Gallup, New Mexico: Taking Its Place in Global Trade

The Greater Gallup Economic Development Corporation and its partners are in the process of creating a rural Trade Port strategically located along a major transcontinental mobility corridor in the Southwestern US. Building on our transportation and logistics assets, we are transitioning from an economy based on extractive industry into a new era of sustainable development that will benefit both the global supply chain and our regional community. Click here to see a video about the Trade Port!

Location

Located among major trade Corridor featuring US interstate 40, the BNSF Transcontinental Railway, and intersecting with the major route (US 491) into the bordering states comprising the famous “Four Corners”, Gallup Is situated in a unique position to serve as a rural outpost.

Policy & Governance

Gallup is open for business. The local governments -the city of Gallup and McKinley County- are fully engaged and in support of the TradePort initiative, including leading the formation of a joint powers’ agreement establishing the Gallup-McKinley TradePort Authority.

The State of New Mexico has been a key player in providing the planning funding, and in the 2025 New Mexico State Legislature passed companion bills in support of the emerging Trade Ports of New Mexico: the TradePorts Development Act and the Strategic Economic Site Readiness Act. 

Available Workforce

The Greater Gallup region has a strong history of working on energy, logistics, and extraction-based economies. This sector has experienced a recent downturn of several major industrial facilities, impacting the rural community, especially the Native America population, which have been structured outside of the mainstream capital economy and have shown high levels of unemployment. A recently commissioned study, however, has revealed an “available workforce” of over 1,000 local jobseekers with the necessary skill and experience for immediate employment to meet the labor needs of new incoming industries. 

Development Momentum

The current Gallup-McKinley TradePort initiative has emerged as the culmination of over 12 years of economic planning and development led by the Greater Gallup Economic Development Corporation and its public and private partners. This has included continuous monitoring economic trends at the local, regional, national and international levels adapting strategies to the ever-changing challenges and opportunities presented by the marketplace. 

In collaboration with site selectors and other experts, this local coalition has produced a portfolio of plans for development of critical infrastructure and advancement of industrial recruitment efforts as shown on the annual economic roundtables hosted every year by GGEDC.

Industrial Assets

The town of Gallup has annexed over 20,000 acres of undeveloped land which has been developed for the trade port initiative. The emerging Gallup-McKinley TradePort is largely situated within this property. 5,000 acres are available for development and have achieved cross-certification by the European-based Transatlantic Business Investment Council (TBIC), The BNSF Railway and the US federal Opportunity Zones program.

Click here for an overview of Global Trade in Gallup, NM to share!