Michael Leon Guerrero, co-presenter with the EMPOWER New Mexico Coalition, told Doña Ana County commissioners the advisory committee proposal would "build equitable effective pathways to careers in Project Jupiter's data center and related industries," citing a developer commitment of about 800 jobs, roughly 750 permanent positions.

The proposal, Guerrero said, would link local education and training institutions — including Doña Ana Community College (DACC) and New Mexico State University (NMSU) — with labor and community organizations to create coordinated pathways and provide wrap-around supports such as ESL, soft-skills training and stipends.

"When we see projects and public investments like this around the country, usually there are no meaningful investments that are made in local workforce development," Guerrero said, arguing Doña Ana County can change that pattern. Sylvia Ulloa of New Mexico Cafe added that coalition partners can do direct outreach to rural and hard-to-reach workers and involve them in designing programs.

Presenters proposed an advisory committee with representatives from education (DACC, NMSU, local school districts), state and county agencies (including the Higher Education Department and Department of Workforce Solutions), labor (New Mexico Building Trades and unions), community organizations (New Mexico Cafe, Samia Project, Somos) and industry (Borderplex, Digital Stack, Oracle, OpenAI).

The committee’s initial tasks would include assessing the jobs and skills needed by Project Jupiter and related businesses; recommending investments to fund workforce development and wrap-around services; conducting outreach and communications; and monitoring progress. Presenters also proposed seed funding for a permanent workforce development fund and recommended braided funding from local, state and federal sources.

Commissioner Sanchez welcomed the proposal and suggested starting with a targeted pilot tied to Project Jupiter jobs, noting the county may receive GRT funds that could help. He asked staff to consider whether a resolution is the appropriate next step to form the advisory committee and to return with suggested next steps.

County staff and presenters agreed to meet within roughly 7–10 days to work through committee representation and to return to the board with a resolution and a proposed budget in late January or early February. Chair Sheldo Hernandez asked that DACC, NMSU, Las Cruces Public Schools, Gadsden and Hatch be involved as the plan develops.

The board did not take formal action at the meeting; commissioners directed staff to draft the resolution and budget proposal for a future agenda.