San Juan County backs $6 million Durango Machining project, jobs and grant funding

San Juan County commissioners moved to put the county behind a roughly $6 million Durango Machining Innovations project that could add 22 jobs along N.M. 170 and help fund two rotational lining machines through a $250,000 state grant.

County Attorney Joe Sawyer read Ordinance 131, which would let San Juan County act as fiscal agent for the New Mexico Economic Development Department money tied to construction and renovation for the project. Sawyer described rotational lining as the process of creating a seamless bonded thermoplastic polymer coating on the inside of metal equipment such as tanks and pipes, a niche manufacturing service with clear uses in pipeline and industrial work.

Ben Kneller, president of Durango Machining Innovations, said the company’s capital investment is estimated at more than $6 million and that the facility could be operational later in 2026. He said two machines are being retrofitted into an existing building, and that the company’s patented products and techniques are used primarily to protect new pipelines. Kneller also said the process requires a large oven and significant natural gas, and that the company has connected to New Mexico Gas Co.

Rebecca Hansana, a representative for the Economic Development Department’s northwest region, said Durango Machining serves regional and international customers and operates alongside sister companies. She said the company plans to use the Local Economic Development Act grant and the Job Training Incentive Program to support hiring, making the project part of a broader effort to turn industrial investment into permanent payroll in San Juan County.

Broadband was the other major economic decision with long-term consequences. Commissioners discussed Comcast’s project to extend fiber service to more than 3,100 underserved locations, a buildout that matters in a county where reliable internet can determine whether residents can work from home, access telehealth, run businesses or keep up with schoolwork. State broadband officials said in 2025 that about 90,000 New Mexico locations remained unserved or underserved, and they still describe fiber as future proof while expecting contracts for the last 10 percent by the end of 2026.

Comcast said in December 2024 that it expanded next-generation fiber access to more than 23,000 New Mexico residences and businesses that year and invested more than 100 miles of new network infrastructure statewide. Commissioners also approved grant-funded upgrades for the Sheriff’s Office, heard infrastructure and federal partnership updates, and recognized Sexual Assault Awareness Month, underscoring how the county is balancing industrial recruitment, broadband access and public safety in the same budget season. The commission generally meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 4 p.m. in the Commission Room of the San Juan County Administration Building in Aztec.