San Juan College, with classes switched to remote learning, is working to ensure students feel connected to campus.
San Juan College, with classes switched to remote learning, is working to ensure students feel connected to campus.Courtesy of San Juan College

The New Mexico Economic Development Department invested $200,000 in four certified business incubator facilities in hopes of creating new businesses, jobs, and state revenue.

The program benefited nearly 200 businesses, creating millions in payroll and gross receipts, the state’s Economic Development Department announced in a news release. The incubators used state funding to invest in equipment to boost their virtual services and training.

The state claims businesses started in an incubator are twice as likely to succeed as other businesses.

“Business incubators provide critical support to growing New Mexico companies and have a proven economic impact. EDD is proud to support them and offer the resources to help them reach more businesses across the state,” EDD Secretary Jon Clark said.

Enterprise Center at San Juan College, Santa Fe Business Incubator, South Valley Economic Development Center, and WESST Enterprise Center received $50,000 each in funding.

Here is how they used the money, according to the release:

Enterprise Center at SJC invested in office space upgrades and high-definition technology upgrades in its conference rooms.
SFBI participates in the New Mexico Main Street Adviser Network and assists rural businesses when referred by EDD’s regional representatives. For example, SFBI has been helping a technical development and manufacturing company working in Taos and Mora Counties.
SVEDC, which includes a highly successful commercial kitchen and New Mexico foods program, provided technical assistance to the Enterprise Center in Farmington in designing a similar facility and program for the Four Corners region.
WESST extended its reach to Luna County, hosting 14 in-person and seven virtual training workshops with 64 attendees.

The state created its Certified Business Incubator program in 2005, creating standards for incubation facilities to receive state certification and financial support.

“Business incubators have a meaningful but quiet impact across New Mexico,” the release said. “Meaningful because they help healthy, job-creating businesses become established and profitable. Quiet because they accomplish so much without large sums of money and blaring headlines. Companies graduate from incubators poised to grow and create new jobs. When they graduate from the facility, they almost always choose a location within five miles of the incubator and typically make headlines as incubator graduates.”

This story was originally written by Tom Joyce and has been republished here from The Center Square.