Ignacio Chamber of Commerce President Andrea Taylor announced Wednesday that Johnny Valdez, who has run the Four Corners Motorcycle Rally for three years on a volunteer basis, has signed a letter of intent to purchase the rally organization.
Valdez, who also served on the chamber’s board of directors, has resigned his board seat to avoid a conflict of interest as the sale is discussed, Taylor added.
The chamber owns Ignacio Chamber Events, a separate corporation that operates the rally. The chamber has operated the rally for the past several years.
Attendance and income have grown over the years, but the rally has not been able to pay off a $60,000 loan from Regional 9 Economic Development Corporation. In 2014, engineering for a zipline for the rally cost drastically more than the original estimate, cutting into the rally’s profits.
“I just basically offered them an out to pay Region 9 and pay off the debts,” Valdez said in a phone interview Thursday. He said the sale could be completed within the next few weeks.
The rally is on track to make a profit in the next few years and has been paying more professional staff for services such as security and financial operations, Valdez said. Valdez said he hopes he might be able to bring in more charities to work the event to raise money for their groups.
“It’s a huge thing for the region in general,” Valdez said of the rally. He might take on financial partners, but said he will mostly operate the venture on his own.
He has applied to the state for the rights to the name for Four Corners Motorcycle Rally in a limited liability corporation.
This year’s rally is the 23rd to be hosted in Ignacio and is set for Sept. 4-7.
Last year’s rally had 10,000 people paying to come through the gate, Valdez said, and many rallygoers said they plan to come back. Extreme midget wrestling and rock concerts attracted locals to the event, as well.