I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
In contrast, Richardson, Chavez, Mondragon and other officials were all smiles 17 months ago when Tesla said it would locate on the West Side. The company, under Eberhard’s direction at the time, would site its $35 million WhiteStar sedan manufacturing plant at Cordero Mesa business park, they said, bringing 400 jobs along with the cachet of one of the world’s first all-electric sedans.
At the time, Tesla was struggling to get its $100,000-plus electric roadster ready for mass production in England, but company officials promised that the New Mexico plant was right around the corner. In his announcement, Richardson said: “Construction on the 150,000-square-foot plant will begin in April 2007, at the latest.”
In exchange, the state would provide about $7 million in capital costs over two years to prepare the West Side for the plant, Richardson said, as well as the usual range of economic incentives: high wage job tax credit, the manufacturer’s investment tax credit and assistance from the Job Training Incentive Program.
Meantime, a group of Albuquerque developers jumped into high gear and began paving the way for Tesla to start work, said Tim Cummins, a Bernalillo County commissioner and real estate agent. The group, West Side Economic Development, put nearly $300,000 into designing a manufacturing plant, he said, because Tesla maintained it was coming.
Despite the company’s management and engineering difficulties, Cummins said, “They kept recommitting to the project and the site.” Even after the corporate shakeup last fall, Tesla officials said the developers should keep working.
“But from about March (2008) on, we had a feeling it was over,” Cummins said. Aside from the corporate issues, the company was wrestling with technological problems in its batteries and transmissions, he said. “We even had discussions (with the state) about withdrawing the proposal,” because the company hadn’t done anything for more than a year.
Today’s announcement, therefore, didn’t come as a total surprise, Cummins said. “I’m surprised it took them so long to decide what to do, but I can’t say I’m surprised by their decision.”
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said today that Tesla would receive a broad array of incentives — far more than offered by New Mexico, it appears. The biggest incentive is that the state will finance an estimated $100 million worth of manufacturing equipment, which Tesla will then lease back.
New Mexico officials said Tesla’s decision is not much of a setback. Schott Solar just announced plans to hire 1,500 people and invest $100 million in a plant; Hewlett-Packard is relocating to Rio Rancho and creating 1,300 jobs; and Fidelity Investments is bringing 1,250 workers when it opens here.
Said Mondragon, “Nobody is going to go out and shoot themselves because Tesla isn’t coming.”
But Tesla may not have heard the last from Albuquerque. Cummins said that he and his partners are talking over their options for recouping their $300,000 investment in the car company. “Now that they’re definitely not coming, we’re going to have some serious discussions,” he said.
