The Horse Business
New Mexico To Profit from Catering to Cowboys
By Emily Esterson , 2-16-06
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On Saturday, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association announced it would move its headquarters from Colorado Springs for Albuquerque. According to KOAA-TV Colorado Springs, New Mexico offered the PRCA a $17 million incentive package to move the assocation and the Rodeo Hall of Fame to the city.
Colorado Springs loss is Albuquerque's gain. The Albuquerque Journal reports that the PRCA will bring 85 jobs and a $3.35 million payroll to the city. Insiders in the horse industry say Colorado Springs made little effort to keep the PRCA in its town, and that the Colorado Springs area was no longer hospitable to the horse industry.
The Governor told the PRCA that he plans to build a $30 million equestrian center next door to the PRCA facility. Richardson created the New Mexico Rodeo Council last year, and in December pledged $700,000 to improve rodeo arenas around the state.
The PRCA told the Rocky Mountain News that the State of New Mexico's offer was too good to turn away. And while the PRCA was not specifically looking to move, New Mexico actively recruited the organization. The state's challenge, like many areas of the west, will be to keep horse-friendly Albuquerque that way--and even improve upon it by upgrading facilities and building new ones that enhance the areas of the state that are already active horse neighborhoods. As Denver, Boulder, and Colorado Springs become too crowded and expensive, New Mexico can capitalize on its open space, inexpensive land (relatively speaking) and plethora of horse activities.
Not a bad move.
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