Feeling the pinch
Sky City businesses lay off employees

ABOVE: Sky City Travel Center cashier Clarice Aragon pauses for a brief moment between customers Friday while working the main register inside the convenience store. BELOW: Helice Valdo, a cashier at the Sky City Travel Center, counts out change for a customer Friday, while above her a convex mirror offers a view of the store and customers shopping. [photos by Jeff Jones / Independent]

By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

PUEBLO OF ACOMA — Acoma Business Enterprises, the business division of the Pueblo of Acoma, has laid off 22 employees because of decreased revenue and has restructured a number of positions within the company, consolidating some and eliminating others.

Marvis Aragon, CEO of the company, said management looked at positions, not people.

“Tribal members and non-tribal members were both affected,” he said, stressing restructuring of the company was intended to be more efficient as the main reason for the layoffs.

Sky City Casino Hotel is not in jeopardy of closing, and the other business ventures, the hotel, the cultural center and museum, the travel centers, the RV park and Sky City Communications, are still open and operating and will not be closed, he said.

Rumors have hit the streets in the last week or so — including everything from hundreds of employees being laid off to the casino being closed — none of these rumors are true, Aragon said.

“We are managing ourselves as an organization, and there is no secret that the economy has affected our businesses and I suspect many other businesses out there,” Aragon said.

Acoma Business Enterprises is the largest employer in Cibola County, with an average of about 712 employees throughout the year. The 22 laid off positions are about 3 percent of the employee total.

A former employee told the Independent the layoff has affected him because he has a wife and two children and there is now no income for the family.

He is eligible for unemployment, however, and only has to call the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions call center in Albuquerque at (505) 841-4000.

Since it is a long-distance call and there is no toll-free number for the call center, the former employee can apply for unemployment through one of the department’s area facilities, which are called Workforce Connections, said Carrie Moritomo, spokeswoman for the department.

Still evolving

“Were still evolving as an organization,” Aragon said.

“We have employees at different levels, not all front line employees, but all positions were looked at throughout the entire organization and some employees were moved into other positions.”

He said, for instance, some employees in marketing were now assuming more responsibilities and two separate security departments, hotel and casino, were consolidated. Security officers are protecting not only the hotel property, the RV park and travel center, but the casino as well.

“There are two ways to approach a declining economy,” Aragon said. “Either do nothing or do something.”

By increasing marketing efforts, the impact of declining revenues may be lessened and there may not be any further need for more layoffs, “Nothing is certain, but at this time, there are no plans for further layoffs,” he said.
Tourism is down and visitors to the casino, the cultural center, the RV park and travelers buying gas at the two travel centers at Interstate Highway 40 exits 89 and 102, are decreasing.

Attracting tourists to the cultural center is a major part of ABE’s plans; but a lot of those people do not go into the casino, Aragon said, “they are looking for a specific cultural experience.

“I believe we have a reputation in the cultural tourism arena, where we can offer someone the ability to spend the night in the hotel and visit the cultural center, the museum and Sky City, then also go see the ice caves, Chaco Canyon and other area attractions,” he said.

Impact

A new Hampton Inn, with a travel center and an Arby’s restaurant was announced previously for a groundbreaking this spring.

That project, which will cost about $11 million, and was expected to bring about 40 jobs to the area, is still planned to be constructed this year, opening in early 2009, Aragon said.

Even though the economy is declining, Aragon said he expects no layoffs or decrease in the total number of positions at the hotel, travel center and restaurant. The project will be located at the southwest corner of Interstate 40, exit 85 in Grants.

The impact of the Navajo Nation’s casino opening later this year is expected to result in fewer customers from the Gallup, Window Rock, Shiprock and the Navajo reservation, Aragon said.

ABE is working with the Acoma-Canoncito-Laguna Hospital to build a new dialysis center, which will bring additional jobs to the area, but he said he did not know how many.

As the economic decline ends at some point in the future, Aragon said ABE will be better positioned and will be in a stronger position than before the recession.

“One of my goals is to bring these people (laid off former employees) back into the company as positions become available through attrition,” Aragon said.

He said some of those affected have gaming licenses and in order to keep those licenses active they must be employed.

He said ABE is seeking ways to possibly move some of those laid off into other positions as they become available — even if the position is not the exact some type the employee had previously — as long as they are qualified for the new position.

To contact reporter Jim Tiffin call (505) 285-4560 or e-mail: jtiffin.independent@yahoo.com