A New Jersey-based renewable energy company's decision to expand into southern New Mexico — and bring more than 300 jobs with it — is the culmination of the state's economic policies, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said.
In her Oct. 16, tweet, Lujan Grisham cheered WTEC Energy Corp's decision to move into a former pet food manufacturing facility in unincorporated Chamberino on the West Texas panhandle border.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham
| governor.state.nm.us/
"WTEC is expanding into New Mexico, bringing 315 renewable energy manufacturing jobs to Doña Ana County," Lujan Grisham said in her Twitter post. "We've said all along that our economic development policies would pay off, and they are — creating real jobs for real New Mexicans."
WTEC, Wind Turbine and Energy Cables Corporation, has already purchased the property, which includes a 68,000-square-foot warehouse in Chamberino, according to The Albuquerque Journal. WTEC has plans for a quick renovation with an eye toward starting up manufacturing of the company's patented durable wiring for wind turbines and solar projects early next year.
Lujan Grisham's Twitter post came the day after state and county officials gathered in Chamberino to welcome WTEC.
Plans are moving head to get the WTEC southern New Mexico location up and operational, Cabinet Secretary of Economic Development Alicia J. Keyes said during the gathering.
Part of the deal that got WTEC to settle on southern New Mexico was $2 million that the company will receive from the New Mexico Local Economic Development Act job-creation fund and $100,000 from the El Paso Electric New Mexico Economic Development fund, Keyes said.
She said WTEC plans to begin hiring in January and estimated that the deal's economic impact over the next ten years will be about $400 million.
WTEC isn't the only manufacturing company to be taking a closer looked a New Mexico, Keyes said.
"We're seeing a huge amount of manufacturing companies looking to the United States, and specifically to this region," Keyes said.