village of Fort Sumner. Smaller capital outlay requests submitted by the Aging and Long-Term Services Department include just over $33,560 for renovations to the Grady Senior Center in the Village of Grady in eastern New Mexico; and $80,000 for renovations to the Bonnie Dallas Senior Center in Farmington. By Garry Boulard There are less children today in some 35 states than there were in 2018, according to the Washington-based Stateline. Among the remaining 15 states, fourteen saw a greater percentage of growth in their adult populations. Based on an analysis of recent U.S. Census Bureau numbers, the report notes that with the ongoing decline in the number of children making up the populations of those 35 states, “school officials are facing the possibility of teacher layoffs or even school closures when pandemic aid expires next year.” The decline in children populations, if reflective of a larger drop in the general population, may cause “additional fiscal, economic, and political ramifications, such as diminished representation in Congress.” The percentage of children nationally, according to those Census figures, is at an all-time low. Whereas, as recently as the year 2000, those below the age of 18 made up just under 26% of the nation’s population, as of the most recent Census, that number is down to 22.1%. According to a separate report, called the Changing Child Population of the United States, and published by the Anne E. Casey Foundation, the percentage of children making up the general population has been on a steady decline since 1960, which could arguably be described as the heyday of the Baby Boom generation when that demographic represented 35.7% of the population. The report from the Casey Foundation, a non-profit based in Baltimore, also indicates that the mega states Florida and Texas saw an increase of at least 100,000 children in the last decade, while California, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and New York, lost at least that many. The Stateline report, put together by demographics reporter Tim Henderson, notes that “high housing prices” are likely a significant factor in the children population decline. Looking at recent trends in California, Henderson notes that even though wages are up, housing costs are up just as much, leading to an exit of many young families. That exit, in fact, contributed to the first overall decline in the Golden State’s population in the most recent Census survey. By Garry Boulard |
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