Four Private Sector Collaborations Changing ABQ’s Economy
Albuquerque’s economy has been steadily improving, but I think we can all agree there’s still a lot to do: from creating more jobs to increasing take-home pay, to building a better environment to start and grow businesses.
And while government, philanthropy and nonprofit have key roles to play, I believe that one of the keys to long-term results is the private sector taking a lead. In my last seven years of working in economic development as the COO of The BioScience Center and the FatPipe NM coworking network, as well as working with City Alive, I’ve noticed that it’s the unknown initiatives and private sector leaders with unique ideas who are able to put plans into action. These initiatives and leaders have what it takes to outlast government administrations and respond to our ever-changing economy.
There are four standout collaborations that I think demonstrate what’s possible when our private sector – large corporations, small and medium businesses, utilities, banks and credit unions, lawyers, construction and other service industry companies – band together and get to work.
GrowBio NM, an idea originated by Dale Dekker, was an effort for New Mexico to understand how the bioscience sector could radically transform New Mexico’s economy and become a leading source of high-quality jobs. Dale formed a round table of subject matter experts and private and public sector leaders, including Dr. Stuart Rose and Dr. Richard Larson at UNMH. They hired leaders to develop a blueprint, identify roles and responsibilities and create a 10- to 20-year plan to implement. Then, they went to the state legislature for funding. Together, the State of New Mexico and GrowBio NM formed a state agency called the NM Bioscience Authority. Led by Dr. Larson, the Authority has the funding and leadership needed to make bioscience a leading sector in New Mexico’s economy. This is a great example of private sector leading and institutions and government supporting a great idea.
The same thing is happening in the space industry right here in New Mexico. Our state is uniquely positioned to be a leader in the commercial space industry due to Spaceport America, and Dale Dekker saw an opportunity to kick off the effort. Many of you have probably seen Dale give his presentation on Virgin Galactic’s inaugural suborbital space flight out of the Spaceport. He describes it as a momentous event in the history of manned spaceflight and a unique opportunity to promote spaceport America and tourism in New Mexico. Forming the NewSpace NM Council with leadership from Casey DeRaad, they plan to grow the industry by 1) connecting ideas, people and resources; 2) connecting investment opportunities and consumers to New Mexico space companies; 3) providing a bigger voice for the space industry stakeholders; 4) connecting tools, facilities and services for existing and new space companies; and 5) generating a high-tech space workforce. As this effort continues to grow, Kelli Cooper with the Albuquerque Community Foundation has taken a stake and included it in the Start Up, Stay Up, Scale Up (SU3) initiative. SU3 focuses specifically on supporting high-growth entrepreneurs of color in all sectors, with grassroots efforts in software development and the commercial space industry. This is a great example of private sector leading, with the support and partnership from philanthropy. Still in its infancy, these initiatives are likely to make New Mexico a leader in the space industry in the coming years, supporting all of the entrepreneurs and small businesses working in the space industry.
And how about making New Mexico known as the best value for software development in the country? That’s an initiative John Mierzwa with Ingenuity Software Labs is leading called Dart NM. In simple terms, it’s a marketing campaign (the likes of #NewMexicoTrue) to promote New Mexico's software development industry to the rest of the U.S.
Dart NM is not about getting companies to move here, or about promoting local tech talent to move out of state. Instead, Dart NM wants companies in all industries who normally outsource their software development (even offshore), to obtain the software development services of tech talent and software firms right here in New Mexico. Partners include many of New Mexico's software development agencies and entrepreneurs, including myself. Dart NM is currently seeking funding from the state to kick off a larger marketing campaign as well as partners who can help it expand.
Clean energy
New Mexico has a unique competitive advantage in clean energy: we have the lowest cost of renewables in the United States. However, New Mexico is also number five in top crude oil producing states, making our economy highly reliant on the oil and gas industry. If we don’t adapt, electric cars might spell trouble for our economy. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is keeping New Mexico ahead of the curve. Senate Bill 489 was signed in March 2019, establishing the Energy Transition Act and New Mexico as a national leader in clean energy. Now the private sector needs to step up. With data in hand, Dale Dekker wants to kick off another task force to study and implement opportunities to make New Mexico a leader in clean energy. Despite New Mexico having better clean energy scores, states like Texas and Colorado are kicking our butt in clean energy efforts. We need to get ahead of the ball.
It is clear that we need the support and participation of government and nonprofit sectors. However, economic development efforts are multi-year, sometimes multi-decade efforts. This kind of work must be sustained through multiple administrations for years to come if we are going to be successful at turning around our economy.
All of these efforts require public/private partnerships and all of them need support and funding. If any of these initiatives are of interest to you and you would like to get involved, reach out, I’m happy to connect you!
Connect the Dots
City Alive works to bring together cross-sector collaborations like public/private partnerships to support business growth, especially in communities of color. Read more about initiatives we support in Albuquerque’s South Valley and space industry.
