What We Do
The Arrowhead Center fosters sustainable economic development by utilizing a comprehensive approach to generate wealth, income, and employment in New Mexico. The Arrowhead Center focuses on the interrelated activities of technology commercialization, entrepreneurship, economic studies/policy analysis, workforce analyses, research park development, and business incubation that lead to economic development. One of the Arrowhead Center's key strategies to accomplish its economic development mission is providing value-added solutions to unmet needs in the region, and to work collaboratively with other economic and business development organizations.
The Arrowhead Center performs its role through two mechanisms, as an organizational unit of NMSU staffed primarily by NMSU personnel, including faculty, staff, and students, and as a non-profit corporation established in 2004, governed by a Board of Directors. The Corporation's Board is comprised of academic, business, and economic development leaders, providing the direction necessary to focus resources across New Mexico State University elements on the challenges of economic development.
The Arrowhead Center performs wide-ranging services that contribute to the creation and expansion of small businesses in New Mexico. These services and products include:
- Business assistance, including business plan development
- Entrepreneurship education and training
- Analysis of policy issues affecting New Mexico
- Incubating businesses in the Arrowhead Business and Research Park
- Identification of labor and training needs associated with commercial enterprises
- Spin-off of commercially viable business concepts and technologies
- Protection of, licensing, and commercialization of NMSU intellectual property
- Connection of key players in the business and economic development process
The Arrowhead Center has been in existence since 2004, with rapid growth in services provided to faculty, staff, students, entrepreneurs, small business, investors, and venture capitalists. Since its inception, the Center has completed more than 150 business research projects involving more than 200 undergraduate and graduate students, fostered the spin-off of a university genetics testing laboratory resulting in a new for-profit corporation, and completed several state-level economic studies. The Arrowhead Center has exceeded expectations and continues to provide quality services to New Mexico.