Obama, Kerry speak at meeting
Patricia Lundstrom, the executive director of the Greater Gallup Economic Development Corporation, attended the third annual SelectUSA Investment Summit in Washington, DC. The event was held June 19 - 21 as part of a major effort to recruit businesses to Gallup and McKinley County, and to market the state of New Mexico as a whole.
For the past two years, the GGEDC has been the recipient of a $15,000 grant from the New Mexico Economic Development Department. Those funds allowed for the trip, Lundstrom said.
SelectUSA is the highest profile event dedicated to promoting direct foreign investment in the United States. The affair saw some 2,500 participants from more than 70 foreign markets bringing together investors, economic development organizations, and government officials from around the world to support economic development opportunities.
“SelectUSA is the premier trade show for the recruitment of international businesses,” Lundstrom said. “[GGEDC] made direct contact with 19 different countries and shared information with hundreds of attendees. We utilized the Target Industry Study to help prioritize our efforts, scheduling appointments with representatives with best fit industries for Gallup and McKinley County and with countries to which New Mexico currently exports.”
The keynote speaker for the event was President Barack Obama, and other speakers included Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and Secretary of State John Kerry, as well as top US business leaders, Lundstrom said.
“US Secretary of Commerce Pritzker personally visited the New Mexico booth — only five booths within the entire exhibit hall she was able to visit,” Lundstrom said. “I gave secretary Pritzker my one-minute elevator speech about Gallup and McKinley County.”
GGEDC was part of a bigger New Mexico delegation that included the New Mexico Partnership, the city of Hobbs, and the city of Lovington, Lundstrom noted. The theme of the 2016 summit was “The Innovation Advantage,” highlighted by American leadership in research and development, entrepreneurship, advanced manufacturing, and other areas.
Lundstrom said she’s in contact with representatives from two companies that were in attendance.
Topics and strategies at the event included “Building a Strategy to Attract Investment”; “Preparing to Build the Work Force of Tomorrow”; “The Future of Retail”; “Access to Capital”; and “The Future of Funding and the US as an Export Platform,” Lundstrom said.
The GGEDC was established about four years ago with the goal of economic development in Gallup and McKinley County. Lundstrom, who has served the New Mexico House of Representatives since 2001, is a former executive director of the Northwest New Mexico Council of Governments.
By Bernie Dotson
Sun Correspondent
