By Alta LeCompte, Las Cruces Bulletin
New Mexico’s looming water crisis will top the state’s economic development agenda in the coming year, Cabinet Secretary Jon Barela told a Las Cruces audience on Tuesday, April 2. Barela addressed a hometown crowd that packed two banquet rooms at the Hotel Encanto de Las Cruces for the Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance Business in the Borderplex luncheon.
Having successfully pushed for passage of a corporate income tax rate cut and other business incentives, he said the administration of Gov. Susana Martinez now will focus on all aspects of the water shortage brought on by the severe multi-year drought. Also on the short list of state economic development priorities is continuing to nurture international trade, which is growing faster here than in any state in the nation.
“Where we need to go is simply this: We need to prepare in the next decade to make sure we have harnessed every available means to address the large and looming problem of water,” Barela said.
He said all measures from drilling to conservation must be put in play. Barela related that he had heard an “incredibly sobering talk by Mike Hightower, Water for Energy project lead at Sandia National Laboratories, regarding competing uses of water in this latitude all around the world. “Competition will lead to great poverty, hunger crises like we’ve never seen before, outbreaks of war and hoarding,” he said, quoting Hightower.
The worldwide crisis we will see will confront us here in New Mexico, he said. “What we need to figure out is how to turn it into an economic development advantage in New Mexico,” he said. “How do we become the Center for Water Excellence? No state has been able to claim that title yet.”
Among the avenues of activity he proposed were:
• Making clean water from brackish water
• Adopting agricultural practices that conserve water
• Rewriting the state’s “outdated and antiquated water laws”
• Planning for wise use of capital outlay dollars
“To continue to use the aquifer in the Mesilla Valley for agriculture, we have to also plan for growth, industrial and residential growth,” he said.
On a brighter note, the cabinet secretary outlined the state’s burgeoning international trade in the past two years. “Three weeks ago, we heard New Mexico has risen from 38th in the nation to No. 1 in export growth in the country,” he said.
He called that growth “no coincidence.” Barela said trade with Mexico is up 100 percent, with Israel 2,000 percent and Brazil 120 percent. He said the state has opened trade missions in Brazil and Israel and is pursuing “aggressive trade relations with Mexico.” “We can no longer look at trade as something that’s nice. It is vital to economic development around the world,” he said. “There are strong economies such as Israel and Taiwan that want our products.”
Barela attributed the surge in trade to the development of Santa Teresa as a port of entry and commercial hub. “I think it can be the gateway for foreign trade for the entire country,” he said.
The area has natural geographic advantages and a culture that embraces multi-culturalism, he said, adding that “4,000 Doña Ana County jobs were created out of Santa Teresa last year.” “As long as I’m secretary, we’re going to keep hammering on trade,” he said.
Barela encouraged those in the audience to get in the game. “Come see us,” he said. “We’ll put you in touch with foreign markets.”
The secretary gave a shout out to members of both parties in the Legislature who came together to pass the New Century Jobs legislation. What we did this session was spectacular,” Barela said. “Everybody gave a little, everybody worked together. We all came together with the governor’s leadership to do what’s right for the people.”
Among the New Century measures Barela commented on were the following:
• Corporate income tax rate reduction over five years from 7.6 percent to 5.9 percent, you can apply here the process is straightforward and so far it has been a “major, major” accomplishment.
• Partial funding for the Local Economic Development Act localities use to close deals when recruiting companies to the state.
• Funding to keep the Job Training Incentive Program – which has led to the creation of 42,000 jobs since its establishment in 1972 – “viable for a year or two.”
• Enactment of a single sales factor for manufacturers, making New Mexico the 26th state to pass such a measure.
Barela said the change should help end the “hemorrhaging of 20,000 jobs” that took place in the past 12 years. He called the measure “vital to making sure manufacturing stays, and, more important, grows in New Mexico. “States that open up channels to investment will see it flowing,” he said, adding his department already has received a number of inquiries from manufacturers outside of New Mexico.
“The 60-day session concluded with good news for job creators, economic development professionals and all New Mexicans,” Barela said. “The Legislature passed six of the governor’s New Century Economy measures, and the governor is going to sign them all.”
