In our “Focus on” series, WorkingNation looks at cities and towns around the U.S. – highlighting the initiatives and efforts that are creating jobs and giving opportunity for family-sustaining wages and economic mobility. In this article, we Focus on Taos, New Mexico.
Located in the high desert of the southern Rocky Mountains, Taos, New Mexico is a popular destination for hiking, mountain biking, and fishing, as well as skiing and snowboarding in the winter. While many local residents currently work in the tourism industry, city and regional leaders are creating other opportunities for economic mobility and stability.
They see it as vital to the welfare of their community.
About 6,500 people live within the Taos city limits. During the height of tourist season, as many as 15,000 people visit daily, taking advantage of the area’s natural beauty, according to Mayor Pascualito Maestas.
Tourism plays a significant role in job creation, employing about 28.5% of the population, according to Taos Destination Stewardship Plan (DSP), a five-year blueprint for sustaining and growing the city’s tourism industry.
It’s an important part of the future of Taos, but Maestas is quick to note, “Outside of [tourism], there are a lot of industries within Taos that are hidden – that Taos isn’t really well known for – but they are prominent sectors of the workforce.”
The mayor cites key manufacturers, including natural deodorant maker Humble Brands and women-owned, vodka producer Rolling Still Distillery.
Other jobs are being developed in ranching, agriculture, and green energy.
These job opportunities are scaled for the size of the community, as it is. But Maestas and others see the potential for expansion and have initiated a number of education and training programs to prepare residents for those projected jobs.
Rebuilding a Legacy Industry
Taos County Economic Development Corporation‘s mission is supporting the food, land, culture, and water of the people of northern New Mexico. Maestas is hoping a TCEDC project to develop a small meat processing plant will further revitalize a legacy industry in state.
“I think that is going to create a lot of opportunity to bring back the ranching industry. Right now, our farmers and ranchers have to travel several hours to southern Colorado to process their meat and it takes two trips,” says the mayor.
Construction is underway and the facility is expected to open next fall. “There’s a lot of excitement and anticipation, but they need the facility open yesterday, so we’re encouraging patience,” he adds.
The TCEDC Matanza, as the small facility is called, is projected to employ eight to 12 people including a general manager and positions as meat cutters and other processing roles. The jobs won’t require any higher education credits and salaries are expected to be higher than $45,000 a year.
Impact Beyond Taos
TCEDC’s executive director Mercedes Rodriguez says this facility could have an even bigger impact than just locally. “We are developing the first meat processing facility in northern New Mexico that will service, not only northern New Mexico, the entire state and southern Colorado.”
Says Maestas, “The most exciting thing that I’m hearing is that once the facility is up and running and they’re able to make a little bit of profit, they’re talking about expanding the herds, which is different because the trend has really been to reduce the size of the herds. And I’m really seeing the impacts on the economy all the way around.”
Rodriguez reiterates Maestas’ thoughts, “The main objective is to lend economic growth for our ranchers, making sure that they are able to get top dollar for our local meat rather than having to take to the sale barn and sell the meat for pennies on the hoof.”
Regenerative Agriculture
The ranching industry is deeply intertwined with the agriculture industry. Project participants hope to see both industries grow and thrive with the opening of the Matanza plant.
Rodriguez says embedded in TCEDC’s mission is “making sure that we participate, educate, enforce, and develop initiatives that are giving back to the earth. We want to make sure that we are paying back the favors that Mother Earth has given us by regenerating it.”
She says that they need to make certain local ranchers realize that what they were taught in the past was overkill.
“We need to regenerate that soil and start talking about soil health initiatives that are reamending the soil to make sure that it’s here for generations to come,” says Rodriguez. “We’re fortunate to have fifth, sixth generation ranchers here and we need to make sure that they understand to have the soil available for livestock is regenerating it.”
Developing a Sustainable Industry
A number of stakeholders, on both the local and federal levels, are reaching out to educate the community on the benefits of regenerative agriculture.
Among them: Alianza Agri-Cultura de Taos, the Taos Valley Acequia Association, and the Taos Soil and Water Conservation District. On the federal level, partners include the USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
Gillian Joyce, the executive director of Alianza Agri-Cultura de Taos, says, “It’s very hard to make a living in agriculture at any scale in this day and age.
“What a lot of our producers have had to do over time – though their heart is in agriculture – their bank account is supported by a job in the service industry, or in construction, or in professional services.”
Joyce sees great potential in the Matanza plant.
“This project goes far beyond the development of a slaughter facility. We are working on a larger collaborative effort to revitalize our regional meat industry by developing innovative opportunities to create an industry that is grass-finished, humanely slaughtered, and, where possible, climate smart and regenerative.”
No Experience Required
Last month, the TCEDC opened up applications for the Regenerative Ranching Mentorship Program – which “offers an opportunity for beginning and experienced rancher in Taos to grow their community, knowledge, and business.”
Joyce says applicants may or may not have ranching experience, but regardless, are new to regenerative practices. She explains, “Mentees must be over 16 years old. At the moment, most potential mentees lean younger, in their 20s or 30s.”
The Green Energy Sector
Sustainability is also key to the Kit Carson Electric Cooperative (KCEC), the region’s 100% daytime solar provider with more than 30,000 members serving Taos, Colfax, and Rio Arriba counties.
Currently, KCEC is paying a third party for the operation and maintenance of the solar panels. At a point to be determined in the future, the cooperative plans to instead use local talent who will participate in apprenticeship programs through the University of New Mexico-Taos (UNM-Taos), a two-year community college – and Northern New Mexico College.
“We are a diversified cooperative,” explains KCEC CEO Luis A. Reyes, Jr. In addition to the solar power, the cooperative operates two subsidiaries, one that provides high speed broadband and another that produces propane for rural communities.
Currently, KCEC has 142 employees. According to the company, a new hydrogen project is expected to create about 287 local jobs during the initial construction.
Repurposing Natural Resources
“What’s really exciting about Kit Carson Electric is they’re looking at green hydrogen and using some of this excess solar energy to separate the hydrogen atoms in water and store the hydrogen gas,” says Maestas.
He adds, “[This is] very different from blue energy that we see that uses natural gas to create hydrogen. This is using renewable energy to create hydrogen. There is this look to the future of what the energy market could look like.”
Reyes explains that the hydrogen energy will be produced by repurposing non-potable water from a closed mine.
“It’s done in a location where we lost a hundred mining jobs. How do we replace 300 mining jobs? You can’t really do…economic development to restore them other than maybe put another industry on that.
“So that’s the project. Let’s see if we can make it useful. We want to also create the skill sets to build that and maintain that into the future,” says Reyes.
Creating Career Pathways
Internally, KCEC has an apprenticeship pathway – a 4-year program that results in a certification for journeyman lineman.
UNM-Taos Chancellor Mary Gutierrez, Ed.D. notes the importance of being able to lay fiber optic cable and, in the future, creating internships and apprenticeships around hydrogen energy.
She adds some KCEC workers can also receive training to obtain a commercial driver’s license (CDL) – noting there are also other transportation demands in Taos, including driving big rigs, and public and tourist buses.
KCEC tells WorkingNation, “We are also working with the Taos Municipal Schools, introducing cybersecurity and IT to the students who are interested in a career in the IT field. We have been getting a lot of positive feedback and a lot of interested students.”
In early 2025, an additional apprenticeship program and more job creation is expected as part of KCEC’s new microgrid program funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Finding Good Local Employment
“We want people to have careers that are rewarding and satisfying, that bring them happiness and also bring them a lot of financial reward so that they’re able to earn a family-supporting wage,” says UNM-Taos’ Gutierrez.
She says it’s important for local residents to be able to grow up, be educated, and find good employment in the area.
“I think having a variety of different careers and career fields that people are able to easily access after they’ve completed a high school diploma or after they’ve completed a high school with equivalency or even after they’ve finished some education prior to coming to college – all of that’s really important.”
Gutierrez says there is great demand for people who can work in entry-level health care, early childhood education, and skilled trades.
The Skilled Trades
Maestas notes, “UNM-Taos is working on creating a trades program – welding, plumbing, framing, general construction.”
The mayor explains, “In New Mexico, we have a clause in our constitution called the anti-donation clause, which makes it a little bit harder for local governments to work with private developers.
“We’re trying to figure this out statewide on how we can build homes, work with developers, provide subsidies, and really meet that mechanism of creating homes for locals or permanent residents – people who are going to live in and contribute to the community.”
Gutierrez adds, “Very often what we’re finding is that we have students who come in and are able to start working before they’ve even completed their degree in the construction trades and also have a satisfaction of knowing that they’re building homes for families.”
She hopes UNM-Taos can expand its skilled trades programming with a new facility, build up its film production pathway, launch an auto mechanics program, and develop its own kitchen for culinary studies.
Access to the Digital Economy
“Hive’s mission is to develop a tech inclusive ecosystem, which is really ensuring that our community has the skills and is being given the opportunity to be mentored and provide the support so they can really thrive in today’s digital economy,” explains Rose Reza, executive director, UNM-Taos Hive.
“We focus on everyone. It’s amazing.”
She continues, “The Hive is a private public partnership between UNM-Taos, Kit Carson Electric Cooperative, and the Taos Community Foundation.
Among Hive’s programming – the Youth Coding League which provides young students with a “project-based introduction to computer science.” STEMarts Bootcamps are held six times a year and engage young girls and women in science, technology, engineering, art, and math. Also offered – free career essentials courses including generative AI, cybersecurity, and data analytics.
Reza says Hive also offers business coaching as part of its incubator accelerator to support local entrepreneurs, “We get entrepreneurs that have an idea and they need support from ideation to launch.”
Services for the business owners are free and there are local business professionals who lend their support via mentorship.
Reza explains as part of the Center on Rural Innovation Network, Hive is working to understand the needs of the local business community. “We did a whole grassroots session with all of the employers to understand the gaps that exist within their businesses. Then we did another huge grassroots with all educators to understand what resources we have available, what are the gaps that exist in the resources?
“Now in January, we’ll be following up with a third gathering of the community members to really define the programming and curriculum that needs to be developed to really skill up our workforce and to fill the gaps of our community.”
Balancing the Needs of Residents and the Tourism Industry
Maestas is originally from Taos, but grew up all over the world as part of a military family. He attended college after he, himself, served in the U.S. Navy.
Twelve years ago, Maestas returned to Taos. He says he would like to inspire young people to remain, but the expense of housing is a barrier to staying, “The gap between what someone can make in Taos and the price for a modest home is just so big that the only way we’re really keeping our young people here is because they’re staying with family.”
The Taos Destination Stewardship Plan (DSP) addresses finding balance by offering “a framework for the sustainable development and stewardship of tourism, with a focus on enhancing the quality of life for residents, fostering a robust economy that is benefiting all communities in Taos…”
It states, “Residents of Taos overwhelmingly recognize the economic significance of tourism, with 87% of resident survey respondents acknowledging its importance to the local economy.”
Preventing Brain Drain
At the same time, among the suggested DSP action plans is to “build coalitions to put into action place keeping initiatives to counteract gentrification.” Additionally, the DSP calls for “[advocating] for workforce housing solutions.”
Maestas says of the DSP, “It’s really about looking at Taos as a destination and how we protect our culture, protect our people, create opportunities that don’t add the pressure of housing.”
He notes, “All we have to do is look a little bit to the north in Colorado and we can see what happens at the extreme in places like Vail or Aspen where housing has gotten so out of control that they don’t have any residents there to work in the industry.”
Acknowledging Taos’ brain drain, the mayor says there are pathways for young people including in tourism, energy, agriculture, and health care. “It all comes down, again, to the housing piece. If we could really solve that, I think there’d be so much opportunity for young people to be able to find work here and live here.”
Maestas – who is not seeking re-election when his term ends at the end of 2025 – says, “I’m hoping five or 10 years from now, I can really see the change that happened over a period of time, whether it’s in the ranching industry or green energy or housing, that I can look back and say, ‘We made the hard decisions back then so that way we can reap the benefits now.’”
WorkingNation producer Deidra White contributed to the reporting for this article.
