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Economic Development

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The City of Albuquerque through CARES Act funding has created the $10 million Small Business Economic Relief Grant Program. View more information and apply.

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Albuquerque is the urban center of New Mexico and one of America’s best small cities. The 32nd largest city in the country, Albuquerque is rich in potential and its economy is emerging with strength in space technology, directed energy, smart community technologies, and film and digital media.

Albuquerque is a top city to start, expand or relocate a business and offers a skilled workforce and a business-friendly environment. Companies like Netflix, NBC Universal, LSI, RiskSense, Carenet, and many others have selected Albuquerque because it is a great place to do business and provides a healthy, affordable, and excellent quality of life. Albuquerque welcomes businesses of all sizes and types, from start up’s to expansions and relocations of global businesses. We have an economic development plan that will deliver real impact for Albuquerque.

Our Vision:

Albuquerque - New Mexico’s urban center is the Southwest’s premier mid-size city attracting economic investment and building a healthy and vibrant community that reflects our diversity, innovation, rich culture, and unique history. It is a city that ensures economic prosperity for all residents and where visitors dream to return.

Our Mission:

To make Albuquerque competitive in the global market by leading collaborative public-private partnerships, supporting business development and workforce development, and providing quality economic opportunities for local residents and businesses to thrive, while making a concerted effort to reverse disinvestment in underserved communities and neighborhoods and ensuring equitable opportunities for everyone in Albuquerque.

Our Focus Areas:

Business Development
Workforce Development
Small Business Development
International Business Development
Film and Digital Media

Our Strategy:

  1. Increment of One - Create jobs one, two, three, ten at a time. Business expansion and workforce development are key to the economic development plan. By partnering with local universities and colleges, the City of Albuquerque provides incentives and resources, to support a ready and highly skilled workforce that meets the demands of employers and helps businesses scale up.
  2. Buy Local – This is a two-fold initiative that both encourages the community to make conscious decisions to support locally-owned business, as well as internally the City is using its purchasing power to ensure local businesses are the providers of goods and services for the City - bringing back millions of tax dollars currently sent to out-of-town vendors into Albuquerque’s economy. Shopping and doing business locally means keeping our money in the community resulting in a major positive impact on the economy.
  3. Smart Recruitment, Retention, and Expansion - We are focused on recruiting companies from specific industries that build on Albuquerque’s existing assets. We support new enterprise creation, cluster development, and strategic attraction and recruitment of businesses that align with and complement existing strengths.
  4. Creative Economy and Film – Albuquerque offers a unique culture, cuisine, art, and music scene. The entrepreneurial spirit is strong and an inherent part of Albuquerque's culture. The creative economy and film industry are key components of the economic vitality in Albuquerque.
  5. International Business - We are capitalizing on our unique placement along two major interstates, with an international airport and a foreign trade zone while also promoting Albuquerque as a strategic location for foreign small to medium-sized enterprises for our local companies.
  6. Placemaking - Mayor Keller believes “the measure of any great City is how people and places are connected.” The City’s Economic Development Department is connecting new development projects with existing development projects and existing activity hubs, and using placemaking tools and strategies to develop connectivity as well as engaging with communities to drive economic growth and development.