While a single city along the Camino Real may not have the resources to compete alone in the global marketplace, the region as a whole has much opportunity to prosper. Establishing economic links between cities along the historic trade route is the goal of the three-year-old Camino Real Economic Alliance.

"The timing for this initiative is good because of NAFTA," says Martin Sancho, food technology specialist with NMSU's Cooperative Extension Service. "The alliance fits in well with NAFTA's goal of increasing economic development in both Mexico and the United States." The alliance is coordinated by the chambers of commerce in cities along the Camino Real including Chihuahua, Juarez, El Paso, Las Cruces, Albuquerque, and Santa Fe. In each city, there's a team of local representatives from the private and public sector. Every two or three months, alliance members from both sides of the border meet for a two-day conference.

"This alliance could help us obtain resources," Sancho says. "For example, it will be a lot easier to get federal grants to promote development as a region than as individual cities."

Some of the alliance's major projects include improvement and expansion of Interstate 25 and trade with Canada. The group also works to develop tourism, business, transportation, agriculture, food processing, and other economic activities important to the whole area.

Sancho serves as chair of the alliance's agribusiness cluster and is a member of the Las Cruces management team.

"We discuss issues like marketing and distribution of products, availability of raw materials, and networking opportunities," he says. "A lot of times people don't know exactly how to market their products, and by getting some processors together they can do a better job than they can individually."