Posts Tagged ‘Land of Enchantment’

Article courtesy of the Las Cruces Bulletin, by Samantha Roberts

Union Pacific, which recently began construction of an all-new rail facility outside Santa Teresa, announced a $100,000 donation to Doña Ana Community College as part of Las Cruces Day in Santa Fe during a press conference Monday, Jan. 30, at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe.

The donation, which Zoe Richmond, UP director of public affairs, said was given to DACC to use as the institution sees fit. However, the underlying message at the press conference was creating jobs to sustain UP’s new intermodal facility.

“Doña Ana Community College is excited to be the recipient of such generosity from Union Pacific,” said DACC President Margie Huerta. “We plan to use the funds for scholarships and workforce development to ensure our students have the knowledge needed to qualify for the jobs this new facility will bring to the region.”

There were several key players who helped make the donation a possibility, including Sens. Cynthia Nava and Mary Kay Papen, Rep. Mary Helen Garcia and New Mexico Economic Development Secretary Designate Jon Barela as well as Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance CEO Davin Lopez and Border Industrial Association Executive Director Jerry Pacheco and Juan Massey.

“Union Pacific and Doña Ana Community College is an example of a great private-public partnership,” Lopez said. “We are proud to be a part of this.”

“Right now, we are moving 4.1 million cubic yards of dirt,” Richmond said about developments in Santa Teresa. “We hope this donation strengthens our long-term commitment to southern New Mexico.”

As another part of Union Pacific’s commitment to grow New Mexico, Richmond said seven of the 10 subcontractors working on the project are from New Mexico, which translates to 66 percent of $40 million that has been spent in the Land of Enchantment. The intermodal facility is expected to be completed by 2015, bringing in 600 permanent high-paying jobs.

“The average employee will be making $100,000 in wages and benefits,” Richmond said. “We like to say where we have rails, we have ties.” Richmond said UP chose DACC as a recipient because “DACC is a neighbor” and she is looking forward to a good working relationship with the community college.

“Thank you for your generosity,” Huerta said during the press conference. “The Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce as well as many others have given their help and been so supportive – Davin Lopez, Jerry Pacheco, Juan Massey, (Rep.) Terry McMillan.

“Donations like this will have an immediate impact on southern New Mexico. Developing the workforce in southern New Mexico is critical, and this gift of $100,000 is a huge investment and will yield positive return. “In Doña Ana County, we work with a collaborative spirit to improve the community.”

Nava, former superintendent of Gadsden Independent School District, said the example set in southern New Mexico is remarkable. “The rest of the state should listen,” Nava said. “I fought to get Union Pacific here, and I will fight to hold them accountable to their promises. This check is a great start, and it is about jobs, economic development and the opportunity for students to succeed.”

To help bring UP to southern New Mexico, Gov. Susana Martinez signed into law in 2011 a bill granting Union Pacific a locomotive fuel tax deduction that allowed the company to move forward with an investment of $400 million in the construction of a 2,200-acre rail facility west of the Santa Teresa Airport, which will include fueling facilities, crew change buildings, locomotive inspection tracks, an intermodal ramp and a switching yard.

“This new facility will strengthen our long-term commitment to deliver premium service to our customers,” said Scott Moore, vice president of public affairs for Union Pacific. “Upon completion of this new infrastructure, New Mexico will take its place among the leaders in the goods movement industry.”

A key player in getting the locomotive fuel tax deduction bill passed was Barela. When the bill was passed, Barela called it “a cornerstone to creating jobs in southern New Mexico.”

“Doña Ana County has great potential and thank you to our great corporate neighbor – UP,” Barela said. “The facility is a solid anchor project on the entire Mexico border – all 2,000 miles of it.”

Article courtesy of the Las Cruces Bulletin

Photo courtesy of the International Business Accelerator

By Samantha Roberts

Tuesday, April 5, was a busy day for legislators in Las Cruces, as Economic Development Secretary of New Mexico Jon Barela visited the City of Crosses and Gov. Susana Martinez signed three crucial bills in Santa Teresa.

Barela, who spoke at the Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance luncheon, Business on the Border, said he was excited about the future of New Mexico in regards to kick starting new jobs and spending.

Special guests from Union Pacific attended the event, in honor of the new bill Martinez signed later that afternoon that eliminated a tax on diesel fuel in New Mexico and contributed to the arrival of the new Union Pacific plant in Santa Teresa.

“This is a cornerstone to creating jobs in southern New Mexico,” Barela said. “This $400 million project will create 3,000 construction jobs, 600 permanent jobs and many more will stem from that.”

In addition to the diesel tax bill, Martinez also signed the vehicle overweight bill, which Barela touched on during his speech. According to Barela, this bill will spur new job growth and encourage positive trade along the U.S.-Mexico border.

In addition to discussing the bills, including a third bill that will give border authority more power, Barela addressed the audience on key economic principles that he said will keep New Mexico competitive to bring in large corporations, such as Union Pacific.

The first principle is to balance the budget without increasing taxes.

“Although this was a tough session, we did it,” Barela said, adding that New Mexicans can have security in the future of the Land of Enchantment. “We also did it in a bipartisan manner. While Texas, Arizona and California are still dealing with their $1 billion shortfalls, New Mexico is ready for the future.”

The second principle was to establish a competitive regulatory environment, a reason Barela said he established a small business task force.

“We want to make New Mexico more business friendly,” he said, “without compromising people’s health, safety or the environment.”

Third, Barela said he wants to create a competitive tax environment, looking to other states as soft guidelines.

“Arizona has raised the bar,” he said. “Despite their huge debt, they have slashed corporate taxes, income taxes, property taxes, increased funding to job incentive programs and lowered sales tax. They believe the private sector creates jobs, and we need to take that to heart. We can’t ignore what the other states are doing.”

Other principles Barela touched on during his speech, included: a competitive local government structure, a competitive public education environment, increased capital availability and an environment that fosters innovation, an initiative that he said is crucial to the future of New Mexico.

“We are a global environment, and it is important we see it that way,” Barela said. “We need to stay up to speed with global businesses, jobs, etc. The Chinese maybe be able to duplicate things, but they do not have the innovation.”

In addition to his principles, Barela briefly touched on federal issues, specifically the nation’s $14 trillion debt.

“We need to correct the climate in Washington,” he said. “All of the principles can fit together – federal, state and local.”

Following a questions-and-answer session, a majority of the attendees caravanned to Santa Teresa to see Barela’s powerful speech put into effect with the signing of three bills.

Key legislative players who helped getting the bills passed and who also attended the event included Zoe Richmond, Union Pacific’s director of public affairs, Arizona and New Mexico Corporate Relations; Sen. Mary Kay Papen; Rep. Jane Cullbert; Rep. Mary Helen Garcia; Sen. Cynthia Nava; Barela; and, of course, Martinez.

While each bill has weight of its own, together these pieces of legislation marked a monumental day for southern New Mexico.

“We have hit a home run,” Garcia said.

Papen described southern New Mexico as “the stepchild that is often forgotten about,” adding that today would change everything.

“(Senate Bill 179 and House Bill 523 – Locomotive Fuel Tax Gross Receipts Deduction) allows us to compete with Texas,” Martinez said. “We need to be on the same playing field as Texas. They don’t have a tax on locomotive fuel, and, now, we don’t either.”

Martinez also signed House Bill 24, authorizing special permits for the operation of certain overweight commercial vehicles near the southern New Mexico border, and House Bill 322, granting additional powers to the Border Authority.

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.