LANL Completes Voluntary Separation - Survey Characterizes People Taking the Separation

A long period of uncertainty about the nature and extent of LANL's "workforce restructuring" process has finally come to an end with the announcement by LANL that no further cuts will be pursued in the immediate future beyond the 430 or so voluntarily separating employees.

In response to the uncertainties, the Los Alamos Chamber convened a "community preparedness" dialogue late last year aimed at bringing a number of groups together to address the state of community preparedness for helping people in the face of continuing uncertainties with LANL budget and employment. The goal was to get better coordinated and to take a proactive approach to being prepared to help. Representatives of more than 35 groups and organizations have participated to date. This effort is being worked as part of the Chamber's CommunityMatters initiative.

One of the first needs identified by the group was for good information about people who would be leaving LANL and what their needs and interests are. The Chamber prepared a survey and worked with the community group to groom it to provide useful information. LANL gave it to most of the people taking the voluntary separation and Community Programs Office has compiled responses from the 140 that have been returned so far. Click here for a summary of all responses (pdf). Click here for a summary of Los Alamos resident responses (pdf).

Los Alamos in the Movies

Significant portions of the feature film “Brothers” are being filmed in Los Alamos during December and January. LACDC and the Los Alamos Chamber have played a significant role in working to bring the filming activity to the community. About 150 people are involved in the film crew and their presence has turned into hotel stays, meals at restaurants, visits to local merchants, and exciting opportunities to local residents to work as extras in the movie. "The assistance we have received from LACDC and the Chamber has been excellent and I think that it made the difference between the producers choosing New Mexico over other filming sites they were looking at," says David Manzanares, Unit Manager for the film. "They made the connections, brought the right people to the table at the right times, and have been consistently responsive." Kelly Stewart of Los Alamos County and John Wolfe of Los Alamos Public Schools have also played important coordinating roles.

The State of New Mexico Film Incentive Program was also an important factor. It is designed to lure film production back to the United States, to compete with Canada and Eastern European countries, which offer very generous incentives to American Film Companies. The program provides gross receipts tax rebates from State government to films produced here. Look for those Los Alamos locations when the movie plays at the Reel Deal in the future. You can read more about the movie by searching for the title at www.imdb.com .

The director of the film, Jim Sheridan is well known for films such as In America, My Left Foot, and In the Name of the Father. The cast includes Toby McGuire, Jake Gillenhall, Natalie Portman, Sam Shepard, and Mare Winningham. Portions of the movie are also being filmed in Santa Fe, Glorieta, and Las Vegas.

Our Community Matters

by Kevin Holsapple, Executive Director, LACDC & Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce

Our community matters. Much more so than the average small, remote community we have played a very important role in the world. Despite all of the uncertainties that have weighed upon us over the past couple of years and that we continue to face in the coming months, I believe that our community possesses abilities and potential to continue to play an important and positive role in solving problems that the world needs addressed. I think that, as a community, we owe it to the world to do our best.

Being part of a community matters to all of us from the most self-reliant among us to those who need help. Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote, “We don't accomplish anything in this world alone ... and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one's life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something.” I think that is right … without community, no individual person can survive much less thrive.

The Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce has undertaken an initiative that we call “CommunityMatters” as a community building and support activity. Our aim is to rally effort and energy behind the notion that our community matters and is here to stay. Many of our members are actively participating in the projects that are forming the initiative so far. Some activities, like the community dialogue that has formed to address preparedness for helping people deal with effects of LANL uncertainties are addressing near-term community concerns. At the same time, other activities such as cooperative promotion of businesses through the Essence of Los Alamos & White Rock tabloid and the Locals Care loyalty card program aim to build and improve community relationships for the long-term.

Some voices in the community seem to focus on the short-term and have nothing of substance to say about the long-term. We think it is important to think about both the short-term and the long-term needs of the community. The short-term presents obvious challenges and we must do our best to address and meet them. The long-term is where we have the chance to achieve our potential as a community though, and only through constant, consistent effort will we be able to bring about the future that is possible. We must reject calls to abandon our long-term potential because of near-term fears and general fear of change.

Do you believe that community matters? If so, we invite you to learn more about the Chamber’s CommunityMatters initiative, and get involved at http://www.ourcommunitymatters.info/

Los Alamos MainStreet Awarded Capital Outlay Grant

Los Alamos MainStreet has once again succeeded in obtaining a commitment on NM State government capital outlay funding in support of a proposed downtown project. A $86,000 award was announced by the Governor in December designated for Los Alamos Canyon Rim Trail improvements to be constructed in conjunction with the Los Alamos Plaza project. The money will leverage private property owner investment in this public amenity. Los Alamos Plaza has received site plan approval and a building permit is currently pending approval by Los Alamos County.

Los Alamos MainStreet is a program activity of Los Alamos Commerce & Development Corporation (LACDC) focused on downtown vitality.

CommunityMatters .... because community matters!

The Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce has undertaken an initiative called CommunityMatters. The impetus for the initiative is what the Chamber perceives as a need to energize our members, and through them the larger community, in the face of the difficulties produced by current budget and staffing uncertainties at LANL. The initiative has several features to start, and more are expected to be added as the initiative progresses. Features:

• A new publication, The Essence of Los Alamos and White Rock was introduced in November and will be published bi-monthly in the coming year to highlight members and provide inexpensive marketing opportunities. Essence offers participating members the opportunity to advertise for the entire year for a one-time $100 fee.
• Videos promoting the benefits of local expenditures have been placed at the Reel Deal and on Comcast and on the web at www.shoplosalamos.com The videos communicate the benefits of local expenditures for community life and for tax-funded infrastructure and services.
• The Chamber has teamed with Locals Care to provide a customer loyalty card marketing opportunity to locally-owned businesses and a new source of revenue to participating not-for-profits. Locals Care rewards customers of participating member businesses with cash credits and donations to their designated not-for-profit organization. To launch the Locals Care program, shoppers are automatically entered into a drawing for an all-inclusive Caribbean vacation for two. For details of the contest, the Locals Care program, and information about participating go to www.shoplosalamos.com
• We have initiated a consumer feedback process to gather and organize information that can help members improve their businesses and services. An online form for feedback is available at www.shoplosalamos.com Individuals providing feedback are automatically registered for a periodic Chamber Check drawing.
• The Chamber has undertaken facilitating a community dialogue addressing community preparedness for helping people deal with effects of LANL uncertainties. To date, more than 30 organizations represented by more than 40 individuals have participated. There are four areas of work that have formed. Three of them are in areas where participants feel we already have the ability and resources to work -- they are “Public Information/Education”, “Cataloging Resources”, and “Researching Lessons Learned by other communities”. The fourth area of work is formulating community recommendations/requests to LANL & various governments that will help the community to be better prepared and better able to respond to our current situation. Action plans have been drafted and there is a variety of work on the actions already in process.