Clovis & Portales, New Mexico: quality life on the high plains

New Mexico Business Journal, July, 1990 by Carolyn Pressley

Valencia peanuts are shipped throughout the United States, Europe and Asia and are contracted to major producers of peanut products.

The peanuts are processes in Portales at three major mills and at several smaller, family-run facilities.

Roosevelt County is also first statewide in production of distiller's grain sorghum (milo) and ethanol production. Energy Fuels of Portales is a major consumer of the grain sorghum, and that business provides 50 jobs.

Roosevelt County is ranked second statewide for production of wheat and potatoes; third for corn, dairy cows and milk; and fourth for all crop production. The county is ranked sixth for cotton production, seventh for all livestock, and 12th for cattle and calves.

The city has a 79.8-acre industrial park with adjacent rail and highway access and utilities available.

The city is served by the Santa Fe Railway with three to eight trains daily, five freight lines, bus service by New Mexico Transportation and a local airport with private plane and charter facilities.

Education

Portales has a strong school system with special programs to serve a varied student population. The school system operates with a $9,397,886 budget.

Special emphasis is placed on computer literacy, and access to computers is provided to students at all grade levels. There are programs also for special education and gifted students.

Portales is the home of Eastern New Mexico University which is known for its strong educator training program, business, broadcasting and fine arts programs. ENMU also maintains branch campuses in Clovis and Roswell.

The student enrollment of 3,900 students comes from all over the region and nation.

Culture/Recreation

ENMU's College of Fine Arts offers plays, concerts and recitals, dance programs, and art exhibits throughout the year. Major renovations were made last year to Buchannan Hall to provide better facilities for musical presentations, and by fall 1990, a new $4.5 million theatre arts complex will be completed.

There are four museums on the ENMU campus including the Roosevelt County Museum, Natural History Museum, Miles Museum and the Paleo-Indian Institute Museum. The Roosevelt County Museum preserves 19th and 20th century artifacts including documents, photographs, furniture, equipment and other memorabilia describing life at that time in Roosevelt County.

The campus also manages the Blackwater Draw Museum located between Portales and Clovis on Highway 70, featuring fossils and artifacts discovered at the site which represent signs of Paleo-Indian habitation in the area almost 12,000 years ago.

Recreational facilities in the area include bowling, swimming, tennis, baseball and softball, and the city sponsors an intramural sports program. The Portales Country Club has a nine-hole golf course.

Portales celebrates its past with "Heritage Days" each Memorial Day weekend and includes a parade, a New Mexico Rodeo Association-sanctioned event, arts and crafts booths, and a variety of music and entertainment.

The Peanut Valley Festival is held each October. ENMU hosts the annual arts and crafts fair and musical entertainment by bands, singers and country fiddlers.