Courtesy of the Las Cruces Bulletin, by Todd G. Dickson
Coming off a fiscal year that saw healthy job growth in Doña Ana County, Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance Executive Director Davin Lopez said MVEDA is well on its way to creating more jobs in the current fiscal year.
Lopez said more than 250 jobs have been created in the current fiscal year’s first quarter, so a two-year trend of job growth continues to exceed MVEDA’s targeted annual goals. Last fiscal year, MVEDA created 580 jobs. The economic development organization also has seen completion of seven projects in the first quarter, making the target of completing nine projects an attainable goal, he said.
Lopez gave the first quarter news during MVEDA’s annual update luncheon Tuesday, Nov. 6, at Hotel Encanto de Las Cruces.
While the job numbers are encouraging, there are areas that could still be doing better, Lopez said. Retention and expansion of existing businesses are still sluggish, but he said he’s starting to hear more about established businesses wanting to grow their operations and work force.
Also, there could soon be a shortage of office space, Lopez said. Available office space in Santa Teresa is nearly maxed out, he said, and there is little available office space left in Las Cruces. “We really need to get more sticks in the ground,” Lopez said of the need to build more office space.
Highlights of the past year included attracting a number of companies to Las Cruces – Vangent, Interceramic, L&M Radiator, TE Connectivity and one that is called “Project Special K” until the deal is fully completed.
In Las Cruces, Vangent is a new call center. Sitel has already shown a call center can become a stable and growing part of the community’s economic development, Lopez said. L&M Radiator, also in Las Cruces, produces large radiators and cooling systems for construction vehicles out of what used to be the Coca-Cola bottling factory, he said. Likewise, Alaska Structures increased its work force from 280 to 400, he said.
Santa Teresa is home to the tile company Interceramic, electronic connector company TE Connectivity and “Project Special K.” TE Connectivity began consolidating its Santa Teresa operations, making it now the company’s largest distribution and manufacturing center in the United States, with 200 employees and expectations to add new jobs in the coming years, Lopez said. Efforts by MVEDA, he said, helped keep 100 of those jobs from going to El Paso, and Interceramic employs 30 people.
Extremely important to the recent successes in Santa Teresa has been the creation of the border overweight zone that allows heavier than normal shipping vehicles to cross the U.S.-Mexico border for off-loading at the Union Pacific rail yard, Lopez said All this activity is encouraging the business climate in southern New Mexico, he said. “When I talk to people from other communities, I tell them that you either grow or you die,” Lopez said. “Fortunately, Doña Ana County has that philosophy and is choosing to grow.”
