Businesses in downtown Los Alamos and as well as throughout the County could use help to keep operating. To assist, Los Alamos County Council approved moving forward with a Retail LEDA program during its regular meeting Tuesday night. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com

By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com

It goes without saying that local businesses could use some help. Los Alamos County is providing that assistance through a new version of the Local Economic Development Act (LEDA).

This addition, known as Retail LEDA, would not replace the current LEDA program. Rather, it would provide public assistance to local businesses engaged in specific retail activities, such as food and beverage service, clothing and apparel, health and personal care, and tourism.

These funds are intended to support investment in capital infrastructure or building improvements, assist with storefront and façade improvements, and accessibility and other upgrades. The grants and loans will be structured as performance-based agreements so that funding is tied to job creation, increased tax revenue and other community benefits.
In the FY 2026 budget, council allocated $400,000 for the LEDA Retail program. This money would be awarded in $20,000 increments up to $100,000.

During Tuesday night’s County Council meeting, council passed a motion 6-1 to move forward with the Retail LEDA program. Councilor David Reagor was opposed. Now with council’s approval, Economic Development Administrator Shanna Sasser said the program should be operating “in a few weeks.”

Reagor said he was opposed not because he didn’t support the program but because he felt it still needed some work. For instance, he said he felt the details for the security requirement needed to be stated more explicitly.

“So, you made a lot of progress here … but I think it still needs a little more work ….,” Reagor said, adding that “this is a great piece of progress…”

Council Chair Theresa Cull said she felt the best way to determine what needs to be revised in the program is to enact it.

“As we implement this process we’ll learn from it,” she said.

Councilor Randall Ryti agreed.

“I think it is important to get something out to the actual applications, potential applicants … we can look at this and see what the obstacles are … I think we will find out by seeing the applicants come in and I would like to see this work,” he said.

Before going to council, County staff attempted to provide clarity to business owners about the new program. A question-and-answer town hall was held July 22.

During the town hall, Sasser said this new LEDA program was necessary because “We need opportunities for growth.”

“We need to revitalize our commercial areas and boost visitor and local spending,” she added. “We need to enhance our quality of life, diversify our local economy and support tourism and complimentary activities.”

The Retail LEDA program does this by addressing critical retail gaps, Sasser said.

These gaps are in food services, clothing and apparel retail, health and personal care and cultural, tourism and experience-based retail.

“These are the key markets that we’re going to be looking at to provide this funding for,” she said.

It would also attempt to put the plug on retail leakage meaning residents are leaving the Hill to spend money, which makes owning and operating a business in Los Alamos County a challenge.

Sasser said the Retail LEDA program will consist of two parts.

The first part will be eligibility screenings. To be eligible, she said applicants need to:

• Address a documented retail need
• Demonstrate capital investment and a long-term commitment to proposed location or project
• Be compliant with all planning and zoning regulations
• Be current on all tax obligations
• Meet all applicable environmental regulations
• Provide financial documentation such as three years of financial statements or business plan pro forma financials
• Be directly engaged with retail operations

The application process begins with a questionnaire that applicants can complete online and must be able to answer “yes” to all six questions.

The second part, Sasser said, includes a review that would be conducted by the Economic Development Division. Then a review committee comprised of several County departments will evaluate the feasibility of the applicant’s proposed project. If the committee recommends the project, the applicant will work with County staff to create draft security and participation agreements. The proposal will then be presented to the County Council during a public hearing. If council approves, then the project participation and security agreements will be finalized. Once the compliance period concludes and all the requirements are met, the project is formally closed out and any remaining security or collateral is released. If noncompliance is identified, there could be an extended compliance period or a claw back of awarded funds, per state law.

In response to several inquiries made during the July 22 town hall about the timelines for this process, Economic Development Program Manager Anita Barela gave more details about the schedule during Tuesday’s council meeting.

She explained that the review committee should provide comments and give a decision within 30 days. If approved, then an introduction of an ordinance for the LEDA agreement should go to council at their next possible meeting. Following that, Barela said a public hearing and council action should occur at minimum two weeks after the introduction of the ordinance. There will be a 30-day appeal period followed by the participation agreement and security agreement being signed. Barela said the period for participating in the LEDA program is two to three years.

When SALA Event Center Owner Allan Saenz asked during the town hall how the new LEDA program differs from the existing one, County Manager Anne Laurent said, “I would look at this as a strategic targeting and marketing effort to issue smaller amounts for the purpose of LEDA and to simplify with our templates on how you engage with it … (the County wants to) reach out to all the small businesses, make sure they know it’s there, have them think about if they’re eligible, what they might be interested in, and also understand a little bit more … (about) where there is some leakage in spending that all of us would really benefit from having that spending happen here rather than off the hill.”

Local landlord Chris Luchini commented that it appears the money awarded in the new LEDA program isn’t equal to all the effort applicants are required to provide to get the money.

Laurent said it does depend on what a business intends to do with the money; she further noted the biggest challenge will be the security agreement and providing cost estimates.

Sasser noted County staff are here to help the Retail LEDA applicants.

“In the second stage, they will meet with the County staff, and we will help them with the application,” she said. “We can make sure they have a quality application, hold their hand, help them through the process so they know what to expect and that there are clear pathways of what’s going to happen.”