Posts Tagged ‘Governor Bill Richardson’

Sir Richard Branson Unveils SpaceShipTwo

Release Courtesy of Spaceport America and Virgin Galactic

LAS CRUCES – The world’s first manned commercial spaceship will be unveiled today in Mojave, California, and is projected to be flying from New Mexico’s Spaceport America, the world’s first purpose-built commercial spaceport, in 2011.

Today’s debut of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo (SS2) spaceship is to be attended by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson as well as New Mexico Spaceport Authority Executive Director Steve Landeene and other representatives of Spaceport America, the world headquarters of Virgin Galactic’s operations.

After a rigorous testing schedule, SS2 and its mothership, WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) will begin regular flying operations out of Spaceport America by some time in 2011. Spaceport America is currently under construction in New Mexico and is expected to be completed by early 2011.

For the complete press release from Virgin Galactic and accompanying photos, please visit the Virgin Galactic website.

Release Courtesy of New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson

SANTA FE – Governor Bill Richardson today commended Sapphire Energy, Inc. for a successful application to the U.S. Department of Energy for a grant to launch a new multi-million dollar algae biofuels demonstration project in Luna County, New Mexico.

Sapphire Energy has been awarded a $50 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy as well as a loan guarantee of $54.5 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The San Diego-based company plans to build a demonstration project in Luna County near Columbus and Deming. The company also has a research and development complex in Las Cruces.

The grant award is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the loan guarantee is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Biorefinery Assistance Program, authorized through the 2008 Farm Bill.

“Investments in advanced biofuels are crucial to improve America’s energy independence and to keep energy dollars at home,” Governor Richardson said. “This project will create jobs, invest in new technology and boost the economy in rural New Mexico.”

The project is being funded to demonstrate the technology developed by Sapphire Energy to produce a large scale algae facility which cultivates algae in open ponds to produce Green Crude which can be refined into fuels.

The project is expected to create 750 direct and indirect jobs. Sapphire has an option to buy roughly 2,200 acres of land near Columbus. With the infusion of capital from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the company plans to build a demonstration project to validate the economics of large scale algae to energy production. As part of the project the company also plans to set up an extraction facility to convert the oil from the algae into Green Crude which can be refined into a variety of fuels.

“Governor Richardson is a true advocate for smarter energy resources,” Sapphire Chief Executive Officer Jason Pyle said. “His leadership has played a crucial role in the federal grant funding for our algae-based fuel work. This is a win-win for New Mexico, Luna County, and Sapphire Energy.”

A story featuring Spaceport America in Time Magazine is on newsstands today.  Entitled “Postcard from Las Cruces,” the story is written by former Life Magazine and People Magazine Editor Richard Stolley.

Spaceport America Architect's Rendering

The story provides some of the historical background of the development of Spaceport America, including the agreement between Sir Richard Branson and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson to make Spaceport America headquarters for Branson’s Virgin Galactic.

This story’s timing is great for Spaceport America because it’s coming out just before the December 7th Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo rollout in Mojave, Ca.

To read the entire story follow the “Postcard from Las Cruces” link above.

Governor Bill Richardson’s Budget Balancing Task Force will meet for discussion and public input on Tuesday, December 1, 2009.  The meeting will be held at the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum beginning at 1:00 p.m. and will conclude at 5:00 p.m.

The Task Force is actively seeking input from a cross section of New Mexicans on the following revenue options that have already been proposed from a variety of groups and individuals:

• gross receipts and compensating tax (increase the rate and/or broaden the base);
• taxes on tobacco, liquor, insurance premiums and motor vehicles;
• personal and corporate income taxes and withholding taxes;
• taxes on oil, natural gas, coal and uranium;
• tax compliance and administration rules; and
• rules defining business incentive tax credits and requirements for their systematic evaluation.

The agenda for the Las Cruces meeting is:

1:00 – Welcome by Rick Homans, Chairman

1:10 – Personal Income Tax

1:55 – Corporate Income and Franchise Taxes

3:05 – Break

3:20 – Income Tax Withholding

3:40 – Estate Tax

3:50 – Business Incentive Credits

4:35 – Public Comment

4:55 – Closing Remarks

More information is available at http://www.nmrevenueoptions.com/.  You may also comment on-line.

Article Courtesy of New Mexico Partnership

As New Mexico rapidly becomes a global leader in pure energy innovation, we continue to draw international attention to the Land of Enchantment.  The New Mexico Partnership has taken actions and adopted substantive policy measures to stimulate development of solar power projects throughout the state. Those initiatives as well as an aggressive business recruiting strategy have effectively positioned the state as a focal point for this rapidly emerging industry.

One such strategy was attendance at the Solar Power International 2009 Conference in Anaheim, CA during the week of October 26-30. The NM Partnership staff along with representatives from the Otero County Development Council (OCEDC), Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance (MVEDA), Albuquerque Economic Development (AED), Rio Rancho Economic Development (RREDC) and Eastern New Mexico Economic Development Alliance (ENMEDA) walked the show in order to develop new relationships and revisit previous relationships formed during PV America, Intercooler North America and last year’s Solar Power International conference.

On the evening of October 28th, the NM Partnership hosted “An Evening With New Mexico” at the House of Blues.  This solar executive outreach event was generously sponsored by OCEDC, MVEDA, AED, RREDC, ENMEDA, SCHOTT Solar, Emcore Corporation and Sky Fuel, Inc., Taos Ski Valley, the Taos Country Club and Verde Corporate Realty Services.  Governor Bill Richardson kicked off the event with a keynote address discussing New Mexico’s continued momentum in forming a renewable energy cluster in New Mexico.  Mark Finocchario, President & CEO of Schott Solar and Christopher Larocca, COO of Emcore Corporation spoke on their companies’ experiences and successes in doing business in New Mexico.

More than 200 industry executives and guests showed up to learn more about New Mexico and the event was touted the “Best Social Networking Event” of the conference.   Often times the return on investment for these events can be difficult to track.  However, the New Mexico Partnership has already had a site visit from a company who attended the event and has seen two projects come out of the trip.   We would like to thank everyone who helped make this event a huge success for New Mexico.