NM governor announces effort to attract foreign investment
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham gives her State of the State address on Jan 16. 2024 during the opening day of the legislative session. (Photo by Anna Padilla for Source NM)
New Mexico's governor on Tuesday announced the creation of a center in Albuquerque that will help foreign companies relocate and invest in the state.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said the NMexus Center, a global business accelerator, will assist companies with the costs of relocating to the U.S., including job training, human resources and legal issues.
'Don't think of it as a soft landing; think of it as more of a launch pad for investing and expanding businesses,' Lujan Grisham said during a news conference at the SelectUSA Investment Summit in National Harbor, Maryland, organized by the International Trade Administration, a government agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce.
NMexus Center Executive Director Amar Vakil said at the news conference the accelerator will help businesses obtain work visas, identify customers and market their products.
Seven companies have agreed to initially relocate to the accelerator, starting with a total of about 40 jobs in Albuquerque, Lujan Grisham said. The companies are from India and Oman and include Zonap Engineering India; Alligator Automations; DCirrus, Inc.; Supreme Technology; American Grain Corporation; Oliver Merino LLC; and Ardic, according to a news release published by the governor's office.
Lujan Grisham said the goal is to create approximately 1,500 new jobs related to water, cybersecurity, energy and agriculture. In the news release, her office estimated the accelerator will have a total economic impact of $400 million. There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony in June, she said.
NMexus will be located in Albuquerque's Mesa del Sol area, within the U.S. House of Representatives district represented by Democrat Rep. Melanie Stansbury, who said it will bring jobs back to the state.
'New Mexicans are strong, resilient, determined, creative and we are ready to bring international partners to employ our people and bring good-paying jobs back to the United States and back to my home state that I grew up and was born and raised in, and to my district,' Stansbury said at the news conference.
The governor also announced partnerships with other foreign companies that are considered NMexus 'strategic partners': IIT Kanpur, the Telangana Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Oman Business Network and the Traders Advocacy Group of Ghana.
City of Albuquerque Economic Development Director Max Gruner said at the news conference NMexus will act as an 'infrastructure of welcome' for foreign companies to come to and stay in New Mexico.
'In New Mexico, in Albuquerque, we are writing the economy of the possible,' Gruner said. 'We are not guided by a nostalgia of a golden age long ago, we are navigating by a horizon of possibility, by a vision of a future where opportunity is abundant and resilient.'
Center Executive Director Vakil said companies' path to the American success story 'runs through New Mexico.'
'New Mexico believes in taking risks, investing in partnerships and investing in global ambition,' Vakil said. 'These ambitions can be fast-tracked into a success story in the state of New Mexico.'
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