The Pueblo of Zia has a long and proud history of self-sufficiency and a strong community life.  Economic development efforts must be aligned not only with economic goals, but also with the Pueblo’s traditional culture and values.  Within these parameters, renewable energy provides a unique opportunity to promote sustainable energy independence and respect for Pueblo land and natural resources.

To prepare a proposal for “Renewable Energy Development and Deployment in Indian Country” issued by the Department of Energy, Tribal Administrator Peter Pino and Project Manager Jai Lakshman led an expert team comprised of NMSBA, New Mexico Community Capital, NM Renewable Energy Transmission Authority, and Witcher & Associates. NMSBA provided assistance through Los Alamos National Laboratory’s (LANL) Loren Toole, an expert in renewable energy. Toole provided a broad range of information on site assessments, energy transmission and distribution system access, and economic analysis of energy alternatives.

As a result of the team’s efforts, the Pueblo of Zia was awarded a grant to conduct a feasibility study for integrated solar, geothermal, and wind energy. The study will analyze the potential to develop and export renewable energy from Zia Pueblo, including how to distribute to the grid, secure continuous energy production, and be cost-competitive in the energy market.  “The expertise and assistance provided to the Pueblo of Zia by NMSBA is a key component of our success thus far,” says Pino. “We look forward to our continued partnership with LANL as the study evaluates our integrated approach to producing cost-effective renewable energy.”

The MultiCyt Hybridoma Screening Kit is a powerful, mix-and-measure solution for primary screening of hybridoma libraries, designed to test antibody binding directly on living cells. This high-throughput solution allows scientists to detect antibodies that bind to unique conformational epitopes that may be missed with current ELISA assays.

The MultiCyt Count and Capture – IgG Secretion Screening Kit is a novel multiplexed screening assay that provides a single platform solution for researchers assessing productivity of antibody-secreting cell lines. By simultaneously measuring the amount of secreted protein and providing a viable cell count, the amount of antibody produced can be determined on a per-cell basis in one assay, saving valuable time and resources in the cell line generation process.

The MultiCyt Cell Encoder Screening Kit enables multiple cell lines to be color coded and combined into screening plates to test target-specific clone binding characteristics and select those with the greatest promise for pre-clinical and clinical trials. Using the HTFC Screening System, the cell lines are combined and tested within the same wells, enabling scientists to simultaneously analyze the biology of each encoded cell line.

“The new screening assays take advantage of our proprietary technologies to quickly make concurrent measurements on individual cells at rates of thousands of cells per second, providing anywhere from 1-6 readouts per sample,” said Thomas Duensing, Ph.D., Vice President of Product Development.

The IntelliCyt approach to screening assays addresses the need to obtain more answers with smaller amounts of sample. By using far less sample than current methods, coupled with more information, the IntelliCyt assay kits, in conjunction with the HTFC platform, achieve significant productivity increases and provide better decision-making capabilities. “Our technology provides a valuable solution to the therapeutic antibody community by answering multiple questions on a single platform, addressing bottlenecks resulting from repetitive screening testing on multiple platforms, as well as reducing costs and improving time to results. Our technology will redefine what users can accomplish from their screening campaigns,” said R. Terry Dunlay, CEO of IntelliCyt.

About IntelliCyt Corporation IntelliCyt Corporation develops and markets innovative high-throughput cell and bead-based screening solutions for use throughout the life sciences. The Company uses proprietary technologies to create instrumentation, assays, and software products that dramatically increase the speed and decrease the cost of detecting and measuring cells and beads. IntelliCyt’s products address a pervasive need among pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and life science research laboratories to achieve increased productivity while adapting to the accelerating pace and increasing complexity of modern life sciences. The company’s corporate headquarters are located at 9620 San Mateo Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87113. For more information, please visit www.intellicyt.com .

The grants are part of a $6.5 million award for 19 projects nationwide, which U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced Feb. 16. Since 2002, the DOE program has awarded $36 million for 159 tribal energy projects across the country.

The New Mexico grants include:

$347,090 to the Navajo Hopi Land Commission for a feasibility study on large-scale solar energy development;

$278,987 to Zia Pueblo for a feasibility study on integrated solar, geothermal, wind energy and gas-fired generation;

$301,113 for Jemez Pueblo to complete preconstruction work on a four-megawatt solar facility, plus $146,775 to install a cordwood-fired biomass energy system to heat the Jemez visitor center; and

$300,000 to the Navajo To’Hajilee chapter for preconstruction work on a 30-megawatt solar facility planned by To’Hajiilee Economic Development Inc.

According to the National Congress of American Indians, tribal lands have enough renewable potential to supply 14 percent of the nation’s electricity needs with wind power, and more than four times the nation’s electricity needs with solar.

Tribal lands also hold a quarter of the country’s onshore oil and natural gas resources, said Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., in a news release.

“Clean energy technology is already an important driver of New Mexico’s economy, and it has great potential on tribal lands throughout the West,” Udall said. “With this funding, tribes will be able to create jobs in their communities and develop dependable, clean energy close to home.”

During the Fall of 2011, I stated in an interview that a sea change in impact investing will occur when two things happen. The first is when the conversation about wealth shifts, and the second is when the most powerful voices in the room aren’t exclusively those with the money.

This was before the impact of the Occupy movement, and it was before the online blackout related to two pending pieces of “anti-piracy” legislation in U.S. Congress. Each of these has certainly put the question of economic imbalance squarely on the table. Big media money has for the first time been less powerful in the conversation than the online community.

And, there is evidence of a new order in what people value & consider as wealth.

Return on Investing in Social Enterprise

In just six months we have seen extraordinary events contributing to a game-changing shift. But more needs to happen as it relates specifically to impact investing.

The most important trend will be for investors to celebrate their riches based on actual returns on double and triple bottom line investments. The wealth conversation will shift when we show increased wealth for investors that balances economic gains with social gains. In other words, increased wealth will be determined by new standards.

If, for example, the expected returns from a social enterprise providing a cheap, effective solution for a health problem in a developing nation, is 3 percent financial return and 50 percent fewer deaths year over year from a chronic illness, and those returns are met, the investment is a winner for the investor’s blended value portfolio.

Three among many to mention: Evergreen Lodge (Yosemite, California), Husk Power Systems (Bihar, India) and Better World Books (Atlanta, Georgia) are exemplary examples of a blended value proposition set forth and then met, and are therefore advancing the wealth conversation shift.

The second important trend is that the successful entrepreneur has a more powerful voice. They are making their investors and employees wealthy by new wealth standards, and thus policy makers and power brokers will begin to invite them into the room. In short order, the makeup of these very policy makers and power brokers will also change to those who can lobby effectively for the new dynamic.

Successful Social Entrepreneurship

Why aren’t we hearing more of these success stories yet? My experience tells me that there are three key reasons:

1. Social entrepreneurs need to be better disciplined about the creation of a clear blended value proposition and meeting these results.
2. Investors need to be able to find more investible deals based on their portfolio interests.
3. Investors, both large and small, need to think in portfolio terms about investing across a spectrum of financial, social and blended value return propositions.

What can we do to fill these gaps?

1. Multiple Value Creations:

Social entrepreneurs need to have the skills, discipline and business models to create and then achieve the double or triple bottom line. These skills are complex and new. The lasting social enterprise has to be built on a successful business model, with a talented team, and for not one but two or more types of value creation.

2. More Examples, More Data:

We must tell the rich stories of the tremendous value being created in the impact investing arena. This includes more data, and more examples made available to capital seeking investment for lasting economic and social change.

3. Building a Portfolio Value Proposition:

We must do more work to build a portfolio value proposition, versus a one by one deal making landscape. Therefore, intermediaries need to create portfolio opportunities, and connect education as well as advisory services to the new economy investor.

Tuesday January 17th 2012 – Aspen Avionics

Posted: Monday, January 16, 2012 12:00 am | Updated: 9:46 am, Fri Jan 13, 2012.

Matthew van Buren

Members of the Questa Economic Development Fund’s board of trustees see Centinel Bank’s recent donation of a building at the center of town as a momentous step toward creating economic opportunities in the village.

However, Fund records show, up to this point, substantial sums have gone toward subsidizing the village of Questa’s budget.

Chevron Mining created the Fund in fall 2008 under then-mayor Malaquías Rael. According to a September 2008 letter to Rael from Questa mine manager Roy Torres, the Fund’s creation represented a “unique” and “historic” venture “to help the village prepare for its economic well-being far beyond the likely life span of the (molybdenum) mine.” In order for Questa to become sustainable for the long term, the letter states, it must diversify its business base, attract additional industry and enhance existing small businesses.

Chevron Mining proposed to create the Questa Economic Development Fund, a nonprofit entity, to “provide the seed money necessary to create and maintain jobs and enhance the capacity of the village to expand its economic base.”

The company proposed financing the organization at a level of $320,000 per funding cycle for eight cycles, providing $200,000 to the fund and $120,000 to an endowment, as well as a one-time $1 million contribution if the Fund remains active for eight cycles.

Records show the Fund contributed about $480,000 to the endowment account after Chevron Mining made its first four contributions.

According to one of the Fund’s founding documents, when considering payments to qualified charitable recipients, the board is to focus on “general economic development” in the village, attracting new businesses and jobs to the village, increasing tourism opportunities, improving village facilities to attract economic development and supporting projects and initiatives within the village “that have a significant, direct impact on the community of Questa.”

‘Cyclical nature of mining’

“The creation of this Fund, combined with the resources previously provided to the village at the end of 2007, will take the place of any other future payments from (Chevron Mining) to the village,” Torres’ letter states. “It is (Chevron Mining’s) hope that by working cooperatively with established capacity-building organizations — such as the Taos Community Foundation and the McCune Charitable Trust — that the Questa Economic Development Fund and the village will be able to leverage additional matching Funding for the Fund and Endowment.”

Rael said, considering the “cyclical nature of mining,” hiccups in the economy can have a “devastating effect” on a community like Questa, where more than 200 people were laid off in early 2009. He said previous donations, begun under Molycorp, went directly to the village — but that Chevron Mining “didn’t feel comfortable with that.”

He said the company wanted to move away from writing checks directly to the village, as it did not want to Fund the hiring of more village personnel.

“They didn’t think that was the best use of the money,” Rael said.

So, Rael said, the village came together with Chevron Mining to propose the Questa Economic Development Fund, partly to put some distance between the Chevron Funding and village coffers.

From the Fund’s creation in 2008, it was tied closely to village government.

Then-mayor Malaquías Rael, then-councilor Robert Ortega Jr. and village counsel Marcus Rael Jr. were named to the Fund board for five-year terms; Questa residents Owen López and Gordon Robinson were appointed to the board for three-year terms.

Questa Mine public affairs manager Margaret Lejuste said, though the Fund was created before she started in her current position, it is her understanding that a number of different requests were coming to the mine from the village. She said the mine has a social responsibility to the community of Questa — particularly to ensure it is not totally dependent on the mine — and the creation of the Fund was a way to put more decision-making ability in the village’s hands.

Fund documents

The Questa Economic Development Fund board voted last year to open Fund-held documents, including minutes, expenditures and tax filings, to The Taos News. The records show more than $500,000 in contributions to the village of Questa since the Fund’s formation.

According to information released by the Fund, its largest single expenditure (other than contributions to the endowment) was made to the village of Questa: A check for $185,600.21 was written to the village Jan. 23, 2009. Fund documents describe the contribution as a “reimbursement.”

Though Fund Executive Director Bobby Ortega was not with the nonprofit at the time, he said its board had approved that amount of village expenditures prior to receiving Chevron Mining’s initial contribution.

Further details about that expenditure were not made available to The Taos News by the Fund or village by press time. Though a formal records request was made to the village a month ago, and the Inspection of Public Records Act gives public bodies only 15 days to respond to most requests, an ongoing mold problem has forced the temporary relocation of the Questa administrative offices and has complicated record retrieval.

Other contributions to the village of Questa include: $75,687 to be used to match three road projects administered by the state Transportation Department (DOT) and $18,938 to be used as a match to update the layout plan and install equipment, such as a weather system and lighting, at the Questa airport. According to records provided by the village and Fund, related work includes a $50,393, or 25-percent, village match to design and perform improvements to South Kiowa Road.

Minutes show Fund board members began to question such expenditures. According to minutes from the Dec. 21, 2010, meeting of the board, during discussion about using $11,006 to match a DOT grant of $33,017 for work on Cisneros Road, “The Fund board raised questions on this request related to whether this was the best use of Fund monies and what is the economic development benefit.”

“It was mentioned by board members that these types of requests may not be eligible for Funding in the future,” the minutes state.

Malaquías Rael said, though getting roads projects “shovel ready” with initial investments improves the village’s chances of getting legislative Funding, members of the board had hoped the village would begin projects to help improve local businesses in more direct ways.

“That’s why there was a little bit of dissent or concern,” he said.

‘Lobbying and grant services’

Fund records show $126,545 was given to the village for “lobbying and grant services.” Rael said considering the size of the village, its elected officials can’t spend 40-60 days in Santa Fe when the Legislature is in session.

“It’s a competition, really,” he said. “Small communities just don’t have the big guns.”

He said lobbyist Gabe Cisneros’ efforts on behalf of the village have paid off, bringing in money for the wastewater treatment plant, water lines and other infrastructure.

Mayor Esther García also said Cisneros has been “instrumental” in bringing legislative funding to the village.

“They help us pay his salary,” she said of the Fund. “Otherwise the village wouldn’t be able to afford it.”

Fund records also show regular payments into the village of Questa’s “Rapid Action Fund.” Since June 2009, records show, the Fund has contributed nearly $95,000 to the Rapid Action Fund.

García said the Rapid Action Fund is typically used for professional development for village staff, including sending employees to trainings and events such as Municipal League conferences. Rael said the Rapid Action Fund may also be used on lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C.

“That’s what we used it for in the past when I was mayor,” he said.

Rapid Action Fund

Village records show the Rapid Action Fund has been used for travel expenses, such as conference registrations, fuel, baggage fees, meals and hotel rooms, when staff members and village officials have gone to conferences hosted by the New Mexico Municipal League and National League of Cities.

The Rapid Action Fund has also been used to buy office supplies, consulting services and legal advertisements with The Taos News, and money from the Rapid Action Fund was used when the village hosted the dedication of the 6-mile-long Vistas de Questa trail in the summer of 2010 — an activity García was quick to point out is good for the economic growth of the village.

The village also makes requests to the Economic Development Fund for specific projects. Recent village requests to the Fund board have also included:

• A request for funding to hire an architect to plan, design and potentially construct a multi-purpose center that could be used for “business, education, religious and special events”

• A request for funding to hire an architect to plan, design and potentially construct an addition to the library

• A request for funding to hire a firm to construct a village website, where “the community, businesses (and) eco-tourism” could be promoted

The Economic Development Fund does not focus exclusively on the village, however. In 2009, it donated $15,000 to the now-inactive Questa Vecindad Chamber of Commerce. According to a request from the Chamber, “Questa cannot sustain itself on local dollars,” and efforts must be made to attract visitors and business patrons.

The Fund also pays Bobby Ortega $12,000 per year to serve as its executive director and has contributed $2,750 to the Fiesta Council. It has also spent about $13,700 on financial services, including preparing tax filings, from Clifton Gunderson (formerly Meyners and Company).

New priority

Rael said reviving the village center is a major new priority for the Fund; he said improving that area could help the entire community move forward. The revitalization of the area was also stressed in an economic development study prepared for the village.

It was suggested that implementing a “keystone” project at the village center, such as developing a visitor center and chamber of commerce, would lead to “community-wide reinvestment” and increased exposure for local businesses.

“Initial investment in a specific, highly visible project such as building a visitor center (where the Chamber of Commerce can also be housed) often has the effect of stimulating private reinvestment and redevelopment efforts in the surrounding area,” the study states. “The creation of a visitor center would be the initial part of a broader plan to redevelop the village center district.”

The study also suggested investing in housing, workforce development, improving health and social services, beautification projects, industrial development and promoting recreation and outdoor activities.

Rael said it is important that the community buy into the economic development activities being conducted by the village and Fund. Ortega said the Fund board plans to meet next Jan. 31 at 3:30 p.m. at the new building; the board intends to discuss the property’s future use.

The Fund has not yet established a website or phone line, though Ortega said it intends to do that. He said the best way for those curious about the Fund to find out more is to contact the village administrative offices at (575) 586-0694.

He and García have emphasized opportunities that will be available when cleanup work begins on the mine and tailings sites, which were recently placed on the National Priorities List of SuperFund sites. Rael said collaboration with the public schools in Questa will be important — and not only so students can be involved in the cleanup, but to improve their skills in other industries.

García also said the community needs to come together to make Questa’s economy sustainable into the future, adding that it is important that residents think not only beyond the mine but beyond the cleanup work.

“One of these days, they might not be there,” she said of the mine.

For more about the village of Questa’s economic ties to the molybdenum mine, read The Taos News Jan. 19.

The Company We Keep