Archive for the ‘Borderplex Expansions’ Category

Article courtesy of the Las Cruces Bulletin

By Samantha Roberts

As 2011 comes to a close, businesses are rushing to make end-of-the-year deadlines, including renewable energy certificates (REC) for solar that will change in 2012.

F&A Dairy Products will be expanding its solar systems, adding four 100kilowatt units to the existing unit the dairy installed in May. “The four additional units will fuel different parts of the complex and will be located next to the existing unit,” said Bob Snyder, vice president of New Mexico operations for F&A Dairy. Snyder said the dairy decided to add the additional solar now, so it could take advantage of incentives that will expire in 2011.

“RECs are at a peak right now,” said Mellow Honek, a managing member of Sunspot Solar Energy Systems, which installed the panels at the dairy. “They are great right now, but they will still be good next year. The incentives are not going away, but will be changing. “I would definitely recommend other people (add solar). It’s a step in the right direction toward energy independence. And we have an abundance of sunshine here.”

“We thought if we were going to do it, it better be this year,” Snyder said. “The panels significantly offset the energy we use. “Solar does create enough energy to make a difference.”

Though the dairy uses too much energy to be entirely generated by solar, Snyder said the panels will help “take out some of the peaks.” “This is just to offset costs,” he said. “A dairy is a big place, and we use a lot of utilities to process the milk into cheese.”

Honek said the amount of solar the dairy will have after construction on the additional panels is completed in March 2012 will be equivalent to 100 solar systems on mid-sizes houses. “To my knowledge, the one 100-kilowatt unit the dairy has now is the largest commercial system on a privately owned building in New Mexico,” Honek said. “The system after everything is completed will be five times that size.”

Honek said installing all of the panels will take about 1,300 man hours. “The dairy has been a great customer, and they are a perfect example of a company that is making an investment in a major resource we have here,” Honek said. “Powering a portion of their plant using solar shows what is possible for businesses to do to reduce long-term energy costs.”

The dairy doubled in size a little more than one year ago and now employs about 140 people. “We are constantly making changes,” Snyder said. “Our goal is to get both plants running to full capacity.”

F&A Dairy distributes its products to Toucan Market and other distributors. Locally, Dion’s Pizza is a purchaser of F&A Dairy products.

The Future of Dairy in New Mexico

F&A Dairy is one example of growth the dairy industry in New Mexico has seen over the past few years. “Southern New Mexico is a major player in the dairy market,” said Jeff Witte, director/ secretary for the New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA).

“Southern New Mexico dairies have an abundant milk supply,” Snyder said. “Farmers are leaving California and coming to New Mexico and the Texas panhandle.”

Milk production in New Mexico averages more than 600 million pounds per month, according to the NMDA. New Mexico currently has 173 dairy farms, with a large number of them in eastern New Mexico. There are 20 processing plants in the state.

“Dairy in New Mexico saw growth in the eastern portion of the state from 2008 to ’09,” said Robert Hagevoort, extension dairy specialist with New Mexico State University. Hagevoort said cheese plants in Clovis, N.M., and Dalhart, Texas, spurred this growth. “There are benefits in New Mexico for the dairy industry,” Hagevoort said. “There is a lot of agriculture in New Mexico, so farms can grow the feed that dairies need, and they, in turn, can supply the farms with fertilizer. “There is a natural free flow from each one.”

Hagevoort said dairies also use marginal farmland so they don’t compete with other crops. However, dairies are struggling with drought conditions, high feed costs and corn prices that are increased from ethanol demands. “Depending on world economy, the future of dairy in New Mexico is still great,” he said. “It all depends on larger economic factors beyond our control. Linking energy to food policies doesn’t make any sense.”

Article courtesy of the Las Cruces Bulletin

By Todd G. Dickson

Technology is increasingly more common in the battlefield while the future of government funding is becoming more unknown, said White Sands Missile Range’s new Commander Col. John Ferrari.

Speaking at the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce annual military update luncheon Thursday, Dec. 15, Ferrari said the range’s people are working to keep the range a key player in conducting tests of the new technology while becoming a more efficient military installation.

Ferrari, who became the range’s commander Aug. 18, said it’s all the skilled and creative people who will be making the range successful in meeting the new objectives and roles. He also acknowledged the strong support the range gets from the local population. “In the end, it’s all about people,” Ferrari said. “It’s the people of New Mexico and the people of this community that allow us to complete our national security mission.”

Along with WSMR, neighboring Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo and Fort Bliss in El Paso are seeing their missions change and expand. “We’re going to change, because we have to change, because the world around us is changing, too,” he said. High-tech testing will continue to be WSMR’s main mission, he said, and so the base as an organization is looking for ways it can continue to offer value and find new funding. At its current level of operations, he said, WSMR’s contribution to the local economy is estimated to be worth about $1.8 million a day.

NewTec, a company that provides technical support to the range, alone employs about 520 people, said Charles Garcia, company president and CEO. Personnel at WSMR also provide important analysis for the government, especially in the area of countering attacks and protecting systems and weapons from the effects of attacks, he said. That work includes testing building construction and materials to be able to withstand an explosion or finding new methods to detect bombs, he said.

The base has a strong medical community for the more than 900 employees, Ferrari said, who are not only there for the soldiers and the families stationed at the base, but they play a key role in occupational safety along with caring for those who may get injured in testing activities. He said the medical personnel also provide services to local veterans. The range is home to the Navy’s only commissioned naval vessel on land for testing systems before they actually go to sea, he said.

One of the most recent and significant changes for the base has been the addition of the 2nd Engineers Battalion, most of whom have just come back from Afghanistan. Members of the battalion have the dangerous job in war to find and disable or contain improvised explosive devices. Ferrari remarked that most of the battalion is made up of young soldiers who volunteered for the service knowing they would certainly go to war and perform a hazardous job. They do that dangerous work because they trust the technology and engineering, he said.

“We’re creating those systems that they’re entrusting their lives with,” Ferrari said The main base covers 3,200 square miles of land, but “that’s not even enough to do what we do” he said, so a few times a year, the range must ask surrounding ranchers for their help when the testing requires 5,000 square miles. “We’re even doing tests up in Cloudcroft,” Ferrari said. “That’s why we appreciate the graciousness of the people of New Mexico.”

Where much of the past testing has been on missile systems, much of the future testing will be on the reliability of electronic technology in the field and protecting them from being jammed or disabled, Ferrari said. That also includes communications, which is critical to systems such as GPS, he said.

WSMR has a tradition of excellence it must maintain as it adjusts to the changing “fiscal environment,” he said. “We have to protect that brand image,” Ferrari said “We do things here that can’t be done anyplace else, anywhere.”

Besides improving general efficiency, WSMR is training existing employees to be less specialized, he said. The challenge, he said, is to break the military paradigm of caring too much about organizational structure and focusing on accomplishing the mission with the workforce on-hand. That makes the quality of local education even more critical, he said. “We’ll get through this difficult financial environment together, because we will not get through this separate from each other,” Ferrari said.

Article courtesy of the Las Cruces Sun-News

By Brook Stockberger/Sun-News Business Editor

LAS CRUCES – “Las Cruces, manufacturing hub!”

Well, southern New Mexico’s largest city might not gain that moniker anytime soon, but the reality of an operating Spaceport America north of town and the start of construction on a $400 million Union Pacific Railroad facility south of town, has spurred increased interest in Las Cruces among manufacturing and logistics companies.

According to a recent quarterly report, the Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance says that 65 percent of all new leads are in the manufacturing sector.

“This is a great area to be growing in because manufacturing/logistics generally involves paying local people and local suppliers to make things that people outside the region pay for,” said Christine Logan, economic development administrator for the city of Las Cruces.

L&M Radiator and Alaska Structures both moved into town and created manufacturing jobs. That was welcome news that came on the heels of a stretch last decade in which Las Cruces lost Parkview Metals, Rea Wire Magnet Wire and manufacturing jobs with Taylor Precision Products. “Both of these companies moved from El Paso to Las Cruces,” Logan said. “A big factor was that we had facilities here that they could move into and expand their operations. A recurring theme in the city’s economic development efforts has been the need for existing industrial space.”

Minnesota-based L&M had a facility in El Paso, but outgrew that location and turned its eyes north across the state border. “Our business has seen a tremendous amount of growth over the last year,” L&M Radiator President Dan Chisholm said when the company decided to move. L&M, which makes cooling systems for heavy machinery, is leasing about 52,000 square feet of manufacturing and warehouse space on South Valley Drive.

In addition, TE Connectivity, an electronics component manufacturer, will relocate 100 jobs to its Santa Teresa plant from El Paso. “In the next three years, we’re hoping those 100 jobs grow to 250,” said Jerry Pacheco, vice president of the Border Industrial Association.

According to the city’s most recent economic development report, the manufacturing business category makes up just 1 percent of the businesses and 4 percent of the jobs.

Still, Davin Lopez, president and CEO with MVEDA, said that the area is increasingly showing up on companies’ radar. MVEDA works to bring companies to Doña Ana County and to help those already here expand. “We continue to see manufacturing leads increase as a percentage of total leads developed,” Lopez said. “This category also includes logistics companies. Whereas this category accounted for approximately 39 percent of all leads in the last fiscal year, we have seen it grow to 65 percent of in the first quarter of this year.”

Both Logan and Lopez said that the Union Pacific facility in Santa Teresa plays a major role. “Over the past 12 to 18 months, we have received greater interest from manufacturing and logistics firms due to the Union Pacific announcement,” Lopez said. “A $400-million-plus investment catches attention both regionally and nationally.

“It has enabled us to not only showcase opportunities in and around the Santa Teresa region but also to bring greater attention to the Las Cruces region where we happened to have existing facility space that fits the needs of some of these companies,” he said.

“We are getting more attention lately because, No. 1, we had vacant facilities to accommodate companies,” Logan said. “No. 2, there is pent-up demand for manufacturing space since no one wanted to expand or relocate in the worst of the economy and, No. 3, the proximity to the Union Pacific intermodal facility makes this a great place to locate a manufacturing facility.”

Brook Stockberger can be reached at (575) 541-5457

Two of the three renewable energy projects in Doña Ana County are on-line and producing electricity under a power purchase agreement with El Paso Electric. Construction for the third solar energy project has begun in Las Cruces.

NRG at Santa Teresa

NRG Energy, through its wholly owned subsidiary NRG Solar, completed construction recently on the Roadrunner Solar Generating Facility, which is one of the first large-scale solar projects built in New Mexico.  The Roadrunner Solar Generating Facility is located on 210 acres near the Santa Teresa Port of Entry. Its 340,000 photovoltaic solar panels can produce up to 20 megawatts of electricity, which is enough power to supply 6,600 homes in El Paso Electric’s system. (Related story)

NextEra at Hatch

NextEra Energy Resources, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy, recently completed one of the largest concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) systems in North America on 39 acres in the Hatch Industrial Park, 7 miles west of the Village of Hatch. The 5-megawatt (MW) system, with 81 solar tracking concentrator panels, was funded by Village of Hatch Industrial Revenue Bonds. The Village put an emphasis on New Mexico jobs for New Mexicans. (Related story)

SunEdison at Las Cruces

SunEdison, one of the largest solar energy providers in North America, has begun construction of the solar power generation facility at the City of Las Cruces West Mesa Industrial Park.  The 12MW solar power project is expected to require 230 construction jobs for a 6-9 month period.

Article Courtesy of the Las Cruces Sun-News

By Diana M. Alba

UPHAM, N.M. – Bottle of champagne in hand, British billionaire and Virgin Group founder Richard Branson on Monday christened Spaceport America’s diamond feature – a $32.5 million terminal-hangar that one day will house the vehicles belonging to his fledgling spaceline – by rappelling off the building’s face, accompanied by a troupe of aerial dancers. It was Branson’s first visit to the under-construction, southern Sierra County spaceport since October of last year, when state officials formally dedicated a 10,000-foot runway.

Appearing with Branson for the first time was Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, who took office at the start of the year. U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., and astronaut Buzz Aldrin, too, were among a crowd of about 720 dignitaries, spaceflight gurus and future suborbital-space tourists who attended the ceremony.

Martinez – who sparked concern among spaceport supporters at the start of her tenure because of her abrupt personnel changes – said the spaceport was at the start of the “second space age” and touted the 550 permanent jobs it will create. She said the number that could grow to 2,000. “It’s about jobs and helping people meet new challenges and fulfill dreams,” she said.

Branson dubbed the three-story, sting ray-shaped structure the “Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space,” a name previously OK’d by state spaceport officials.

Prior to the rappelling act, Branson and spaceport officials lauded the terminal-hangar building for its design.  Branson said it was notable not only for its impending use as a home to spacecraft but also its environmental friendliness. He described it as “one of the most beautiful, striking buildings you’ve ever seen.” “It’s a 21st century building for a 21st century business,” he said.

Several speakers highlighted an involvement of space researchers with Virgin Galactic flights, a growing market.

Construction of the spaceport’s first phase, including the terminal-hangar, runway and operations building, is about 93 percent done, officials have said. A second phase, which includes constructing visitors’ centers and paving a southern road to the remote site, is underway.

Making its second visit to the spaceport was the two-vehicle system, under development in Mojave, California that will launch from Spaceport America, possibly in 2013.

Future astronauts gather

Present Monday were more than 150 of the future astronauts – the largest gathering of future astronauts in history, said George Whitesides, president and CEO of Virgin Galactic.

Master pastry chef Eric Lanlard of the United Kingdom, the 117th spaceflight customer, expects to be aboard the 30th flight, once operations begin. He bought a ticket, he said, because of the historic nature of the venture. The visit was his first to the spaceport, though he’d previously seen the vehicles in Mojave, Calif. He described the hangar building as “impressive.” “This is where it’s all going to happen,” he said.

Construction on the terminal-hangar should be done in late November, nearly a year behind schedule, spaceport officials have said. State spaceport authority member David Buchholtz said the delayed schedule would be more concerning if Virgin Galactic already had finished its vehicle development, which it hasn’t. He said he’s pleased with progress made in the last month. “Ultimately our major job in the near- to mid-term is to make sure the construction is finished,” he said.

WhiteKnightTwo demo

The event started Monday morning with a take-off, demonstration and landing of WhiteKnightTwo, the Virgin Galactic aircraft that will carry SpaceShipTwo aloft for a mid-air launch, where it will rocket tourists to suborbital heights. In all, about 460 people to date have booked spaceflight seats, plunking down deposits totaling $58 million, Virgin Galactic officials said.

Spaceport officials have said they expect Spaceport America to boost tourism across southern New Mexico.

Virgin Galactic ticketholder Craig Curran of Rochester, N.Y., who’s also one of 65 space travel agents certified by the spaceline, said while other spaceport proposals exist, Spaceport America is on par to become the first operational commercial spaceflight facility in the world and that fact in itself will attract visitors. “As far New Mexico goes and Las Cruces, there’s no question: ‘This is the birthplace of human space travel – the average person, not just a professional astronaut or someone in the military,” he said.

Opponents of the spaceport contend it’s a waste of taxpayer money and that’s it’s subsidizing trips for the wealthy to space.

Not all in support

Invited guests only attended the event, hosted by Virgin Galactic. But at the gates of the spaceport, a handful of protesters, including one with a megaphone, caught the attention of tour buses arriving at the site. Some expressed frustration at the draining of at least one local family’s ground well, a consequence of pumping for spaceport construction. One sign read: “Occupy Spaceport.” Sierra County Sheriff Joe Baca said the protesters caused no problems.

Branson also unveiled the terminal-hangar’s new address: No. 1 Half Moon Street. The company has a noted house in London on Half Moon Street, he said.

To cap the day, six aerial dancers from the group, Project Bandaloop, tied off lines from the terminal-hangar’s second story, onto the face of a 250-foot long pane of windows that make up the building’s eastern face. Part way into their performance, Branson rappelled down and performed in the show.

Pearce said the project is not only an economic engine, but it’s also at the forefront of a new venture for humanity. “We have here a renewal of the human spirit that I think is going to infect the world,” he said.

Martinez told Branson she’s considering a new possibility. “I may have to add it to my bucket list – to fly into space,” she said.