Commentary: The Santa Teresa/San Geronimo border crossing has become an engine of growth for Dona Ana county. Santa Teresa is home to industrial parks and the Union Pacific Intermodal Facility. Just across in San Geronimo is the massive Foxconn plant.
In total, the Santa Teresa border crossing accounts for about 4400 jobs, making it the second largest source of jobs in Dona Ana County, behind White Sands Missile Range. But unlike the missile range, where employment has been relatively stable, employment continues to grow at the border crossing. (NMSU is the largest single employer.)
2017 exports from Dona Ana County, the vast majority of which is generated at Santa Teresa, were $1.6 billion. This was about 53% of New Mexico’s total exports to Mexico. Further expansion at Santa Teresa represents among the best ways for New Mexico to diversify.
Geography is the source of Santa Teresa’s comparative advantage. Mexican companies located between Durango and the border, which includes most of Chihuahua, are likely to choose either Santa Teresa or El Paso for crossing. Chihuahua is largest exporter in Mexico.
For suppliers serving the maquilas, Santa Teresa’s location is an advantage as is proximity to the Union Pacific Intermodal facility.
Santa Teresa is the most easterly of the land crossing between Mexico and the United States. This gives it an advantage with overweight loads that aren’t allowed on bridges. Then there is a special law that allows overload trucks to travel twelve miles into New Mexico from the border crossing so that trucks that are legal in Mexico, but would otherwise be illegal in New Mexico, can deliver to warehouses in New Mexico or to the Union Pacific Intermodal facility.
Among the most quintessential products of Santa Teresa are the giant wind turbine blades produced by TPI Composites. These blades are manufactured in Mexico, warehoused in Santa Teresa, and shipped out either via rail or by truck. Those shipped by truck are common sights on I-25.
The Foxconn plant, located just across the border within a baseball’s through of the U.S. side, is the largest maquila ever. It currently employs around 9700 workers, with the capacity to expand to 20,000.
The plant currently manufactures 55,000 Dell computers a day. A hundred trucks a day, prescreened at the Foxconn facility, bring these computers across using a dedicated lane. These computers are then delivered throughout North America. Recently, Foxconn announced that they would be closing the HP facility in Juarez and moving that also to San Geronimo.
The expectation is for continued employment growth of 200 to 500 jobs per year. A major constraint on this growth is the availability of space. Of course, custom building is possible, but many businesses can’t wait for new construction and need to occupy existing space. But finding builders will to undertake the risk of spec construction is no easy task.
Christopher A. Erickson, Ph.D., is a professor of economics at NMSU. He has been a member of the Association of Borderland Studies since 1987. The opinions expressed may not be shared by the regents and administration of NMSU. Chris can be reached at chrerick@nmsu.edu.