When New Mexico's 2016 history book is written, it's a fair bet that one of the main headlines will be Facebook's recent decision to create a major $1.8 billion new data center in Los Lunas.
It's actually difficult to overstate the tremendous ripple effect that Facebook's arrival in New Mexico could have on our economy.
The Village of Los Lunas is, of course, the biggest winner, but there is hope that an infrastructure will build up around the new Facebook facility, offering even wider benefits to the entire Albuquerque metropolitan area and further afield.
And, without question, local home owners are likely to be among the key beneficiaries of what we might eventually term "The Facebook Effect."
Let's not, for one second, play down the significance of what has been achieved here and its power to help change the prosperity of the region. New Mexico won out in a tough battle with Utah, which is already renowned as a hotbed for tech companies, in and around Salt Lake City.
While some reports so far suggest that the data center won't create a great deal of direct long-term local employment opportunities, Facebook's forthcoming arrival should, more than anything else, be seen as a flagship statement of our area's suitability for high-tech businesses. The key advantages will most likely be a wider recognition of the region and a greatly increased likelihood of other similar, and complementary, businesses acknowledging the synergies of being part of what could rapidly develop into a new tech epicenter.
If you already own property in the area, or are considering doing so imminently, you are likely to see a better return on your investment as a long-term result of this very exciting development. If the goals of local officials are realized, this will be more or less assured, as a key objective in attracting Facebook was to create a giant catalyst for future prosperity.
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