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City leaders hear SCA report outlining business-retention gains, microeconomic-gardening pilot and site-readiness hurdles
Summary
City staff and the Sandoval Economic Alliance reported that SCA’s one-year $75,000 contract produced targeted business-retention outreach, a microeconomic-gardening pilot that created jobs for growing local firms, and a site-readiness gap analysis that flags water and parcel assembly as constraints for large industrial users.
The Rio Rancho governing body received an economic development update and a report from the Sandoval Economic Alliance (SCA) during a work session. City Manager Peter Wells framed the item as part of the city’s five-year strategic plan and noted the city’s current one‑year contract with SCA is funded at $75,000 for support services, with three optional one‑year extensions.
Fred Shepherd, representing SCA, outlined the contract’s four scopes of work: business retention and expansion, microeconomic gardening, site readiness, and an assessment of the semiconductor supply-chain opportunity. Shepherd said SCA prioritizes outreach to "economic base" firms—companies that earn most of their revenue from outside the region—and reported hands‑on engagement with local manufacturers and entrepreneurs.
Shepherd described results from the microeconomic‑gardening pilot: SCA worked with six pre‑stage‑2 businesses and reported 12 jobs created among participants so far; one example was a founder who moved operations out of a garage, leased lab space and hired a first nonfamily employee. Shepherd said those kinds of incremental hires and relocations can be significant for small local firms.
Wells and Shepherd emphasized the value of local relationships. "We have a very good reputation. But reputation isn't marketing," Wells said, arguing that reputation alone does not substitute for focused economic‑development marketing and coordination. Shepherd added that much of SCA’s work has focused on building trust with firms so they share expansion plans and needs with local officials.
SCA also described a supplier- and site-readiness assessment tied to semiconductor industry growth in the region. Shepherd said Intel’s presence and related activity have created potential supplier demand but that many suppliers remain regionally based (for example in Greater Phoenix) and can serve New Mexico sites without relocating. He stressed supplier confidentiality and logistics as barriers to recruiting permanent local supplier operations.
On next steps, Shepherd told the council SCA expects to complete final reports in the coming weeks and recommended continuing the mix of in‑house city capability and targeted external partnerships to deliver site readiness, business retention, and entrepreneurship support.
The governing body asked detailed follow‑up questions about local contractor access to large projects, whether Rio Rancho is adequately marketed by regional partners, and how SCA tracks long‑term results from small‑business programs. Councilors praised microeconomic gardening’s local wins but pressed staff and SCA to pursue clearer pathways that move small firms from incubation to permanent local facilities. The session closed with staff offering to provide the final SCA deliverables and to pursue follow‑ups by email or staff meetings.
