New Mexico to invest $400,000 in Las Cruces hemp manufacturing firm

A hemp manufacturing business in Southern New Mexico will get a boost from the state’s Economic Development Department.

The agency said it has pledged to invest $400,000 in 420 Valley as part of a continued effort by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration to grow the burgeoning industry.

420 Valley plans to move into a vacant building in Las Cruces, where it will cultivate hemp, then extract and refine it into manufactured products such as oil, edibles and topical ointments.

The company expects to start hiring workers early next year and payroll to be at $2 million in three years.

Officials of 420 Valley said they have worked with farmers in Deming to successfully grow and harvest hemp and are currently consulting with an indoor grow facility in Las Cruces and a manufacturing facility in Socorro.

Lujan Grisham said hemp production and other sustainable agriculture ventures will be essential as New Mexico works to diversify its economy.

“We must think broader than one industry and one industry alone; we must create opportunity for New Mexico entrepreneurs and residents of all ages who are eager to find fulfilling work and launch sustainable careers,” she said in a statement.

Aside from the state’s local economic development funds that will invest in the project, the city of Las Cruces has pledged $150,000.

This marks the second time the state has invested in the hemp industry.

The Economic Development Department in May pledged up to $2 million in assistance to Rich Global Hemp, which took over a greenhouse in La Mesilla and plans to hire 180 employees.

Lujan Grisham signed legislation in early April that established a state regulatory framework for production of hemp and related products in New Mexico.

The New Mexico agriculture department finalized hemp rules in December 2018, eager for farmers to produce the state’s first legal harvest this year.

Oversight responsibilities for the state’s industrial hemp industry are spread across the New Mexico departments of agriculture, health and environment.

– Associated Press and Hemp Industry Daily