By Todd G. Dickson, Las Cruces Bulletin
Over the next 33 months, Heritage Home Healthcare and Hospice will add 100 new jobs to its Las Cruces operations, which will become its regional headquarters. Heritage CEO Len Trainor said he and his wife Liz started the company in 1993 out of their rental home in Albuquerque. The business that started with a fax machine in the kitchen is now one of New Mexico’s largest non-government employers with more than 1,100 employees statewide, he said.
Trainor announced the Las Cruces expansion at an event Tuesday, April 2, attended by Gov. Susana Martinez, state Economic Development Secretary John Barela and Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance CEO Davin Lopez. Trainor credited the Martinez administration’s pro-business focus – and willingness to participate in the Medicaid expansion – that made the company’s expansion into southern New Mexico possible. “It is with your help that we bring 100 new jobs here today,” Trainor said.
Also attending the announcement were a few of Heritage’s current 80 Las Cruces clients, who mostly came from the former 800 Home Care business bought by Heritage in August 2012. Trainor made a point to thank them, too. “Thank you for trusting us to take care of you in your homes,” he said.
Heritage Home Healthcare provides a variety of services for people needing help living at home – from medical care to counseling and general assistance, said Cathy Montgomery, operations manager for the Las Cruces office. “We cover a wide range of ages and afflictions,” she said.
In the coming 33 months, the job expansion will include hiring more nurses, living assistants and social workers, but also upgrading remote monitoring services to prevent hospitalization, Trainor said. The company’s goal, he said, is to help people remain in their homes rather than leaving them for a hospital or institutionalized setting.
City Councillor Nathan Small said the company’s expansion was fitting in keeping with the economic potential being realized by the emerging Borderplex. “This illustrates the needs for public-private partnerships to make good things happen,” he said.
Mayor Ken Miyagishima said the announcement illustrated what he has observed when visiting with his counterparts in other cities. While other mayors bemoan cutbacks and job loss, Las Cruces keeps growing, he said.
Barela, who is originally from Las Cruces, said he was proud to bring more jobs to his hometown, but that the kind of services companies such as Heritage provide make the area more attractive for industries to locate in southern New Mexico. “I see a very, very bright future for Las Cruces and southern New Mexico,” he said.
“New Mexico is a great place to do business and I am happy that this home-grown New Mexico company is choosing to expand once again in the state,” Martinez said.
In addition to his positive relationship with state officials, Trainor said he was impressed with the city’s leadership, prompting Miyagishima to note that Alaska Structures and L&M Radiator once had their main headquarters in El Paso, but chose to move their operations to Las Cruces. “Maybe we can get you to move from Albuquerque to Las Cruces,” Miyagishima said.
