Decades of Growth and Success: EDA and the New Mexico Sandia Science and Technology Park

The Sandia Science and Technology Park (SS&TP) opened its doors in 1998, transforming open desert foothills in southern Albuquerque, New Mexico, into an expansive industrial park focused on high-tech innovation and job growth. Since 2001, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) has been a proud partner in developing the SS&TP community, investing more than $2.8 million through four key grants. Today, SS&TP is home to 50 companies and organizations that employ more than 2,300 people across the 340-acre campus.

EDA grants have helped SS&TP install fiber-optic lines, a high-speed data-switching communications center, and critical infrastructure improvements across the campus. These investments have contributed to astounding success and economic growth in the Albuquerque region.

“The Sandia Science & Technology Park continues to make a significant impact on the local economy,” said Dewey Cave, Executive Director of the Mid-Region Council of Governments. “It has generated increased tax revenues and wages in the region, as well as provided high-paying jobs to people in central New Mexico who may not have these options otherwise. The Park has by far been one of our most successful partnerships with the EDA.”

As noted in a Metrics and Economic Impact report released in August 2020 by the Mid-Region Council of Governments, an EDA-funded Economic Development District, SS&TP has generated more than $461 million in taxes on personal goods and services across a five-county region in two years. From 2018 to 2019, SS&TP added 310 new jobs and eight new companies. The Park is an excellent example of leveraging both public and private investments to build necessary infrastructure to support high-skilled, high-paying job growth and foster innovative research.

Broadly, the report notes that the $3.7 billion in economic activity generated by Sandia since it was established in 1998 has brought more than $147 million in tax revenue for the state of New Mexico and $32 million for the city of Albuquerque.

These revenue sources are critical for Albuquerque’s economic growth and a model for other areas interested in investing in promoting high-tech industries. By providing grants to support essential services that businesses need, such as roads and other transportation infrastructure, water and sewer services, and communications and information technology services, EDA aids the growth of new and expanding businesses.

Today, the SS&TP has shifted to assist the community with COVID-19 relief and continues to expand its office spaces and collaboration efforts. The Park’s growth has had an incredible economic spillover effect into wider New Mexico, and will continue to contribute to the innovative landscape that drives American global economic competitiveness.