LAS CRUCES — Hobbs and Lea County, not Las Cruces and Doña Ana County, will be the location of the $1 billion Center for Innovation, Testing and Evaluation (CITE).

“Ultimately, we determined Hobbs and Lea County was the best fit for CITE based on the available land, infrastructure and breadth of community support that is required for this type of project,” Bob Brumley, managing director of Pegasus Global Holdings, said in a news release Tuesday. “We have always known that the state of New Mexico is the perfect place for CITE, and we have spent a considerable amount of time searching for and evaluating the right location within the state.”

Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima said he was notified by Brumley, by telephone, only moments before a late-morning news conference that the lucrative project was going to Hobbs. “In the end, I was told it was a business decision,” said Miyagishima, of the brief phone conversation he had with Brumley. “Obviously, I’m disappointed.  ”I understand that a fair amount of the income they plan to make will come from energy they produce and will be able to sell back. Apparently, that kind of infrastructure is already there, and we would have had to build it here.”

CITE will be the first-of-its-kind fully integrated test, evaluation and certification facility replicating a true, modern-day city in size and scope. It will comprise urban, suburban and rural environments and include a mix of new and aging infrastructure. The facility will give clients a one-of-a-kind opportunity to test and evaluate their technologies in a setting that most closely simulates real-world applications. The test infrastructure will not be populated, allowing for a true laboratory without the complication and safety issues arising from having residents.

“I’m proud that New Mexico is able to provide a home for a state-of-the-art project like CITE,” said Gov. Susana Martinez. “We have worked closely with Pegasus Global Holdings to see the selection process through in order to bring jobs and innovation to our state, and I’m pleased that they are moving forward in New Mexico. This is a great opportunity for growth and job creation and I’m excited to see the impact that CITE will have on the region and the state.”

In December, the New Mexico Partnership, on behalf Pegasus Global Holdings, solicited proposals from 16 communities across the state that were interested in CITE. An advisory committee was formed to evaluate the proposals and determine which were viable options for the CITE project. Lea County and Doña Ana County were the finalists for the project.

John Hummer, a Las Crucen who served on Pegasus’ advisory board, said while Las Cruces will not be the location for Pegasus, the project is good for the state. “As a member of the advisory group, it’s always been about New Mexico,” Hummer said. “From a Las Cruces perspective, absolutely, it would have been great for Las Cruces.”But I can’t say just how proud I really am to a part of the community, and the way we came together to represent Las Cruces. Hobbs got the prize, but New Mexico wins either way.”

State Economic Development Secretary Jon Barela agreed. “We are very pleased by the sizable capital investment which will occur, along with the jobs that will be created in New Mexico,” Barela said. “The decision to bring CITE to New Mexico is a testament to the hard work performed by all parties involved.”

Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., said regardless of where the project goes, New Mexico is the big winner. “It is a testament to our district that the two final locations under consideration were both in southern New Mexico,” said Pearce, who is from Hobbs. “With the selection of either site, New Mexicans benefit. I congratulate Doña Ana County for being chosen as a finalist, and I thank them for the hard work that they have done. Additionally, I congratulate Lea County on being selected, and I commend Pegasus for bringing jobs to New Mexico.”

Groundbreaking of the CITE facility will be in June. It’s anticipated that at least 350 direct jobs and 3,500 indirect jobs will be created in its design, development, construction and ongoing operations.

No matter what business opportunity you have in mind, there’s a way to make it happen in Doña Ana County.

At the Business in the Borderplex luncheon Tuesday, May 1, three speakers gave updates on development and plans at Arrowhead Business and Research Park, the West Mesa Industrial Park and the Santa Teresa Industrial Parks.

Kevin Boberg, CEO of the Arrowhead Center, Christine Logan, economic development administrator for the City of Las Cruces, and Jerry Pacheco, vice president of the Border Industrial Association, illustrated intriguing pictures of possibility. If you have a small, start-up business, particularly one that’s technology related, you could get the ball rolling in one of Arrowhead’s incubator offices, with critical built-in support.

If you have a manufacturing company, there is plenty of room at the West Mesa Industrial Park in Las Cruces. Infrastructure and utilities are already in place. The city also is working on a pre-permitting process to decrease the lag time between a property sale and breaking ground on construction.

If you have a manufacturing or warehousing business, you can take advantage of the exploding Mexican maquiladora (manufacturing facility) industry by locating near the Santa Teresa Port of Entry in the southern part of the county. Foxconn – which, with 1 million employees, may be the biggest company most people have never heard of – has a maquila a mile south of Santa Teresa in Mexico. At that facility, they are cranking out up to 55,000 Dell computers a day.

Since Foxconn moved, Pacheco said, the dollar value of the total goods going through the port has gone from $1 billion a year to $1.2 billion a month. This creates a demand for enterprising businesses to locate near Santa Teresa, selling materials to Foxconn.

Pacheco described a 500-mile long “bucket” south of Santa Teresa along the Pan-American Highway that is straddled by maquiladoras. All are potential customers to businesses that could provide materials, and every inch closer to the maquiladoras shaves shipping costs.

That’s a huge benefit of having your company in Santa Teresa versus Saint Louis. Or even Santa Fe, for that matter. “In cargo,” Pacheco said, “pennies count.”

Operations should begin at the Sapphire Energy biofuel facility in June, the vice president of corporate affairs reports. Tim Zenk, of San Diego-based Sapphire Energy, said the first phase of construction, which will lead to the beginning of operations, will be finished the middle to end of June. At that point, the pond systems used to grow algae for biofuel crude will be filled.

“We’ll bring it up to about 20 acres or so, a little over 20 acres, and operate throughout the summer,” he said. “The first summer will be sort of a shakeout period to make sure all the systems are working properly and the bio algae is working as we think it will.”

Most of the pond systems are completed, he noted, and the seeds to begin growing the algae have been planted in inoculation ponds to begin the growth. By September, he expects a different strain of algae that thrives in “hot, intense” conditions to be planted.

“We’ll be producing crude oils all summer long,” he said. “The beauty of algae is, we’ll be growing it, harvesting it and extracting those oils. We’ll be using that crude oil for various certifications and testing of the product itself, making sure the fuels that get refined out of the crude oil meet the proper industry specifications and military specifications.” Working samples of fuel from the algae crude have already fueled test flights in two Boeing 747 jet airplanes over Japan and Houston, Texas.

With the U.S. military and federal government setting its sights on more green fuels and less on foreign oils, Sapphire is working toward bringing its 100-acre facility up to full production capacity by 2013-14. The U.S. Navy consumes about 30 million barrels of fuel a year and has plans to launch a “green fleet” by 2016. Sapphire hopes to step into that niche with its production.

The company broke ground on the current site, which is located near the village of Columbus, in June 2011 and has since over 500, Zenk says. Currently there are about 150 people working on the job site.

“Most of the workers are coming from the surrounding area; all the trades from the welders to pipe fitters, electrical workers,” he said. “There’s a large number of those folks from New Mexico on site.”

He said 19 New Mexico contractors have been hired for the job with about $6 million spent. He said another $2 million has been spent in Deming and the surrounding area on hotel rooms, security, food and other services. He says the company has spent just under $10 million in New Mexico alone.

The facility near Columbus is part of the company’s research component which includes a Las Cruces facility with close ties to New Mexico State University.

Dr. Lewis has produced and directed films and television programs on 4 continents and is an award winning documentary film director.  He has worked for CBS, NBC, MTV and other major media companies.  His PhD is in Interactive Film from Queensland University of Technology (Australia).  He is currently working and doing research on different artistic and alternative film technologies.   He teaches the Business of Filmmaking Sound Design, and Documentary Film at CMI.  Prior to his work at NMSU, he was the Program Director of Arts Management for Oxford Brooks University (UK) at their Budapest, Hungary campus.

The HTC monthly meeting featuring Dr. Lewis’ presentation will be 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM, Friday, May 18^th in the Sunset Grill at the Sonoma Ranch Golf Club (1274 Golf Club Road), Las Cruces.  For more information call Richard Majestic at 521-0018 or email info@htcnm.com.

LAS CRUCES – L&M Radiator in Las Cruces and Tyson Prepared Foods, Inc. in Santa Teresa each recently received Job Training Incentive Program funds from the state to hire and train new workers.  Tyson was awarded $99,724 to fund 86 new jobs while L&M took in $42,184 for 22 jobs.

Statewide in March and April, the program’s board approved a total of $331,906 to help six companies throughout New Mexico hire and train a total of 127 employees. The start reports that the average wages for those jobs are about $12 an hour with some as high as $47 an hour

]]> http://www.mveda.com/blog/2012/05/two-las-cruces-area-business-receive-funding-to-hire-more-workers/feed/ 0 http://www.mveda.com/blog/2012/04/regional-economic-development-forum-may-17-2012/ http://www.mveda.com/blog/2012/04/regional-economic-development-forum-may-17-2012/#comments Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:17:35 +0000 mveda http://www.mveda.com/blog/?p=2433 The Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance (MVEDA) will host its annual Regional Economic Development Forum on May 17, 2012 at the Las Cruces Convention Center, 680 East University Avenue. This year’s event is entitled “TechNext – Transitioning to Technology Growth Economic Development” and will focus on the resources necessary to develop a stronger technology-based economy.

The Forum will provide case studies on communities that have been successful in diversifying their economy through the development of technology-based industries, blended with panels from leading critical component professionals and technology-based industries from our region. The keynote speaker, James Gollub, Managing Director of E-Cubed Ventures, has vast experience in developing strategies to help build high performing, sustainable economies.

The Forum is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. including a continental breakfast and lunch. Registration is $30 per person, payable by check or credit card.  The last day to register is Wednesday, May 2^nd.  No tickets will be sold at the door. Registration forms may be downloaded at this link: TechNext Registration.

The company looking at creating a $1 billion “ghost town” for real-world testing of new technology is expected to make its decision by early May to either build near Las Cruces or Hobbs.

Pegasus Global Holdings is proposing to build what it’s calling Center for Innovation, Technology and Testing (CITE) for replicating city buildings and neighborhoods to confidentially and safely test new technology before they are introduced to the market.

After looking at a variety of sites near cities across the nation, Pegasus has narrowed it down to two finalists in New Mexico – Las Cruces and Hobbs.

Recently, Pegasus filed for a lease on more than 15,000 acres of state trust land around Coralitos Ranch west of the Las Cruces International Airport and in Lea County for a sublease of about 1,000 acres of state trust land near Hobbs with the intent to buy adjacent private land.

Building the city would create around 300 jobs, roughly the same number of technicians and workers who would be employed to keep it running, said Robert Brumley, senior managing director for CITE.

Brumley visited Las Cruces Monday, April 16, as part of the company’s “due diligence” process of visiting the two communities to meet with local government, economic development and education officials.

New Mexico was picked for the project because its abundance of available land, good roads and three research universities, he said. The state also has an extensive fiber optic Internet network, which he said will be critical to the work done at CITE.

Because it would be a city running at any time of day or night, a relatively isolated locale was needed, he said, but not too isolated.

Once the final site is picked, Brumley said Pegasus wants to quickly get the land acquired and all regulatory requirements in line to begin construction by the end of June. Most of the early work will be in infrastructure and development of utilities before the roads and buildings are built, he said.

Construction of CITE is expected to take about two years, he said.

Both Las Cruces and Hobbs have been welcoming to the proposal, Brumley said.

Noting a uranium processing plant that opened in Hobbs, Lea County did have a very strong economic development focus and a lot of the desired infrastructure was already in place. Because the uranium plant employs experts from all over the world, its public and technical training schools have done a good job adapting the instruction to its needs.

Although there are benefits to just leasing the state land, Brumley admitted there were concerns about the process, which would require the property leases to be put out to bid, even if it would be highly unlikely there would be competing bids for the land. In Hobbs, there is a large amount of private land that is available for Pegasus to buy, he said.

Brumley said he did like that Las Cruces residents are used to high-tech testing with work done by New Mexico State University and White Sands Missile Range.

As a concept, CITE would be a “dumb city” to test “smart technology.” This could be as simple as testing wireless communications around buildings. But it could be as complex as having driverless shipping trucks on the roads. That’s why people can’t actually live at CITE, Brumley said.

“You can’t do these things in a lab where everything is perfect,” Brumley said. “You’ve got to take it out and kick it.”

CITE would become a national asset like the federal national laboratories, Brumley said. He said CITE would help the state’s research universities and national labs to transfer research projects into commercial products.

A new program at New Mexico State University’s Arrowhead Center that aims to take near-to-market technologies being developed on campus and help speed their way to the public has picked its first projects to fund.

Called Launch, the program helps NMSU researchers from any college to license their innovations or even start their own businesses in order to stimulate economic development in the region.

“Launch provides an opportunity for NMSU’s award-winning researchers to collaborate with a diverse team of professionals at the earliest stages of development,” said Jason Koenig, technology licensing associate at the Arrowhead Center. “These collaborative efforts will dramatically increase the likelihood that the discoveries realize their potential in the marketplace.”

A panel of judges, including representatives from venture capital firms, New Mexico Angels and the New Mexico Economic Development Department, were recruited to gauge the commercial potential of the submitted projects. Judges reviewed the applications, listened to the presentations and held question-and-answer sessions to determine the winners.

One of the first Launch awards went to a team comprised of Jeffrey Arterburn, professor of chemistry and biochemistry; Charles “Brad” Shuster, associate professor of biology; and Kevin Houston, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry.

Initially, the research team will be conducting various experiments on the different classes of the product HPY-Fluoralogues, followed by studies and comparisons. HPY-Fluoralogues are fluorescent biological imaging agents, or probes, for biochemical and cellular investigations, paving the way for studies that increase understanding of biological processes, as well as helping to identify new drugs for the treatment of disease. Working with the Arrowhead Center, the team will continue to explore the numerous market options for the various classes of dyes associated with HPY-Fluoralogues, initiate discussions with investment groups that have expressed strong interest, and conduct an early patent literature search. Once that work is completed, the team will have the needed information to file a utility patent application based on claims defining the invention.

The other Launch award went to a team consisting of Geoffrey Smith, professor of biology; and Shuquang Deng, professor of chemical engineering.

The market for hydrogen is growing worldwide. Among the advantages of using hydrogen is that it only produces water and heat. However, the actual production processes, like hydrogen from natural gas, produces carbon dioxide. New and cleaner ways to produce large amounts of hydrogen are necessary. The researchers’ work will involve optimizing conditions to produce a hydrogen biopolymer in quantities sufficient for purification and chemical characterization. With the Arrowhead Center, the team will continue its market research to identify, and travel to, specific hydrogen-producing refineries and discuss client needs. Additionally, the team will begin working on a business model and exploring licensing and investment options.

Each team will receive $25,000 in cash, along with in-kind services to research, market, develop and commercialize their discoveries.

LAS CRUCES, NM – The New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) has announced two contract awards to companies located in the State of New Mexico. The contracts are for Spaceport General Services and the Spaceport Operations Center (SOC) Fit Out Design.

Western Building & Development, LLC of Las Cruces was selected as the Spaceport General Services Contractor.  Western will be tasked with the development of policies and procedures for pre-operational and operational support for all general services activities to include: building and utility maintenance and repairs, interior and exterior building maintenance, janitorial services, fuel storage operation and maintenance, motor vehicle and aircraft fueling, Foreign Object Debris (FOD) removal, grounds-keeping and landscape maintenance.  Western’s vision of Spaceport America’s General Services operations is to maximize the use of qualified vendors, contractors and employees located in Sierra or Dona Ana Counties.  Western’s basic Time and Materials contract has an estimated value of up to $1,660,000.

The SOC Fit Out Design contract was awarded to SMPC Architects of Albuquerque.  SMPC’s contract is essential to providing SOC interior design development including construction drawings, selection of interior building finishes, and construction administration services for the interior build-out effort.  SMPC’s basic Time and Materials contract has an estimated value of up to $294,000.

ABOUT WESTERN BUILDING & DEVELOPMENT, LLC:

Western Building & Development, LLC of Las Cruces, NM has been in business in Las Cruces for over 34 years.  CEO John A. Nemesh, a New Mexican veteran, has a proven staff that understands facility operation and management and has many long standing networking partnerships.  Western staff has a lengthy track record of successful contracts for maintenance, vendor management and construction including maintenance at the White Sands Test Facility.

ABOUT SMPC ARCHITECTS:

SMPC of Albuquerque, NM, established in 1944, is an architecture, planning, landscaping, and interior design firm providing services throughout the Southwest.  SMPC has a record of successful service in a wide variety of building types, including healthcare, high-tech research and development, education/institutional, commercial, civic, and religious.  The firm has a long list of repeat clients, which serves as a testament to their responsive service, adherence to schedules and budget, and their ability to provide highly functional and individual design solutions.  SMPC has received over 75 awards for design excellence.

For more information, please visit: http://www.smpcarchitects.com/

ABOUT SPACEPORT AMERICA:

Spaceport America is the first purpose-built commercial spaceport in the world.  It is situated on 18,000 acres adjacent to the US Army White Sands Missile Range.  Virgin Galactic, Sir Richard Branson’s company, is the spaceports anchor tenant.  Spaceport America has been providing commercial vertical launch services since 2006.  Phase One of the construction for the spaceport is expected to be complete in 2012.  Phase Two of the construction and pre-operations activities has begun and includes improvements to the vertical launch complex, the paving of the southern road to the spaceport, and the development of a world-class Visitor Experience for students, tourists and space launch customers.

To date, there have been 15 vertical launches at the Spaceport.  Customers include Armadillo Aerospace, UP Aerospace, MOOG FTS and Lockheed Martin.  The Spaceport also hosts a student launch annually in concert with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium.  Last year there were over 800 students and teachers participating.  The Spaceport presents a tremendous opportunity to excite and inspire our students in science and math.  The Spaceport Visitor Experience is strongly focused on this objective.  The economic impact of launches, tourism and new construction at Spaceport America are already delivering on the promise of economic development to the people of New Mexico. Over 1,000 jobs for New Mexicans have been generated to date.

For more information, please visit: www.spaceportamerica.com

For more information on Preview Tours of the Spaceport, please visit: www.ftstours.com

Facebook: Spaceport America, or follow us on Twitter: @Spaceport NM

Featured speakers are Dr. Kevin Boberg, CEO of the Arrowhead Center, Christine Logan, Economic Development Administrator for the City of Las Cruces, and Jerry Pacheco, Vice President of the Border Industrial Association. They will discuss the present and future development plans of the Arrowhead Business and Research Park, the West Mesa Industrial Park and the Santa Teresa Industrial Parks.

Luncheon cost is $20.00 per person, payable by cash, check or major credit card. The meeting is open to the public. Due to space constraints, reservations are required. Please confirm your attendance by Thursday, April 26^th by sending an email to rsvp@mveda.com or by calling the office at (575) 525-2852.