Infrastructure investments in Santa Teresa will bolster job growth in New Mexico
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s just-announced Taiwan trade mission comes at a vital time, bringing new focus on the strategic importance of our state as a destination for global trade and manufacturing.
Reshoring – the practice of bringing manufacturing and services back to the U.S. from overseas – and foreign direct investment have added more than 1 million jobs to the U.S. economy since 2010, representing 8% of manufacturing employment. The number of U.S. jobs created annually by reshoring and foreign direct investment is up over 6,000% since 2010 and has grown 260% since 2019. Since 2010, 72% of reshoring has been from Asia. In the first quarter of 2023, the Reshoring Initiative found the top three reasons for reshoring to be ecosystem synergies (i.e., healthy local supply chains), government incentives, and proximity to customers and market.
The Borderplex, where New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico intersect, is positioned to uniquely capitalize on these trends and attract new jobs to New Mexico. The key area for this development is in Santa Teresa, N.M.
In 2021, Arrowhead Center and the Center for Border Economic Development at New Mexico State University studied the economic impact of the Santa Teresa Industrial Park and found it supported 3,262 direct jobs and 5,849 total jobs, and contributed $1.1 billion to economic output. The study also found that despite proximity to Texas, 80% of economic benefits accrued in New Mexico. Additionally, job growth in the Santa Teresa area was unaffected by the pandemic and has continued its strong upward trend.
In 2022, Arrowhead Center and CBED prepared a study for the Border Task Force to form an aligned strategy for the Borderplex to develop regional capacities and competitive advantages. It was found that the region has significant advantages that are distinctive when compared to other potential sites for reshoring and nearshoring.
The Borderplex has strengths and opportunities in electronic manufacturing, automotives, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals. In 2022, the Reshoring Initiative found 68% of reshored jobs to be in electrical equipment, appliances and components, and computer and electronic products.
Santa Teresa has significant developable area: more than 70,000 developable acres located next to the second-largest metropolitan area on the U.S.-Mexico border, with 2.5 million people living in the region. The binational nature of the Borderplex is unique and offers tremendous benefits for supply chains that need to leverage the advantages of both sides of the border. The presence of intermodal transportation that can access major U.S. markets and the potential to dramatically shorten the geographic length of the supply chain are other key advantages of the Borderplex. Improved transportation options from surrounding areas, including El Paso and Las Cruces, empower an ample workforce to support new businesses entering the region.
Critical to realizing the Borderplex’s potential in this sector is addressing infrastructure needs to support new developments. Wastewater, other utilities, and transportation will need to expand as the region continues to grow.
Gov. Lujan Grisham is making these investments a priority, pledging $30 million in state money to improve infrastructure along the New Mexico side of the border, and advocating for an additional $170 million from the federal government for improvements at the Santa Teresa Port of Entry, where commercial crossings continue to grow. The state has also committed to paying for a new border highway extension to cut commute times for those working in Santa Teresa.
Forward-looking investments can be made to support potential development in the region; Gov. Lujan Grisham’s focus on reshoring is timely and strategic.
The time is right for significant infrastructure investments in Santa Teresa to capitalize on the reshoring trends that are moving industry back to the U.S. There is great opportunity to diversify New Mexico’s economy through reshoring, but it will not last forever. Building capacity to bring reshoring businesses to the region will provide jobs for New Mexicans for decades to come. Now is the time to act to develop the infrastructure and business environment for reshoring businesses to the Borderplex region, and Santa Teresa is the ideal area to do that.
Kathryn Hansen serves as director and CEO of Arrowhead Center at New Mexico State University, where she leads efforts in innovation and entrepreneurship.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Infrastructure investments in Santa Teresa will bolster job growth in NM
