Northwest New Mexico Delegation and Greater Gallup EDC Make a Big Splash at the 2024 International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS)
October 23, 2024
Gallup, NM - The Greater Gallup Economic Development Corporation (GGEDC) Executive Director, Patty Lundstrom and Bruce Armstrong, Economic Development Manager, recently traveled to Chicago as part of a 13-member delegation from northwest New Mexico to attend the 2024 International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) which took place September 9-14, 2024. Other participants from Gallup included Martin O’Malley, General Manager of Gallup Land Partners, Gallup City Councilor Linda Garcia, Matt Robinson, City of Gallup Marketing & Tourism Manager, and Jeff Kiely of Kiely Consulting.
Melinda Allen, CEO of the New Mexico Partnership, coordinated and organized the delegation’s participation at IMTS. Designated by the State of New Mexico to be the single-point-of-contact to help businesses locate in New Mexico, the NM Partnership offers a coordinated approach and a formal network of economic developers to simplify the site selection process.
Patty Lundstrom noted that, “IMTS is one of the most important manufacturing trade shows in the country.” The GGEDC staff have attended four times and has always been beneficial. Since the show, five prospective companies have followed up with the New Mexico Partnership and GGEDC expressing interest in potentially locating or expanding their businesses into New Mexico.
Councilwoman Linda Garcia said, “the trip was amazing and the upcoming year should be successful because of the positive feedback received. I think other city councilors should attend.” She also added, “Patty did a wonderful job organizing the group from Gallup who attended.”
Melinda Allen and Paul Dahlgren, Director of Marketing at the NM Partnership, set up an impressive booth with state-of-the-art area information that served as home base for the delegation.
Held every two years in Chicago, the IMTS conference “brings together creators, builders, sellers and drivers of manufacturing technology to connect,” according to the IMTS website. This year’s show featured 1,737 exhibitors with over 89,000 attendees. The conference highlighted state of the art technologies across multiple industrial sectors including fabrication, additive manufacturing (3-D printing), automation and robotics, lasers, and metal cutting and removal tech.
About Greater Gallup Economic Development Corporation:
GGEDC is a traditional economic development organization focusing on two core areas that support economic-base employers and job creation in Gallup and McKinley County: Business Retention & Expansion and Business Attraction & Recruitment. GGEDC’s mission is “to drive economic growth through building on local assets and strategic partnering to target attraction, retention & expansion of industrial employers that provide economic-base jobs in the Gallup-McKinley County area, and to support & promote a business-friendly environment.” See www.ggedc.com for more Information.