Franco Whole Foods to hire 160 San Diego tortilla manufacturer finds niche in Las Cruces
Las Cruces Bulletin
By: Alta LeCompte
June 13th, 2014
State and local officials welcomed a rapidly growing California tortilla factory to its future location at 875 Amador Ave. Monday, June 9.
Franco Whole Foods LLC President Mike Franco immediately announced his intention to look for a second building nearby in anticipation of continuing growth.
Franco is the son of Angel Franco, who founded the business 50 years ago in El Paso.
The company moved to its current San Diego plant three years ago and “did so well we’re close to maxing out,” Franco said.
“With the backlog we have, we find ourselves against a wall and need to find a new facility,” he said.
Franco said the Las Cruces location will help the company move its wholesale merchandise to markets to the east.
The community’s assets include its proximity to Interstate 10, he said.
“And I still haven’t seen the congestion I see in San Diego,” he said.
He said Franco Whole Foods also was swayed New Mexico’s tax structure, especially its single-sales factor, which means manufacturers pay taxes only on goods they sell within the state, not those they export.
The company’s clients include Costco and Whole Foods. Its product line features uncooked tacos, which Mike Franco’s brother Gus Franco developed in 1993.
“What we will see here in the next 12 months is a vibrant, grade-A food processing company employing hundreds of people,” said Davin Lopez, president and CEO of the Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance.
Positions will include quality assurance, packaging, mechanics, production workers and manufacturing and food processing jobs. According to a state economic development office press release, the jobs will pay an average salary of $37,000 plus benefits.
“We have a great future,” State Economic Development Secretary Jon Barela told the audience Monday. “The sun is rising on the private sector economy. Franco Whole Foods has a niche market that will complement our skills.”
Gov. Susana Martinez echoed Barela’s comments, noting private sector growth is vital to diversifying the state’s economy while continuing to support the federal installations located in New Mexico.
Martinez described Franco Whole Foods as “the type of private sector we want to recruit here.”
The state’s lower business tax rate, which is being cut 22percent over five years, “made a tremendous difference,” she said.
Also instrumental in Franco’s decision to expand in New Mexico were the state’s contribution of $75,000 through the Local Economic Development Act (ACT), which will be used to improve the Amador Avenue facility, Martinez said.
In addition, Franco Whole Foods will be reimbursed by JTIP funds for a portion of the on-the-job training it provides to employees as well as receive city assistance in from the Wage + Program.
The tortilla factory is a value-added food producer, one of the state’s target industries, Martinez said.
“They’re exporting goods made here in Las Cruces all over the country,” she said.
In the audience was an assortment of people with an interest in supporting the new arrival.
Among them were Renay Scott, the new president of Doña Community College, who wanted the Francos to know DACC is ready to help with specialized training; Sharon Thomas, promoting public transportation that would enable residents from distant corners of the county to work at the location on the fringes of Downtown Las Cruces; STEM advocate Robert DeKinder of the High Tech Consortium of Southern New Mexico; staff of the congressional delegation; and representatives of NAI 1st Valley, financial partner in bringing the new business to town.
NAI associates working in recent months to bring Franco Whole Foods to Las Cruces include Jacob Slavec, associate broker, and Jake Redfearn, who represented the building owner.
Redfearn said the 40,000-square-foot building owned by Whitfield Enterprises was a furniture warehouse prior to 2008 and has since been vacant.