Governor Susana Martinez announced that Las Cruces-based food distributor Valley Cold Storage and Transportation will invest nearly $14 million to build a 105,000 square-foot facility in Santa Teresa, bringing with it up to 33 new jobs, with 14 in the first phase alone. Santa Teresa beat out neighboring El Paso, Texas area for this expansion.
“We’re proud to see homegrown New Mexico companies lead the way in growing and diversifying our economy,” Governor Martinez said. “As we continue growing as a leader in international commerce and trade, we need to keep fighting for bold reforms that support the booming borderplex and make New Mexico more business friendly – because results like these mean more jobs and opportunity for New Mexicans.”
This new facility will be the third major expansion in Santa Theresa’s 166-acre Westpark Logistics Center in the last six months. It follows the expansions of MCS Frames and FedEx Ground. Westpark is the first new industrial park to be built in Santa Teresa in the last 15 years, and other tenants FedEx and MCS have both built new facilities totaling nearly 500,000 square feet.
“Once again, our business-friendly reforms have helped a homegrown company expand,” said Economic Development Secretary Matt Geisel. “The Governor’s commitment to making New Mexico more competitive continues to deliver results – helping our businesses grow and thrive.”
The Economic Development Department will contribute $140,000 in LEDA funds toward the construction of the new cold storage facility. LEDA is New Mexico's closing fund, a tool that recruits new businesses to the state while helping those that are already here grow and thrive. Governor Martinez fought to grow the closing fund to $56 million, up from nearly zeroed out when she took office.
Since Gov. Martinez signed the 2011 Border Jobs package her first year in office, dozens of manufacturing, logistics and warehousing businesses have expanded or located in Santa Teresa, including Union Pacific’s state-of-the-art $400 million intermodal rail facility. This has led to the creation of hundreds of well-paying jobs and new housing and retail in New Mexico’s border region.
“We want to thank the Governor, the New Mexico Economic Development Department, the New Mexico Economic Development Partnership and the Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance for partnering with us to make this project a reality,” said Valley Cold Storage and Transportation Owners Clay and Jennifer Bush. “The LEDA incentives provided by New Mexico were a major factor in allowing us to make our expansion in Santa Teresa.”
Valley Cold Storage and Transportation, headquartered in Las Cruces, offers state-of-the-art refrigeration and transportation services to the retail, food service, food distribution, and agriculture industries of southern New Mexico and western Texas.