By Alisa Boswell-Gore

A Roosevelt County teen survey conducted by Ogallala Commons in conjunction with the Small Business Development Center in 2016 showed that Roosevelt County teens say they are unlikely to stay in the county after high school due to lack of career and recreational opportunities.

Although 48 percent of teens said they could picture themselves living in their hometown area in future, 41 percent said they were unlikely to very unlikely to stay in their community after high school graduation with a large number of students citing lack of career and money-making opportunities in the area, as well as lack of entertainment and recreation.

According to the study, 67 percent of the teens surveyed would volunteer if asked by an adult in their community, but only 19 percent had ever been asked.

In the survey, teens cited more restaurant and shopping options, more entertainment for teens and more job opportunities as ways to make their local community a better place.

“The need for a teen hangout or recreation center with positive activities was expressed as important,” the survey read. “Interest was also expressed for community clean-up projects, (such as) planting trees and community improvements utilizing volunteers.”

So, what’s the solution?

Various organizations in the Roosevelt/Curry County area are in the midst of trying to figure that out.

Eastern New Mexico University hosted the Roosevelt County Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Thursday to follow up with local businesses regarding providing more internship opportunities to their students.

Acting dean for the College of Business John Luhman said that the COB program has been actively growing over the last several years with general business degrees being the highest pursued degree while accounting was the second highest.

University President Jeff Elwell and COB professor Jean-Marc Gandonou encouraged businesses to work with them to offer internships to their COB students, with Luhman saying although it was the COB that reached out, internships for students of any degree would be welcome and passed along to the appropriate college/department.

ENMU senior Areli Beltran shared at the luncheon that her internship with United Way of Eastern New Mexico has been life changing.

“I cannot tell you the magnitude of how amazing the experience has been for me and how much it has helped me in my career. I have learned so much,” said Beltran. “I am better prepared than I was last semester. I have grown a lot in the past six months. I am 100 percent more confident than what I was last semester, and I know when I enter the job force, I know have so much talent and skill that I’ve learned that I learned that I can bring.”

Beltran has been running United Way’s “Community Conversations,” a forum being held around Roosevelt and Curry counties to discuss with community members what the biggest needs are for youth and children. She was not available for comment on the progress of the program.

Director of the SBDC Sandra Taylor-Sawyer said as a follow up to the study, the SBDC held an entrepreneur camp for Clovis high school students and is trying to also work with the various Roosevelt County school districts to host the same camp at their schools.

She said a youth entrepreneur fair is also in the works for Curry, Roosevelt and De Baca county high school students, “so students will have an opportunity to complete a business proposal plan and go before some investors to tell the investors about their business.”

The fair will be held April 26 at Clovis Community College, and the students selected can win cash prizes.

In the meantime, as far as recreational activities go, Portales MainStreet Executive Director Sandy Vigil said she is trying to come up with more activities for middle school and high school-aged youth to hold in conjunction with MainStreet events, such as Fifth Fridays, while local business owners Julie Rooney and Mary Newell are planning a gaming area in their newly remodeled business, The Happy Place, when it reopens on Main Street.

*Note: Students interested in entering the E-Fair will need to submit an Investor Fact Sheet by April 19 to Sandra Taylor-Sawyer at sandra.sawyer@clovis.edu.  The Investor Fact Sheet and the criteria that will be used to score the entries are available at the SBDC, the Clovis Chamber of Commerce, the Roosevelt County Chamber of Commerce and online.