Questa, New Mexico’s economy has historically been tied to Chevron’s success in the molybdenum mine, once the largest private employer in Taos County. However, when the mine closed in 2014, thousands were unemployed. Questa is determined to help those without jobs, so it founded the Questa Economic Development Fund, which has invested millions of dollars in diversifying the economy. 

Questa Business Retention and Expansion 

The Questa Business Retention and Expansion program is one of the fund’s recent investments. The aim is to promote relationships among business owners and identify solutions to shared problems, such as inadequate staffing, aging infrastructure, and workforce housing shortages. 

Director Lynn Skall stated, “One of the goals is to create these relationships, not only with the Questa Economic Development Fund but with each other because these people are all on the same journey.” 

The philanthropic effort helps remodel the traditional 1905s-era buildings for those who wish to keep the classic aesthetic while remaining relevant today. 

Funding

The Questa Economic Development Fund receives about 30% of its funding from Chevron, which has owned the mine since 2005. The grant money provided the rest of the financing, which helped create a $23,000 Local Economic Assistance and Development Supports grant from the New Mexico Economic Development Department.

Monique Parker, the Questa Business Retention and Expansion program coordinator, said they have met with 21 business owners in the greater Questa area. The meetings help the foundation’s operators gather feedback, provide funding and training resources, and connect individuals with other local organizations. 

Monique says, “These individuals are some of the hardest working, dedicated people in our community I’ve ever seen. To keep their businesses going and to serve such a small community and transition has been really inspiring. It makes me want to help them even more and get the word out about what they’re doing, their goals, and how to have my neighbors in this community better support them and shop locally.”

Community

Dominick Apodaca, owner of the Sangre de Cristo Valley Market, is one of the many business owners the foundation has met. Apodaca’s grandparents opened the market he ran in 1959, which was called Questa Central Supermarket. The market closed in 2023 when his grandparents decided they could not fully operate the store. The community went months without a grocery store until Apodaca purchased the market.

He did not want his grandparents’ legacy to die, so he bought the market to help the community. The entrepreneur remodeled the store and expanded its inventory before reopening to the public in late 2023. Apodaca did all this because of a Questa Economic Development Fund grant.

The Questa Economic Development Fund works hand-in-hand with the state, UNM-Taos, UNM-Taos HIVE, various chambers of commerce, UNM-Taos’ Small Businesses Development Center, LOR Foundation, US Forest Service, and other partners to make these community dreams come true. 

The chairman, Malaquias Rael, had worked with Chevron to form the fund since 2008 and explains that the community could see “the writing on the wall” and decided to diversify the village’s economy before anything happened to the mine.