Financial services company moving to New Mexico

DATELINE: SANTA FE

One of the nation's largest financial services companies is moving part of its business to New Mexico and expects to employ about 1,200 people over the next five years.

Tax breaks and other financial incentives worth nearly $47 million were offered by the state and others to attract Fidelity Investments to New Mexico.

The Fidelity Human Resources Services Company will open for business this summer in Albuquerque in a building owned by the University of New Mexico. Fidelity is to employ about 300 people by the end of this year.

The company will move later to a 210,000-square-foot building to be constructed in Mesa Del Sol, a residential and commercial development near the Albuquerque International Sunport.

The company provides provides payroll and employee benefit services to other businesses, including services related to pensions and defined contribution plans such as 401(k) plans. The operation is part of Massachusetts-based Fidelity Investments, the nation's largest mutual fund company.

Gov. Bill Richardson said Thursday the company will offer jobs that pay from $25,000 a year to $65,000.

Pat Goepel, president of the Human Resources Services Company, said people will be hired locally for most of the jobs.

"Like your state bird, the roadrunner, we're going to move fast. We'll be operational by this summer," said Goepel.

Attracting the company to New Mexico is similar to "winning the pennant" in professional baseball, said Economic Development Secretary Fred Mondragon.

"Fidelity is the kind of blue chip corporate citizen that any state in the country would be thrilled to get to locate a major facility," said Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., who joined Richardson and local government officials in announcing the economic development project.

The state financial incentives are worth $43 million: $14 million in capital outlay financing that Richardson is asking the Legislature to approve for infrastructure at the company's planned building site $8 million this year and $6 million next year; a tax credit estimated at $17.4 million for creating "high wage" jobs; and $11.7 million in job training subsidies.

Other financial incentives: $1 million from the city of Albuquerque, $500,000 from Bernalillo County and $2 million from Mesa Del Sol, which will construct and then lease a building to Fidelity. Part of the building will be ready by the end of this year. The second phase will be ready for Fidelity in March 2009.

Richardson also will ask the Legislature to revise the state's high-wage tax credit to make more of the planned Fidelity jobs eligible for the incentive.

It was the second large economic development announcement this week involving Mesa Del Sol. On Monday, the governor and others announced that a German company will open a plant to manufacture solar energy equipment.

Forest City Covington is developing the Mesa Del Sol project on 12,000 acres, including land owned by the state. The joint venture development company is affiliated with Forest City Enterprises Inc., an $8 billion real estate company based in Cleveland.

Attending Thursday's announcement was Albert Ratner, co-chairman of the board of Forest City Enterprises. Richardson introduced him as a "dear friend."

Richardson's gubernatorial campaign committee received about $187,000 in monetary and in-kind contributions in 2004-2006 from the Mesa Del Sol developer as well as officials and companies affiliated with Forest City Enterprises and Ratner family members.