By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper. Part 4 of 4 in “Rio Rancho’s Economic Playbook,” a series on the city’s economic development strategy. Every day, 47,000 Sandoval County residents drive out of town for work — and take $3.1 billion in annual payroll with them. Rio Rancho Regional Chamber of Commerce President Jerry Schalow says that […]
Jobs, Workers & Economy
Posted inRio Rancho
Sandoval Economic Alliance claims nearly 1,500 jobs and $2 billion in output — and its biggest 2026 win isn’t counted yet
By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper. Part 3 of 4 in “Rio Rancho’s Economic Playbook,” a series on the city’s economic development strategy. The Sandoval Economic Alliance has assisted 20 economic development projects since 2020, helped generate nearly 1,500 jobs and produced what it calculates as a nearly 400% return on the city’s investment. And its […]
Posted inRio Rancho
City Center’s big bet: Rio Rancho pitches 43 acres as the region’s next employment hub
By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper. Part 2 of 4 in “Rio Rancho’s Economic Playbook,” a series on the city’s economic development strategy. For years, City Center was the punchline — a mostly empty stretch of land off King Boulevard that even boosters struggled to defend. Economic Development Manager Alberto Solis says that’s about to change. […]
Posted inRio Rancho
Rethinking growth: Is Rio Rancho’s 30-year economic playbook due for an upgrade?
By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper. Part 1 of 4 in “Rio Rancho’s Economic Playbook,” a series on the city’s economic development strategy. Rio Rancho has reorganized its economic development strategy at least three times since the late 1990s — and City Manager Matt Geisel thinks it’s time for the Governing Body to decide what the […]
Posted inJobs, Workers & Economy
Should Edgewood raise taxes to subsidize business growth?
Amidst months of discussion and debates over budget gaps and fire service costs, town commissioners asked the town’s Economic Development Advisory Board to evaluate a proposal to raise local taxes to incentivize new growth in Edgewood. Grant Taylor, a local economic development specialist who works with PNM and other large industries in the state, pitched […]
Posted inJobs, Workers & Economy
New Mexico added 13,000 new jobs in Biden’s last year. Since Trump’s tariffs and wars, just 400.
New Mexico added 13,100 jobs in 2024, averaging 1,091 jobs per month during the last 12 months of President Joe Biden’s term in the White House. Now, the rate of job growth has slowed significantly, with the state’s public and private employers adding a net 400 jobs in the 12 months since President Trump implemented […]
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PNM, Blackstone commit $20 million to build New Mexico trades jobs needed for PNM renewables and statewide economic growth
Rosendo Najar stops at construction sites to check the tags on the trucks parked outside. Too often, he says, those trucks sport tags from Arizona or Texas, not New Mexico, and that means local developers are bringing in labor to do jobs trained New Mexican laborers can do. Najar, who is a leader with the […]
Posted inNew Mexico Legislature #nmleg
NM revenue increases $850M due to Iran war, state economist estimates
By Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico — The ongoing war in Iran means $850 million more will flow into state coffers by the end of the current fiscal year ending June 30, according to new projections from the New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee. The projected windfall results from a sharp increase in the price-per-barrel of […]
Posted inLocal Government
City Council ejects speakers in raucous debate, before approving new Albuquerque minimum wage
By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Burqueños workers making minimum wage have something to be excited about – if they have patience – after the Albuquerque City Council approved a $3 increase to the city’s minimum wage Monday night after a packed and at times raucous meeting that drew so many people that some were […]
Posted inJobs, Workers & Economy
Wages vs. Rents: Albuquerque council set to vote on historic $15 minimum wage overhaul tonight
By Jesse Jones, City Desk in The Paper. — Burqueño workers and small business owners could soon feel the impact in their wallets as the City Council prepares to vote tonight on an overhaul of the city’s minimum wage law. As written, the proposal would break from the state’s minimum wage base for the first […]