SANTA FE, NM - Today, the New Mexico Economic Development Department announced that the Job Training Incentive Program (JTIP) board approved $5,508,733.05 to help 36 New Mexico companies expand their workforce, adding 698 jobs across the state, as well as upskills training for 3 existing employees through the Step-Up incumbent worker training program, and 3 internships.

"JTIP is one of our most important economic incentives," said Economic Development Secretary Matt Geisel. "JTIP helps our private sector grow, further diversifying our economy and helping advance our pro-business climate in New Mexico."

"JTIP has given Lavu the ability and resources to hire New Mexico residents, and Lavu has flourished as a result," said Lavu President Ohad Jehassi. "As a global company headquartered in Albuquerque, we are committed to hiring and training talented New Mexico residents.During this project, Lavu hired nine New Mexico residents. Three of these hires have been promoted to positions of greater responsibility, and the majority of the JTIP participants are now earning more than they did when they started with the company. These hires are helping to fuel Lavu's growth and brand. We are grateful to JTIP for allowing us to continue to hire qualified New Mexico residents."

December's JTIP recipients were:

Amfabsteel, Inc., Bernalillo - Over the company's 32 years in business, Amfabsteel has been delivering high quality complex steel projects to owners, general contractors and developers throughout the Western United States. 43 jobs, $608,868

Safelite Solutions, LLC-Rio Rancho - Safelite AutoGlass is the largest auto glass specialist in the United States providing multifaceted and integrated auto glass and claims management service organization. 2 jobs, $33,592

October's JTIP recipients were:

Alstate Steel, Inc., Albuquerque - Alstate Steel is a preeminent leader in steel fabrication in the Southwest. 15 jobs, $98,170

Little Toad Creek LLC, Silver City - Little Toad Creek is a nano-brewery and distillery, a seasonal rural hotel/restaurant/tasting room, and a year-round restaurant/tasting room in downtown Silver City. 6 jobs, $67,432

P4Q Electronics, Albuquerque - P4Q Electronics specializes in engineering and manufacturing of electronic products and systems. 3 jobs, $13,260

American Gypsum Co., LLC, Bernalillo - American Gypsum manufactures, sells, and distributes gypsum wallboard products throughout the United States. 28 Jobs, $345,574.40

MrOwl.com, Albuquerque -MrOwl.com is a startup internet technology company working on enabling individuals, companies and the community as a whole to decide what should be in their internet. 1 job, $17,833.96

Safelite Solutions, LLC, Rio Rancho - Safelite AutoGlass is the largest auto glass specialist in the United States providing multifaceted and integrated auto glass and claims management service organization. 267 jobs, $917,310

PCM Sales, Inc., Rio Rancho - PCM is a publicly-held technology solutions provider serving the US and Canada offering a wide variety of IT solutions, services and products to meet its customers' technology needs. 106 jobs, $755,360.16

SK Infrared, LLC, Albuquerque - SK Infrared is a spin off from the UNM School of Engineering and the UNM Health Science Center. This woman owned small business designs and develops specialized compound semiconductor infrared detectors and imagers for government, medical, remote sensing, manufacturing and science applications. 1 job, $24,835.24

Ryan, LLC, Albuquerque - Ryan, LLC is an award-winning global tax services firm, with the largest indirect and property tax practices in North America and the seventh largest corporate tax practice in the United States.2 jobs, $27,748.80

BabyPage, LLC, Albuquerque - BabyPage.com is an online digital alternative for creating baby books. Parents who don't have time to scrapbook can create a baby book on line and easily print them when finished. 4 jobs, $53,160

Rural Sourcing, Inc., Albuquerque - Rural Sourcing, Inc. provides software development, support and maintenance services to companies in the chemicals, consumer packaged goods, healthcare, hi-tech, life sciences, manufacturing and retail industries. 16 jobs, $246,221.08

Mako Medical Laboratories, LLC, Albuquerque - Mako Medical Laboratories focuses on esoteric testing such as pharmacogenomics, next generation sequencing, oral fluid toxicology, and urine toxicology. Mako is able to provide tailored solutions to specialty physicians and hospitals throughout the United States. 4 jobs, $57,134

Whoo's Donuts, Santa Fe - Whoo's Donuts is a retail store serving donuts and coffee in Santa Fe. Whoo's has also entered into a much broader multi-state market, securing a contract with Whole Foods Western Division to supply frozen donuts to 34 stores. 10 jobs, $35,800

Century Automotive Services Corporation, Albuquerque - Century Automotive Service Corporation administers automotive finance and insurance protection programs and manages over 1,000 automotive, motorcycle and powersports dealerships throughout the United States. 11 jobs, $83,236

Old Wood, LLC, Las Vegas - Old Wood began as a family wood business based on the Old family ranch in the Rocky Mountains North of Santa Fe. It has expanded to become a national level manufacturer and international exporter of fine wood floors. 15 jobs, $72,712

Niagara Bottling, LLC, Los Lunas - Niagara Bottling is a leading bottled water supplier in the U.S. Niagara produces a variety of beverages including bottled water, sparkling water, tea, sports drinks and vitamin enhanced waters. 41 jobs, $530,263.92

September's JTIP recipients were:

CSI Aviation, Inc., Albuquerque - CSI Aviation is a diversified and experienced global air transportation and aviation logistics company that delivers a broad set of air transportation services for passengers, cargo, emergency response, air ambulance and armed escort missions. 8 jobs, $114,429.08

Clock Shark LLC, Albuquerque - Clock Shark gives employers the ability to manage their employee's time and utilizes GPS technology to track where employees are physically while they are clocked in. 9 jobs, $160,981.44

Electronic Technical Services, Inc., Albuquerque - Electronic Technical Services Specializes in projects that use micro-controllers and analog circuitry. The company offers a wide selection of services ranging from circuit design, board design, assembly, testing, inspection and packaging. 3 jobs, $8,500 (Step Up)

PCM Sales, Inc. - Rio Rancho - PCM is a publicly-held technology solutions provider serving the US and Canada offering a wide variety of IT solutions, services and products to meet its customers' technology needs. 6 jobs, $88,127.52 (Amendment)

August's JTIP recipients were:

Medicus Billing & Consulting, Las Vegas - Medicus Billing and Consulting, Inc. is a full service medical billing, consulting and practice management company. Medicus assists medical providers with medical coding, consulting, medical claims, and compliance and eliminates the need for in-house staff. 6 jobs, $50,920

Qynergy Corporation, Albuquerque - Qynergy Corporation is a privately held technology development company focused on maturing early stage technologies from government research institutions into products that solve critical problems for U.S. government customers. 3 jobs, $41,959.12

Boese Brothers Brewing, LLC, Albuquerque - Boese Brothers Brewing, an Albuquerque-based microbrewery, produces four flagship beers; Duke City Lager, La Onza White Ale, Patriot Porter, and Dr. Strangehop IPA. Additionally, two rotating seasonal beers change every month, and include specialty and limited release beer varieties. 1 job, $7,500

Insight Lighting, Inc., Rio Rancho - Insight Lighting manufactures commercial LED lighting products including architectural linear lighting, advertising and graphic panels, luminous wall, ceiling, and high performance light tube systems. 1 job, $33,312.28

Plenish, Inc., Taos - Plenish, Inc. is a private label skincare and color cosmetic design and manufacturing business. The company's product line includes lip balms, suntan lotions, skin foundations, blushes, concealers, lip glosses and lipsticks. 8 jobs, $53,480

Lavu, Inc., Albuquerque - Lavu, Inc. produces proprietary point-of-sale software for restaurants, "POSLavu," for use on the Apple iPad and other Apple multi-use devices. In addition to creating a high-tech and efficient ordering system, the technology also provides clients with a streamlined system for performing analytics, tax reporting and overall restaurant management. 16 jobs, $284,303.76

Mako Medical Laboratories, LLC, Albuquerque - Mako Medical Laboratories is a specialty, high complexity, COLA (Commission on Office Laboratory Accreditation) accredited laboratory focused on esoteric testing such as pharmacogenomics, next generation sequencing, oral fluid toxicology, and urine toxicology. Mako provides tailored solutions to specialty physicians and hospitals throughout the U.S. Through a partnership with Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute in Albuquerque, Mako Medical helps Lovelace meet its medical testing and laboratory needs, while enabling Mako Medical to better serve customers throughout the Western U.S. 4 jobs, $20,840

New Mexico Milling, Farmington - New Mexico Milling, LLC is a joint venture with Navajo Agricultural Products Industry (NAPI) and NM Milling's parent company, Panhandle Milling, operating NAPI's Flour Mill south of Farmington, NM. 19 jobs, $265,089.12

Positive Energy Solar, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Las Cruces - Positive Energy Solar is a solar photovoltaic design and installation company that installs systems for homes, businesses and institutions across the state. 17 jobs, $155,294, 2 interns, $14,784

Optomec, Inc., Albuquerque - Optomec is a supplier of advanced manufacturing equipment with unique 3D printing technology that supports a broad range of functional, product-grade materials and feature sizes. 1 job, $13,373.28 (Amendment)

Rural Sourcing, Inc., Albuquerque - Rural Sourcing, Inc. is an alternative to offshoring technology development and support. The company provides software application development, quality assurance testing, business intelligence, analytic services and ongoing support and maintenance of critical business applications. RSI offers a wide range of highly specialized IT services for companies across a variety of industries. 4 jobs $67,081.61, 1 intern $3,840 (Amendment)

PCM Sales, Inc., Rio Rancho - PCM, Inc. is a publicly-held technology solutions provider serving the U.S. and Canada. The company offers a wide variety of IT solutions, services and products to meet its customers' technology needs. 5 jobs, $74,424.68 (Amendment)

UbiQD, Inc., Los Alamos - Headquartered in Los Alamos, NM, UbiQD manufactures low-toxicity quantum dots targeting applications in solar windows and security inks. 1 job, $20,020 (Amendment)

Unity BPO, Inc., Albuquerque - UnityBPO, Inc. is an IT outsourcing specialist spun off from The Kemtah Group, Inc. The company delivers IT infrastructure and support services in the healthcare industry including: Healthcare Consultancies, EMR/ EHR Companies, Healthcare Providers and Home Health Agencies. 14 jobs, $41,961.60

Amendments: JTIP policy allows companies to amend their active JTIP projects. Amendments may increase or decrease the original project budget depending in the change. Typical amendments include increases to the number of job slots approved in a particular job classification, the addition of a job classification to the project, or adjustments to approved wage ranges.

Step up: The Step Up Program helps incumbent employees and their employers through training and reimbursements. Training and development results in new employee knowledge and skills.

To qualify for JTIP, new or expanding companies must either create a product in New Mexico, or provide a nonretail service with 50 percent of the company's costumer or revenue base outside of the state. The eligible jobs must be full-time and year-round. The trainee must be a new hire to the company and have been a New Mexico resident for at least one year at any time prior to being hired. For more information on JTIP, visit www.goNM.biz.

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