Business View Civil and Municipal | September 2022

97 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 9 DEMING, NEW MEXICO Engaging the community M any communities are struggling to regain the development momentum and community engagement that went by the wayside during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the City of Deming, New Mexico is eager to see its engagement plans come to fruition. Despite the continued challenges the city faced in 2021, Cassie Arias-Ward, Deming’s Economic and Tourism Development Coordinator, is optimistic. She reports, “We had a challenging year. I think everybody has. Every community has, coming out of the effects of the pandemic. Workforce has really been an issue for us, but we’ve had some really great projects that came through – a couple of expansions within the region and then some new businesses that started up as expansions of current operations down here in Deming.” On the plus side, companies moving to Deming are finding employees, partly due to the city and region’s workforce planning measures and programs that start as early as elementary school. The City of Deming and the surrounding region attract residents and companies from all over the world because of the beautiful natural surroundings, which include a desert grassland surrounded by picturesque mountains and access to the Mimbres River. With a population just over 14,000, Deming is the main community in Luna County – located 35 miles from the Mexican border and 60 miles west of Las Cruces, via Interstate 10, which opens the community to shipping opportunities throughout the world. The community is mainly rural and relies on agriculture and manufacturing for most of its employment base and economic drivers, but it’s also a mid-point between Los Angeles, California and Houston, Texas.