9-15-57: Solo-worker program.

A. As used in this section:

(1) "economic-base job" means a job in which sixty percent or more of the revenue generated from the goods or services produced derives from outside the state;

(2) "program agency" means a certified business incubator, a community college or an organization whose purpose is to create jobs and promote economic development; and

(3) "solo worker" means a person who is engaged in full-time employment and whose employer, if any, does not supply the office space or amenities used to perform the person's work.

B. The "solo-worker program" is created in the economic development department. The purpose of the solo-worker program is to improve the state's rural and urban economies by creating and sustaining economic-base jobs and expanding businesses owned and operated by solo workers engaged in economic-base jobs.

C. To carry out the purpose of the solo-worker program, the department shall provide matching funding, if other funds become available, to program agencies for advancing initiatives that:

(1) create opportunities for New Mexico residents to become solo workers engaged in economic-base jobs;

(2) support the continued employment and business expansion of existing solo workers engaged in economic-base jobs;

(3) recruit from outside of the state solo workers engaged in economic-base jobs; and

(4) make the state and its local communities more competitive for creating, attracting and retaining solo- worker jobs.