Southern Corridor: putting the puzzle together

New Mexico Business Journal, July, 1994 by Ed Ivey

The institute promotes the use of NMSU's Advanced Manufacturing Center for small businesses to expand market opportunities and has coordinated research projects conducted by the NMSU faculty on behalf of the National Council of Maquiladoras in Mexico.

BRI ASSISTED NMSU'S hospitality and tourism department with a project funded by the National Restaurant Association to update food service sanitation training materials for use in twin-plant cafeterias.

The institute also serves as an information clearing house through its resource library with more than 2,600 holdings, publishes technical reports, monographs and a quarterly newsletter and is a key liaison between academic, business and government organizations.

BRI is a member of the Maquila Association in Ciudad Juarez (AMAC), the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico and the U.S. Environmental Technology Export Council.

With ratification of the North American Free Trade Agreement, Telles-McGeagh says businesses formerly reluctant to operate in Mexico are looking to enter the border area as barriers between the two countries are stripped away.

"The U.S.-Mexico border is in the spotlight right now, but this attention probably won't last forever," says Telles-McGeagh.

"Even after interest in the area fades," she says, "the Border Research Institute will continue working to improve quality of life along the border."

Craig A. Sullivan is a research specialist with BRI.