Board denies grant request from brewer

CLOVIS — The Clovis Economic Incentive Board wants to take a look at exactly how manufacturers can qualify for taxpayer-funded economic development dollars. But for now, it has decided a prospective local brewer doesn’t make the cut.

The board on Wednesday morning voted to deny a request from Bandolero Brewing for a $20,000 post-performance grant. At issue was Bandolero having no way to know if it could meet the current standard that its customer base be more than 50 percent out-of-state.

Board members also decided to have Clovis Industrial Development Corp. Executive Director Chase Gentry and board members Megan Palla and Vince Tyson study the feasibility of changing the out-of-state dollar requirement. City Manager Justin Howalt said city staff would help provide research, as board members could have more difficulty navigating through other New Mexico municipalities for their economic development ordinances.

The board originally discussed the grant request from Bandolero at its Nov. 13 meeting, and asked the Clovis city commission to create an ad hoc committee to look at the out-of-state requirement. The commission decided in its Nov. 22 meeting to send it right back to EIB.

“They felt as far as developing a working group,” Howalt said, “that EIB is the working group.”

Bandolero is planning to open a brewery and restaurant on the 400 block of Main, but sought the manufacturing grant for a future bottling operation.

Commissioner Sandra Taylor-Sawyer joined the board at the beginning of the meeting to discuss the rationale behind the out-of-state requirement. An ad hoc committee worked for nearly a year to tighten economic development criteria after the city lost $1.8 million working with a failed cosmetics firm. The committee was chaired by Taylor-Sawyer, elected in 2012, because she was the only commissioner at the time who wasn’t serving when decisions related to the cosmetics firm were made.

Taylor-Sawyer began by thanking EIB members for their service, noting, “You’re not sitting here by chance,” and that they were doing important work.

The out-of-state requirement was designed, Taylor-Sawyer said, specifically to ensure the city funded economic development projects that drew in outside dollars.

“The thought behind what we as an ad hoc committee had, and the city commission at the time agreed, was that we wanted new dollars,” Taylor-Sawyer said. “All we’re doing (without the out-of-state requirement) is taking the existing pie and cutting it up. We’re not creating new dollars that can benefit the city.”

Board member Ray Mondragon said he attended the Nov. 22 commission meeting, and felt the commission wouldn’t favor a change in the 50% requirement.

Gentry said the city has a .125% gross receipts tax dedicated to economic development, and that its rules at some points go beyond state guidelines to keep the money from being diverted to other city needs.

“We restricted money to ensure the interests,” Gentry said, “so when future city managers and future city commissioners came, it’s not diluted.”

Taylor-Sawyer left after her discussion, noting that the ad hoc committee also decided the mayor and city commission should not participate in meetings to avoid any impression of influence.

“I can’t speak for the commission, but I believe they agree with me,” Taylor-Sawyer said. “We are for small businesses. We are for businesses. We are for growth. I don’t want anyone to interpret that we are not.”

Members understood the intent of the out-of-state requirement, but wanted to see if different parameters would serve the city better.

Tyson felt having some kind of boundary as to what constituted an outside dollar was necessary; his analogy was “moving peas around the dinner plate.” But to him, the out-of-state requirement felt more like an emotional “we got Texas money” appeal than a realistic focus on new dollars.

“I love Albuquerque,” Tyson said, “but I’d love to bring Albuquerque or Santa Fe money into Clovis. If it came from Muleshoe, I don’t think that we gain a lot.”

Following the vote to study the out-of-state requirement, the board considered Bandolero’s request for a post-performance grant. Tyson said he had no issue with the agreement, since it required no upfront obligations to Bandolero.

Palla said Bandolero has indicated it has not yet purchased materials to become a manufacturer, and she felt it was best to simply deny the request for now. Palla said Bandolero was welcome to apply again once it had more specifics on the manufacturing component of its business. The board agreed and denied the request via voice vote, then adjourned following the vote.