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A major New Mexico finance institution has decided to invest in UNM’s Innovate ABQ.
According to a press release, the New Mexico Educators Federal Credit Union committed $3 million to the project earlier this month.
UNM President Robert Frank said the money will be used to purchase land for Innovate ABQ. He said the credit union has supported UNM for about 30 years, but this is the credit union’s biggest contribution to a University project.
“They’ve been a partner with the University for many years,” he said. “This gift, it’s the largest they’ve ever given us, but it’s far from the first gift they’ve ever given us.”
According to the website of UNM’s Science and Technology Corporation, Innovate ABQ is a collaborative project between UNM, the city, the county, the state and local business communities.
The venture will “create a research and innovation district near the University,” which will provide students with opportunities in jobs, internships, residential and cultural amenities related to science and mathematics, according to the site.
Frank said the idea for Innovate ABQ stemmed from his desire to create jobs for students after graduation.
“One of the things that was clear to me was that we really needed to look for ways to make sure that our students, after they graduated, had chances to get these great kinds of knowledge jobs,” he said.
Terry Laudick, CEO of the credit union, said his organization is a nonprofit, cooperative association that wishes to help provide education and improve the community. He said the credit union was interested in participating in a “cooperative model on a large scale,” between the University, the government and the private sector.
The credit union also agreed to contribute to Innovate ABQ because it thinks the project will stimulate job growth by encouraging UNM graduates to stay in state, Laudick said.
Frank said the collaboration will also benefit the credit union by helping the economy.
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“This proposal will help create jobs here in New Mexico, and by creating more jobs in New Mexico there’s going to be more members in that credit union,” he said.
While a better economy will benefit the credit union, Laudick said the help from UNM will enable the credit union to continue supporting the University and the community. He said the job development that could result from Innovate ABQ may also help the city grow out of its poverty.
Frank said a similar establishment at the University of Florida inspired the innovation center.
“We borrowed from their model, and grew that into Innovate ABQ,” he said.
Laudick, who visited the University of Florida innovation center with Frank, said he also went with the president to examine SkySong, a similar research district at Arizona State University.
He said the visits were a “cornerstone” of encouragement for investing in the initiative.
Frank said the University has also already received a contribution from Albuquerque voters for the project.
“The voters of Albuquerque voted a bond for it, a $2 million bond,” he said. “That was actually the first contribution that happened.”
He said the University is also waiting on money from the Economic Development Administration, and, possibly, Bernalillo County.
Laudick said he is optimistic other donors will decide to invest in the innovation center.
Frank said there is no date for design or construction to begin. He said that last week, he presented the project to the Board of Regents. The next step for the project is to present it to a Board of Regents committee, he said.
“They recommended that it go forward to the Finance and Facilities Committee, so we’ll take it up with them in early December,” he said. “That’s the next level of discussion in the regents’ process.”
