Jul. 12—Our ongoing series diving into New Mexico's economy continues this week with a look at what changes economic developers say would make the state more attractive to do business.
We talked to NAIOP, bankers and other developers and many shared the same ideas of what the state could change.
An interesting suggestions was that the state needs to change its attitude. Some developers said it seems many people are skeptical or disapprove of development.
Other sources said the state should make changes to its anti-donation clause so governments could more easily invest in certain projects. One suggestion was that the state should find ways to invest in other types of businesses in the same way New Mexico has invested in renewable energy projects and the film industry.
Site readiness is a topic that developers are hopeful the Legislature will take up and make changes to in the coming years.
Meanwhile, there is a special session starting this week during which lawmakers will consider a handful of bills related to crime and public safety. Economic developers said there are several bills and topics that will be debated this year that they support. The bills are intended to reduce crime in Albuquerque and New Mexico.
One of the people interviewed for that story was Rhiannon Samuel, the executive director NAIOP, the commercial real estate association. She is also the subject of the ongoing One-on-One Outlook feature.
Editor's note: Samuel and I have known each other and worked with each for 10 years. She was an intern who went on to become the city of Albuquerque's communications director when I was a new Journal reporter covering Albuquerque police. Because Samuel and I had a pretty long conversation, not all of the questions and her comments made it into the article, which starts on Page 3.
So, I'll include some of the more interesting ones here.
When asked about her mentor, Samuel said that she remembers a line told to her by one of her mentors, Breanna Anderson, who also works in communications.
"She said 'kill them with kindness,'" Samuel said. "In media relations, there's deadlines that the alternative parties are working on, there's constraints of what you can and can't share. I found that killing them with kindness helps preserve those relationships. You and I were not always in agreement, but we did it with respect and knew where each other was coming from."
One of the reasons Samuel made for an interesting interview is because she's a well-known and successful businesswoman around town and has been since she was a 22-year-old handling communications for sensitive matters affecting the city. She helped launch and run a nonprofit bipartisan organization that encouraged lawmakers to work across the aisle to address important issues. She also was an on-air political analyst for several years in her 20s.