Thanks to some creative thinking, this unique project is using old shipping containers to house businesses rather than traditional brick and mortar construction. Government red-tape over required architectural/engineered plans delayed all but one tenant from opening their store-fronts in the development.

But there is hope as City of Albuquerque officials have now said they will fast track the process to help get all the stores at Green Jeans Farmery open.

NMBC has questioned City of Albuquerque representatives about the red tape that can stall economic development. To their credit, we got a positive response. City officials and the Albuquerque Journal is now reporting that the permitting issues at Green Jeans Farmery will be ‘Fast Tracked’ and the normal fees to expedite this type of action (amounting to over $10,000 in this case) will be waived.

In addition, NMBC President, Carla Sonntag, has been invited to be part of discussions on ways to improve permitting, inspections and regulations. You can count on hearing more about efforts to address this issue from NMBC.

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Rhetoric Encourages Biz Development – What Does it Really Accomplish? Just a few miles away from Green Jeans Farmery, Innovate ABQ hosted an economic development summit, touting Albuquerque’s broad community involvement and economic innovation. While rhetoric, business accelerator projects and grouping business start-up/expansion resources into one building sounds like a great idea, NMBC is looking at what actually comes out of these projects.

Where are the new businesses and jobs? Encouraging entrepreneurial innovation is one thing, but businesses all around the Innovate ABQ building (and beyond) are closing their doors indicating something quite different. Read more here

Is New Mexico Really a Business Friendly Environment? A recent Forbes list ranked New Mexico 47th on its “Best States To Do Business” list. This comes as no surprise, when you look at red tape and obstacles faced by businesses expansion projects like the Green Jeans Farmery. Forbes magazine said, “New Mexico has the worst employment growth in the U.S. over the past five years.” Read more here.

It’s unfortunate there seems to be no end to anti-business, job killing red-tape imposed by some within local and state governments. That is why NMBC continues our work of holding public officials and their appointees accountable. Onerous, overbearing government regulations affect business owners who are trying to expand job opportunities at every stage of economic development – from those just opening their first store to those struggling to keep a fifty-year-old, family run, multi-generational businesses alive. There is much to be done and you can join NMBC in making a real difference!

NMBC depends on the support of New Mexicans like YOU! Join us today to help make the State of New Mexico truly business friendly!