By Chad Matheson, Interim CEO, Albuquerque Regional Economic Alliance (AREA)

New Mexico has always been a place where big ideas take root. From the groundbreaking science at Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories to the innovations driving our growing aerospace and energy sectors, our state has a proud history of discovery. If we want to secure a prosperous future for New Mexico, one filled with high-paying jobs, thriving businesses, and opportunity for generations to come, we must double down on an what we do best: research and development.

At its core, investing in R&D companies is about building an economy that creates rather than consumes. These companies don't just import ideas, they invent them. They create ripple effects that extend far beyond their research, driving demand for skilled workers, attracting new industries, and strengthening the innovation ecosystem that will keep New Mexico competitive for decades to come.

Every dollar spent on research and development produces a multiplier effect, spurring new products, technologies, and startups that diversify the economy. In New Mexico, that diversification is crucial. We've long depended on federal spending and extractive industries. While those will remain crucial to our long-term success, we must invest in industries that offer stability and growth in a rapidly changing world. Industries like advanced computing, biosciences, clean energy, defense technology, logistics, and manufacturing.

We have the ingredients. Our national labs, research universities, and a growing network of tech incubators are world-class. Now, more than ever before, entrepreneurs and innovators from across the country are recognizing New Mexico as the location of choice for their investment.

But to unlock it, we must strengthen our policy toolkit and make strategic investments through public-private partnerships, targeted incentives, and workforce development initiatives that help innovators and businesses succeed.

Today, the state offers strong incentives for manufacturing, but there is a clear opportunity to scale support for innovation and R&D that drive long-term economic growth. Because transformative innovation does not occur in a single corner of the economy. It emerges from startups testing new ideas, mid-sized firms scaling breakthroughs, and large companies with the capacity to commercialize at scale. If we want those ideas, and the jobs they create, to take root here, we need policies that support R&D across that full range of company sizes.

When states incentivize both research and manufacturing, they see the highest returns. More homegrown inventions, more companies choosing to stay and expand, and stronger economic anchors for communities statewide. And while R&D is core to New Mexico, the state government is spending surprisingly little on it, ranking near the bottom of all states in both total spend and as a percentage of total state budget. This threatens New Mexico's ability to shape its future economy and risks giving up the extensive economic benefits of R&D research. For example, Ohio's Third Frontier, which invested in innovative technologies like advanced energy, created $10 in state economic activity for every dollar in state investment. Pennsylvania's Ben Franklin Technology Partnership, which invests in technological innovation, created $61 in state GDP and $4 in state tax receipts per dollar of state investment over a 5-year period. Michigan's 21st Century Jobs Fund created $59 in total annual state economic output for each $1 of state investment.

To win, New Mexico must take our future into our own hands and increase our investment in R&D. By investing in R&D companies, we're investing in our future. We're creating career pathways that allow young people to stay, build families, and contribute to their communities. We're showing them that New Mexico is not just a place of beautiful landscapes and rich culture, but a place where the future is being built.

AREA is committed to championing economic priorities that position innovation as a cornerstone of New Mexico's economy. Through smart investments, collaborative leadership, and a clear focus on progress, we can translate our state's vast potential into tangible prosperity. New Mexico's next great discovery isn't just waiting in a lab, it's waiting in the choices we make today. Let's choose to invest in research, innovation, and the future of New Mexico.