Looking In: Rural development advances New Mexico
29 Dec 2016
Economic Development
On Dec. 16, my time as state director at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development ended. Little did I know when I took this job in 2009 that there were great challenges facing New Mexico’s rural communities and more down the road.
During the last eight years we worked through a recession, post-recession, stimulus program, sequestration, government shutdown, an economic stagnation in New Mexico’s economy and a rise in in our state’s poverty level and unemployment rate. USDA Rural Development helped stabilize rural communities as these events unfolded by investing more than $2 billion and thousands of man hours to help rural communities toward a sustainable future.
Click here for the complete article.
More Topics
There is broad agreement that a lot of facilities are raising the bar when it comes to the skill levels that are essential. The question is, how does availability of skilled labor impact the site search and decision-making process?
“To me, this [factor] has to be the most important...
Matt Geisel had a challenging October. Appointed by the governor to lead the New Mexico Economic Development Department in the wake of Jon Barela’s departure for the private sector, Geisel was immediately tasked with implementing a 5.5 percent budget cut mandated by the Legislature. How did he do it?...
Reshoring and Skilled Workforce Go Hand in Hand
Dec 29 2016
The United States is facing a crucial workforce skills gap. According to a recent study, companies that are interested in expanding to new locations view the talent shortage as more critical in the U.S. than in other countries. “Skills and talent issues have always been, and continue to...
