ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories completed its third year of providing technical assistance to New Mexico small businesses last year through a tax credit passed by the New Mexico Legislature. Nearly 300 small businesses were assisted throughout New Mexico in 2003. The assistance ranged from helping a company make better spark plugs to assisting in the automation of the New Mexico chili industry.
Sandia will celebrate the success of the 2003 program at a reception from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, May 20, at the Albuquerque Museum, 2000 Mountain Road NW. Small business representatives and Sandia principal investigators involved in the assistance projects will attend. Members of the news media are welcome.
The New Mexico Small Business Assistance (NMSBA) program allows Sandia to utilize a portion of its gross receipts taxes paid each year to provide technical advice and assistance to New Mexico small businesses. During 2003, Sandia received $1,796,000 million in tax credits, 77 percent of which went to small businesses in rural New Mexico and 23 percent to small businesses in Bernalillo County.
There are few requirements for small-business participation — mainly that assisted companies must be for-profit New Mexico small businesses, and that the help isn’t available for a reasonable cost through private sources. Nine success stories from the 2003 NMSBA program year will be highlighted during the May 20 event. They include:
- Beer Engineering and Applied Thermal Systems perform research and development in the areas of system engineering, complex robotics, automation systems, networks, and software development. Sandia’s assistance has provided the two companies an opportunity to gain experience with the capabilities and limitations of commercially available robots through work on a pick-and-place robotic work cell project.
- Enterpulse, Inc. is a research and development company in pulsed power specializing in automotive ignition, specifically spark plugs. Sandia assisted in the development of a new spark plug that has the potential to be 10,000 times more powerful than current spark plugs. This assistance allowed Enerpulse to overcome a major hurdle in development and expedited the fabrication process.
- Fast Ditch™ in Vallecito, N.M. is in the commercialization stage of producing a unique corrugated plastic liner for earthen ditches to eliminate the loss of water that occurs with unlined ditches. From burn testing provided by Sandia, new liners will be designed to minimize the surface area of the ditch that is exposed to weed burning.
- Last Chance Water Company in Otero County is a water management company representing land owners of the Salt Basin that manages water resources and establishes the water supply available to potential markets. Sandia is assisting LCW in the identification, quantification, and characterization of a new and renewable water source within the State of New Mexico. Sandia has also been able to dynamically enhance software platforms.
- New Mexico Chile Taskforce in southern New Mexico is a partnership of chili growers, producers, and researchers created to apply science and technology to improving productivity and ultimately enhancing New Mexico’s competitiveness in a global market. Sandia has worked with a number of other engineering organizations to integrate a systems approach to chili cleaning and destemming.
- Nickel Brand Software in Moriarty helps bridge the gap between historical (hot iron branding) and current animal identification methods. Working with the Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program, Sandia is researching the application of establishing a dual confirmation system for animal tracking and image recognition probability. The software will be compatible with tablet PC’s and PDA’s, which will provide for ease-of-use in the field.
- Owens Office Box in Farmington has developed a specialized filing cabinet for use in semi tractor trailers. Sandia consulted with Owen Bradley to design a pull out drawer that opens up for filing and fits underneath the passenger seat. The revenue stream for this product is estimated to be $18-20 million per year.
- PEMCO in Farmington is one of only five companies in the United States that provides repair and refurbishment services for well drilling and servicing structures. The assistance has been crucial in bringing PEMCO into today’s competitive environment for manufacturing in accordance with current industry standards and requirements for management and manufacturing practices and techniques. That translates to about $150,000 in annual cost savings.
- STAR Cryoelectronics in Santa Fe develops, manufactures, and markets ultra-sensitive Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) sensors and advanced PC-based SQUID control electronics products worldwide. With Sandia’s assistance the company was able to modify the process and eliminate defects that were causing their devices to fail.