Posts Tagged ‘OECD’

The September Business on the Border Luncheon featured Lisa Munoz from Paso del Norte Group who spoke about OECD’s regional study of the 11 higher educational institutions within the region to include El Paso and Juarez.  Although this study is just getting underway, we hope that it will provide us with a road map of the regional assets and common threads we have between these institutions to help us better identify opportunities for further economic development growth and the skill sets to both serve and attract future industry.  A copy of Lisa’s presentation is attached (Adobe Acrobat -375KB).

In the first month of our fiscal year, as reported August 15th to MVEDA’s Board, MVEDA’s new activity consisted of 10 leads totaling 1,275 jobs and nearly 500,000sf of facility space.  Leads are classified as companies with identifiable project parameters to include real estate and project timelines and who are requesting specific information about the region.  These 10 leads represent 11.2% of all MVEDA lead generation activity for the past fiscal year so in terms of building out our future pipeline of new project opportunities, we feel we started the fiscal year on the right foot.  As you can see from the accompanying chart, 40% of all new leads fall within the renewable energy industry, all solar energy related.  It is important that we concentrate on lead activity because this defines our opportunities for job creation 12 to 18 months out.

At the August 15^th board meeting, MVEDA reported forty (40) active prospects totaling 3,158 jobs.  Prospects are defined as companies who have toured the region to include local industries considering expansion.  Of this group, MVEDA has defined 8 top prospects who we are actively working with on a regular basis and who we have determined are close to making decisions, whether that is in Dona Ana County or somewhere else.  As we track lead generation for job creation 12 to 18 months out, our prospect activity is meant to track potential new job creation within the current fiscal year.

MVEDA has also participated in two prospect missions with the New Mexico Partnership;  one to the New England region where 15 companies were visited and more recently to the San Francisco/Bay area where we met with 12 companies.  Of the 12 companies we met with in the Bay Area, 10 were solar manufacturing companies and almost all foresaw the potential of projects in the next 12 to 18 months.

I believe that even in this economic climate, we are off to a great start on our marketing and lead generation efforts and we continue to develop the building blocks for future economic development growth to occur.  We hope to see you at our next Business on the Border Luncheon, October 6, 2009.

The September meeting of the MVEDA Business on the Border Forum will be held on Tuesday, September 1, 2009 from 11:30 AM until 1:00 PM at the Day’s Inn Columbus Conference Center, 901 Avenida de Mesilla.  The meeting will begin with a hot entree buffet, followed by an update by MVEDA staff.

Lisa Colquitt-Muñoz, Regional Coordinator for the Paso del Norte Group, will present an update on an on-going review of the region’s Higher Education Institutions on behalf of the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD).  The purpose of the study is to understand and strengthen the role these institutions in the economic, cultural and social development of the region.  The Paso del Norte region is one of 12 regions from around the world selected to participate in this study.

Regional partners in the study include representatives from higher education, the private sector and non-governmental organizations from Cd. Juarez, El Paso and Las Cruces.  Las Cruces is represented by Garrey Carruthers, Margie Huerta, Vickie Galindo, Davin Lopez, and Patsy Duran.

For more information about the study, please refer to the OECD page on the Paso del Norte Group’s web site.

Luncheon cost is $15.00 per person, payable by cash, check or major credit card. The meeting is open to the public and reservations are not required.