April 2022 Job Training Incentive Program (JTIP) funding was awarded to 13 companies for a total of $2.5 million. These funds will be used to train 188 new employees and 16 interns in jobs throughout the state, Economic Development Department Cabinet Secretary Alicia J. Keyes announced.
The JTIP Board meets monthly to review applications from companies throughout the state to make sure they meet the criteria for funding and that they have a valid plan in place for sustainable growth. Funding is provided to cover a percentage of training costs for these new employees and interns and is only awarded after the completion of the training.
Since Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham took office in 2019, JTIP has been awarded to 387 businesses and assisted with training for 8,236 jobs.
“JTIP is a tool that can help many diverse types of industries. It’s a great incentive for companies to not only hire more employees, but hire them right here in New Mexico,” EDD Cabinet Secretary Keyes said. “I’m especially excited to see more companies from rural New Mexico applying. Our rural areas need these jobs and their communities benefit from the industry growth in countless ways.”
JTIP funds classroom and on-the-job training for newly-created jobs in expanding or relocating businesses for up to 6 months. The program reimburses 50-75% of employee wages, including a 5% increased reimbursement for rural-located businesses. The 13 companies receiving JTIP funds this month are:
Alstate Steel, Inc., Albuquerque, 14 trainees at an average wage of $21.98, for a total award of $119,410.
Alstate Steel is a structural steel and miscellaneous fabricator performing work primarily in New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado. Alstate Steel operates in two facilities that are adjacent to each other, combined, both facilities offer more than 32,000 square feet of steel fabrication along with enhanced production and delivery capabilities
General Airframe Support, Inc., Roswell, 19 trainees at an average wage of $19.31, for a total award of $205,090.
General Airframe Support is an Aviation Supplier Association (ASA) accredited distributor of aircraft parts and accredited by Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association (AFRA) in the disassembly and recycling of aircraft. The company Inc relocated from Arizona to Roswell, New Mexico in 2017.
Indica Labs, Inc. Albuquerque, 17 trainees at an average wage of $40.02 and 6 interns at an average wage of $25.62, for a total award of $422,054.
Indica Labs, Inc. was founded in Corrales, New Mexico. The company provides solutions that streamline the image analysis workflow for digital pathology, including HALO and HALO AI for fast, quantitative evaluation of images and HALO Link for collaborative image and data management. Pharmaceutical, healthcare, and research organizations worldwide are using HALO for high-throughput, whole-slide image quantification in areas such as oncology, immuno-oncology, neuroscience, ophthalmology, metabolism, respiratory, and toxicological pathology.
Kairos Power LLC, Albuquerque, 32 trainees at an average wage of $43.59 and 10 interns at an average wage of $26.50, for a total award of $766,280.
Kairos Power, LLC is an advanced energy technology and engineering company focused on the development of a clean, innovative nuclear technology that has the potential to transform the energy landscape around the world. The New Mexico facility conducts non-nuclear testing of technology to utilize low-pressure molten fluoride salt as a coolant in a novel advanced nuclear reactor with an inherently safe design based on synergies between the fuel source, salt coolant, and passive safety mechanisms.
LQ Digital LLC, Albuquerque, 47 trainees at an average wage of $15.32, for a total award of $127,970.
LQ Digital LLC provides Lead Qualification & Transfer Services to companies who provide products and services to consumers and businesses. LQ Digital serves large and medium enterprises primarily across the banking, financial services, mortgage, education, B2B software and services markets.
LQ Digital qualifies leads for their clients through a multistep process. The LQ Digital marketing team first collects a lead’s contact information as part of inbound marketing operations, then assesses whether the lead is likely to fit an established customer profile for their respective customer.
Orenda Farms LLC, Clovis, 19 trainees at an average wage of $26.59, for a total award of $355,594.
Vana, LLC, Clovis, 15 trainees at an average wage of $25.13, for a total award of $280,924.
Orenda Farms, LLC and Vana, LLC are minority-, women-owned companies. Both companies will operate in the same leased facility, converting an 11,200-square-foot warehouse into a state-of-the-art indoor growing and production facility in Clovis.
Orenda Farms primary operation is to grow high-quality cannabis to brand and package and sold to dispensaries throughout the state.
Vana’s primary operation is processing and manufacturing cannabis products that include edibles, salves, lotions, and tinctures. Vana will also partner with local cannabis farmers by buying their product and processing it for them. This creates an affordable pathway for local farmers and micro producers to manufacture and sell their product.
Parting Stone, LLC, Santa Fe, 15 trainees at an average wage of $21.67, for a total award of $134,230.
Parting Stone has developed an alternative to cremated remains to memorialize those we love. Working with material scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory they developed a new form of solidified remains. Parting Stone is preparing about 1,000 solidifications annually. Each solidification produces 40 to 60 stones that range in size from small to palm size.
Paseo Pottery, Santa Fe, 2 trainees at an average wage of $21.50, for a total award of $21,640.
Paseo Pottery is a working pottery studio factory and showroom and a pottery-powered charity, embracing a radical form of conscious capitalism: cover costs, then donate the rest to improve society. 100% of net proceeds from their pottery “experiences” that are designed for tourists are donated to local charities each year, as selected by their customers, and Paseo Pottery has donated over $30,000 thus far. The company also hosts pottery classes that are taught by volunteers in exchange for use of the studio.
Ramel Family Farms, LLC, Raton, 2 trainees at an average wage of $20.37, for a total award of $28,763.
Ramel Family Farms is a start-up, veteran-, and employee-owned agricultural operation, which will bring local food production to a food desert region that includes Colfax County, NM and Las Animas County, CO. The company will also bring new technologies and research to the area via the production of insect-based protein and fertilizer products. Year-round produce and greens production will occur in a 5,000-square-foot greenhouse that sits on 8.5 acres, which also includes a 55,000-square-foot warehouse that will house the production of mushrooms, insect protein/frass products, and organic compost.
Sceye, Inc., Moriarty, 1 trainee at an hourly wage of $45.63, for a total award of $37,964.16.
Sceye, Inc. has created a new class of airships for the stratosphere. Sceye has developed airships made from a new, super-light and uniquely tough fabric, and powered by a clean, ultra-efficient solar energy system. The fleet will form a powerful platform for virtual infrastructure, each one capable of carrying a large payload of cameras, sensors, hyper-spectral imaging, radar, and communications equipment.
SRE Wellness, Inc., Albuquerque, 1 trainee at an hourly wage of $39.00, for an amended award amount of $22,308.
SRE Wellness, Inc serves edibles manufacturers with best-in-class, fast-onset edible formulations. They create products and ingredients that taste great with no hemp aftertaste and reliable experiences. SRE created and developed their patent pending Azuca TiME INFUSION™ process that allows edibles to take effect in 2 to 15 minutes. Seventeen new provisional patent applications were filed recently, and in 2020, Wana Brands, which is the largest cannabis edibles company in the US, launched 'Wana Quick' powered by Azuca TiME INFUSION™ with great success.
The Verdes Foundation, Albuquerque, 4 trainees at an average wage of $16.88, for a total award of $17,640.
The Verdes Foundation is a nonprofit organization and is one of the longest operating production and dispensaries in New Mexico. The company has two adjacent production facilities in Albuquerque along with dispensary locations in Albuquerque and Rio Rancho that are operated by registered nurses. The Verdes Foundation is New Mexico’s largest and most highly regarded medical cannabis company. The Verdes Foundation produces a large variety of value-added products including edibles, tinctures, and salves. The positions associated with manufacturing are eligible for JTIP funding.