Bernalillo County invites public input to shape economic development strategy

Marcos Gonzales, executive development officer for Bernalillo County, opened a community dialogue saying the county is seeking public input to shape its economic development work. "The goal of economic development at Bernalillo County is to create an environment for businesses to thrive and improve the quality of life of all county residents," Gonzales said.

Gonzales said the sessions were organized at the request of the Bernalillo County Commission and that comments from participants will be used to develop the Economic Development Department’s future strategies and programming. "We have organized these community dialogues in response to a request from the Bernalillo County Commission. We wanna hear what you think is important related to economic development," he said.

County staff framed the dialogues as an early-stage information-gathering process rather than a decision point. Gonzales said public input will also "guide any amendments that may be necessary to add to our financing policies in order to deliver these community informed strategies," indicating that changes to the county’s financing policies could follow further work and review.

Gonzales invited continued engagement, directing residents and stakeholders to the county website, additional meetings and a stakeholder survey. "We invite you to continue to engage throughout this process by accessing our materials and research on our web site, attending other meetings, and completing our stakeholder survey," he said. He added that the information collected will be shared with the Bernalillo County Commission.

No motions, votes or formal policy changes were made during the remarks. The exchange in the transcript was introductory and informational: staff solicited feedback and described how that feedback would be used in future strategy development and potential policy amendments.