New Mexico strategic plan addresses innovation

The New Mexico Economic Development Department released a new strategic plan that identifies core challenges to the state and a multi-part approach to the future. The six challenges include talent attraction, misalignment between higher education and industry, public sector “dominance” of innovation, and concentration in a few industries. The plan includes recommendations related to the state’s innovation economy: develop state-sponsored investment funds to match investments in target industries; help academic researchers to advance new technologies; establish persistent funding for incubators and accelerators; fund university-industry research partnerships; and, develop a mentorship network across entrepreneurship support organizations in the state.

The state funded the strategic planning process through a grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, and SRI International developed the plan. In a press release announcing the plan, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued an executive order to review the state’s licensing and permitting requirements (another recommendation).