Posts Tagged ‘CLC-TV’

Article courtesy of the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce

The Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce’s Commercial Space Committee will hold its first 2010 Dona Ana County Spaceport Community Council Meeting from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, January 26, in the commission chambers at the Dona Ana County Government Center, 845 Motel Blvd.  The meeting is a free forum that is open to the public to present the newest information available on Spaceport America and the burgeoning aerospace industry in southern New Mexico.

The evening’s presentations will focus on tourism-related activities taking place in the area and across the state that are focused on the one-of-a-kind combination of Spaceport America and New Mexico’s unique tourism assets.

The two-hour event will be hosted by Bob Diven, and start with an update on construction and business development progress from Steve Landeene, executive director of Spaceport America. Additional presentations will be given by an outstanding set of panelists including:

• Jennifer Hobson – New Mexico Tourism Department
• Randall Hayes – New Mexico Museum of Space History
• Bob Pofahl – Picacho Mountain Development
• Jerry Brown – Spaceport America Hard Hat Tours
• David Hicks – Las Cruces Convention Center
• Davin Lopez – Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance (MVEDA)
• Dr. Janet Green – NMSU’s School of Hospitality, Restaurant and Tourism Management

The remainder of the evening will be question-and-answer time for those in attendance to learn more about the project and its impacts on local/regional tourism. Questions will be gathered from attendees as they enter and will be presented to the panel by Diven.

The event will be taped and will air at a later time on CLC-TV cable channel 20 for those that are unable to attend.

The Spaceport Community Council Meetings will continue to be a regular quarterly event allowing the community to stay current with the status of Spaceport America and stay engaged in the process of “Building a Spaceport Community”.  Future meetings scheduled for 2010 will focus on educational and economic development impacts of the growth of Spaceport America and a new Commercial Space Industry in the region.

For more information, contact the Chamber office at 524-1968.

The first Spaceport Community Council Meeting was held on July 21, 2009 at the Dona Ana County Government Center.  The public meeting was sponsored by the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce‘s Commercial Space Committee. The event was moderated by Garrey Carruthers, former governor and Dean of the New Mexico State University College of Business.

Steve Landeene, Executive Director of Spaceport America, provided the audience an update on the progress of Spaceport America. His presentation included videos (click the links to view) of the May 2^nd New Mexico Education Launch and the June 19^th Spaceport America ground breaking event.  Videos are also available on YouTube.

Wayne Savage, Chair of the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce’s Commercial Space Committee provided an overview of the committee’s activities in the community to help develop and publicize business opportunities related to the Spaceport. He announced that the next public forum would be held on October 20, 2009 at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum. The event, The Leonard R. Sugerman Public Forum, is part of the 2009 International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS).

Following the presentations, questions from the audience were answered by representatives from Spaceport America, the Las Cruces Public Schools, MVEDA, and elected officials, including State Representative Andy Nunez, County Commissioner Scott Krahling, and City Councilor Dolores Connor. The event was taped and is being aired on the City of Las Cruces’ CLC-TV cable channel 20 for those that are unable to attend.