EDITORIAL: Rob Black's selection to head economic development is cause for renewed hope

A business leader from the Permian Basin to lead economic development across the state — that seems like a pretty appropriate pick. Perhaps the best Cabinet pick yet by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. Time will tell.

New Mexico’s business community is downright excited about the selection of Rob Black, most recently president and chief executive officer of the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce, as the next secretary of the Economic Development Department.

With 27 full months left in the Lujan Grisham administration and retail crime still unchecked, at least in the Metro, Black understands the sense of urgency. He created and led the New Mexico Organized Retail Crime Association and supported the successful push in 2023 for legislation making it easier to prosecute high-level retail theft. We’ve got a long way to go to secure businesses, but the new law making it a felony to shoplift more than $499.99 of merchandise is a start. A 2021 report from the Retail Industry Leaders Association estimated the economic impact of stolen sales in New Mexico at $819.8 million. That has to end, or at least be brought down significantly.

Black has already outlined areas he intends to pursue, including plans to review New Mexico’s film industry to ensure its economic impact is felt statewide, while offering state residents ample opportunity to be hired for good-paying film industry jobs.

“The governor’s got just under two-and-a-half years left in her administration, and I think we both share a sense of urgency about really wanting to make sure we can get stuff done for the next generation of New Mexicans today,” Black told the Journal.

Black understands the need to re-imagine New Mexico’s economy for the 21st century, and the need for vision beyond the governor’s second term that will end in 2027. He envisions New Mexico as a national hub of advanced clean energy development and artificial intelligence. Those are both areas of unlimited opportunity and economic growth, and for which New Mexico and its workforce are well-positioned.

Black also understands the wide-ranging diversity of New Mexico’s economy, and that a one-size-fits all approach doesn’t work everywhere. He gets that minimum wage increases to boost the standard of life in the Metro could put people on the unemployment lines in rural areas of the state, while paid family and medical leave is unsustainable for a mom-and-pop pizza shop in Abiquiú or a florist in Artesia.

“Our preference would be that it’s the market that drives those decisions and not government mandates,” he rightly told state lawmakers last year.

Black, who starts his new job on Monday but is subject to Senate confirmation next year, is also a realist, understanding the roadblocks hindering New Mexico’s progress — from lagging behind neighboring states in terms of site-ready lands with access to broadband, sewer, water and electricity, to the crippling impact of being ranked the most dangerous state in the nation in terms of violent and property crimes by both Forbes Advisor and U.S. News & World Report.

There’s no disconnecting crime from economic progress. Businesses simply aren’t going to invest here if their family members are more likely to become a crime victim here than anywhere else in the United States, and if their properties are more likely to be victimized by copper thieves here than anywhere else.

Black has been instrumental in bolstering economic development around New Mexico as the leader of the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce since 2018. Before taking the chamber job, he worked for years in California. Among other jobs, Black worked as executive director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association in San Francisco and was the senior director of community relations at Pacific Gas and Electric Co.

He brings a wealth of business experience to his new position, and New Mexico is fortunate to have the Lovington native back, and in a key position to really help the state prosper and thrive.

The Economic Development Department runs several programs aimed at luring new businesses to New Mexico and helping existing businesses expand. It also oversees the New Mexico Film Office and the state’s Outdoor Recreation Division. The essential department has been led on an interim basis since January, following the departure of the department’s previous secretary, Alicia Keyes, last summer.

Stability and continuity are needed not just at the Public Education Department, but the Economic Development Department as well.

Black brings fresh initiatives, proven collaboration skills and sound strategies to strengthen New Mexico’s business climate and attract investment. Our hope is that he is prepared to work a lot of overtime in the next 27 months because there is no time to waste.

Good choice, governor. Now, let’s get down to work on Monday and sell, baby, sell.