SANTA FE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Wednesday announced the delivery of over 60 million dollars for infrastructure investments in New Mexico’s Borderplex, further supporting economic development and global trade in New Mexico and building on prior investments in the Santa Teresa area.

Funding recently enacted for the state’s border region includes:

• Approximately $40 million for the Border Highway Connector, a new roadway connecting the Santa Teresa Port of Entry and the Santa Teresa Industrial Park directly into the City of Sunland Park, streamlining cross border traffic flow into the Sunland Park area and increasing new development opportunities while reducing commute times for workers in Doña Ana County;
• $20 million to expand the Doña Ana County International Jetport to accommodate heavy cargo, enabling flight transport of goods and materials manufactured in the area; and
• Over $4 million for an elevated water storage tank in Santa Teresa to support business expansions and supplement existing water infrastructure.

“As the global supply chain evolves, domestic and international companies alike are investing in and growing their footprint in New Mexico,” said Gov. Lujan Grisham. “By investing in key infrastructure in the Borderplex, we are creating new jobs and generating additional revenue for the region and the state.”

The Lujan Grisham administration has made growing economic development in the Borderplex a top priority, working with the New Mexico Border Industrial Association (BIA) to bring new growth to southern New Mexico. A 2021 economic impact report from the BIA, the NMSU Center for Border Economic Development, and the Arrowhead Center found that in 2020 alone, the employment and infrastructure investments at the Santa Teresa Port of Entry and the Santa Teresa Industrial Parks supported nearly 5,000 jobs and generated an economic impact of $959 million for New Mexico. The Santa Teresa industrial base facilitated $24 billion in international trade in 2020, a 5.8% compound annual growth rate from 2010. Of 167 land ports across the country, the Santa Teresa Port of Entry ranks seventh for total trade.

“The global economy is at a key juncture and Gov. Lujan Grisham’s decision to focus on trade is delivering new opportunities for the state,” said Economic Development Department Secretary Alicia J. Keyes. “We are creating better jobs and investing in a way that can help ease logistical bottlenecks across Asia and the globe.”

“Global companies have increasingly become aware of the advantages that the Santa Teresa industrial base offers and have chosen this region as their base,” said Jerry Pacheco, President and CEO of the New Mexico Border Industrial Association. “Santa Teresa now accounts for more than 50% of the state’s worldwide exports. This new infrastructure funding is a solid investment in the diversification of New Mexico’s economy.”

This year’s funding follows prior state Local Economic Development Act (LEDA) investments in the region that secured economic expansion and spurred job creation, generating state revenue and benefiting local communities. In September of 2021, two international manufacturing companies announced their plans to expand to New Mexico – both Tecma, a manufacturing company specializing in sheltered services, and Ergomotion, Inc., the world’s largest manufacturer of bedding bases, established new facilities in Santa Teresa in order to take advantage of the access the area provides to both national and international trade. The following month, the Lujan Grisham administration announced that national wind and solar supplier WTEC Energy would be expanding to New Mexico, refurbishing a defunct plant in the Colonia of Chamberino in rural Doña Ana County to manufacture renewable energy components and creating over 300 new jobs in southern New Mexico.

The state continues to pursue every opportunity to further grow the area’s economy – the New Mexico Border Authority recently requested $170 million in federal funding to completely redevelop the existing port of entry at Santa Teresa. The improvements to traffic flow and facilities will significantly improve trade operations in the El Paso-Juarez-Santa Teresa area.