This month’s episode of Economic Development Secrets features Michael Bunt, Director of Economic Development for the Artesia, New Mexico Chamber of Commerce. Michael has worked in economic development for six years. Before entering the economic development field, he was in banking: “I was a banker before this and decided it would be interesting to be on the positive end of the deal instead of the negative end of the deal, and I’ve been doing it for about six years.”
Because Artesia has an economic development partnership between the city and chamber of commerce, Michael brings a unique view of the field. Further, since oil and gas are the two main drivers of their local economy, Michael discusses how the decline in employment in the oil sector has had an effect on their employment rate, jobs, and salaries. Michael also shares that they spend a good amount of their time focused on retail, housing, and amenities that traditionally aren’t base economic employers in an effort to attract people and employers to the area due to community and quality of life.
We discussed many other ED topics including incentives, marketing your community, and advice for economic developers.
Click the player above to listen to the full episode.
