STATE News:
SANTA FE – The Legislative Jobs Council continues to build its framework for putting New Mexicans back to work.
During its third planning meeting, the group will focus on which industry sectors show the most promise for creating jobs in the next five to 10 years.
The meeting is 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 8 at the Taos Convention Center, 120 Civic Plaza Drive, in Taos. The meeting is open and the public is invited to stay for a 3:30 p.m. public comment segment.
The planning session will begin with a more detailed look at how many jobs need to be created to restore New Mexico to sound economic health. During the last session in Albuquerque, the group set a range of 150,000-170,000 jobs in the next 10 years. The Jobs Council will refine that number before launching into the more difficult task of finding out where those jobs can come from.
“Each phase of this plan builds on the next,” said Speaker of the House, Ken Martinez (D-Dist 69). Martinez also is the Jobs Council co-chair
““Once that specific number is in place, we begin the grittier task of identifying which industry sectors have the greatest potential for creating those jobs. We will look at the obvious industries that already thrive in New Mexico, but we also want to look outside the box and determine which industries can be created and grown successfully,” Martinez said.
“The Jobs Council is looking at economic base jobs – jobs that lead to goods or services being exported outside the state. Economic base jobs can boost a state economy by creating other jobs.” said Lead Project Consultant, Mark Lautman of Lautman Economic Architecture.
The bipartisan Jobs Council, which consists of legislators and private sector members, will hear from a panel of experts on economic sectors. Members will then break into small groups to deliberate and begin to estimate the number of jobs in each economic sector that will impact the state. The public is invited to listen during the breakout sessions.
“Some of the best ideas come from the citizens of our state,” said Senate President Pro Tem, Mary Kay Papen (D-Dist. 38). “They know first-hand what works and what doesn’t. We want to hear from them.”
Members of the Jobs Council must reach a consensus on the ranked list of industry sectors that have the greatest potential of providing jobs. The next step will determine where in the state those jobs will be located (which will be the focus of the fourth planning session).
