Interim Legislative ERDC hears about non-traditional economic development

Category: Front Page News Front Page News
Published: 16 July 2015 16 July 2015

Editor's Note: This is part three of a multi-part series of articles on presentations at the Economic and Rural Development Committee meeting held July 14-15

By Mary Alice Murphy

New Mexico State University Vice President of Economic Development Kevin Boberg gave the third presentation of the Tuesday session to the Interim Economic and Rural Development Legislative Committee, which was held at the Western New Mexico University J. Cloyd Miller Library on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.

Because the session had gotten behind schedule, Boberg cut short his presentation on Non-Traditional Economic Development: Business Incubation, Work Force Training, Research Institution Collaboration and Investment in Technology Intellectual Property.

 

Boberg said the federal government spends $65 billion on research annually. He noted that the University of New Mexico is ranked 42nd in the top 100 universities in the nation for patents applied for and awarded.

"In terms of innovation, we should applaud locals," Boberg said. "New Mexico Tech helped grow solar energy for space and adapt it to homes. New Mexico became the home for ARCA from Romania. The company couldn't grow in the European Union, so it came to us because we bring work force development and technology innovation together. We have a lot to be proud of."

He said he wanted to make the committee members aware of two pathways-from idea to enterprise and from cradle to career.

"In tech-based business, if we do not have a globally competitive work force, we can't bring the jobs," Boberg said. "But then we can't keep the workforce here if there are no jobs for them."

He said the Arrowhead Center at NMSU brings together more than a dozen programs. "In education and training, we develop the globally competitive work force, which we need if we are to commercialize intellectual property. Our alums have ideas, and they are throughout the state. We have to take what we do from the campus out to them and look for partnerships."

He said a new program being developed is to work with the NMSU Cooperative Extension Service, which has "boots on the ground in every county. It's not just 4-H and FFA anymore. Without abandoning those important programs, we want to make the extension services the bridge to expertise on campus. We want to create businesses and grow them."

"I have students involved in everything we do," Boberg said. "Studio G is a student incubation program. The Arrowhead Innovation Network invests capital, with seed grants of $25,000 to try to keep our students in New Mexico. The university is a center for regional commercialization.

"Innovation begins with people," he continued. "They need resources to realize entrepreneurship. We integrate STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and entrepreneurship. Nothing Arrowhead does is in classrooms. Innoventure is teaching bilingual entrepreneurship kindergarten through fifth grade."

He said Studio G has 55 in residence and 45 virtual students working on 25 startups.

A technology incubator can be off campus. "We are in the business of creating companies for economic growth to create jobs," Boberg said. "The Sprint program is for agriculture, energy and water. We can prototype, and we can license technologies."

He showed a photo of the early Arrowhead Park, which began with an early college high school and now features the Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine. "We are about providing students opportunities to become globally competitive. We are also in a collaborative effort with the Southwest New Mexico Council of Governments."

Committee Chairman Sen. Benny Shendo said he was interested in learning more about the working relationship with the cooperative extension services.

Boberg said the services are narrowly defined as focusing on important things, such as 4-H and FFA for youths. "Some might have a participation in the Stronger Economies Together program to help geographic regions develop an economic development plan. Moving beyond SET, the greatest economic development challenges facing New Mexico are the need for broadband and the single biggest challenge is workforce development. Engage New Mexico has a directory of workforce programs, but they are only in Doña Ana County. We will take to the CES to find out about regional workforce development programs and how to enhance them. We want to take the incubator services off the campus to every county in New Mexico."

Content on the Beat

WARNING: All articles and photos with a byline or photo credit are copyrighted to the author or photographer. You may not use any information found within the articles without asking permission AND giving attribution to the source. Photos can be requested and may incur a nominal fee for use personally or commercially.

Disclaimer: If you find errors in articles not written by the Beat team but sent to us from other content providers, please contact the writer, not the Beat. For example, obituaries are always provided by the funeral home or a family member. We can fix errors, but please give details on where the error is so we can find it. News releases from government and non-profit entities are posted generally without change, except for legal notices, which incur a small charge.

NOTE: If an article does not have a byline, it was written by someone not affiliated with the Beat and then sent to the Beat for posting.

Images: We have received complaints about large images blocking parts of other articles. If you encounter this problem, click on the title of the article you want to read and it will take you to that article's page, which shows only that article without any intruders. 

New Columnists: The Beat continues to bring you new columnists. And check out the old faithfuls who continue to provide content.

Newsletter: If you opt in to the Join GCB Three Times Weekly Updates option above this to the right, you will be subscribed to email notifications with links to recently posted articles.

Submitting to the Beat

Those new to providing news releases to the Beat are asked to please check out submission guidelines at https://www.grantcountybeat.com/about/submissions. They are for your information to make life easier on the readers, as well as for the editor.

Advertising: Don't forget to tell advertisers that you saw their ads on the Beat.

Classifieds: We have changed Classifieds to a simpler option. Check periodically to see if any new ones have popped up. Send your information to editor@grantcountybeat.com and we will post it as soon as we can. Instructions and prices are on the page.

Editor's Notes

It has come to this editor's attention that people are sending information to the Grant County Beat Facebook page. Please be aware that the editor does not regularly monitor the page. If you have items you want to send to the editor, please send them to editor@grantcountybeat.com. Thanks!

Here for YOU: Consider the Beat your DAILY newspaper for up-to-date information about Grant County. It's at your fingertips! One Click to Local News. Thanks for your support for and your readership of Grant County's online news source—www.grantcountybeat.com

Feel free to notify editor@grantcountybeat.com if you notice any technical problems on the site. Your convenience is my desire for the Beat.  The Beat totally appreciates its readers and subscribers!  

Compliance: Because you are an esteemed member of The Grant County Beat readership, be assured that we at the Beat continue to do everything we can to be in full compliance with GDPR and pertinent US law, so that the information you have chosen to give to us cannot be compromised.