Milan, NM, the former carrot capital of the world is trying to diversify its economy; new federal funding should help

The Village of Milan will get $2.7 million in federal funding for roadway infrastructure improvements to help attract businesses to the community’s industrial park. The industrial park is part of a long-term plan to move Milan from a boom-and-bust economy to a robust economy.

The U.S. Department of Commerce grant will be used to develop Milan’s industrial park and requires $684,750 in matching funds from the village. The investment is expected to create 54 jobs and generate $3.2 million in private investment, according to a Department of Commerce news release.

“Milan is a microcosm of the region,” said Evan Williams, executive director of the Northwest New Mexico Council of Governments. The Village of Milan, Cibola Communities Economic Development Foundation and NMCOG are all working on the industrial park.

“Milan from its initial incorporation as a municipality was the carrot capital of the world, and the day that they found uranium, it became the uranium capital of the world,” Williams said, “so they’ve gone through these boom and bust cycles, as has the region.”

Coal power plants and coal mining have been the latest boom-and-bust industries to upend jobs in the region. The coal-powered Escalante Power Plant in nearby Prewitt closed in 2021, leaving some Milan and Grants area residents unemployed. About 90% of the power plant workers were Cibola County residents, and the area lost 105 jobs, Williams said, leaving some workers in the community underemployed with skillsets beyond the existing job market.

“The tax base of Cibola County, through these boom-and-bust periods, you’ve seen periods of investment, then disinvestment,” Williams said. “So, what we talk about is trying to move the economy from a boom-bust to robust, and part of that robust strategy is to diversify with logistics, light manufacturing, value added agriculture — things that fit with the assets that are in the Cibola County area.”

The industrial park land was acquired by the village in 2003 and previously was a farm. Water and wastewater utilities already are built out to the park and would have to be extended to individual sites by developers. The planned industrial park encompasses 912 acres and has several shovel-ready sites but no roads leading to it.

“We’ve had lots of businesses interested, and they basically say, ‘if infrastructure was here, we’d be here tomorrow,’” Williams said.

The industrial park site already has access to Interstate 40, the BNSF Southern Transcon railroad, and the Grants-Milan airport. The new funding will add roads to the site, which could be the key to enticing new industries.

“Investments in rural infrastructure are a key part of our effort to bolster economic development in every part of New Mexico,” Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “This funding will go a long way toward attracting new businesses to the area, supporting existing business owners in Milan, and creating new job opportunities and career paths for New Mexicans.”