In this week's issue: The fight over right-to-work (and 4 other things you should know)

Enlarge Photo

Our Dec. 5 issue.

Tina Orem

Managing Editor- Albuquerque Business First

Email  |  Twitter  |  LinkedIn

Big Republican wins this November have given the right-to-work movement new momentum here and in several other states. In New Mexico, some are saying the change has given the idea a better chance than ever of becoming law, in fact.

The prospect is controversial, however, because right-to-work centers around the idea of whether employees should be required to become members of, remain in or pay dues to a union as a condition of getting or keeping a job or getting a promotion. Some say passing right-to-work legislation could cripple the state's burgeoning film industry and other highly unionized sectors; others say it's absolutely crucial to recruiting more companies to the state.

Who's right? Check out our cover story starting on page 4, written by Reporter Dan Mayfield and Reporter Damon Scott, and decide for yourself.

Here are four other things you don't want to miss in this week's issue.

1. A lot of you probably know that a stretch of 4th Street Downtown is getting a face-lift, but Reporter Damon Scott writes this week that another stretch of 4th, this one in Los Ranchos, is getting attention from village officials there as the site of a possible redevelopment designed to woo new businesses. Read all the details on page 8.
2. The Pit's name change to WisePies Arena cost the local pizza chain a cool $5 million. On page 10, one of the company's co-owners tells Reporter Dan Mayfield how WisePies came up with the dough.
3. Albuquerque may have lost a 500-person call center this week after GreenSky Credit put its plans to move into Mesa Del Sol's Aperture Center on hold. The company said it hit a "snag with the landlord" and that now it's looking for space in Phoenix. Reporter Dan Mayfield has the details on page 11.
4. This week features a special Money section that highlights Research Director Brandon Call's lists of the area's biggest banks and SBA lenders, as well as profiles and lending advice from bankers at Bank of America and Wells Fargo. That all starts on page 13.