Kevin Boberg, director and CEO of New Mexico State University’s Arrowhead Center and MVEDA board member, has been appointed as NMSU‘s interim vice president for economic development, effective July 1. NMSU President Garrey Carruthers made the announcement earlier today.
“Kevin has played an integral role in the Arrowhead Center from its very beginning and there is no one more suited for leading this university’s economic development efforts than him,” Carruthers said. “When I came to NMSU 10 years ago, the university was not fully engaged in economic development. Today, through the development of the Arrowhead Center, NMSU is leading efforts to facilitate economic development throughout the state.”
Boberg has bachelor’s degrees in economics and administrative sciences and a master’s in industrial administrative sciences from Iowa State University. His Ph.D. is in logistics with minors in accounting and economics from Penn State.
He was hired by NMSU in 1987 and has taught courses in marketing, management, international business and industrial engineering. In 1989, he became director of NMSU’s Center for Business Research and Services, which later grew through the University Center Program, funded by the Economic Development Administration in the U.S. Department of Commerce. He later became the associate dean for research in the NMSU College of Business as well as president and CEO of the Arrowhead Center.
Boberg credits the Arrowhead Center for giving hundreds of students real-world business experience by helping emerging and established companies around the state. Among the services the Arrowhead Center provides are policy analysis, technology commercialization, business incubation, commercializing intellectual property, housing a proof-of-concept center and managing the university’s business and research park.
“We are a land-grant university,” Boberg said. “It’s the mission of the university to support sustainable development of the state through teaching, research and outreach efforts. Arrowhead Center contributes to that by focusing upon economic development opportunities and challenges throughout New Mexico.”
Carruthers was the university’s previous vice president for economic development, as well as dean of the NMSU College of Business. A new strategic plan developed by the university calls for the vice president for economic development to become a full-time position and to use tools within the university to promote economic development throughout New Mexico. The university plans to review and formalize the duties of the vice president for economic development over the coming months.
