| The University of New Mexico (UNM) in Albuquerque will join with the Rio Grande Community Development Corporation (RGCDC) to establish a 20,000-square-foot business incubator near Albuquerque, New Mexico. The RGDCD, established in 1986, already has received more than $500,000 in grant funds from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the City of Albuquerque, and the New Mexico State Legislature to establish the incubator. The Resource Center for Raza Planning in UNM's School of Architecture and Planning helped the corporation develop preliminary marketing and feasibility analyses for the incubator and will use Hispanic-Serving Institutions Assisting Communities funds to complete those analyses and develop incubator programs.
UNM is located in the South Valley, an unincorporated, low-density area adjacent to and south of Albuquerque in Bernalillo County. More than 80 percent of the Valley's 60,000 residents identify themselves as Hispanic. The area's 1996 per-capita income was $8,246, less than half the average for the Albuquerque metropolitan area. Its 1998 unemployment rate was more than 10 percent.
The economic challenges faced by the South Valley community are related to several factors, including insufficient jobs, poor educational attainment among residents, and inadequate job preparation. Nearly one-fifth of Valley residents lives at or below the poverty level. Almost half of the area's adult population did not graduate from high school and 77 percent have an educational level of high school or less.
Economic distress in the Valley also is due to the steady decline of the area's traditional agricultural economy. Pressure from developers for conversion of agricultural lands into commercial, industrial, and residential uses has permanently removed viable land from production and eliminated local jobs that have sustained the economy for centuries. This has created dependence on outside goods, jobs and services, making it increasingly difficult for local farmers to survive. In addition to helping local residents start their own businesses, the incubator will promote the economic viability of agriculture and the feasibility of local food production. RGCDC sees these activities as critical elements in promoting the long-term economic, cultural, and physical health of the South Valley.
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