Speaker’s Biography

Gary Tonjes
Text Box: Gary Tonjes was raised in Albuquerque and graduated from Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU) in 1978 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication. Gary worked for the Roswell, New Mexico Chamber of Commerce (1979-81), the Odessa, Texas Chamber of Commerce (1981-84), and was President of the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce for ten years. He joined Albuquerque Economic Development, Inc. (AED) as President on November 1, 1994. AED is a non-profit corporation funded principally by leading members of the business community. Since 1960, AED has served as Albuquerque’s lead organization for the recruitment of more than 200 new companies to the metropolitan area. AED also assists existing industry in the region. AED’s recruits include Eclipse Aviation, Gap Inc.’s Corporate Shared Service Center, Intel, General Mills, Tempur-Pedic, Tesla Motors, PR Newswire and Paychex. Gary received the ENMU Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service Award for 2001. He is past Chairman of the Institute for Organization Management Program of the United States Chamber of Commerce, Southern Methodist University. He received special recognition from the State of Missouri legislature for his economic development leadership in that state, and he is past chairman of the Chamber of Commerce Executives of Missouri association. Albuquerque Economic Development was ranked one of North America’s Top Ten Economic Development Organizations for the year 2000, and Honorable Mention for that same award in 2006. Gary is married and has three children.