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New Mexico


Program # of Grants EDA Funds
Economic Adjustment Assistance 1 $504,300
Public Works 3 $2,561,800
Regional Innovation Program 1 $300,000
Technical Assistance 1 $102,590
Planning 8 $292,900
Grand Total 14 $3,761,590
Caption below
Rendering of renovated interior of bioscience incubator lab at the Innovate ABQ Project in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Albuquerque, NM - The U.S. Department of Labor data for New Mexico estimates a 6.7 percent unemployment rate for January 2017, making it the State with the highest unemployment rate in the country. New Mexico had a late entry into the recession and has experienced a late exit and lagging recovery. Annual State venture investments dropped 65 percent between 2008 and 2013. Compounding matters, the Brookings Institution’s Economic Recovery Monitor recently ranked Albuquerque 99th among the top 100 cities for its weak post-recession economic performance (2015 Q1). Brookings’ Metro Monitor notes that Albuquerque was one of only two cities that experienced a decline in jobs from 2009-2014 (a “double-dip” recession).

In September 2017, EDA invested $1,010,000 in Public Works funds to Innovate ABQ, Inc.to support the design and renovation of 28,000 square feet of an existing 71,000 square foot building for a bioscience laboratory incubator. The space will include wet and dry labs, open workstations, private and open offices, a training/class room, various conference rooms, storage rooms, and collaboration space. To reverse the unemployment trends, the region has been emphasizing a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem driven by technology commercialization and new private investment with recent successes coming from the biosciences sector. To build on this success, an incubator lab and supporting services within the Innovate ABQ campus were needed to enable more bioscience companies to develop and thrive.

The bioscience incubator will be the spark that ignites multi-sector collaboration at Innovate ABQ and is expected to create 155 jobs, retain 80 jobs, and leverage $2,500,000 in private investment. The EDA investment is critical in helping the region continue to evolve into a center for innovation, technology deployment and new job creation.

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