By Aaron Baca Journal Staff Writer
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Intel Corp. CEO Craig Barrett says he's not really a betting man, but he did bet his assistants that a trickle of newly elected governors would soon be knocking on his door.
New Mexico's Gov.-elect Bill Richardson was the first.
Richardson, who takes office Jan. 1, took a one-day whirlwind tour of Silicon Valley last week to try to woo technology companies into moving or expanding into New Mexico.
He visited five companies.
"I wanted to get a jump-start on other governors in other states," Richardson said. "I think it's important to send the message out early that New Mexico is open for business."
He made Wednesday's tour with Rick Homans, his pick for the state's secretary of Economic Development, and Gary Tonjes, president of Albuquerque Economic Development Corp.
Richardson said his presence was largely symbolic, but he hoped his name recognition and new position would lend power to new economic development efforts.
"One of the messages I'm trying to get out (to businesses) is that economic development will be an important part of my administration," Richardson said.
Throughout the trip, he pitched his plans to lower state income taxes and create other tax-incentive plans to attract research-oriented companies.
At Intel, Richardson attended a meeting with Barrett and Paul Otellini, Intel's president.
Barrett said New Mexico already has much to brag about because of Intel's recent $2 billion expansion at its plant near Rio Rancho. But he cautioned that finding new companies willing to invest in New Mexico would be tough during the current economic downturn.
Intel itself, Barrett said, is trying to cut costs and employee numbers around the world.
Economic-development talks, Barrett said, "would be a great conversation to have when the recovery eventually hits."
Richardson also met with executives at Xilinx, a San Jose-based integrated circuits manufacturer with about 100 employees in Albuquerque.
The executives said they were eager to meet with Richardson because their company is in a growth mode.
Kris Chellam, senior vice president of finance, said the company's Albuquerque office, which does design and engineering, has potential to grow as demand for work there increases.
Chellam said Albuquerque has turned into an ideal location for some company operations because Xilinx is able to recruit workers from Sandia National Laboratories and Intel.
Research and development tax credits have served as an incentive, as well.
"There's nothing better than the R&D tax credit," Chellam said.
Better education
However, Xilinx officials told Richardson that creating higher wage jobs in New Mexico would depend largely on what the state does to improve public education.
"We think the single most important thing to attract businesses to a state is that education has to be improved," said Thomas Lavelle, a Xilinx vice president.
Lavelle told Richardson efforts should focus on bolstering math and science education.
"That's where engineers are made," Lavelle said. "They are only trained in the universities. But they are actually made in high school or earlier."
Richardson also met with a San Jose biotechnology firm that develops pharmaceuticals to discuss policy changes the state could pursue to attract more biotechnology companies.
He said he hopes biotechnology will become a growing business in New Mexico that leads to a "clustering" of those companies here.
Albuquerque Economic Development arranged Wednesday's tour for Richardson.
Tonjes said recruitment efforts by his office or the state are bolstered by having the governor-elect participate in meetings with companies.
"There's certainly a new level of attention and focus to our efforts that I don't think we've enjoyed before," Tonjes said. "When you approach a company and can bring your governor in on the talks, a company will listen to you much more intently."
Homans said he hopes to make trips to California's technology sector on a regular basis.
"If we can do something like this once a month, and include the governor on some of these trips, we think the numbers will eventually work in our favor," Homans said.
If the state's economic development team targets enough companies, eventually some will choose to do business in New Mexico, he said.
While New Mexico's economic development was the focus of his tour, Richardson's previous role as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations remains with him.
Following the Intel meeting, the last of the day, Richardson was interviewed by CNN on developments regarding Iraq.
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