Develop a Skilled, Adaptable, and Regionally Connected Workforce

Workforce is the bridge between economic opportunity and household prosperity. The region’s employers need skilled workers, but residents also need clear, affordable, and realistic pathways into good jobs.

This CEDS identifies a distributed network of postsecondary and technical education assets across the region, including ENMU-Roswell in Chaves County, ENMU-Ruidoso in Lincoln County, New Mexico Junior College in Lea County, Southeast New Mexico College in Eddy County, New Mexico Military Institute in Chaves County, CTECH in Hobbs, and other specialized training providers. These institutions offer pathways connected to welding, HVAC, EMT, aviation, cybersecurity, CDL, energy, business, cosmetology, and other workforce needs.

The opportunity is not simply to create more training. The opportunity is to create better alignment among employers, education providers, workforce partners, and local governments so training leads to employment, employment leads to advancement, and advancement leads to stronger household stability.

County-Specific Strategic Direction

Chaves County

Chaves County should focus on aviation, agriculture, healthcare, welding, manufacturing, education, public service, and entrepreneurship pathways. ENMU-Roswell and New Mexico Military Institute are major assets for technical training, leadership development, aviation-related education, and regional talent development. Workforce strategies should also address Chaves’ population decline and elevated poverty by expanding adult education, credential completion, childcare access, and career pathways that connect residents to living-wage employment.

Eddy County

Eddy County should focus on energy, mining, logistics, industrial safety, environmental compliance, CDL, healthcare, and business services. Southeast New Mexico College and the Carlsbad/Artesia employer base provide a strong platform for sector-based training. Workforce efforts should also support incumbent worker upskilling, industrial maintenance, safety certifications, and specialized skills tied to energy, WIPP-related activity, and regional logistics.

Lea County

Lea County should focus on energy, construction, CDL, industrial maintenance, automation, safety, renewable energy, and youth career pathways. New Mexico Junior College and CTECH are critical partners for building a pipeline from high school into technical careers. Because Lea has the region’s youngest population and the highest percentage of adults without a diploma, workforce development should include GED completion, basic skills, bilingual access, career exploration, and employer-connected pathways.

Lincoln County

Lincoln County should focus on healthcare, hospitality, tourism, emergency response, forestry, outdoor recreation, senior services, small business management, and remote work. ENMU-Ruidoso and the One-Stop Career Center serving Lincoln County and the Mescalero Apache Tribe provide important workforce infrastructure. Given Lincoln’s older population and lower mobility, strategies should support aging services, healthcare workforce needs, tourism workforce retention, remote work, and small business succession.

Otero County

Otero County should focus on aerospace, defense, aviation, tourism, healthcare, education, public service, and skilled trades. Workforce planning should connect to Holloman Air Force Base, White Sands Missile Range, NMSU-Alamogordo, Alamogordo Public Schools, tourism employers, and healthcare providers. Otero’s relatively high poverty and mobility rates also point to the need for workforce housing, childcare, transportation support, and credential pathways that help residents move into stable employment.

Objectives

  1. Establish employer-led sector partnerships in energy, healthcare, skilled trades, logistics, agriculture, aerospace/defense, tourism, and public services.
  2. Expand short-term, stackable credentials that help residents move quickly into employment and continue advancing over time.
  3. Strengthen dual credit, CTE, apprenticeships, internships, and work-based learning across the five-county region.
  4. Align workforce programs with real barriers identified in the CEDS, including transportation, childcare, housing, broadband access, and adult education.
  5. Track workforce outcomes, including enrollment, completion, credential attainment, job placement, retention, wage gains, and employer satisfaction.
  6. Build workforce systems that support both entry-level workers and incumbent workers needing to upskill or reskill.

Additional Information / Partners / Programs to Leverage

Potential partners include ENMU-Roswell, ENMU-Ruidoso, New Mexico Junior College, Southeast New Mexico College, NMSU-Alamogordo, New Mexico Military Institute, CTECH, local school districts, workforce boards, chambers of commerce, major employers, the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions, apprenticeship partners, community-based organizations, and industry associations. The New Mexico Economic Development Department’s state planning updates emphasize workforce alignment with industry needs, including stronger education-to-career connections and coordination among economic development, workforce, and higher education partners.