Posts Tagged ‘Anthony’

MVEDA just completed another successful Business on the Border Luncheon and we are thankful to everyone who had the opportunity to attend.

Our guest speaker on Tuesday was Fred Mondragon, the Cabinet Secretary of Economic Development, who shared some economic data on the status of New Mexico and Southern New Mexico’s economies, and also provided some words of advice as to how we might keep the momentum moving forward in Dona Ana County.  The Secretary outlined and highlighted several success stories for Dona Ana County that included (click on graphic to view presentation):

• A September 2010 unemployment rate in Las Cruces 2% below the national average and more than ½ percent below the State’s average,
• Site Selection Magazine and Business Facilities ranked New Mexico in their Top 10 nationally for:

o    #2 in Solar Energy Manufacturing Leaders,

o    #3 in Workforce Training Leaders,

o    #5 in Alternative Energy Industry Leaders,

o    #6 in Cost of Labor, and

o    #8 in Economic Growth Potential.

• Regionally, Las Cruces ranked in the following areas:

o    5^th in U.S. in projected 2009-2011 employment growth rates.

o    8^th in Milken’s 2010 Best-performing small cities,

o    #9^th in Business Week’s top recovering job markets for 2010, &

o    Dona Ana County ranked 14^th Best County in the nation for job growth over the last nine years by Money Magazine.

The Secretary also praised many of the strides Southern New Mexico has made with respect to:

• The aerospace industry, where he cited Spaceport America and the selection of NMSU as an FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation as the anchors that will spur this industry forward in New Mexico,
• The alternative/renewable energy industry with three new solar projects taking place in the County, the announcement of Johnson Plate and Tower this past January and with Sapphire Energy located at the West Mesa Industrial Park.
• And of course our Borderplex growth at Santa Teresa which has seen cross border goods increase by 256% over the past five years.

Finally, his words of advice to local leadership moving forward were to:

1.    Continue our economic diversification,

2.    Build on regional and local strengths,

3.    Think globally, and

4.    To support less unfortunate communities in the region.

Given that Tuesday was Election Day, it is only appropriate that we discuss both the success we have had in economic development and job creation, but more importantly to focus on the future building blocks we need as a region so that we may continue to grow our economy.   As I have mentioned many times in the past, Southern New Mexico is blessed with some very strong assets by which we can grow upon.  But we need to assure that the tools and legislative support is available to do so.  This includes maintaining a strong State economic development marketing effort, maintaining existing incentives, as well as expanding those incentives to support Southern New Mexico growth in the areas of aerospace, border logistical support, alternative energy, and food processing.   And although in Dona Ana County, we look towards the State to support us in many of these efforts, we must also realize that as a community we are equally responsible for taking steps to prepare ourselves to attract growth and that comes in the form of education, infrastructure, and capacity building.  In this respect, MVEDA continually provides assessment and analysis on the challenges facing economic development in our region.  Although MVEDA’s primary focus is on marketing and attracting economic-based jobs to the region, we nevertheless find it necessary to engage in capacity building activities that will assist us in our long-term goals.  Currently, MVEDA is implementing and working on several capacity building directives that include:

• Colonias/Rural Area Labor Assessment:   With the support of an intern from NMSU, MVEDA has designed a bilingual workforce survey which we will be distributing to residents in rural areas.  We are receiving support from PICO to assist us in survey response.  Our first effort will take place in November in Anthony, NM.  We hope to expand this to Sunland Park and Chaparral before the end of the fiscal year.
• Labor Identification Program for Santa Teresa based Employers:  Working in conjunction with DACC, we will be marketing employment services offered through DACC to Santa Teresa based employers.  MVEDA’s analysis through conversations with employers indicates that 60% to 70% of the existing workforce in Santa Teresa comes from El Paso.  We are hoping to offer employers a one stop solution and first point of contact through DACC when they have future labor needs.
• Investment Interest in Santa Teresa:  A second challenge with the workforce in Santa Teresa is the ability to convert them to New Mexico residents.  This is due to lack of housing that is within proximity to the employment base.  We have begun collaborating with the Border Industrial Association, the Building Industries Association, and the Las Cruces Association of Realtors to potentially identify new programs that could be offered to promote and encourage more development in the area.
• Spaceport America Economic Development Strategies:   Finally, MVEDA has been involved with Spaceport America and their consultants in trying to identify clear strategies that we can jointly implement that will assist our efforts in developing business opportunities revolving around the Spaceport and the aerospace industry.

We are hopeful that some of these efforts lay additional foundation for growth leading into the next administration and MVEDA will continue to work closely with the Economic Development Department and the New Mexico Partnership as partners in this endeavor.  Again, MVEDA thanks the Secretary for his time and for all the support he has provided to economic development in Dona Ana County.  We wish him well in his retirement from state government which was announced by Governor Bill Richardson earlier today.

Click on graphic to download

Thank you to all who attended Tuesday’s Business on the Border Luncheon where Dr. Chris Erickson from NMSU provided his economic outlook and forecast for Las Cruces and the region.  Dr. Erickson presented employment information illustrating that although Las Cruces has fared better than both the national average and New Mexico as a whole, in terms of employment growth, we are still behind our peak employment numbers experienced in the mid 2000’s.  Dr. Erickson stated that it will take approximately three years to catch back up to those previously experienced levels.   Dr. Ericson also commented that although it appears that the country as a whole is moving out of the current recession, which has lasted a staggering 20 months, we must nevertheless not rule out the possibility of a double dip recession.  If you are interested in a copy of Dr. Erickson’s presentation, it can be downloaded by clicking the graphic.

From an economic development perspective we enter the new fiscal year cautiously optimistic.  Over the past fiscal year, MVEDA has developed over 100 leads and over 45 initial site visits.  We also carry forward a strong pipeline of projects which we believe have a strong chance of closing in the coming fiscal year.   We are also experiencing much more diversification amongst the types of industries that have expressed interest in the region.  MVEDA’s top 10 active prospects include 3 manufacturing companies, 2 aerospace companies, 2 renewable energy companies, one food processing company as well as one high tech company.   Together these 10 prospects potentially could create the need for over 2,000,000sf of space and create as many as 600 to 700 jobs.

We are also beginning to see some recurring themes in terms of the anecdotal data we pull from prospects.  For example, whereas over the past fiscal year it appeared financing was the leading driving indicator of a business’ locate decision; we are now seeing more inquiries once again surrounding work force needs.   Additionally we are receiving more inquiries for build-to-suit opportunities as opposed to existing inventory.  Both questions lead us to believe that access to capital is slowly becoming more available which should bode well for economic development initiatives.

This past fiscal year, we also showed success in developing opportunities within the rural areas of the County.  MVEDA conducted site visits to Hatch, Rincon, Anthony, Chaparral, Santa Teresa and Sunland Park amongst other locations.  We are proud to say that one of these actually led to the “locate” of Universal Plastics in Anthony, NM.

Although optimistic, we cannot lose sight that there is still much to do to spark economic development within the state and region. The MVEDA Board of Directors and staff met last week to outline our strategic plans for the new fiscal year.  At the session, MVEDA updated its regional economic development SWOT analysis and recognized that although we have been successful in addressing many of our economic development weaknesses, there are several new arising threats and barriers that we must be aware of.   They include:

1. Uncertainty of a new administration:  A new administration always puts pause in private sector decision making.  Will the next administration be business friendly?
2. Uncertainty of business attraction incentives:  Recently the State has been experiencing budgetary challenges with its most “tried and true” incentive; Job Training Incentive Program (JTIP).  Recent changes have lowered the reimbursable amount on JTIP funding in urban areas (ie…Las Cruces) from 50% to 30%.  Incentives such as JTIP are the only tools most economic development programs across New Mexico have to be competitive in business attraction.  Will they be further reduced?
3. Regional and Local Incentives:  Serious consideration needs to be placed into the development of localized incentives for economic development.  Communities throughout the country, especially in Texas have economic development funds by which they can tap into for job creation.
4. Border competitiveness:  Recently El Paso announced the acquisition of 1,000 acres of land in Tornillo for the development of an industrial park with a port of entry which they will break ground on in 2012.  How will this affect our port of entry and future economic development opportunities in Santa Teresa?

These are challenges that MVEDA recognizes and, as an organization, must consistently retool our marketing efforts and plan strategically to deal with new challenges that arise.  And we can only hope that a “double dip” by the national economy is avoidable.

I look forward to seeing everyone at our next Business on the Border Luncheon where MVEDA will be providing a year end re-cap.  We will also have a guest speaker from the New Mexico Small Business Assistance Program which is a program that leverages technology and expertise at our National Laboratories and can provide up to $20,000 in technical support to companies in the region.

The City of Las Cruces and Dona Ana County will host the fourth round of Vision 2040 public input meetings the week of October 19, 2009.  All residents of Dona Ana County and Las Cruces who are interested in long range planning and improving their community are encouraged to attend.

These meetings will be led by our consultants at Peter J. Smith & Company.  The primary focus will be a presentation of current draft Vision 2040 documents.  Participants will be asked to provide their comments on the draft documents, as we chart a preferred course for our region.

The meeting schedule is as follows:

Monday, Oct. 19^th, 5pm-8pm; Hatch – Hatch Community Center, 837 W. Hall St.

Wednesday, Oct. 21^st, 10am-1pm; Las Cruces – Dona Ana County Gov. Center, 845 Motel Blvd

Wednesday, Oct. 21^st, 5pm-8pm; Chaparral – Chaparral Middle School, 290 E. Lisa

Thursday, Oct. 22^nd, 9am-12pm; Vado/Del Cerro – Del Cerro Community Center, 180 La Fe Ave.

Thursday, Oct. 22^nd, 5pm-8pm; Las Cruces – Sonoma Elementary School, 4201 Northrise Dr.

Vision 2040 is a long-range, regional comprehensive planning project that is evaluating the needs of the region for the next thirty years, and identifying ways the City and County should act to meet those needs. Specific topics will include population growth and land use, transportation and infrastructure, environmental issues, affordable housing, economic development and many others.

In addition to the public meetings, the City and County are seeking written comments on draft documents.  These documents include the Vision 2040 Regional Plan, City of Las Cruces and Dona Ana County Comprehensive Plans, Inventory, and Appendix.  These documents are available for download from http://vision2040.nmsu.edu/documents.html.  Hard copies will also be available for review soon at the following locations:

• Munson Senior Center
• Mesilla Park Community Center
• Benavidez Community Center
• East Mesa Recreation Center
• City Hall
• City Office Center
• Mesilla Town Hall
• Doña Ana County Planning Office
• Hatch Community Center
• Radium Springs Community Center
• Doña Ana Community Center
• Del Cerro Community Center
• Anthony Water Offices
• Chaparral Water Offices
• Sunland Park Planning Offices
• Organ Community Center
• Rincon Community Center

The public is encouraged to submit comments on these documents by Friday, October 30th.  Written comments may be submitted online at http://vision2040.nmsu.edu/Comments.html, by e-mail to ahume@las-cruces.org, or by mail to Andy Hume, PO Box 20000, Las Cruces, NM 88004.

For more information, e-mail ahume@las-cruces.org, visit http://vision2040.nmsu.edu/or contact Andy Hume, at 575/528-3047. The TTY number is 541-2182.

Dona Ana Community College (DACC) and the Southern Rio Grande Chamber of Commerce are hosting “Career Fair – Fall 2009″ on Tuesday, September 29, 2009. The event is scheduled from 2:30 – 6:30 p.m. in the Commons Area of the DACC Gadsden Center, 1700 E. O’Hara Road in Anthony, New Mexico. The Gadsden Center is located immediately to the east of the O’Hara Road overpass at Interstate 10 in Anthony.

The event offers employers the opportunity to meet students, graduates and other individuals in the community seeking employment.  Employers from all sectors can share information and job openings for part-time, full-time, summer, internships, or cooperative education.

A registration form is attached. If you have questions or need more detailed information, please contact Eldelisa Nava, Southern Rio Grande Chamber of Commerce at 915-731-2533 or eldelisappl@aol.com.

Private sector funding from the businesses and organizations throughout the New Mexico Borderplex is a mainstay of MVEDA’s ability to continue in its mission of creating new employment opportunities for area residents. MVEDA is proud to announce its two newest Partners, New Mexico Gas Company and Primera Technologies.

New Mexico Gas Company serves 21 cities in New Mexico including areas in Dona Ana County outside of Las Cruces. Their headquarters are in Albuquerque and their local office is located at 826 Anthony Drive in Anthony, New Mexico. Gabe Ruiz, Manager of Customer Relations, Community Affairs, Marketing, serves on the MVEDA Board of Directors.

Primera Technologies is a leading provider of IT solutions to the Government and to Prime Suppliers to the Government. Arlene Martinez is their local representative.

MVEDA’s Partners are linked from MVEDA’s website.