NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories regularly work with local small businesses to boost technological expertise. The latest annual report shows the labs helped 239 small businesses in 2022.
New Mexico’s federal labs participate in the New Mexico Small Business Assistance Program, which allows small businesses to get free help from the lab staff. The idea is to use the knowledge from the labs to support the community.
Examples of success from the program include a company that was able to obtain a $1.15 million grant after getting help from the national labs in developing nanotechnology which allowed the company to create a new laser product. The labs also helped a small farm do shelf-life analysis and market research, according to the latest annual report.
Since the program began in 2000, the national labs have given help to more than 3,000 businesses and have had a role in creating 11,116 jobs in New Mexico, the national labs say.
