Albuquerque Regional Economic Alliance Promotes the Region’s Business Advantages at Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado

ALBUQUERQUE – April 14, 2023 – Aligned with its mission to establish a national identity as a leading location for business investment, the Albuquerque Regional Economic Alliance (AREA) is attending the 38th annual Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado in partnership with the New Mexico Economic Development Department, the New Mexico Partnership, and local industry and commercial real estate leaders.

The 38th annual space symposium brings together spacefaring nations, space agencies; commercial space businesses and associated subcontractors, allowing the Albuquerque region to position itself as a location of choice for new investment to a variety of relevant stakeholders within this important industry sector.

“There is a lot of interest in the growing aerospace ecosystem in New Mexico,” said Melinda Allen, President/CEO, New Mexico Partnership. “We look forward to working with our community partners at this event and promoting New Mexico to the industry.”

With nearly 15,000 employed in Scientific Research and Development, the greater Albuquerque region ranks number one for the highest count of jobs nationwide with 500,000 – 1 million in population. Home to the Kirtland Air Force Research Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories and in close proximity to Los Alamos National Laboratories, greater Albuquerque holds the largest share of aerospace employment in the State of New Mexico and is the second most concentrated metro in the Southwest for employment within these industries.

In fact, MaxQ at Kirtland held a ribbon cutting last week on its newest tenant – Northrop Grumman – as it unveiled its new 27,000-square-foot facility to expand capacity to support space systems engineering, integrated mission operations and cybersecurity services for Kirtland Air Force Base and other U.S. military customers.

“Aerospace and aviation technologies play an important role in the current and future state of our regional and global economy,” said Danielle Casey, President & CEO of the Albuquerque Regional Economic Alliance. “With our partners at the State of New Mexico, we are aggressively showcasing our region’s assets and aligning them to the unique standards of the space industry. This is a high priority for us as an organization and will allow us to build an identity as a location of choice for investment for these types of operations.”

Cabinet Secretary Alicia J. Keyes will be attending on behalf of the New Mexico Economic Development Department.

“New Mexico’s growing aerospace industry is a key target economic sector for diversifying the state’s economy with exciting, higher-paying jobs,” said Keyes. “It’s crucial for us to support our current New Mexico companies and to actively recruit others that could utilize our strategic partnerships and the assets of New Mexico’s Spaceport America.”

NewSpace New Mexico, a non-profit focused on accelerating the pace of space innovation, works with Albuquerque Regional Economic Alliance, New Mexico Partnership, and many other partners in showcasing the state’s assets and supporting space company’s needs.

“We launched in 2019 after conducting an economic opportunity study on the state’s growing space industry” stated Casey Anglada DeRaad, CEO of New Space New Mexico. “Four short year’s later, we went to tracking and working with 60 companies to over 100 space companies. We expect this hyper-growth to continue as we work together to move the industry forward.”

To provide greater context as to the significant depth of this industry in greater Albuquerque, AREA has developed a white paper outlining the industry strengths which tell a significant story.

“In greater Albuquerque, aerospace industries contribute over $2 billion to the regional GDP,” said Grant Taylor, Business Development Director, AREA. “That type of growth and development cannot be ignored and we want to remain part of this movement.”

To learn more about the Aerospace industry in greater Albuquerque and the State of New Mexico, visit abq.org/aerospace. 

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