Rio Rancho, known as New Mexico's "City of Vision," is famous for its rapid growth, family-friendly atmosphere, low crime rate, affordability, and strong tech economy alongside stunning high-desert landscapes and a growing number of modern amenities and outdoor activities. It offers a high quality of life with a diverse job market, good schools, and a focus on community, attracting families and professionals alike.
We talked to Jerry Schalow, President and CEO of the Rio Rancho Regional Chamber of Commerce, about the growth of the community. He tells us, “Rio Rancho has created its own ecosystem. The Rio Rancho region includes northwest Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Corrales, Bernalillo, and Santa Ana Pueblo. The infrastructure is constantly evolving to keep up with the growth.”
“Intel, which has been here since 1980, employs about 3,000 people, and is the world’s largest packaging facility. TLC which is the state’s largest plumbing contractor is also moving into Rio Rancho. A new business, Castelion, is building facilities on 1000 acres and initially will provide 300 jobs, not including the construction jobs to build out the facility with all the buildings. The expectation is when it's fully completed it'll be about 1000 jobs.”
Jerry says, “Rio Rancho is the safest city in New Mexico, the best public schools in the state, and also, we're on a number of different listings as the best places to live and the best places to retire. We’re also sort of a bedroom community for other parts of the area. We have about 3,400 residents that go to Los Alamos every day for work. Also, a lot of our residents work at Sandia National Labs and Kirtland Air Force Base.”
We talked to Rio Rancho mayor Greggory D. Hull about investments in Rio Rancho. Besides his role in attracting new businesses to the city, he told us about community and quality of life projects. “One of the big things that we've been really focused on up here is infrastructure... upgrading our streets, upgrading our water system, and adding services to the community. We’re seeing thousands upon thousands of new home constructions, so growing the infrastructure is an on-going project. We recently added what's known as The Hub which is a library and Community Center up in Enchanted Hills. When it comes to places to gather, we really didn't have a gathering space per se, and this really gives us that gathering space. It houses a library with both books and digital media, and it has recreational areas with Pickleball courts, exercise & fitness activities, arts and crafts classes, special events, and programs for all ages.”
“We also added the new Broadmoor Senior Center. Their goal is to provide services that promote positive aging. There’s also the Meadowlark Senior Center, which offers programs on health & wellness, arts & humanities, social activities, day trips, and other functions that meet the needs of seniors.”
Mayor Hull says, “We’ve seen a lot of corporate investment in the city. We estimate the corporate investments at between $6-$7 billion in Rio Rancho just in the last 10-12 years. Then there’s Clēnera, a large solar company that feeds into the PNM grid. A lot of companies are looking for a clean, sustainable power source for their future building sites.”
“We’ve also seen the Market Street gourmet grocery store come to Rio Rancho, along with Sprouts, Natural Grocers, and Walmart.”
“We're consistently investing in public safety. We have more than doubled our budget going into the Police Department over the last over the last 12 years. We're able to tout the fact that we're the number one safest city in the state with a population over 30,000, and so we continue to work very hard on the public safety side, making sure that we're providing that safe environment not only for families but for the businesses here.”
As Mayor Hull told us, “Rio Rancho is on a roll.”
Rio Rancho is on a roll.
We estimate the corporate investments at between $6-$7 billion in Rio Rancho just in the last 10-12 years.