HP in Rio Rancho

Congratulations to Rio Rancho Economic Development for scoring a new sales and customer service facility from Hewlett-Packard. This kind of operation broadens the base economy, which is exactly the task of economic developers and is important to all of us working in support sectors such as communications.
The Albuquerque Journal's story this morning missed one item and slud, as Dizzy Dean used to say, over another. I have commended to the Journal's accuracy email line. We'll see what they say.
The story said Intel "remains the state's largest private sector employer....," That isn't true. Rio Rancho Economic Development told me this morning that Intel now employs about 3,500 plus another 3,000 contractors. Presbyterian Healthcare Services, which is in the private sector though a creature of the government, employs more than 9,500 across the state, according to an April 23, 2008, PHS news release.
I suspect that Wal-Mart is the state's largest private sector employer. My Wal-Mart numbers are old, so it is entirely possible I'm wrong. However, it has been more than 15 years since Wal-Mart, statewide, passed Intel's New Mexico employment total. Since then Wal-Mart (including Sam's Club, etc.) has done nothing but grow and Intel has had it's ups and, now, a down.
The story also said the HP jobs will be "in customer support and sales (and) could help offset..." Intel's 2007 layoffs. Without directly stating, this language suggests a far stronger relationship between the HP jobs and the Intel jobs than can be justified. Simply by placement of the two sentences, it is implied that Intel people will go to work for HP. This is highly unlikely because, first, Intel in Rio Rancho is a manufacturing facility, not a customer support operation. The skill sets are different. Second, there is timing. The Intel layoffs were last year, as the story says. But HP will not start hiring until next summer, two years after the Intel layoffs. Nearly all the Intel people will have gone on to something else. Thus the only "offset" will be in job totals separated by several years. The only real relationships are that both companies are major corporations, employ people and are part of the base economy. So is the CitiCorp call center.