Last month, an Estancia family farmer was awarded state economic development assistance to operate a hardware store with plans to expand into Mountainair. Some in the Estancia community are not excited about the news.
The New Mexico Economic Development Department awarded Javier Sánchez, owner of Sánchez Farms and Estancia Valley Feed & Supply, $150,000 from the Local Economic Development Act job-creation fund. The Sánchez family owns and operates a 400-acre farm between Estancia and Mountainair and took over ownership of the feed and supply store — formerly Gustin Hardware— in February 2023.
According to Jessica Mraz, communications specialist for NMEDD, LEDA projects must go through a public process of introducing the ordinance and publishing it 30 days before formal adoption. The local government then holds a public hearing for the proposed ordinance.
“This process was followed by the Town of Mountainair and no one spoke against the adoption of the ordinance,” Mraz said. “There were two public processes, one in December 2022 and in January 2023. There was ample public process and time for an opposing view to be heard during the process and there was none.”
LEDA states that “local or regional governments shall require a substantive contribution from the qualifying entity for each economic development project,” which is why a project participation agreement is required for economic development projects. Myra Pancrazio, executive director of the Estancia Valley Economic Development Association, said this agreement was signed by Mountainair, but Estancia was not notified.
“We’re supposed to be notified by the state EDD whenever there’s going to be a project participation agreement so we can make sure everything’s done correctly, but we weren’t involved,” Pancrazio said. “This wasn’t done properly for us to be the person in the middle to oversee and make sure it was all being done correctly as far as the community is concerned, and as far as private business is concerned.”
The NMEDD focuses on economic development projects that will have significant community impact and support; rural and underserved areas; increased wages and job creation; significant new capital investment and environmentally sustainable outcomes.
“In this case, the proposed project covered two separate communities with the second community being the place where most of the capital and job growth would happen,” Mraz said. “That is why the LEDA grant was focused and acted upon at that community level.”
Pancrazio said NMEDD should not permit Sánchez to expand his business into Mountainair since the town already has a hardware store. According to the NMEDD press release, “The project must not compete with an existing business in the community.” The ordinance signed by Mountainair states, “The department has determined that the retail project would not substantially compete with a specific business already in operation in the state.”
There is not a specified location for Sánchez’s possible Mountainair store. The Independent contacted Sánchez but did not receive a response as of press time.
During Estancia’s regular Board of Trustees meeting on April 1, Pancrazio presented this information. Mayor Nathan Dial said he is in the process of writing a letter to state Rep. Stefani Lord in hopes of finding out why the town was not involved in this process.