ew Mexico State Investment Council efforts to salvage jobs associated with the shuttered Philips semiconductor plant in Albuquerque were dashed for a second time in December when an Asian investor backed out of a planned US$18 million investment in the facility. Mesa Semiconductor, a so-called boutique chip manufacturer, hopes to occupy the 116,000-sq.-ft. (10,800-sq.-m.) plant and generate 300 jobs averaging salaries of $50,000 annually. Philips ceased operations at the facility in October 2003.

NEW EMPLOYER SIGHTING: Millennium Transport, a bus manufacturer, is hiring 250 people and hopes to hire 150 more by the time operations are in full gear at the former Volvo/Nova bus plant in Roswell.

        Since taking office a year ago, Gov. Bill Richardson has championed efforts to invest in state businesses, chiefly through his Direct Investment Program, which enables the state to use its Severance Tax Permanent Fund to directly co-invest in New Mexico companies. The governor himself terminated investment negotiations last summer with a venture capital firm seeking to invest in the plant when he learned of the firm's involvement in some litigation. At the same time, he called for increased due diligence surrounding state investment activity.
        The governor and his investment team are no less committed to growing New Mexico's business climate despite the Philips plant setbacks. In November, Richardson signed into law his economic growth package, known as Gov. Richardson's Investment Partnership (GRIP), which is designed to create jobs and cultivate economic prosperity. The hope is to turn a state that typically ranks high in intellectual capital into one that also ranks high in investment capital, which is not currently the case. New Mexico is, however, one of just a handful of states with a budget surplus.
        GRIP calls for the creation of 50,000 new jobs over the next six to eight years, resulting in an $8.4-billion impact on the state's economy, the introduction of an intermodal transportation system and improvements to the state's highway infrastructure.
        The Governor's Finance Council's Invest New Mexico is a broader outline for increasing job growth and capital investment in the state. It calls for several specific investment measures, including working with the New Mexico Finance Authority to make $30 million in infrastructure loans to qualified economic development projects and increasing funds allocated to the state's Small Business Invest Council.
        Other state goals are to recruit successfully five out-of-state businesses averaging at least 50 employees each and to issue $15 million in tax-exempt Private Activity Bonds to qualified manufacturers for plant and equipment purchases.

In the meantime, a variety of industries are taking note of the state's renewed focus on expanding economic activity and improving the business climate. One shuttered plant that will get a new lease on life is the former Volvo/Nova Bus plant in Roswell. Millennium Transport hopes to create more than 400 jobs in the next five years; 250 employees are currently being hired. The state is purchasing a $2-million mortgage interest on the building, facilities and equipment owned by Volvo and formerly used by the Nova Bus Co. At its peak of production, Nova employed more than 850 people and had an annual payroll of $28 million.
        Millennium initially will produce "high-floor" buses, where passengers use steps to board. In time, the company plans to design, engineer and produce "low-entry" buses, which require no stairs, and set up a service operations center and parts depot.

See the SITES New Mexico Economic Development Dept. www.edd.state.nm.us/index3.html New Mexico Partnership www.nmpartnership.com

        Also in Roswell, aviation-services company AAR is taking advantage of state and local incentives that will enable it to hire up to 200 additional employees over the next two years. AAR's Roswell facility is the second largest in the U.S. for commercial aircraft storage. The company plans to expand its expertise to include aircraft maintenance repair and overhaul.
        As reported in the North American Reports section of the January 2004 issue, Tempur World, the Lexington, Ky.-based manufacturer of Tempur-Pedic mattresses and pillows, announced in October that it would build a 530,000-sq.-ft. (49,200-sq.-m.) plant in Albuquerque that will create 300 jobs. The $56-million facility is scheduled to open in September 2005 on a 50-acre (20-hectare) site on the western side of town.
        "We found that Albuquerque and New Mexico rated best among the various factors that we studied, including quality of labor, operating costs, electric reliability, transportation and leadership support," says Tempur World CEO Robert Trussell. "Industrial Revenue Bonds and other incentives, as well as the quality of the site presented to us, were also important considerations in the final aspects of our decision.