Posts Tagged ‘Wayne Savage’

Yesterday, we held our October Business on the Border Luncheon where Wayne Savage and Pat Hynes presented on the upcoming Leonard R. Sugerman Public Forum and International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS) events which will be taking place October 20th to the 22nd at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces.  MVEDA will be sponsoring the opening reception for all registered attendees of ISPCS. As economic developers we work very hard and spend time and resources to get in front of industry decision makers and encourage business attraction to our region.  The fact that ISPCS is taking place in our own back yard with industry leaders attending creates a very powerful marketing tool for MVEDA and the region as a whole.

To recap lead generation activity over the past month, MVEDA generated fifteen new leads compared with ten the last month, thereby showing a very healthy pipeline of projects and interest.   Although alternative energy companies continue to make up over 1/3 of all our leads in the past two months, the overall percentage has dropped slightly and we have seen an increase in the percentage of lead generation within the aerospace and food processing sectors.  We currently have 25 new leads in the pipeline for this fiscal year totaling 2,512 potential jobs and over 1 million square feet of potential real estate needs.

As announced last week, Frontier Airlines stated that they would be closing their Las Cruces reservation center towards the end of this year.  MVEDA has already begun to market the facility as a plug-n-play call center to the site selector community and have currently received two inquiries.

In September, MVEDA attended the Industrial Asset Management Council (IAMC) conference in Minneapolis.  This is the premier event for site consultants.  MVEDA co-hosted a site consultant dinner put on by the New Mexico Partnership which received strong attendance.

For the month of October, MVEDA has a very busy marketing and travel schedule consisting of:

• Oct. 12-16: Prospect mission to Washington D.C. to meet primarily with defense related firms and site consultants
• Oct. 20-22: Leonard R. Sugerman Public Forum and ISPCS
• Oct. 26-29: Prospect mission in Los Angeles and attendance at the Solar Power International Show.

Finally, I am happy to say that on September 22, 2009, the County Commission voted unanimously on the passage of the Local Economic Development Act (LEDA) in Dona Ana County.

The October meeting of the MVEDA Business on the Border Forum will be held on Tuesday, October 6, 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.

This month’s program will focus on “Space Week in Southern New Mexico”.  Wayne Savage, chairman of the Chamber’s Commercial Space Committee, will provide an overview of the Dona Ana County Spaceport Community Council’s outreach and the October 20^th Leonard R. Sugerman Public Forum.

Dr. Patricia C. Hynes, Director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, will outline the events of the 5^th Annual International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight. This annual conference brings together the current space community, academics, the innovators and entrepreneurs, and the civil and military government communities to discuss the current and future growth of global space commercialization.

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.

The first Spaceport Community Council Meeting was held on July 21, 2009 at the Dona Ana County Government Center.  The public meeting was sponsored by the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce‘s Commercial Space Committee. The event was moderated by Garrey Carruthers, former governor and Dean of the New Mexico State University College of Business.

Steve Landeene, Executive Director of Spaceport America, provided the audience an update on the progress of Spaceport America. His presentation included videos (click the links to view) of the May 2^nd New Mexico Education Launch and the June 19^th Spaceport America ground breaking event.  Videos are also available on YouTube.

Wayne Savage, Chair of the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce’s Commercial Space Committee provided an overview of the committee’s activities in the community to help develop and publicize business opportunities related to the Spaceport. He announced that the next public forum would be held on October 20, 2009 at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum. The event, The Leonard R. Sugerman Public Forum, is part of the 2009 International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS).

Following the presentations, questions from the audience were answered by representatives from Spaceport America, the Las Cruces Public Schools, MVEDA, and elected officials, including State Representative Andy Nunez, County Commissioner Scott Krahling, and City Councilor Dolores Connor. The event was taped and is being aired on the City of Las Cruces’ CLC-TV cable channel 20 for those that are unable to attend.

Doña Ana County will hold its first Spaceport Community Council Meeting from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 21, in the commission chambers at the Doña Ana County Government Center, 845 Motel. Blvd. The event is sponsored by Cimmaron Software Services and the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce’s Commercial Space Committee.

The two-hour event will include a 45-minute presentation from Steve Landeene, director of Spaceport America, and Wayne Savage, chair of the GLCCC’s Commercial Space Committee. Both speakers will give an up-to-date look at the development and construction of Spaceport America and ways the Doña Ana County community is becoming involved with the regional project. Other distinguished guests serving on the evening’s panel include State Representative Andy Nunez, State Senator Mary Kay Papen, Las Cruces City Councilor Dolores Connor, Dona Ana County Commissioner Scott Krahling, MVEDA President Davin Lopez, and Jim Hayhoe. The event will be moderated by Garrey Carruthers, former governor and dean of the New Mexico State University College of Business.

The remainder of the evening will be question-and-answer time for those in attendance to learn more about the project. Questions will be gathered from attendees as they enter and will be presented to the panel by Carruthers.

The event will be taped and will air at a later time on CLC-TV cable channel 20 for those that are unable to attend.

During the meeting, David Montoya Construction and F&F New Mexico, the first two contractors for Spaceport America, will be introduced. They will be available to answer questions from attendees about opportunities with the spaceport.

The Spaceport Community Council Meetings will be a regular quarterly event allowing the community to stay current with the status of Spaceport America and have a forum to ask questions for experts. According to Savage, the future meetings will have particular themes, including building the spaceport community, education, tourism and economic development.

For more information, contact the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce at 524-1968.