Archives for February 2015

I am writing in response to those who oppose the proposed right to work legislation. While I respect those who oppose, they are flat out wrong on this issue.

The truth is, passing right-to-work legislation would be good for New Mexico’s workers and our economy. But unfortunately, some politicians are trying to turn this into a partisan battle even though a majority of Americans support it.

It’s not hard to see why.

At the heart of this issue is the freedom of choice. In New Mexico, our workers can be forced to join a union or financially contribute to one as a condition of employment. That’s not fair to the hardworking people of this state.

We need a solution. Passing a right-to-work law would protect our workers and allow them to choose whether they join a union. This would not do away with unions; it simply gives our workers a choice. We should never force anyone to join an organization of any kind. Not only will this help our workers, but also our economy. It is a fact that right-to-work legislation creates jobs.

Nearly all of our neighboring states have right-to-work protections in place. If we want to level the playing field, we need to pass right to work so that we can be competitive with states like Texas, Utah and Arizona – states that are growing. Twenty-four states currently are right to work and that number is growing all the time.

The facts show that employment grows much faster in right-to-work states. For example, from 1990 to 2011, right-to-work states showed a much greater gain in total employment — 42.6 percent versus 18.8 percent. Few, if any businesses, have been or are moving to non-right to work states.

One study even shows that if New Mexico had become a right-to-work state in 1980, employment and personal income would have been about 21 percent higher in 2011. The same study found that if New Mexico would have become a right-to-work state in 2013, 42,300 more people would be working by the year 2020. Those are real jobs for our hardworking families. We are convinced that not being a right to work state makes it difficult to attract diverse businesses and add to our economic base.

And while we can’t turn back the clock, we can still do what’s best for the future.

The public is on our side with this issue. A Gallup national survey found that 71 percent of Americans agree workers should be protected from mandatory union membership. Both Democrats and Republicans support right to work – including 65 percent of Democrats and 77 percent of Independents.

In fact, right-to-work legislation had bipartisan support when it passed its first House Committee. We expect more Democrats will support the legislation when it reaches the House floor. They will come around on this issue because they will see that this is about freedom and choice. They know it makes sense for hardworking people to decide for themselves whether they join or financially contribute to one.

If we can make New Mexico a right-to-work state, we can build a better future. Workers will get a choice, and our state will see economic progress.

By: Pete Domenici, Former U.S. Senator (Albuquerque Journal)

Click here to view source article.

Several hours of often passionate testimony in a right to work hearing on Tuesday in front of the House Judiciary Committee didn’t actually lead to a vote on the measure, dubbed the Employee Preference Act.
A vote is now expected on Friday afternoon, Patrick Garrett, the Republican party spokesman, said. It would be the last before the measure could be scheduled for a full vote in the House.
Regardless, the committee members have a lot to think about after more than 150 people testified for, and many more against, the proposal that prohibit employers from requiring employees to join or pay dues to a union as a condition of employment or promotion. That included several people in the city’s business community. Here’s what some of them said.

Albuquerque could soon benefit from about $20 million in assistance from eight foundations and national programs to boost the city’s efforts to build entrepreneurship and improve support resources for local initiatives, said Gary Oppedahl, director of the city’s Economic Development Department, in a speech at the Economic Forum on Wednesday morning.

A “cluster of philanthropies” are looking at Albuquerque as a bedrock of grassroots entrepreneurship, spurred on by a host of programs and collaboration among local government, business, and public institutions to provide incentives, mentorship and assistance for aspiring entrepreneurs and innovators. That’s caught the interest of national organizations such as Living Cities, the Kauffman and Kellogg foundations, and Village Capital, which together could channel about $20 million in support funds to Albuquerque.

Apart from traditional efforts to recruit new firms to New Mexico, the city is focused on supporting existing businesses and growing new ones, Oppedahl said. Those efforts are inspiring a newfound culture of entrepreneurship and community development.

OPPEDAHL: Heads ABQ Economic Development

“Everything we’re doing is aimed at creating an environment that inspires the right culture, one where the community knows it can create its own jobs through collaboration, communication and connectivity,” Oppedahl said.

That includes building an innovation district Downtown, plus a range of grassroots programs to inspire broad participation, such as the weekly “1 Million Cups” gathering of entrepreneurs and innovators to share ideas and provide mutual assistance, “Startup Weekends” that help people take the first step to form new businesses, “pitch events” where aspiring entrepreneurs present their ideas for feedback and networking, and a new city-run “Epicenter” Downtown to offer a gathering place for business-minded people with support services and skill-building workshops.

“It’s all about job creation and economic mobility through entrepreneurship and innovation,” Oppedahl said.

Mayor Richard Berry said a national-level “buzz” is building around Albuquerque’s efforts.

“People are talking about us as the ‘next place,’” Berry said during a tour of the city’s new Epicenter on Tuesday. “We’re being seen as the new frontier for entrepreneurship in the U.S.”

By: Kevin Robinson-Avila (Albuquerque Journal)

Click here to view source article.

For years it fed the homeless, and now it will feed the spirit of aspiring entrepreneurs and innovators by providing a place to share ideas, learn about starting and growing businesses and participate in skill-building programs.

The city of Albuquerque plans to open a new “Epicenter” for entrepreneurs in March at the former Noon Day Ministries facility at the old First Baptist Church site at Broadway and Central Downtown. The University of New Mexico bought that property last July with financial assistance from the city, county, federal government and New Mexico Educators Federal Credit Union (now Nusenda Credit Union) as ground zero for the planned Innovate ABQ high-tech research and development district.

UNM owns the seven-acre property, but it leased the two-story, 13,500-square-foot Noon Day Ministries building at zero cost to the city to allow it to launch the Epicenter as Innovate ABQ’s first on-site program, said Mayor Richard Berry during a public tour on Tuesday.

“It will be a community center that focuses on entrepreneurship, on economic mobility,” Berry said. “It’s a place for all comers to teach, learn and inspire entrepreneurship.”

Albuquerque Economic Development Director Gary Oppedahl said the Epicenter will provide a gathering spot for those who feel disenfranchised or left out of the entrepreneurial ecosystem to get involved and feel welcomed.

“We want all hipsters, hucksters and hackers to gather in one place to share and connect about what they’re doing,” Oppedahl said. “We want the Epicenter to have a beehive effect.”

Apart from offering a gathering place, the city and collaborating organizations will host a range of events and skills-building activities at the center, such as digital literacy and computer hacking workshops.

The city will also launch a new food vendor training program there for people who want to operate food trucks, stands or other such enterprises. The facility has a commercial kitchen on site that was, until recently, used by Noon Day Ministries to serve meals to homeless and low-income people.

“We want to teach entrepreneurs to safely and effectively run a food court,” Berry told the Journal.

The city could spend about $25,000 to renovate the facility before it opens in March, although city staffers are now assessing and evaluating it. The facility includes a large basketball court on the ground floor, and a string of offices on the second floor.

The local philanthropist group Cinco Amigos, in cooperation with the Albuquerque Community Foundation, raised $137,000 as a donation to equip the Epicenter with a Wifi network and desks, tables and chairs. The city will supply computers.

The Epicenter’s Innovate ABQ location may be temporary, as UNM is awaiting a master plan from the design firm Perkins & Will, due in March. The plan could call for tearing down that building, or renovating it for other purposes, but UNM decided to lease it to the city anyway for up to two years, said UNM Chief Economic Development Officer Lisa Kuuttila.

By: Kevin Robinson-Avila (Albuquerque Journal)

Click here to view source article.