Is it a bad omen that the stock of the company touted as New Mexico's "next Intel" crashed 32 percent on the very day that MLG and Mayor Keller announced that Maxeon Solar Technologies would be spending $1 billion to build a giant solar manufacturing plant at Mesa Del Sol that comes with $600 million of taxpayer incentives?

If not a bad omen it at least should dispel the euphoria the politicos were caught up in at Friday's announcement.

The sudden crash in the company's stock price is not the only warning flag being waved. We've been here before. 

In 2008 with equal flair and over-the-top optimism. Gov. Richardson announced that Schott Solar would be building a 200,000 square foot plant at Mesa del Sol, the planned community in south ABQ, that would ultimately create 1,500 jobs. As usual, there was a massive state subsidy. For Schott it was up to $100 million. A mere four years later, in 2012, Schott was shuttered and the state was out its investment as well as those badly needed jobs. 

So what happened? ABQ Mayor RJ Berry said at the time:

And then-Gov Martinez added:

Back then prices tumbled when Chinese manufacturers flooded the market with cheap solar systems. Maxeon's stock crash Friday was caused by slowing demand:

Solar remains a volatile field. While a more mature industry than when Schott failed in 2012, there is still the matter of foreign competition, the continuation of federal tax credits that are propping up sales and those demand issues for solar panels that had investors taking Maxeon to the woodshed Friday.

Suppose Maxeon does turn out to be another Intel as MLG and Mayor Keller declared (or hoped). Well, that also is a cautionary tale. 

Intel in Rio Rancho has been the recipient of tens of millions in taxpayer incentives. It opened in 1980 and employment went over 7,000 (or more depending on the history report) but when Intel decided not to expand here that number by 2018 had shrunk to 1,200. 

The company is back expanding at Rio Rancho with a $3.5 billion investment that is forecast to add 700 jobs. Still, as of January Intel had only 2,100 employees, a much smaller company than in the glory days and what elected leaders had hoped for and essentially paid for with public money.

Also, the jobs at Maxeon are being described as "high paying." But $55,000 a year does not fit that category today. (Intel employees average $93,000 a year.)

All of this is not to dump on the work of those responsible for recruiting Maxeon nor not to welcome the company here and wish them the best of luck. It's just that New Mexico has been down this road many times and it usually ends with a roadblock or worse. 

What this background does mean is that before that $600 million in Maxeon taxpayer incentives is finalized policy makers need to be mindful of the past and do their best to avoid a repeat. 

Parajón (Biz First)

We ran into state House Speaker Javier Martinez at the coffee shop last week just as it was being announced that 27 year old Cristina Parajón had been chosen by the Bernalillo County Commission to fill the House vacancy for District 25 which had been vacated by Christine Trujillo. Parajón now joins the House Democratic caucus. Commented Martinez:

Martinez said Parajón will be the youngest female legislator as well as the first Asian-Latinx state rep. Her family's Latin American roots are in Nicaragua.

Parajón, an ABQ native who holds a Bachelor's in sociology and government from Harvard University, says she will seek election to the seat beginning with the June '24 Dem primary. 

The mid-NE Heights District 25 is all D all the time. The winner of that primary will almost certainly get the two year term in November. 

Parajón's selection did not come without some tussling. There was a flare-up over her residency in the district but she put it out when she said she can produce records showing she has lived in the district for at least three years.

There was also an insider political power play going on as the Commission voted 4 to 1 to name Parajón with moderate Commissioner Quezada voting against. 

One of the seven candidates who applied and appeared near the top of the heap for the plum appointment was Dem Sofia Sanchez, a progressive like Parajón and deputy chief of staff to ABQ US Dem Rep. Melanie Stansbury. We get more from a Senior Alligator:

When it comes to poltical power only the names change. The game is always the same.

This is the home of New Mexico politics.