Udall, Heinrich, Luján Announce Funding for Economic Development in Northern New Mexico Region Affected by Mine Closure

WASHINGTON D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M) and U.S. Representative Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M) announced a $70,000 grant to strengthen and diversify the local economy through economic development and job creation in the region of New Mexico that suffered economic and job losses from the Chevron molybdenum mine closure. The grant will be used to plan a strategy to support private capital investment and job creation.

"The Village of Questa and the surrounding area were devastated when Chevron permanently closed its molybdenum mine in 2014. This grant will provide much-needed resources to help the region continue to recover and diversify the local economy," said Udall. "The funding will help the region promote a strategy that will encourage smart investments in the private and public sectors to create good jobs. And I will keep working with the Village of Questa and others affected by the mine closure to find new opportunities to help get the community back on its feet."

"The Questa community is still recovering from the abrupt closure of the Chevron molybdenum mine," said Heinrich. "This infusion of economic development funds will help create good jobs that will diversify the local economy and ensure that former miners in Questa are not left behind."

“One of my top priorities is helping to grow the economy and create jobs in this part of our state,” said Luján. “This grant is a smart investment that will encourage job growth for the Village of Questa and the surrounding area.”

The grant comes from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration and will go to the North Central New Mexico Economic Development District— which serves Colfax, Los Alamos, Mora, San Miguel, Santa Fe, Rio Arriba, and Taos counties— to create and implement a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS). The CEDS process is designed to bring together the public and private sectors to create a plan that will diversify and strengthen the regional economy. The grant will be provided on a three year cycle.