Pfaff Bain promoted to head Taos County Chamber
Lindsey Pfaff Bain has been named executive director of the Taos County Chamber of Commerce. She has served as director of membership and events since 2012.
Pfaff Bain takes the helm as former executive director Susan Cady becomes part-time business manager with the chamber. Cady recommended Pfaff Bain to the chamber board for the executive director position.
“The board truly appreciates and recognizes the leadership Cady has provided for the past eight years. This plan to transition leadership was accelerated by the events of this year but has been in our long-term vision for some time,” according to a statement from the chamber board.
Pfaff Bain and Cady “will still work as a team with the board to advocate, communicate and implement deliverables to our members and the community.
“As most businesses have pivoted to address new concerns, the Taos County Chamber of Commerce has adapted to new business challenges and the new roles for staff reflect those changes. The Taos Chamber remains committed to cultivate and sustain a healthy business environment while providing learning, networking, promotional and informational opportunities to our members and the greater business community,” read the statement.
Free legal fair
A Virtual Free Legal Fair will be held Oct. 28 and Oct. 29 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., both days.
People with legal questions about divorce, custody, child support, kinship/guardianship, unemployment, immigration, personal injury, landlord/tenant, foreclosure, bankruptcy, creditor/debtor, wills, probate, powers of attorney, public benefits and more can consult with a lawyer during the fair.
You must register in advance by filling out either the Family Law Registration form or the Civil Law Registration form. Your signature is required.
Find the form online at nmcourts.gov/Eighth-District
Court/taos-telephonic-virtual-freelegal-fair-2020.aspx, download, fill out and return the form at the help desk, District Court clerk’s office. Or email the completed form to Gino Unzueta San Miguel, program manager, at taodgus@ nmcourts.gov.
Deadline today for artist emergency grants
Today (Oct. 15) before midnight is the deadline for artists to apply for emergency relief grants from the Fulcrum Fund, a grant program of 516 ARTS and a partner in the Regional Regranting Program of the Andy Warhol Foundation
This is the third round of emergency relief grants to benefit local artists. In partnership with the Frederick Hammersley Foundation, which is providing an additional $65,000 toward this effort, this round will provide grants of $1,000 to 91 individual artists in New Mexico who have lost income as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The grants are intended to pay for essentials such as groceries, rent, child care and medicine.
Encore Gallery at Taos Center for the Arts won a grant in the second round of funding, which went to art spaces.
Apply online at 516arts.org/ opportunities/fulcrum-fund.
Friday deadline for county business CARES grants
Taos County has Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security
Act small business grants of up to $10,000 per business located in Taos County, but the deadline to apply is Friday (Oct. 16). The county received $525,000 in emergency grants and $292,000 in small business grants through CARES. County manager Brent Jaramillo said 19 applications had been received as of Tuesday (Oct. 13).
The CARES Act provides that payments from the fund may only be used to cover costs that “are necessary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency with respect to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID–19); and were incurred during the period that begins on March 1, 2020, and ends on Dec. 30, 2020.”
The town of Taos also had CARES small business grants available through a little more than $479,000 received. The deadline to apply for the first round was Oct. 9. The town received 87 applications and is reviewing them. The town also received a little more then $1 million in CARES Act emergency grant funding.
Businesses that are ineligible to apply are those based outside of New Mexico, exceeding 50 full-time employees, with annual revenue exceeding $2 million and/ or that opened after March 1, 2019.
Required documents include: completed application form; certificate of good standing; copy of your payroll to include March 1, 2020; most recent payroll at time of application; documentation of March and April 2019 total gross receipts; most recent taxes documenting net taxable income; unemployment insurance tax documentation for the fourth quarter of 2019; completed W9 form; and County Vendor Certification Form.
For questions regarding the application, email Taos County at CARES_BusinessApplication@ taoscounty.org. After submitting the application, you will be notified of your award amount and be required to sign a grant agreement.
State receives $1.5 million rural broadband grant
New Mexico has received $1.5 million from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to fund broadband connections in rural areas of the state such as Taos County.
U.S. senators Tom Udall, D-N.M., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M. and U.S. representatives Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., Deb Haaland, D-N.M., and
Xochitl Torres Small, D-N.M., hailed the grant from the Economic Development Administration to the New Mexico Department of Information Technology.
The state will use the funds to “provide technical assistance to local and tribal governments in rural areas of the state to connect their communities to broadband. Internet access is a critical component of the state’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, as broadband will facilitate telework, distance learning and telehealth services,” according to a statement.
“Affordable and accessible broadband internet is fundamental to economic growth, health care delivery and education and is essential for success in today’s society,” said Udall, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Senate Broadband Caucus, in the statement. “And broadband internet is more critical than ever for tribes and rural communities in New Mexico as we all do our part to slow the spread of coronavirus.”
All five of the lawmakers voted in favor of funding under the CARES Act.