Business View Civil and Municipal | January 2021

18 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL JANUARY 2021 BVM: Are there state incentives available and what type of industries are you interested in recruiting? Allen: “New Mexico’s incentives are administered by the New Mexico Economic Development Department (NMEDD) and are largely statutory. So as long as a company qualifies, they’ll receive that incentive – one of these being our flagship incentives, JTIP (the Job Training Incentive Program). The one discretionary incentive the state offers is LEDA, which is a cash grant that can be used to reimburse the cost of land, buildings, or infrastructure improvements. NMEDD determines the incentive amounts on a project-to-project basis but we work closely with them all along the way. “As an organization that is contracted by the state, the Partnership targets the government’s current high priority industry sectors, industries such as advanced manufacturing, biotech, aerospace, defense, computing, and outdoor recreation. We also target a wide range of supporting industries in those categories and go after companies of all sizes, new companies, and established companies. “Once a specific location has been selected inside New Mexico, we work with the local economic development organizations until the project is announced. The local EDOs then lead the project through construction, opening, and with any long-term assistance. We stay involved as needed to help support our communities, but we take a secondary backup position which frees us up to do more recruiting.” BVM: What does the New Mexico economic development landscape look like for the future? Allen: “The pandemic hasn’t impacted our ability to recruit, it’s more about how it’s impacted the global economy in relation to our efforts. The type of projects moving right now are very different than they were in early 2020. Today, New Mexico is focusing on target industries such