Mayor Tim Keller has appointed Lisa Abeyta as the city of Albuquerque's new deputy director of economic development.
Abeyta, the founder of software development company APPCityLife, succeeds Deirdre Firth in the role. Firth retired from her post earlier this year. Abeyta said she'll officially start in the office on Monday.
“We’re looking forward to having deputy director Abeyta join the team, bringing her unique expertise as an economic developer and innovative thought leader,” Keller said in a statement. “Her experience in technology and lifting up small businesses ties in directly to our economic development strategies and initiatives and will have a positive effect on the city for years to come.”
Abeyta, who also co-founded accelerators to help women entrepreneurs launch and grow their business ideas, said Keller was looking for someone with a background in technology, specifically the intersection of government and technology. She said the gov-tech vertical evolved in the past five-six years, which involves using emerging technologies to make open data from governments more accessible and in the hands of residents and consumers and more.
Abeyta has worked on the other side with the city through APPCityLife, which, after its first project with the city, changed APPCityLife's business model. The company, which was a 2017 Business First Innovation New Mexico winner, and then faced financial difficulty. In May, it filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.
"I would never recommend anyone go through the failure of a startup: it's devastating and brutal. But, it's also the reality for almost every startup," Abeyta said. "I've had massive success and very visible failure. Being able to bring all that to this job means that I have a spectrum of understanding of companies and startups that I think will help inform on what we talk about with the companies that want to work with us."
Abeyta said she's still in communication with the Internal Revenue Service from the fallout of the bankruptcy of APPCityLife.
Since APPCityLife closed, Abeyta said she went into consulting. That involved working with a publication in Washington D.C. and then helping an author identify target markets to debut a book. She said she worked on a sixth-month contract with CNM Ingenuity for ActivateNM that ended Friday.
“Deputy director Abeyta brings a specialized business perspective to the department that will be an asset as we continue to boost Albuquerque’s economic recovery,” said economic development department acting director Damian R. Lara in a statement. “Her leadership and entrepreneurial skillset will complement initiatives the city has launched, as well as future programs and plans to build a robust local economy.”
While she gets acclimated to the job, Abeyta said she's paid attention to how other cities adapted to remote services throughout Covid. She said because of advances in technologies like blockchain, there's potential for how the city can help local businesses serve in a more remote capacity and can serve well beyond the borders.
