Economic Roundtable Showcases Progress toward Developing the Gallup/McKinley County TradePort

October 31, 2024

Gallup, NM - The Greater Gallup Economic Development Corporation (GGEDC) hosted its Fall 2024 Economic Roundtable on Tuesday, October 29, 2024 in the McKinley County Courthouse Annex conference room. Titled “Moving Forward on the TradePort Project in Gallup/McKinley County”, this was the first of two roundtables GGEDC has planned for Fiscal Year 2025 and the third roundtable to focus on designing and developing a regional TradePort in Gallup, NM.

The meeting of 41 people included City of Gallup Council and staff members, representatives from McKinley County government, the New Mexico Department of Transportation, NM Environment Department, GGEDC staff, and expert consultants contracted by McKinley County to research and design the regional TradePort. The purpose of the roundtable was to strategize and collaborate the next steps of developing the TradePort in Gallup with plans underway for a TradePort Master Plan, Autonomous Vehicles (AV) Test Track, a hydrogen/multifuel hub, and a Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ)/User Fee Airport.

Patty Lundstrom, Executive Director of GGEDC, explained how the roundtable provided an excellent opportunity to help the participants realize the full scope and extent of the projects GGEDC has been working on jointly with the City, County and the State of New Mexico to lay the foundations for the regional inland TradePort. To help the audience grasp the full scope and extent of the Gallup/McKinley County TradePort Initiative, Ms. Lundstrom referenced a chart detailing the 23 impactful activities GGEDC has undertaken since 2023 to support the various projects, the 17 mostly New Mexican companies consulted for their input, and 10 site tours undertaken by members of the Inland Port Steering Committee to learn how similar projects and sites function.

According to Ms. Lundstrom, the chart represented “the field of play of all of our initiatives,” highlighting that “We don’t jump into projects we don’t understand.” She stated that “While the economic fortunes around us have changed a lot, GGEDC has kept its focus, been responsive to the changes, and continued to move forward on the strategic economic development priorities for the Greater Gallup region.”

Following presentations by consultants from Kimley-Horn, Martin Associates and Hatch Consultants, the consultants engaged in in-depth discussions with the other roundtable participants on the various projects. Goals for the roundtable included building understanding among the participants of the various initiatives and projects underway and the interconnections between them and generating preliminary ideas for legislative, regulatory and funding proposals that could eventually be presented to the New Mexico Legislature as well as potential investors and grantors.

gallup roundtable — At the Roundtable, Tommy Haws, Senior VP at Pinnacle Bank and President of the GGEDC Board of Directors (2nd from left) presented awards to Robert Baca, Chair, McKinley County Board of Commissioners (received on his behalf by Anthony Dimas, Jr., County Manager, 4th from left), Louie Bonaguidi, Mayor, City of Gallup (3rd from left), and Robert Roche, Owner, Gallup Land Partners (2nd from right). Kevin Taira, President & Agency Principle at Bubany Insurance and GGEDC Board Secretary (far left) and Rick Murphy, President of Murphy Builders and GGEDC Board Vice- President also attended the roundtable.

About Greater Gallup Economic Development Corporation:

GGEDC is a traditional economic development organization focusing on two core areas that support economic-base employers and job creation in Gallup and McKinley County: Business Retention & Expansion and Business Attraction & Recruitment. GGEDC’s mission is “to drive economic growth through building on local assets and strategic partnering to target attraction, retention & expansion of industrial employers that provide economic-base jobs in the Gallup-McKinley County area, and to support & promote a business-friendly environment.” See www.ggedc.com for more Information.