Photos by Lynn Janes
Article by Mary Alice Murphy

Silver City-Grant County Chamber of Commerce Director Romeo Cruz opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag. Before introducing the speaker, he noted the caterer for the lunch was Mi Casita.

Bruce AshburnBruce Ashburn, community development manager for the local PNM office, introduced the speaker for the day. "Today we are going to hear about something that's near and dear to my heart and probably yours, too, and that is economic development."

"Economic development is something important to all of us, but we here in southern New Mexico, can be challenged," he said "The tools we have may not be the tools we need. We at PNM are going to put another tool in the toolbox. PNM, as a company, realized that we need to do more for economic development. Your speaker today is the second PNM economic development specialist we have hired, Kristen Gamboa.

"She did marketing and economic development for Los Lunas, where she was responsible for the expansion of Meta's campus and for bringing in the 1-million square-foot Amazon distribution center. She started her career with the New Mexico Partnership, where as director of business development, she cultivated a vast network of c-suite executives and site consultants. Through her passion for building relationships and connecting the right people, Kristen will now focus on lead generation, marketing and strengthening external relationships to bring economic-based projects to PNM's New Mexico service territory, urban and rural."

Kristen GamboaGamboa said: "I love meeting people face-to-face. I love to interact with you local residents. I am not the expert—you are. My role and goal is to be a partner with you helping you achieve what you want to achieve. I don't have a big checkbook, but I know ways to be creative. With our population of about 2.1 million people in New Mexico, we should be able to get things done, and with less than six degrees of separation, I believe whole-heartedly that we can make big changes long-term. I realized and focused early on I wanted to work on workforce development, on jobs that mean a lot to communities. I will try to be the tool to help you make more connections."

She said when she went to work with Los Lunas, they already had 35 years of community development, "which led to what you just heard about. We will work with you in concert with PNM. Everything requires electricity. For some businesses the lead time is longer for getting permits and infrastructure. We can be part of bringing in small to large businesses. Little tiny cogs make machines work. Hopefully PNM can work to bring together all the cogs."

She said she wants to bring in jobs. "To bring in companies, we have to invest in companies that are already existing. All the parts work together. I think all your talk I hear about a trade school here is critical. New Mexico has more Ph.Ds per capita than any other state, but we are 49th or 50th in education. We have to improve that."

Gamboa said businesses have to market themselves on social media. "Get interns to promote you on social media to help grow your business eco-system. I want to learn as much as I can about all of your businesses. I run into site consultants everywhere and everyone fights for their attention. New Mexico doesn't market itself well. When I talk to site consultants, I want to talk about the opportunities in New Mexico."

"Talk to me about your restaurant," she continued. "Or if you are planning something big, talk to PNM about the needed infrastructure. I want to make delays not happen or make them as smooth and fast as possible. At Los Lunas, I helped with the Meta campus there. Anything is possible in New Mexico. We have four national labs, Meta, Amazon, anything can come in."

She said: "We may say we are disruptors and innovators, so use me as your resource or tool. Grant Taylor is the other half of my job. He is the internal economic development to bring everyone together and coordinate so we know where to build solar, for example. He is a New Mexico native from Artesia. We are headquartered in Albuquerque, but I will be the more external person."

She said her dad is Al Gamboa, whom "I've heard called the unofficial mayor of Grant County. Because of him, I have a sweet spot for rural areas. I feel like places like you here get left out. Every area is so different. I'm here to help you determine what we can do for economic development to increase."

Kristen Gamboa said right out of UNM, she was recruited by Verizon, but even in different jobs, she didn't find her role there. "I got a job with a non-profit trying to figure out what I wanted to do. When I jumped ship to the New Mexico Partnership, I learned how to sell New Mexico. I thrived in the chaos."

She noted: "it's really the jobs that make economic development. I can try to sell your communities. When the pandemic happened, I learned that I don't like virtual work. The New Mexico Partnership is part of the New Mexico Economic Development Department. I traveled a lot. When the Los Luna coordinator retired, I applied. I loved it. It was amazing and chaotic. Facebook was already there, but we were able to distribute funding in other parts of the state. I made sure they were sponsoring Little League and things like that. I was really proud of bringing in Amazon Distribution as an anchor tenant. The infrastructure was already there."

She asked if anyone had questions.

Gilbert Guadiana, Cobre Schools board member, said that the district is looking at building a new Cobre High School and was interested in electricity rebates and what they could do to promote renewable energy and electric vehicles.

Gamboa said the first thing was to build internships. "I absolutely can bring you and PNM together to connect you to electric vehicle use. When you are looking to build, make sure we're in the loop to make the process smooth."

Cruz introduced his new chamber staff, which includes Sabrina Summers, Jay McDuffy and Isaac Castillo.

Romeo Cruz and Laura of Fetch Pet Boutique
He then presented membership certificates to two new members Fetch Pet Boutique and Sun Bear Design and Build.

Two representatives of Sun Bear Design and Build and Romeo Cruz

Chamber Member Lori Rogers of Health and Wellness by Lori said she would be starting a 5-day Rainbow Challenge featuring fruits and vegetables. She said she is on Facebook and her phone number id 505-228-8842. The challenge started Monday, Sept. 11.

Karen Beckenbach with the Grant County Community Concert Association said the group had gotten two grants that help with educational programming. "Our first concert this season is Key of G, a Garth Brooks tribute, on Sept. 26. We have 600 students, including students from Cobre, coming in for the education program that afternoon."

Raul Turrieta, county deputy chief assessor said on behalf of the county chief assessor they had received the tax rates. "There is a bit of an increase at the Cobre Schools for 2 mils to pay off the bond" He announced the Buddy Walk would take place at Gough Park on Sept. 23.

Ashburn said PNM has its grant process open for 501c3s to help them with energy bills. "You can use the funding to reduce your utility bills. It's at PNM.com, search for grants. It's easy to apply, so please get the word out.

Tom Vaughan of the Grant County Art Guild announced the guild would hold its 50 years at the studio on Market Street. "We have the Creatures of the Gila with artwork by three dozen articles. It's showing every day from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. through Sept. 10.

Cruz announced two events, the Silver City Museum Diamonds and Denim on Sept. 16 at the Murray Hotel and the Community Partnership for Children Color Run at Bataan Park, also on Sept. 16.

"We will soon open up nominations for our annual chamber awards," Cruz said.