The day Hewlett-Packard breaks ground and calls the City of Vision home is getting nearer with each passing sunrise. The technology giant anticipates breaking ground near the City Center in January, with a target completion date of Dec. 20, 2009.

Mayor Tom Swisstack is elated that the deal is about to come to a close.

“This will help spur the downtown area and we will see more commercial development in the area with HP,” Swisstack said. “We are proud to welcome Hewlett-Packard to our family.” Hewlett-Packard will open a 218,000-square-foot, three-story customer service and technical support center, located south of King Boulevard, north of the Santa Ana Star Center and west of city hall. The company is expected to employ a minimum of 1,350 full-time employees by the end of 2012, with a goal of having 1,800 full-time employees in 15 years. A vast majority of the jobs will pay at least $40,000, with an annual payroll of $54 million.

Titan of Rio Rancho is the developer, Reed and Associates of Rio Rancho is the contractor and Dekker/Perrich/Sabatini of Albuquerque is the architectural firm.

To make the deal official, the Rio Rancho city council will vote on finalizing a lease and incentive agreement between Hewlett-Packard and the city on Wednesday.

The city is offering more than $2 million in incentives, while the state is offering roughly $55 million in incentives. City Manager James Jimenez said the city will recoup those costs directly within 15 years, while the indirect benefits will add more money and prestige to the city.

“The visibility of having a company like HP in the central business district will spur development,” Jimenez said.

Jimenez estimated the multiplier effect to range from 1.3 to three. That means that for every dollar HP invests, $1.30 to $3 is generated in the economy.

The incentives the city is offering include: leasing 17.08 acres of land appraised at $595,203.84 to HP for $1 a year for 50 years; fast-tracking the building plan review, permit issuance and construction inspection scheduling; waiving fees for checking structure plans, checking tenant improvements, building permits and impact fees; waiving water meter fees and installation charges and reimbursing the project grading costs. The land and the building revert to the city at the end of the 50-year land lease agreement.

In addition to those incentives, city councilors approved a bond resolution last month to help fund infrastructure for the project. The city will apply to the New Mexico Finance Authority to issue $5.2 million in bonds. The funds will be used to construct a road, water and wastewater infrastructure.

Rio Rancho Economic Development Corporation President Noreen Scott said incentive packages are a normal process in luring big corporations to a city.

“The incentives fill the gap between what it costs for the company to move to Rio Rancho and what it would cost to break even,” Scott said.

She said the process to bring HP to Rio Rancho began in February of 2007. Rio Rancho beat out several other cities across the country, including the Mesa del Sol area in Albuquerque.

“We outworked them,” Swisstack said. “When you meet someone and start talking to them, sometimes it feels like you have known them forever and that’s what happened with HP. We are proud to welcome them to our family.”

Jimenez said the incentives just aren’t give-a-ways. HP must perform or they will be penalized by the city. If HP does not meet its full-time employment requirement, based upon yearly average starting in 2013, then the company must pay the city an amount determined by multiplying the average shortfall below 1,350 full-time equivalent employees by the annual value of the city’s incentives.

Scott pointed out that HP is eager to get involved in the community. She also said having a company with the prestige of Hewlett-Packard, along with Intel, will make recruiting more companies to the area easier.

“By having those companies here we can recruit other companies because many will say, ‘if it is good enough for Intel and HP, then it is good enough for me,’ ” Scott said. “

In June, Gov. Bill Richardson said he will ask the state Legislature for $12 million in capital outlay funding to help pay for the infrastructure needed for Hewlett-Packard. The Legislature must approve the money next year in order for HP to see that funding.

The state is offering HP the Job Training Incentive Program, which reimburses qualified economic-based companies for a significant portion of training costs associated with job creation. It provides for classroom or on-the-job training, reimbursing an expanding or relocating business for 50 to 80 percent of a trainee’s wages for as long as six months. The state also is offering tax credits from the state’s High Wage Job Tax Credit. Those programs are valued at approximately $39 million.