SAN LUIS VALLEY — Rep. Matt Martinez (D-62) brought a group of visitors from Denver to tour the San Luis Valley, including a bipartisan cohort of four fellow legislators from the State House and representatives from 40 powerhouse businesses in Colorado.   

The tour, dubbed “Baseline Camp,” was sponsored by Colorado Competitive Council (C3), a non-profit advocacy group that creates “policy solutions that benefit Colorado businesses,” ensuring the state “stays competitive locally and globally”.  

In support of that goal, C3’s Baseline Camp takes legislators and business leaders to  different regions across the state, forging strong relationships while learning of issues that have statewide impact.  

Martinez selected three stops for the tour, starting with the USDA Rural Development Mutual Self-Help program in Monte Vista. In this program designed for “low income” people, homebuyers participate in the building of their own homes, creating significant “sweat equity” that lowers the cost of constructing a house, ultimately making the home affordable where it might not be otherwise. 

Community Resources and Housing Development Corporation (CRHDC), located in Alamosa, helps on both the front end and back end of the process by selecting applicants for the program, working with them on budget management and taking them through all the steps involved in applying for a homeowners’ loan. 

Once the individual (or family) is ready to apply, the loan is granted through the USDA Rural Development Mutual Self-Help program, often with lower than market interest rates and 33 year loans instead of 30 year.  

In order to qualify for the program, the homebuyer must agree to spend 30 hours per week – either by themselves or with the help of friends and family members – for six to eight months, constructing the house they will ultimately buy.  

Licensed professionals do the more complicated tasks, such as electricians wiring the house for electricity, but the vast majority of construction is done by the homeowners under the supervision of an onsite construction manager.  

The benefits and rewards of the arrangement are immeasurable. As was evident in videotaped interviews with people who have built their own homes, the pride they feel in their home is remarkable and the skills they learned in the construction process will be something they can always use.  

In some cases, the skills acquired have opened up new employment opportunities for people. But most moving were the stories of the homeowners who acknowledge that, without the program, they never would have been able to live in a house where “my kids can each have their own bedrooms.” 

A tour of the homes testified to the quality of the work with beautiful cabinetry, high quality lighting, countertops and floors complementing well-chosen appliances that, as is standard practice, were paid for by the homeowners separate from the loan for the mortgage. 

Further, in the bigger picture, the program benefits the local economy as all professionals needed in construction are hired locally and construction materials are purchased from local vendors.  

The responses from legislators and business leaders provided perhaps the strongest endorsement as several of the legislators who had previously dismissed the program were, by the end of the presentation, “sold”, so to speak. 

After the new housing site in Monte Vista, the tour went to the site of the Colorado Potato Administrative Council (CPAC) where Troy Bauder of CSU Extension and Jim Ehrlich, CPAC’s leader retiring from the position he’s held for the last 18 years, addressed the group. Bauder and Ehrlich provided an overview of the enormous economic impact and production scope of the potato industry in the San Luis Valley. They also provided some insight into the challenges inherent in growing such a crop in the high desert of the San Luis Valley where water is a scarcity, the looming threat from the PVY virus that has the potential to do tremendous damage while also highlighting the unparalleled impact potatoes have on the Valley’s local economy.   

Another challenge related to the lack of an adequate experiment station in the Valley. Not only does the lack of advanced equipment hinder the station’s ability to get research assistants, technology that’s advancing everywhere is advancing in agriculture, too, and funds are desperately needed to upgrade and expand the facility to ensure healthy agriculture going forward.   

The group then visited the campus of Adams State University, recognized as Colorado’s premier Hispanic Serving Institution. 

When asked about his selection of places, Rep. Martinez told the Valley Courier, “There are so many good things going on in the Valley. I wanted to show them some of our real accomplishments.”