New Mexico governor announces deal for $5B digital infrastructure campus

A news release from the New Mexico Economic Development Department indicates the partnership could receive financial incentives through a “high-wage jobs” tax credit, industrial revenue bonds with Doña Ana County, the Local Economic Development Act Gross Receipts Tax Share Program and the state’s Job Training Incentive Program.

Neither the Economic Development Department nor the company provided details of those incentives Tuesday.

Bruce Krasnow, a spokesperson for the department, said it’s too soon to crunch the numbers. “The state incentives depend on the job numbers, when the hiring occurs, salaries,” he wrote in an email Tuesday.

BorderPlex Digital, founded in 2022, expects to spend $5 billion on construction costs for the project over the next decade, including

$1.5 billion per year in IT equipment purchases and $230 million a year in manufacturing equipment “to sustain long-term growth,” according to a statement from Chairman Lanham Napier.

Napier’s statement says the company plans to break ground this year on a site near N.M. 136, which lies just west of Santa Teresa.

“We’ve got an incredible economic opportunity that chooses us,” Lujan Grisham said of the project, adding she could count on one hand the number of times the state has been in a similar position in the past.

While introducing Napier at a news conference, the governor joked, “We’re going to sign this deal before you can get away.”

Shortly afterward, she and Napier affixed their signatures to a memorandum of understanding between the state and the company.

The deal notes the state has created a Quantum Technologies Award Pilot Program, and BorderPlex Digital “seeks to be a first mover in the development of critical infrastructure.”

Napier, who said he lives “at the intersection of software and infrastructure,” touted the project’s ability to tap into the potential of Doña Ana County and Southern New Mexico, adding, “I think the borderplex region is a gem.”

The state’s role as a partner in the project is crucial, he said, adding, “We couldn’t have gotten here without you.”

The company’s “flagship” Digital Infrastructure Campus in Santa Teresa appears to be its first project.

“BorderPlex Digital is working with a diverse range of regional and community partners to establish” the campus, Napier said in a statement. “These partners include El Paso Electric, Flo Networks, Orion Energy, Chris Lyons, the Santa Teresa Land Company, TECMA, Road Recyclers, New Mexico State University, Doña Ana Community College, MVEDA and Valkyrie.”

One of the company’s leaders is Charlie Burgoyne, founder and CEO of Austin-based AI firm Valkyrie, according to BorderPlex Digital’s website.

Former New Mexico Economic Development Secretary Alicia Keyes also is on the leadership team, as is George P. Bush, the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and grandson of President George H.W. Bush.

Rob Black, the state’s current economic development director, compared the project’s potential economic impact to the construction of a Meta data center in Los Lunas in 2015.

Before the data center was built, he said, Los Lunas was generating $11 million a year in gross receipts taxes. That figure was $5 million in November 2024 alone, he said, adding the city now is seeing hundreds of millions of dollars a year in new money.

All of that sprang from a

$10 million initial state investment, he noted.

“These are the kinds of things that are transformative for a rural community,” Black said.

State Rep. Nathan Small, D-Las Cruces, characterized the deal as beneficial to the state’s students, especially those interested in pursuing tech careers.

“The potential [of the deal] to keep our young New Mexicans in the state is critical,” he said.

Napier said he is confident the area has an adequate number of qualified workers to meet the project’s initial needs.

“We’ve done the studies to know there are enough super-talented New Mexicans to get this going,” he said, though it would be up to local educational institutions to meet the campus’ growing needs in the future, he added.

Napier sounded optimistic when asked whether the project, with its power generation component, might conflict with the state’s 2019 Energy Transition Act, which sets a renewable energy standard of 50% by 2030,

He said his company maintains open lines of communication with its partners — in this case, the state — and that approach would help enable outcomes in power generation that haven’t been seen historically, “unlocking magic pixie dust.”

Lujan Grisham expressed confidence the project would not run afoul of the Energy Transition Act, adding she expects any kind of economic development project in the state to meet its standards.

“I want the ETA to be met or exceeded in all areas,” she said.

The project’s water-treatment component includes the possible development of a water desalination project in Santa Teresa that would tap into the brackish water resources in the region — in line with the governor’s proposed “strategic water supply” for industrial uses.

A measure working its way through the Legislature aims to spur development of projects to treat and reuse brackish water.

The governor said the project demonstrates New Mexico is succeeding in its efforts to move away from its historic reliance on just a few industries for its financial well-being.

“It should show the public that building one of the strongest economies in America is on the agenda,” she said.

While construction of the campus is expected to begin this year, Napier indicated it likely will be some time before the projected 1,000 jobs are filled.

He acknowledged construction of the campus and eventual hiring of so many employees are likely to strain the Doña Ana County housing market. But he believes the campus will trigger greater housing construction and argued capital investment tends to attract more capital.

Small, who represents Las Cruces, noted the city recently passed what he called one of the most business-friendly building codes in the state. He also touted several initiatives lawmakers are considering to address the statewide affordable housing crisis.

The governor said much of the burden for solving the housing crisis falls on local governments, especially those with major projects like the BorderPlex Digital Assets campus.

“They have to do some of their own work,” she said.

Many communities around the state have outdated construction rules and regulations on their books, the governor said, but that’s not the case for this project.

“Las Cruces rose to the challenge,” she said.