We are seeing some recovery in the steel industry. This past year was the worst we have seen in the last 10 years. The prison handles medium-security inmates. The facility has 1,075 men and women prisoners currently housed, and its capacity is 1,224. Wackenhut recently completed the first phase of an industry building in which prisoners are expected to manufacture inmate uniforms and computer circuit boards, according to Milton Shupe, information systems manager and special projects manager for the facility.
Agriculture is an important industry in Hobbs and Lea County.
There are 19,000 cows on 14 dairies in the county, and the industry is undergoing a major expansion with plans to bring in another 10,000 cows in the near future. Alfalfa is the main crop in Hobbs and Lea County. Lea is also second in the state in peanut production. Corn silage, which is used as feed for dairies, is another important crop. Even though the community was counted at 32,000 in population during the 1990 Census, Hobbs is a Retail Trade Zone, serving an estimated 100,000 people in a 55-mile radius, said Battaglini.