Mission & Strategy
Economic Development in Albuquerque
Albuquerque is the urban center of New Mexico and one of America’s best mid-sized cities. The 32nd largest city in the country, Albuquerque’s economy is emerging with strength in space technology, directed energy, smart community technologies, and film and digital media.
Albuquerque is a top city in which to start, expand, or relocate a business and offers a skilled workforce and a business-friendly environment. Companies like Netflix, NBCUniversal, LSI, RiskSense, Carenet, and many others have selected Albuquerque because it is a great place to do business and provides a healthy and affordable quality of life. Albuquerque welcomes businesses of all sizes and types, from startups to expansions and relocations of global businesses.
Our Vision
Albuquerque is New Mexico’s urban center, 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
The Economic Development Department’s mission is to create a more diversified and equitable economy that works for everyone by growing and retaining local businesses and jobs; eliminating barriers to success in underserved communities; recruiting businesses in key industries; increasing Albuquerque’s competitiveness in the global market; and fostering a healthful built environment.
Our Strategy
Increment of One – Create jobs one, two, three, 10 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 highly-skilled workforce that meets the demands of employers and helps businesses scale up.
Buy Local – This is a two-fold initiative that both encourages the community to make conscious decisions to support locally-owned businesses. The City is using its purchasing power to ensure local businesses are the providers of goods and services for the City.
Smart Recruitment, Retention, and Expansion – We are focused on recruiting companies from specific industries that build upon 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.
Creative Economy and Film – Albuquerque offers a unique culture, cuisine, art, and music scene. The creative economy and film industry are key components of the economic vitality in Albuquerque.
International Business – We are capitalizing on our unique placement along two major interstates, with an international airport and a foreign trade zone. We are also promoting Albuquerque as a strategic location for foreign small- to medium-sized enterprises for our local companies.
Placemaking – Mayor Keller believes the measure of any great City is how people and places are connected. The City’s is using placemaking tools and strategies to develop connectivity as well as engaging with communities to drive economic growth and development.