Cibola County knows what a boom feels like.
We have lived through moments when the future seemed to arrive all at once. Mines opened. Families came. Businesses filled storefronts. Neighborhoods grew. A community that had once been small and scattered found itself tied to something larger than itself.
We also know what happens when a boom fades.
The empty lots, closed businesses and quiet buildings around us are not just signs of decline. They are reminders. They tell the story of a community that helped power the country but was left to carry the consequences when the economy changed.
Our history matters now – I think more than ever – because I believe Cibola County is approaching another great moment of opportunity.
Maybe Cibola’s boom will come through energy. Maybe through uranium, clean power, workforce development, tourism, Route 66, housing, industry or some combination of all of it. More likely, it will not be one single thing.
Cibola’s boom will be several things at once, moving together if we are smart enough and prepared enough to guide them.
Across Cibola County, the City of Grants and the Village of Milan, there are professionals in the managers’ offices who are doing real, hard work for the betterment of the people.
I have seen enough from these officials who are leading the community to not only believe but know there are people in local government who understand that Cibola cannot afford to just drift into the future. We have to prepare for, and steer towards it.
That means we cannot treat the next boom like something that happens to us by accident, like stumbling upon yellowcake. We have to treat it like something we are directly responsible for – because we are.
When investment comes, we need to make sure it strengthens the community. When jobs come, we need local people trained and ready to fill them. When revenue grows, we need to position those resources carefully so our city, village and county remain strong long after the first excitement has faded.
This boom should build paychecks, but also roads, schools, housing, parks, water systems, public safety, local businesses – it should build our future. This boom must leave behind something our children can benefit from decades down the line.
The future will not be perfect. No economy ever is. But I truly believe Cibola County is moving toward a new chapter, and maybe even a new boom.
The question is whether we will be ready for it.
I think we can be – I think we must be.
God Bless Cibola County, and God Bless out Troops.