Infotech and biomed industries show promise for region
The information technology and biomedical industries are two of the most promising potential sources of new jobs in the region, civic leaders concluded in the second monthly meeting aimed at producing a strategic plan for economic development.
About 40 people attended the session Monday at the Inn of the Mountain Gods. That was less than a third the number who turned out for the opening forum in October, but sponsors said the attendance was plenty and forged ahead.
"We aren't providing lunch this time," quipped Ruidoso Economic Development Director Greg Cory as he noted the smaller audience.
Jim Miller, one of the organizers of what's been dubbed the South Central Mountain Economic Development Association, said an administrative glitch had resulted in just a few days' notice or even less to potential attendees that the meeting was taking place.
From January to April, he said the meetings will all be held on second Monday of the month, starting on Jan. 11 and urged anybody interested to mark their calendars.
During Monday's meeting, attendees reviewed a list of scores of industries and narrowed it to four that seemed well suited to Lincoln and Otero counties and the Mescalero Apache reservation, either because the region's natural resources have already drawn them here or because favorable conditions may exist for attracting them now.
In addition to information technology and biomedical, the other two were Forest and Wood Products, and Tourism, Recreation, Culture and Arts.
"Those four are regarded as likely prospects for job creation through growing existing businesses to the region or luring new ones," Miller said. They also match up well with the regional opportunities identified as strongest during the first session.
He said the forest and wood products industry is meant to include energy, which could be generated from the region's abundant sun and wind or the burning of "biomass" material obtained through thinning of forests or from agricultural waste.
Among Monday's speakers was Terry McDermott, a rural economic development expert from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. When the strategic plan is completed next spring, USDA is a possible source of grant money for programs set out in the plan for achieving the region's goals.
"The government doesn't have any money," McDermott said to a round of chuckles. "What it has is your taxpayer money, and it makes sense to bring as much of it as you can back here and put it to work in your communities."