A year in review: New Mexico’s biggest business stories in 2023

When we decided to put together a column on the most impactful business stories of the year, it wasn’t exactly easy to figure out what those were. Sure, some stood out, like that of Virgin Galactic and In-N-Out. But the hundreds of stories this desk has written over the past 12 months touching on health care, technology, cannabis, utilities and energy were almost all impactful, and all deserved their own recognition.

Still, a list needed to be compiled and this is what we came away with. Here are the biggest stories from the Journal’s business desk this year.

Virgin Galactic

The spaceflight company founded by Sir Richard Branson had its most monumental year since its founding in 2004. For the first time, the company launched commercial flights to suborbit — five, in fact — that ultimately captured the attention of not only New Mexicans, but the entire world.

The commercial flights started with three Italians shooting into suborbit from Virgin’s home base, Spaceport America in southern New Mexico. They ended with Kellie Gerardi and Alan Stern — most known for his role as the principal investigator for NASA’s New Horizons mission to explore Pluto and the Kuiper Belt — conducting tests in the roughly three to four minutes they spent in suborbit. One flight in August also featured the first mother-daughter duo and the first Olympic athlete to go to space.

But Virgin Galactic followed its final commercial flight of the year in November by announcing layoffs across its operations, including 73 positions in New Mexico, as it turns its focus to building the next generation of Delta ships that are expected to make more frequent trips to suborbit. And, in December, Branson told the Financial Times that he no longer intends to invest money into the company, citing challenges with his business empire coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite that, Virgin Galactic, Branson said, still has about $1 billion to work with. And the company announced it plans to send its sixth commercial flight to space in January from the Spaceport, which will also be the first time the company will have four paying passengers aboard the flight.

Maxeon Solar Technologies

In one of the biggest expansion announcements in the state’s history — and certainly since Intel’s — Singapore-based Maxeon Solar Technologies said it plans to build a roughly 1.9 million-square-foot facility at Mesa del Sol, where it will open the nation’s first new domestic factory in over a decade to build both solar cells and panels.

The move by Maxeon to come to Albuquerque, the company said, also will bring up to 1,800 jobs, once complete. Meanwhile, the company may invest more than just the $1 billion it said when it announced the expansion.

Mark Roper, the division director for the New Mexico Economic Development Department, said Maxeon may invest up to $2.4 billion over 20 years, including $1.1 billion in construction, and the rest to equip the factory.

In an Executive’s Desk column for the Journal’s Business Outlook section in September, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham wrote in part: “When Maxeon Solar Technologies comes to New Mexico, they’ll bring with them $1 billion in investments that will promote our state economy. They’ll create 1,800 new jobs that will help New Mexicans support their families and build their careers. Together, the impact will represent an enormous economic benefit and a resounding vote of confidence in New Mexico’s strength as an economic hub.”

In-N-Out Burger

For most New Mexicans, this is probably the biggest news of the year — business aside.

In-N-Out Burger, the famed chain known for its simplistic menu and consistent service, in November announced — finally! — that it plans to bring its burger joints to New Mexico, starting with Albuquerque.

The restaurants should arrive by 2027, the company told the Journal, and we know where at least one of those shops will go: in the University of New Mexico’s South Campus Tax Increment Development District.

David Campbell, executive director of Lobo Development Corp., which is developing the land near the university’s sports facilities, told the Journal that the In-N-Out will be located just west of the fire station on Gibson and Interstate 25. He said the burger chain purchased the land, roughly two acres, from UNM for $2 million.

As for other locations in the city or state, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Ongoing PNM-Avangrid merger

The Public Service Co. of New Mexico wants to merge with Avangrid, an energy company based in Connecticut and a subsidiary of the energy giant Iberdrola. The companies first proposed the deal in 2020. Avangrid would buy PNM for $4.3 billion, and the companies would ensure economic benefits for local communities. Nearly all environmental and governmental entities originally opposed to the merger later announced their support, except Santa Fe-based New Energy Economy.

However, the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission rejected the merger in 2021. Avangrid and PNM appealed this decision with the New Mexico Supreme Court early in 2022. The Supreme Court heard arguments on the case in September 2023 but didn’t immediately make a decision.

It’s still up to the Supreme Court to decide whether to uphold the PRC’s rejection of the merger or send it back to the PRC for reconsideration. If it’s sent back to the PRC, a new set of state regulators will review the deal, not the ones who originally rejected it. A decision is expected in early 2024.

Cannabis market saturation

The state legalized recreational cannabis in 2021, and sales began in April 2022 to much hype. State officials in support of legalization said at the time that the industry could carve out a new path for budding entrepreneurs, while some others said the legislation’s lack of licensing caps could create a crowded market.

Both points have proven to be true. But the latter point, especially in 2023, has come to fruition. More than 600 shops reported sales through the state’s track-and-trace system BioTrack in October. And more than 200 alone were in Albuquerque, where shops densely populate some areas of the state’s largest city.

The crowded marketplace prompted nearly 100 cannabis business leaders to send a letter to Lujan Grisham this summer, asking her to put a pause on licensing due to the “extreme instability” in the industry. And there have been talks of legislation for the 2024 session also asking for a licensing pause.

Presbyterian merger

Presbyterian Healthcare Services, one of the state’s largest health systems, in March announced it planned to merge with Iowa-based UnityPoint Health for the consolidation of administrative services. The move, Presbyterian said, would ultimately ease costs on both not-for-profit health systems and would create an $11 billion health care conglomerate.

But the deal fell through in October, and Presbyterian CEO Dale Maxwell declined to tell the Journal why. He did say, however, that PHS would explore other options , as the health system has faced budget shortfalls that have led it to restructure. In 2022, its operations budget was down $105 million.

“We have to continue our efforts with innovative ideas, innovative business practices, and potential partnerships in order to overcome those expense pressures, and remain an organization that’s going to continue to deliver high-quality care to New Mexicans,” Maxwell had told the Journal.

State, local boards adopt advanced clean car rules

In a move that created a stir, state and local air quality boards this year adopted a handful of clean car rules intended to up the percentage of zero-emission vehicles, or ZEVs, delivered to the state. The rules broadly target new cars, and the required percentage that is ZEVs. For instance, the advanced clean cars II rule says starting with model year 2027, auto manufacturers will need to deliver 43% ZEVs to dealers in the state. And by model year 2032, that percentage will be increased to 82%.

The advanced clean trucks rule will set similar rules for the delivery of new vehicles like cargo vans, delivery trucks and transit buses. And the heavy-duty omnibus aims to improve the emissions and life of heavy-duty vehicles through stricter testing procedures, New Mexico Environment Department officials have said.

SunZia breaks ground

The SunZia transmission and wind project broke ground in September, kicking off a three-year construction process to bring the massive renewable-energy system online by 2026. It is billed as the largest single clean-energy development effort in U.S. history, and possibly the largest ever in the Western Hemisphere.

The project will ultimately transport up to 3 gigawatts of wind energy — enough power to meet the needs of 3 million people — from central New Mexico to south-central Arizona for use in western markets via a new 550-mile high-voltage transmission line.

Pattern Energy, the developer, expects to invest $8 billion to build the system, employing 2,000 people at peak construction, followed by 110 permanent workers.

Journal staff writer Megan Gleason contributed to this report.