We partner with regional economic development organizations and business service providers throughout New Mexico, and provide funding and free-of-charge scientific and technical resources for New Mexico businesses.
Our primary economic development partner in Northern New Mexico is the Regional Development Corporation (RDC), a nonprofit organization with a mission to create and retain jobs, which receives investment from Laboratory operator Triad National Security, LLC. The RDC provides private investment opportunities and technical assistance to facilitate job growth and diversify the economies of communities in the following seven counties: Los Alamos, Mora, Rio Arriba, Sandoval, San Miguel, Santa Fe, and Taos.
The Laboratory is involved with the Northern New Mexico business community through economic development and business service partners. We participate in the following organizations and programs:
Administered through the Feynman Center for Innovation (FCI) at Los Alamos, the New Mexico Small Business Assistance Program (NMSBA) helps for-profit small businesses in New Mexico access cutting-edge technologies, solve technical issues and gain knowledge from technical experts at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). The assistance is provided at no cost to the small businesses.
Also administered through the Feynman Center for Innovation (FCI) at Los Alamos, the Technology Readiness Gross Receipts Initiative provides New Mexico businesses the opportunity to work directly with scientists and engineers at Los Alamos or Sandia National laboratories to advance technologies licensed from or developed in a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with Los Alamos or Sandia National laboratories past the invention stage to market ready technology. The program is in partnership with the State of New Mexico.
The Community Technical Assistance (CTA) program at LANL makes available the assistance of lab scientists and engineers that can work on short-term, limited assistance to entities facing technical hurdles that overlap with LANL capabilities provided that the assistance does not duplicate services or compete with the private sector. This assistance is provided at no cost to the organization seeking assistance and the scope of work provided varies based on individual project needs.
The Laboratory has built and continues to build relationships with regional colleges to support pipeline and workforce development efforts. There are now 8 formal partnerships in places with regional colleges and high schools for workforce development pipeline programs. These programs, done in collaboration between the Partnerships and Pipeline Office and the Community Partnerships Office will provide staffing for key programs for the NNSA. Many of these programs support targeted educational programs or skill development for current or future LANL staff.
The Laboratory seeks to do business with qualified companies offering value and high-quality products and services, and offers business opportunities to many suppliers and partners, putting money back into the community by working with local small businesses. Our suppliers meet specific quality, safety and security standards, including International Organization for Standardization and New Mexico quality standards and security clearances.
A joint analysis by two New Mexico academics determined that Los Alamos National Laboratory contributed more than $3.7 billion to the state and regional economy in Fiscal Year 2022. The analysis explores direct, indirect and induced contributions to the economy from the Laboratory’s expenditures for FY22 and makes preliminary calculations for the Laboratory’s FY23 contributions. It also provides profiles of New Mexico small businesses that have benefited from the Laboratory’s policies to support underrepresented or disadvantaged businesses.
For FY 2024 we have gathered information about Los Alamos National Laboratory employees to help the construction industry in Northern New Mexico and other related organizations understand the Laboratory workforce and its demand for housing. The report includes demographic, location and salary data about the Laboratory workforce.
Download the 2024 employee demographics and salary report
In FY 2023, we collected similar data and also included the results of a survey of more than 2000 employees on their housing situation and projected needs at that time. The 2023 report is available here.
In October 2023, we also carried out a survey of the housing needs and experiences of students working at the Laboratory (both during the summer and year-round). Around 2000 students work at the Laboratory every year.
