As we enter the second, and final half, of what has already been a very challenging legislative session in Santa Fe, I felt it would be an appropriate time to focus on the legislative priorities that are of greatest importance to the economic development community. Now I will preface this discussion by stating that the word “economic development” often gets thrown around loosely. “In the best interest of economic development” seems to be a popular phrase attached to too many bills. When I read one of these bills, I try very hard to identify its link to true economic development support and job creation. Sometimes I am successful. Many times I am not. And I would imagine for our legislators it is similarly confusing and challenging for them to decipher, especially with so many interests pulling at them, which bills truly provide positive economic impact. But it really should not be that difficult to determine. The reason why is because there exists the support and expertise they can turn to for those answers.
The economic development community, who I define as the practitioners that are challenged with growing the economic base of the State, have been very clear and unified in their recommendations and priorities for economic development at the legislative session. NM IDEA, an association made of economic development practitioners from across the State, representing not only the State of New Mexico as a whole, but also the diverse urban, rural and frontier communities within it, have been very clear, and consistent, year after year, as to the policies that are needed to grow and diversify New Mexico. The NM IDEA Board of Directors, itself, collectively represents well over a hundred of years of direct economic development experience. Most members are leaders and voices of economic development within the communities and regions they serve. Most importantly, the members of this group are client facing. Meaning we hear on a daily basis from companies on the good, the bad, and the ugly of conducting business in New Mexico. This includes not only companies looking at New Mexico for a potential expansion but also with existing companies already in operation here. We hear about the deficiencies in our economic development product. And the information we hold is the key by which policy makers can turn to and better understand how to improve our product offering for job creation and a stronger economic environment.
And year after year, the number one, agreed upon priority by this group of experts in economic development, is for the maintenance of proper funding and funding expansion for two programs, LEDA and JTIP. For those who are not familiar with these programs, The Local Economic Development Act (LEDA) and the Job Training Incentive Program (JTIP) are the two most important programs New Mexico has available to stay competitive against other states and countries in terms of attracting companies and creating jobs. From personal experience I can attest to the fact that without these programs in place, many of the jobs announcements we have had in Dona Ana County over the past few years would not have come to fruition. The reason why is because these two programs address direct deficiencies that exist in our State. That is the need for improved workforce skill sets and stronger infrastructure. While JTIP assists to develop our workforce for the changing landscape, LEDA helps to provide critical infrastructure to what would be considered out of date, often uninhabitable facilities. When attracting job creators, there are two constants a company always will require; a skilled workforce and site ready infrastructure. In addition, both programs lead to direct, permanent, full-time jobs today. Therefore, it is not a build it and see if they will come strategy. Both are also subject to significant due diligence processes and both have public protection clauses in the form of claw backs with the employer. And both programs have illustrated time and time again a return on investment to the State in the form of a new tax base. Earlier in the session when the solvency bill was proposed, I was proud to see that the Governor vetoed the reductions to the LEDA program, restoring its full funding, recognizing its vital importance to our economic development product. Finally, I would be remised if I did not also explain that BOTH programs can be used, to support the growth of existing New Mexico businesses. Helping existing companies grow into thriving economic based companies is at the heart of MVEDA’s efforts and we have turned to JTIP and LEDA time and time again to support this goal.
In an effort to continue to improve our economic development product, we are following closely a legislative bill which we believe is critical to future business attraction efforts here in Dona Ana County and other rural areas of New Mexico. HB 147, supported by ACI, and sponsored by Rep. Bill McCamley and Rep. George Dodge, is designed to help enhance and improve the skill set pool for New Mexico as a whole by encouraging talent recruitment. Given New Mexico’s low population base, combined with our graduates leaving the state to pursue careers, and further exacerbated by an exodus of population leaving the state causing flat growth (EXODUS, Albuquerque Journal; January 29, 2017), has made it increasingly difficult to match the higher end, higher paying skill sets that companies require in a site decision location. Furthermore, this impacts the ability for existing businesses to identify the higher end skill sets they require causing some to consider relocation options. In a recent analysis provided by Innovate Educate, a national nonprofit whose goal is to develop strategies that articulate new employment pathways based on skills and competencies, found that the number of advertised jobs in Dona Ana County requiring higher educated and higher skill sets far outpaced the supply of existing workforce that could provide those skill sets. In essence, HB147 expands the talent pool so that companies can make decisions to locate and stay in New Mexico.
In closing, there is strong consensus and expertise within the economic development community throughout the state on how we can improve our economic development product line and in turn improve the economic environment of the state. And I would invite legislators and other elected officials from across the state to reach out to NM IDEA on a regular basis and lean on the decades of expertise they bring to the table. By doing so then we can create a more streamlined approach to aligning our product deficiencies with true economic development related bills that will improve our economic development product line.
Davin Lopez is the President/CEO of the Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance (MVEDA), a public-private partnership that is the leading economic development organization in Southern New Mexico.
