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CONTACT: Mark Lautman, The CELab 505.818.8218 | mark@marklautman.com

Rep. Don Tripp, Speaker of the House 575-838-7064 | trippsdon@netscape.net

Sen. Mary Kay Papen, President Pro Tem 575.649.0325 | marykaypapen@comcast.net

 

NMJC TO UNVEIL NUMBER OF JOBS NEEDED BY STATE

Using a revolutionary process, the New Mexico Jobs Council is achieving clarity and consensus on what it will take to get the state back to full employment.

WHO: New Mexico Jobs Council (NMJC) and Community Economics Lab (CELab) WHAT: Fifth meeting of the NMJC
WHEN: 9:00 AM, Friday, October 23, 2015

WHERE: Jemez Rooms, Santa Fe Community College, Santa Fe, NM
WHY: To propose legislative initiatives for job creation in the state of New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO October 23, 2015 – The New Mexico Jobs Council (NMJC) will present findings from its first state-wide job creation assessment, which describes:

1.) the number of economic base jobs that must created to reach full employment in 10 years, 2.) which program and economic sectors the new jobs are expected to come from,
3.) what capacity issues must be solved for those jobs to materialize, and
4.) the indicated legislative initiatives.

“This has been one of the most productive committees I’ve ever been on,” says Speaker Don Tripp. “It’s helped everyone – the legislature, the executive, and the private sector – really understand what this state needs in order to improve our economy.”

Setting it apart from any other initiative of its kind, the NMJC is unique in that it (1) is made up of legislative leaders, key cabinet members, and private sector stakeholders (2) recommendations and findings of the council must be unanimous, (3) council meetings are conducted in full day, town hall deliberations instead of the traditional legislative hearing setting, (4) all major data points are developed through county level town hall deliberations using a consensus process where participants agree on estimates of key findings before seeking the counsel of experts.

“We knew we had a lot of jobs to create. Now we know how many, we have a much better idea where they’re going to come from, and what we have to do to get them,” says Sen. Mary Kay Papen. “While it’s turning out to be a lot more jobs than anyone thought, everyone involved in this process believes we can do it.”

The Council’s findings are the result of a two-year deliberative process in which stakeholders in each of the state’s seven economic districts convened to assess each county’s job creation needs. As a part of Friday’s meeting, the Council will conduct a deliberative session on the need for a more rigorous, comprehensive and transparent metric and accountability system for state and local job creation efforts.

 

About The CELab

The CELab is a New-Mexico based 501(c)3 non-profit think tank, focused on innovative ways to do economic and workforce development in a labor and capital constrained economy. Since its formation in 2007, the CELab has innovated a suite of new program approaches to economic development. For more information visit www.thecelab.org.

About The New Mexico Jobs Council

The New Mexico Jobs Council (NMJC) formed in 2013 when New Mexico legislative leadership approached The CELab to develop a framework and a process to help them determine what it would take to return the state to full employment by 2024. For more information visit: http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/committee_detail.aspx?CommitteeCode=JOBS

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