The New Mexico Small Business Assistance (NMSBA) Program provides New Mexico small businesses facing technical challenges access to the unique expertise and capabilities of Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories and their partners. At no cost to the business, small businesses can seek assistance from lab scientists and engineers to solve challenges and overcome barriers to company success. Think your technical challenges are too small for our labs? Think again!
Since 2000, the two national laboratories have provided $80.6 million in technical assistance to 3,267 businesses like Santa Fe’s Honeymoon Brewing and Albuquerque salsa manufacturer New Mexico Sabor. These business owners received help for things like determining optimal alcohol fermentation and improving bottling efficiency.
To be eligible, a business must be located in New Mexico and pay Gross Receipts Taxes to the state. It must be U.S.-owned and operated as a for-profit entity that meets the SBA definition of a small business. Businesses that meet the criteria are eligible to receive up to $40,000 in non-cash assistance.
There are three types of assistance.
Individual projects address technical challenges specific to a business that can be solved with national laboratory expertise and resources. Businesses can apply for an individual project at any time during the year.
Leveraged projects allow multiple small businesses that share technical challenges to request assistance collectively for a larger project. For example, Lithified Technologies partnered with the Navajo Nation on a leveraged project to test a uranium containment system it developed. Applications for leveraged projects are accepted twice each year.
Contract projects offer the expertise of New Mexico’s national lab partners, such as New Mexico Tech, New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership, and others. Through the NMSBA program, companies can access critical expertise, provided by these select contractors, to address business and manufacturing challenges. Businesses can apply for a contract project at any time during the year.