OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Clovis Economic Development Committee Special Meeting - February 11, 2026

Meeting Portal — Wednesday, February 11, 2026
BodyClovis, New Mexico
SessionMeeting Portal
DateWednesday, February 11, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 24:40

Transcript — Verbatim
3:09

Call this meeting to order.

3:12

Amy, will you do a roll call, please?

3:16

Alan Kinland.

3:18

Yes.

3:19

Brett Johnson.

3:21

Present.

3:22

Raymond Mondragon.

3:30

Jason Gonzalez.

3:31

Here.

3:32

Tyler Lucas.

3:34

Present.

3:35

Debbie Spriggs.

3:37

Here.

3:38

Paul Cordova.

3:41

Bryce Jimenez.

3:51

Do we have a quorum?

3:55

Um if you had if you had a chance to read the minutes, I will take a motion to approve.

4:04

Motion to approve the minutes.

4:08

All in favor say aye.

4:30

I was happy to explain.

4:34

Update on CED projects.

4:36

Tina.

4:43

Members of the board.

4:44

So I'm going to give a quick update first on CED.

4:47

This is our a mid meeting.

4:49

It's a special meeting, so normally our updates are every three months, but I'm happy to provide what's occurred since our last meeting.

5:00

The Industrial Park, we still have our one green energy company we're working with.

5:02

There's been no recent updates, so we don't have a timeline for that yet.

5:05

But I did have a call with Project Bite and our state economic development reps were on that call as well.

5:12

And they think this is the year they're going to be able to move forward.

5:15

So we've got another call scheduled in April, and we're hoping to have a hard timeline after that meeting.

5:23

For retail, I don't have a lot of retail update.

5:27

I know we have retail strategies working on things, so maybe the next meeting there will be a retail update there.

5:33

On the business incubator, we held an advisory board meeting on December 16th and have been meeting with mentors and trainers as we finalize our program, and we'll be kicking that off very soon.

5:45

But until the regular programming starts, we've had a project we've been working on called Switch Our Accelerator in conjunction with Clovis Main Street and Sutton's Bakery.

5:55

And so we are on our final participant.

5:58

We had it's actually been five companies, our five different uh food entrepreneurs coming in to run their business out of the Sutton's Bakery.

6:07

And so the third one started this week.

6:09

It's Chai Town Pizza King.

6:11

He makes original deep dish style pizza on his very first day.

6:15

He sold out, I think by noon.

6:18

And so it's been incredible.

6:20

This has been a really popular program.

6:22

We've watched these businesses grow.

6:25

We know that there's already a lease in place for the building when this is over, which is one of the things we want to do is fill vacancies on Main Street.

6:34

And then Lisa Spear and I will be attending an event for the New Mexico Main Street in Albuquerque to set on a panel and talk about these community partnerships and how working together is helping Main Street projects.

6:49

So CED is also still planning to fund high school pitch competition for Clovis High School, but they have a new teacher, so I don't know if it's actually going to kick off this year that class.

7:01

If it does, we've got the money set aside for them for uh prizes.

7:05

If not, we will wait until next year until they're ready.

7:09

Clovis Sound Studio, we're getting very close.

7:13

I don't know if y'all have been down there recently and Justin Smiles.

7:16

We've got I know there's an update call scheduled for this week.

7:20

Um, and hopefully we'll have uh more information on where we're at with the contractors on the call.

7:26

I know we have to have the money expended by the end of June, correct?

7:29

So we are in the final stages of that.

7:31

It's looking really great, and it's gonna be really exciting.

7:35

Um so some of the events since we last chat, uh CED co-hosted the legislative breakfast with the chamber, Epcog, and CCC, um, attended the Clovis Britalis legislative dinner in Santa Fe, participated in the amazing shake at Rain Tree, which was something I hadn't done before, and I'm telling you, our our young people are are really amazing, and they're making some great strides in their confidence and interview skills and being able to carry conversations, and it's exactly what I hear when I talk to employers and you know what our young people need to improve on, and so I'm really glad that Clovis Schools has that program.

8:12

Um but that was a great thing.

8:13

If you've never volunteered for that, I recommend volunteering for that next year.

8:18

Attended all three New Mexico Racing Commission meetings.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Economic Development█████████████████████████████████████████████74%
Community Engagement████████████19%
Procedural████6%
Affordable Housing█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Clovis Economic Development Committee Special Meeting - February 11, 2026

The Clovis Economic Development Committee held a special meeting on February 11, 2026, at 3:45 PM. Committee members reviewed and approved the minutes from the previous meeting. The committee received an extensive update from Tina on economic development projects, including the green energy project (Project Bite) in the Industrial Park, the business incubator and Switch Our Accelerator, the Clovis Sound Studio, and the recently approved license transfer for Sunray Park and Casino. The committee also voted to approve a retail leader application for Shoe Department Encore, authorizing a tax reimbursement to support the store's expansion.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of meeting minutes: Moved, seconded, and approved by unanimous voice vote.

Discussion Items

  • Update on CED Projects (Tina): Tina reported that the green energy company (Project Bite) in the Industrial Park has not provided a timeline, but a follow-up call is scheduled in April. The business incubator program is finalizing its curriculum, and the Switch Our Accelerator with Clovis Main Street and Sutton's Bakery has successfully launched three of five food entrepreneurs; the latest, Chai Town Pizza King, sold out on its first day. The Clovis Sound Studio is nearing completion, with funding needing to be expended by June. Tina also attended all three New Mexico Racing Commission meetings, and the license transfer for Sunray Park and Casino was granted, which is expected to generate revenue for quality-of-life projects. At the MDNM trade show in Anaheim, she represented Clovis for medical and advanced manufacturing recruitment. The committee also heard about the new CED website (ClovisEDC.com) and the appointment of Tina and Scott Odom to the New Mexico Partnership Board representing Region 6.
  • Discussion on Annexation and Sunray Park: In response to questions, Justin clarified that annexation is developer-driven and will require approval through planning and zoning. The project is privately funded and not eligible for LEDA money. A celebration event is being planned.
  • Retail Leader Application for Shoe Department Encore: Tina and Leanne from the mall presented the application for Shoe Department Encore to expand within the Clovis Mall by taking over the former Dillard's space. The expansion is projected to double sales revenue to $2 million and create approximately 10 new jobs. The construction cost is $1,370,904.56, and CED recommended a reimbursement of up to 2.5% of taxable gross receipts for a maximum of 10 years, with the city recoverable amount being $685,452.28. The scoring criteria of 82 exceeded the minimum of 50. Committee members clarified that the percentage of new jobs from Curry County should be 100%, correcting a typo in the application. The committee voted to approve the recommendation.

Key Outcomes

  • Minutes approved: Unanimous.
  • Shoe Department Encore application approved: Motion to approve CED's recommendation, seconded, passed unanimously. The matter will go to the City Commission on February 26, 2026, for final approval.
  • Vacancy announcement: The position vacated by Leo Lovett has been advertised, and Kathy Elliott is the sole applicant; the City Commission will consider her appointment.

Meeting Transcript

Call this meeting to order. Amy, will you do a roll call, please? Alan Kinland. Yes. Brett Johnson. Present. Raymond Mondragon. Jason Gonzalez. Here. Tyler Lucas. Present. Debbie Spriggs. Here. Paul Cordova. Bryce Jimenez. Do we have a quorum? Um if you had if you had a chance to read the minutes, I will take a motion to approve. Motion to approve the minutes. All in favor say aye. I was happy to explain. Update on CED projects. Tina. Members of the board. So I'm going to give a quick update first on CED. This is our a mid meeting. It's a special meeting, so normally our updates are every three months, but I'm happy to provide what's occurred since our last meeting. The Industrial Park, we still have our one green energy company we're working with. There's been no recent updates, so we don't have a timeline for that yet. But I did have a call with Project Bite and our state economic development reps were on that call as well. And they think this is the year they're going to be able to move forward. So we've got another call scheduled in April, and we're hoping to have a hard timeline after that meeting. For retail, I don't have a lot of retail update. I know we have retail strategies working on things, so maybe the next meeting there will be a retail update there. On the business incubator, we held an advisory board meeting on December 16th and have been meeting with mentors and trainers as we finalize our program, and we'll be kicking that off very soon. But until the regular programming starts, we've had a project we've been working on called Switch Our Accelerator in conjunction with Clovis Main Street and Sutton's Bakery. And so we are on our final participant. We had it's actually been five companies, our five different uh food entrepreneurs coming in to run their business out of the Sutton's Bakery. And so the third one started this week. It's Chai Town Pizza King. He makes original deep dish style pizza on his very first day. He sold out, I think by noon. And so it's been incredible. This has been a really popular program. We've watched these businesses grow. We know that there's already a lease in place for the building when this is over, which is one of the things we want to do is fill vacancies on Main Street. And then Lisa Spear and I will be attending an event for the New Mexico Main Street in Albuquerque to set on a panel and talk about these community partnerships and how working together is helping Main Street projects. So CED is also still planning to fund high school pitch competition for Clovis High School, but they have a new teacher, so I don't know if it's actually going to kick off this year that class. If it does, we've got the money set aside for them for uh prizes. If not, we will wait until next year until they're ready. Clovis Sound Studio, we're getting very close.

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