During last week’s meeting of the Winslow City Council, Lois Yates and Joel Pentz from Global Logistics Development (GLD) Partners spoke in person to the council about the trade port the organization has been working with the city to develop.
This trade port, to be built on land adjacent to the Lindbergh Parkway and Highway 87 when the parkway is built, is not associated with the project being developed by Atlas Global Development, but a multi-modal logistics site developed by GLD, meaning it could accommodate both rail and truck freight, and serve as an interchange between the two. The partners addressed the council to provide an update and to pass a contract for the City of Winslow to join other partners in the trade port development deal, including Kingman, and Albuquerque and Bernalillo County both in New Mexico. The contract is effective from February 2025 to August 2026 and isn’t to exceed $75,000.
The scope of work for the contract includes research and development for federal funding proposals, coordination with state and federal agencies and gathering letters of support for the project. The council passed the contract but first heard from Yates and Pentz. Yates said, “We have spent the last few meetings talking about the project and now we want to talk about ourselves.” Their presentation focused on the expertise the organization has cultivated through similar infrastructure projects and the partners they have had in the past. They also provided updates on how the plan is going and noted they are in final agreement negotiations with the three major hubs, Winslow, Kingman and Albuquerque.
The partners said the project has already received $40 million in public and private investment, including a $15 million RAISE grant, recently renamed BUILD under the Trump administration. Yates said the Trump administration seems committed to bettering rural infrastructure and believes that, despite federal budget cuts, funding for this project will remain unfazed.
Yates said they are still working from the same agreement the Winslow Council passed last year and expects to bring a more finalized version back to council at the end of March to begin developing the site in Winslow more specifically.
The council also heard from White Mountain Economic Development about a possible local business incubator. The group has been working for the past few months with businesses around town and the Mother Road Farmer’s Market to assess local needs and figure out how best to support them. Russ Yelton and Donald Laughlin, the men behind White Mountain Economic Development, spoke to the council about their time interviewing local business owners. They determined that local businesses would benefit from industry-specific support, especially in the food sector. They have worked with the city and Laurie Lashomb from the Farmer’s Market to locate a commercial kitchen for rent, since abiding by sanitation laws in residential kitchens can be difficult.
They discussed the need to expand the food industry in Winslow and the broader need for more local food and goods for both residents and tourists. They outlined the strengths and opportunities an incubator would bring, such as a shared storefront where businesses can have affordable rent. Possible locations include the building next to the current police department, located at 720 W. Third St., and the old council building and jail that the Farmer’s Market is currently using, located at 115 E. Second St. They also explained how the city could potentially fund this storefront with grants on the state and federal level.
In other business, the board:
* Approved an agreement with Winslow Hot Shots for free use of city owned baseball fields.
* Approved contributing $250 to both the Little Colorado Astronomy Clubs first annual Astro Pageant and the Soroptimists of Winslow’s annual Bunco tournament fundraiser.
The next meeting of the Winslow City Council will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 25, in the meeting room located at 523 West Second St.
