Rio Rancho leaders pay $3.7 million for new businesses

by | Jul 20, 2016 | Media, KOAT | 0 comments

PCM, Safelite Auto will bring more than 1,000 jobs

RIO RANCHO, N.M. — Two new companies in Rio Rancho are getting millions of tax dollars, but there’s a catch.

The city of Rio Rancho just signed two different agreements with Safelite Auto and PCM. The two companies announced in the last six weeks they had plans to open new facilities in the city of Vision.

Together, PCM and Safelite Auto will bring in more than 1,000 jobs to Rio Rancho and to make that happen, city leaders voted to shell out nearly $3.7 million in public funds.

Mayor Gregg Hull said the money is coming from the state’s LEDA fund.

“It helps us ensure as a community our tax dollars are invested wisely,” Hull said.

But with that money comes strict deadlines and very specific hiring requirements.

For example, according to the documents, Safelite Auto has to hire at least 200 employees every year, for three years. If the company doesn’t meet that threshold, it will have to pay back a portion of the $3 million it received up front.

“If they don’t honor the agreement in a specific way, then the taxpayers’ dollars come back to the taxpayers,” Hull explained.

He said this is one way to hold businesses accountable to their original expectations.

“If we were to dole out millions and millions and millions of dollars and then just get nothing in return for it, that would be a bad investment,” Hull said.

PCM is getting a jump on hiring those employees that it needs. It’s having a job fair at the Santa Ana Star Center on Wednesday.

As for Safelite Auto, the company plans to open its customer center in the old Sprint building in northern Rio Rancho early next year.