The Technology Readiness Gross Receipts (TRGR) initiative, launched in 2020, has been extended from a three-year pilot to a full five-year program by the New Mexico Legislature, giving businesses another opportunity to tap into the expertise of New Mexico’s national laboratories.

TRGR promotes technology development by providing businesses seeking to develop new technology products based on laboratory research with assistance from New Mexico’s national labs. New Mexico businesses are able to work directly with scientists and engineers at Los Alamos or Sandia national laboratories at no cost to the business.

Assistance with preparation toward product commercialization — for example, prototyping, proof-of-concept, and technical validation — of up to $150,000 per year is available if eligible businesses meet commercialization milestones.

“When a technology is transferred out of the laboratories, there’s significant capital investment and research and development effort required to mature that technology to a place where it is market ready,” said Mariann Johnston, acting deputy division leader for Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Feynman Center for Innovation. “TRGR is a dedicated investment in time and capital to transition technology out of the federal laboratories and into the marketplace. This is an essential ingredient to create more startups, capital, and technology jobs in New Mexico,” Johnston said in a recent LANL Community Connections newsletter.

NMSBA Magnified

TRGR stems from the success of the New Mexico Small Business Assistance Program (NMSBA), which offers small businesses facing technical challenges access to the unique expertise and capabilities of Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories. NMSBA program assistance is not limited to the commercialization of lab-initiated technologies; Small businesses have obtained assistance with ongoing issues such as inventory control, production challenges, prototyping, and testing of products that range from food and beverages to renewable energy.

Requests by individual businesses for assistance through the NMSBA program are accepted all year, while requests by multiple companies working together on a challenge (known as leveraged projects) are accepted once a year. Look for an announcement in early 2023 about the opening of the application period for leveraged projects that allow multiple businesses to work collectively through the program. Individual project applications can be submitted here year-round.