New business checks in

Laura Hunt/Daily News THE ANNOUNCEMENT -- Gov. Bill Richardson announces PreCheck Inc.'s plan to build a $6 million facility in Alamogordo. The company will hire 200 employees over the next five years.	Governor Richardson and Dr. Ellen Wedum (photo not in the article)

BY LAURA HUNT STAFF WRITER

Feb 14, 2006, 06:00 pm

State government and the local community have committed more than $5 million to encourage PreCheck Inc. to open a new facility at the Mesa Village industrial park.

 

But in the end, what closed the deal was all the friendly people, said Glenn Woolsey, PreCheck senior vice president, during the official announcement of the company's plans Monday.

"One thing about the state of New Mexico and the city and the county, they really opened their arms and welcomed us," Woolsey said.

 

The financial incentives didn't hurt either, and the state threw in several of them. The company will receive $2.4 million in high wage tax credits, and $1.5 million for job training. Gov. Bill Richardson has included $1.5 million in capital outlay requests for roads and infrastructure.

 

The city also committed funding to PreCheck, promising a cash grant for $625,000 over the next five years, including $100,000 to jump start operations.

 

PreCheck will hire 200 employees over the next five years to staff its $6 million, 20,000 square-foot data processing facility. The Houston-based company specializes in background and credential checks for health care employees.

 

Wages are expected to be more than $13 an hour. Most of those hired will be licensed as private investigators.

 

"These are good paying jobs that will help diversify the local economy and create new opportunities within the community," Richardson said.

 

Employees will be "high-level customer service specialists," said Ed Carr, executive director of the Otero County Economic Development Council. They will be responsible for confirming employment records, checking job references, and verifying credentials.

 

Carr expects the high-paying jobs to attract new people into the work force, rather than cause employed individuals to flock from their current positions.

 

"There are people out there who, because of child care costs, there's a barrier to going to work," he said. "They have to reach a certain threshold that warrants them putting their kids in child care in order to work."

 

Though these people have the desire to work and the necessary skills, they can't afford to pay for child care, Carr said.

 

"I'm hoping, and I believe, this company will provide wages that will encourage them to come back into the work force because now it will be cost effective for them," Carr said. "There's a whole segment of the work force that has been overlooked that this company will be going after."

 

The Rabon brothers' Heritage Group, the Mesa Village developer, donated 20.8 acres of the land, valued at $1.5 million, for the development.

 

"This is one of our several developments," Rabon said. "It's a planned community -- the first of it's kind in Alamogordo to incorporate both commercial and residential development."

 

The group also will allow PreCheck a half-interest in a one-and-a-half acre parcel of land to be donated to the city for a planned emergency services building. The building will likely include fire, police and emergency medical services, said Randy Rabon, president of the Heritage Group.

 

"This is the first of several of our programs to come, creating more jobs for the community," Rabon said.

 

The Heritage group will probably have another announcement within 30 days, he said.

 

PreCheck was founded in 1983 to provide background checks and began specializing in health care in 1993.

 

Staff photographer and writer Ellis Neel contributed to this story.