If there’s been one consistent message coming from The Bridge of Southern New Mexico over our 12-year history, it’s been the importance of accelerating students not just toward high-school graduation, but also college completion. more

Four new Noodles & Company restaurants are planned for the El Paso and Las Cruces area during the next three years, the public relations firm Konnect Agency said in a news release. more

Tresco Inc. contracts division has been renamed Tresco Works. The division has offered employment opportunities to persons with varying disabilities through federal, state and commercial agreements/partnerships, Tresco said in a news release. more

Among the many services that Tresco, Inc. provides to the children and adults it serves are programs to brighten their Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. more

A cannabis dispensary has opened in Las Cruces at 1405 S. Valley Drive. It’s in the same shopping center with Village Inn restaurant, near the intersection of Valley and Avenida de Mesilla. Green Goods opened Aug. 18. The company is a subsidiary of Goodness Growth Holdings, Inc., which defines itself as “a physician-led, science-focused cannabis company and IP (intellectual property) incubator.” more

The Las Cruces Home Builders Association’s (LCHBA) 48th annual Showcase of Homes will be held Friday through Sunday, Sept. 17-19 and 24-26. Hours are Fridays, 4 to 7 p.m.; Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. A twilight tour is 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 24. A total of 11 homes will be on this year’s tour, LCHBA Executive Officer Nicole Black said. That’s about half the usual number because homes are selling so quickly, she said. Currently, about 95 percent of the homes built by LCHBA-member contractors are pre-sold, Black said more

Crude Intelligence Group LLC (CIG) is a new and unique business in Las Cruces. CIG, which opened earlier this year, specializes in government and politics, capital expansion and corporate intelligence. more

Elegant Nails, a full-service salon, held its grand opening Sept. 1, at 2240 E. Lohman Ave., in the shopping center that also is home to Sally Beauty and Batteries Plus. more

Nusenda Credit Union is helping to fund two significant projects at New Mexico State University that will help promote student success over the next 10 years. more

Beck’s owners Tyrell Thacker and Arianna Parsons have opened Willow + Blaine Boutique Garden to Table Wine Bar & Bistro in the 91-year-old brick building right next door to Beck’s at 118 N. Mesquite St. more

The pandemic has laid bare the importance of broadband as never before. more

“Las Cruces can, and will, be a better place if we will try to emulate the qualities that made Roberto so special,” said Steve Ramirez about his long-time friend and Las Cruces icon, Roberto Estrada, who died Aug. 18 at age 84. Estrada started the Whole Enchilada Festival, which gained international attention and was named one of the strangest food festivals in America by USA Today in 2015, which was the last year of the festival. His world-renowned enchilada (measuring 10-plus feet in diameter) included more than 1,000 pounds of ingredients. Estrada started the festival in 1980 and cooked for 32 of its 34 years. His giant enchilada even made it into the Guinness Book of World Records. more

Among the takeaways from thousands of hours of phone conversations with Las Cruces small business owners since the onset of Covid was that “they love what they do” and their primary concern is for their employees, said Small Business Development Center at Doña Ana Community College (SDBC) Director Jo Ann Garay and Business Adviser Jennifer Therrien. “I didn’t have one business owner that thought of themselves first,” Garay said. “They were doing everything they could to keep their employees on.” more

Back to school this year came with an extra-heavy sigh of relief after last-year’s Covid shutdowns that impacted students and families nationwide. The very real cost of learning loss, quantified in a national study by McKinsey & Company, pointed to a potential lifetime earnings loss of $61,000 to $82,000 for the average K-12 student. For students who dropped out of school during this time, their future earning loss may be as much as 21 percent on average. more

Gym Magic began in 1993 with leased space on Picacho Avenue “with about eight gymnasts,” said president and founder Nancy Bates, Ph.D. With a ribbon cutting on July 24, Gym Magic, including Ashley’s Garden preschool, 2341 Entrada del Sol, added The Village Early Childhood Development Center, 601 Española St. more

The story of MEW + Company Boutique began when Las Cruces artist Mary Ellen Wunderlich started selling hand-made cards at the Las Cruces Farmers and Crafts Market in 2017. more

In New Mexico since 1936, Nusenda Credit Union has opened a convenient branch in Las Cruces. The company is inviting new customers to join and is providing an on-site location for the many existing customers already in the county. more

The business is called Mi Abuelo Organic Chiles because one of owner Robert Baca’s superheroes is his grandfather (abuelo), Ruben Baca, and because his chile is certified organic, which means it is free of herbicides, synthetic fertilizers and preservatives. They are also certified as Hatch chile. more

Adrian Gonzalez, project controls manager for Jordan Foster Construction of El Paso, has joined the board of directors of the Border Industrial Association (BIA), BIA President Jerry Pacheco said. more

I write today with hope for the future and gratitude for the resilience of our provider team at MountainView Regional Medical Center and MountainView Medical Group. more