ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico economic development officials said Wednesday they are ready to put into action a 20-year strategy for diversifying the state’s economy.
They announced that the federal government has awarded the state a $1 million grant for the effort. That follows an initial $1.5 million in federal recovery funding that New Mexico used for the development of the strategy and the hiring of economic relief coordinators to help rural communities and small businesses.
The latest grant will be used to implement the strategy, which state Economic Development Secretary Alicia J. Keyes outlined for a group of business leaders with the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce.
Part of the work includes improving access to capital and recovery resources for businesses and communities. The plan also calls for assessing the availability of incubator and start-up business resources and creating an online dashboard to track their impact.
“We are not going to let this strategic plan sit on a shelf,” Keyes said in a statement. “It is very exciting to create a plan for a sustainable economy, and now we have new funds to help implement the strategies and do the work.”
The Economic Development Department said the work is expected to wrap up by March 2024.