2001Annual Report Executive Summary
City of Deming Enterprise Community
With the end of 2001 came the end of the City of Deming’s third year as an Enterprise Community. It was a year filled with activity and progress – a year that saw the establishment of the Mimbres Valley Learning Center, the first post-secondary educational institution in Luna County. It also brought about the completion of the Southwest Learning Center, which serves as the new home of the Deming Literacy Program, and the Desert Sun Apartments, a 40-unit farm labor housing complex designed to meet the housing needs of our migrant community. A daycare training and job creation program also got underway this year with the help of an Office of Community Services Grant through the Department of Health. The program will produce 23 trained and licensed childcare providers who can put their skills to work in living wage jobs or start their own business while at the same time providing a very valuable and much needed service to community residents. Solitaire Homes, a local mobile home manufacturing plant that moved their operations to Deming with the help of our Local Economic Development Act status and in construction for the last two years, opened their doors and rolled their first home off the line this year. In the process, they created 130 full-time jobs paying decent wages to the residents of Luna County. The community was also successful in the recruitment of an electrical power generation plant that broke ground this year. The plant will bring in much needed jobs and millions of dollars in revenues into our community. The Luna County Housing Corporation, a local housing advocacy group created through the EC, has been busy during this last year as the co-sponsor of a housing rehabilitation project slated for this summer. The project will benefit the low-income, elderly and disabled in Deming and Columbus and will be responsible for the rehabilitation of 60-80 homes between both communities. They also teamed up with a local developer to pursue tax credits for the development of a 60-unit senior apartment complex. The completion of the second of three planned recreational trails was also a highlight this year.
Through projects within the EC strategic plan we have been able to secure over $2.8 million in funding from local, state and federal sources during this last year. Of course this year has not been without its challenges. The change in administration delayed some funding awards which put some projects behind schedule while grant applications for other projects were unsuccessful. We also went through some changes on our board of directors with the resignation of our board chairperson in June. Overall, it was a very productive year and one of growth and maturity.
City of Deming EC Summary Page City of Deming EC Funding Page