NMCC Foundation
North Star
To strengthen New Mexico by empowering people and communities through research, education, and programs that build talent, innovation, and economic opportunity.
Mission
The New Mexico Chamber of Commerce Foundation advances statewide prosperity by:
- Generating insightful, data-driven research to inform decision-making.
- Co-creating solutions and aligning priorities with diverse stakeholders to build economic prosperity for all New Mexicans.
- Delivering on-the-ground programs that strengthen economic development and the workforce pipeline.
Values
Courage
Integrity
Collaboration
Community
Leadership
Together, the Foundation, NMCC, and New Mexico are stepping into an exciting new chapter.
Action and Impact for New Mexico's Future: Strategic Priorities
New Mexico is full of potential: thriving industries, rich cultural traditions, and communities eager to grow. Yet, we also face challenges: talent shortages, uneven opportunity, and a business climate that is often misunderstood outside our borders.
That is where the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce Foundation (NMCC Foundation) comes in. We lead from the front, bringing together key players from business, education, government, and tribal nations to create practical solutions. The Foundation’s action focuses on research, education, and programs that deliver impact for people and communities across the state.
Over the next three years, the NMCC Foundation is setting bold goals:
1. Accelerate Economic Competitiveness & Regional Prosperity
The NMCC Foundation frames New Mexico’s growth opportunities through a regional lens, acknowledging the unique economic engines of areas such as the northern cultural corridor, the southern border economy, agricultural regions, and energy-rich areas. By defining five economic regions, the NMCC Foundation will become the go-to leader for discussions of prosperity that are both specific and actionable. The Foundation will generate research that strengthens the Chamber’s advocacy while providing independent insight to business leaders. A focus will be on permitting, regulatory complexity, and competitiveness metrics, areas that stakeholders consistently flagged as barriers to growth.
Action Ideas:
- Define economic regions and convene working groups in each to address obstacles head-on.
- Publish an annual Regional Prosperity Index to track progress.
- Use NMCC Foundation research to help the Chamber advocate more effectively for regional priorities.
- Research permitting reform, regulatory barriers, and competitiveness.
- Host legislative education forums outside of session to share findings.
- Launch a campaign balancing realism with optimism (e.g., “Stop Bagging, Start Bragging”).
2. Lead Innovation for Improved Business Climate & Infrastructure
The NMCC Foundation is the innovation engine for programs and policy supporting New Mexico’s emerging industries — quantum and advanced computing, advanced energy, space/aerospace/defense, advanced manufacturing, agriculture/biosciences, and outdoor recreation — through research, convening, and storytelling. Special emphasis will be placed on entrepreneurship support, a widely acknowledged barrier in moving innovations forward to market.
Action Ideas:
- Commission a state-of-tech transfer study and recommend solutions to challenges.
- Entrepreneurship ecosystem support, education, and programming initiatives.
- Convene an Innovation Policy Co-Lab with labs, universities, and industry.
- Highlight bright spots through communications, shifting the narrative toward opportunity.
3. Build Industry-Aligned Workforce & Education Pipeline
New Mexico faces persistent skill gaps, low educational attainment, and out-migration of young talent. Stakeholders consistently pointed to the disconnect between classroom learning and career pathways, as well as the need to expand career technical education and apprenticeships. The NMCC Foundation is well-positioned to both scale its successful programs and unite fragmented efforts into a more coherent statewide strategy.
Action Ideas:
- Expand Be Pro Be Proud NM with additional mobile units, outreach campaigns, and outcome tracking.
- Convene cross-sector partners to identify the key priorities most likely to move the needle statewide.
- Foster program solutions to address aging workforce, reshoring of manufacturing, remote workforce rise, reskilling/upskilling existing workforce for occupations in emerging industries.