Development forum to cover Clovis' progress, future

Clovis business leaders are hosting a Friday meeting at Clovis Community College to discuss how the city can build on its successes.

“A lot of good things have happened in Clovis,” said Beverlee McClure, president of Clovis Community College.

“Often when good things happen, we don’t stop to ask why good things are happening,” McClure said. “The key thing we are going to look at is why are things here going so well, and then we can look at what we need to continue the momentum.”

The event is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in room 409 at the college.

Organizers plan a series of discussions and presentations, including a review by Mayor David Lansford of a vision statement drafted in 1996 to see what progress Clovis has had in meeting its goals. The moderator for the event will be Mark Lautman, president of Santa Teresa Real Estate Development Group, who McClure said has a strong history of success in previous development ventures in the New Mexico communities of Rio Rancho and Grants.

“Anywhere Mark Lautman has been, he has left the community a better place,” McClure said. “Usually you would have to pay an honorarium to get a person of this quality, but he’s doing it free for us.”

Lautman said he’s come to Clovis previously, is impressed by the city’s success, and wants to help Clovis market itself for continued growth.

“What kind of community assets are required to become a super-asset?” asked Lautman. “To recruit economic base employers is the key to developing a city.”

Lautman, who has worked in merchant economic development for 20 years, said his methods have been similar in all communities where he has worked.

“In each case the goal was to target major employers and trying to grow the economy faster than the population,” Lautman said. “The way you do that is you have to bring in enterprises that hire people that sell their products and services outside the economy.”

Lautman said Clovis’ success in attracting the Glanbia cheese processing plant is a good example, and indicated that his role would be to review state and national economic trends and to help Clovis’ leaders decide how to determine their next goals.

“We’re going to talk about how to think about that and what the menu of options looks like,” Lautman said. “The easiest way to sum it up is it’s like picking what new part you want the future economy to look like and how do you want the community to grow.”

In addition to the college, event sponsors include Wells Fargo Bank, the Clovis/Curry County Chamber of Commerce, Clovis Industrial Development Corporation, and the Clovis News-Journal. The cost to attend is $10 and advance reservations are requested with the chamber office at 763-3435 or Clovis News-Journal publisher Ray Sullivan at 763-3431.

Sullivan said he agreed many good things are happening in Clovis and said the city needs to understand why that is happening in order to make future plans.

“An old saying goes like this: ‘If you don’t know where you are going, that’s where you will end up — nowhere,’” Sullivan said.

Economic Development Forum

When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday

Where: Clovis Community College, Room 409

Cost: $10

Reservations: 763-3435 or 763-3431