Innovate ABQ (http://innovateabq.com/), a collaborative initiative among UNM, UNM Rainforest Innovations, city and county government, and the business community, is an idea whose time has come. It is a plan that will create a highly connected community where people can live, work and play. Innovate ABQ brings together the research power of the state’s flagship university with Albuquerque’s entrepreneurial and established business community to create new companies, grow existing ones and attract more out-of-state business.
The vision of the initiative is to create an integrated community that is multi-dimensional. Research and commercial labs, science and technology companies, educational programs, business services, support services, and commercial and retail businesses share space and a business incubator in a way that allows people to work together as they wish and be an essential part of the community that is connected to UNM. The idea is to create a one-stop-shop approach for companies, entrepreneurs and investors seeking to evaluate new technology business opportunities. The integrated community would also include residential living space and amenities for the workers who benefit from the new jobs created by this synergy.
The mission of the initiative is to the strengthen the economic base in the mid Rio Grande region and throughout the state of New Mexico by creating more knowledge-worker jobs for graduates from our educational institutions and experienced workers in our communities. The mission is achieved by commercializing new technologies developed at our research universities, by public/private partnering with our national labs, business organizations, civic leaders, non-profit sector, national and global corporations, and public schools, and by providing entrepreneurial education and support.
Innovate ABQ creates a mutually supportive relationship between scientific institutions and a concentration of technology businesses. New Mexico has good science and it has talented entrepreneurs and investors who can be brought together to create a thriving ecosystem of innovation and economic output.