The New Mexico Economic Development Department (EDD) has granted funding approval to facilitate the creation of up to 1,255 jobs through the Job Training Incentive Program (JTIP) for fiscal year 2023, resulting in the highest average wage ever recorded for the program, according to EDD Cabinet Secretary Alicia J. Keyes.
A total of 72 companies across 21 communities in New Mexico have received assistance. The allocated amount for FY23 exceeds $16 million. JTIP encourages companies to offer high-paying positions, operate in rural or frontier areas, and hire veterans and recent graduates from local higher education institutions by providing a higher percentage of reimbursement to the company.
In FY2023, the average wage for trainees supported by JTIP reached $27.08 per hour, marking an 8% increase from the previous year and a 28% increase from four years ago.
In June, the JTIP Board of the EDD approved an additional $1.3 million for 10 New Mexico companies, supporting the hiring and training of 60 employees and six trainees as the final group of FY23 JTIP awardees. This diverse group of locally-based companies includes several within Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s targeted industries for growth and economic diversification.
JTIP funds cover at least 50% of the training costs for new employees over a period of up to six months. Disbursement of funds occurs after the completion of training and the fulfillment of agreed-upon benchmarks.
The Las Cruces company approved for JTIP in June is:
Visgence Inc., Las Cruces, 1 trainee at an average wage of $33.43 for a total award of $20,943.96. Visgence’s primary product is B2B software development, network engineering, and electronics prototyping services. Visgence designs and builds networking solutions at every level: national data centers, major campuses, last-mile broadband, and small business.
