Economic, quantum experts urge New Mexico to lead in quantum advancement

With the presence of national laboratories and a quantum research center that was one of the first in the world, New Mexico can lead the way in the rapidly advancing field of quantum technology — but only if it jumps in now while the tech is still at the ground level, according to quantum and economic experts.

New Mexico has a unique competitive advantage in quantum technology, said Alex Greenberg, economic development policy advisor for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

“We literally invented one of the primary ways to make a quantum computer,” Greenberg told the Journal. “And it's up to us in economic development to make sure we can take advantage of the great R&D (research and development) that's already been happening here.”

The New Mexico Economic Development Department this month launched a Quantum Technologies Award pilot program, a way to incentivize companies working in quantum technologies to expand or set up in New Mexico.

The agency will award five grants of $100,000 each to New Mexico startups or companies that agree to relocate to New Mexico and maintain a presence for at least two years. The state is accepting applications on a rolling basis through May 30, and applicants must have previously secured funding from additional sources, too.

“It's critical that we make sure we're capitalizing on (quantum technology) at this turning point for the industry,” said Nora Meyers Sackett, director of the Office of Strategy, Science and Technology at EDD.

She described the pilot program as the state’s first step in creating a quantum industry presence in New Mexico and said she’d be thrilled if enough New Mexico startups apply for the money to get all of it.

“The way that states and regions become (leaders) and maintain their leadership in industries is by getting into the ground level and by enabling private sector growth and supporting it from the government position,” she told the Journal.

Other regions naturally will beat New Mexico in certain sectors, Greenberg said, like Silicon Valley’s resource base that lends well to developing software as a service or Texas and Arizona’s decadeslong history in semiconductor manufacturing — but that shouldn’t happen with quantum technology.

He highlighted several quantum-related accomplishments that came from New Mexico:

• The Center for Quantum Information and Control at the University of New Mexico was one of the first quantum information science research centers in the world.
• Theoretical physicist Richard Feynman at Los Alamos National Laboratory released some of the earlier papers ever on quantum computing.
• Sandia National Laboratories has a 6-qubit quantum computing testbed, called QSCOUT, open for use by the research community.
• The state participates in a federally designated TechHub in the Southwest called Elevate Quantum.
• Central New Mexico Community College in 2025 is launching a federally funded quantum training program.

“Almost every meaningful quantum computing company in the country and into a larger part of North America has either a UNM graduate or a Sandia (Labs) alumni somewhere in the upper ranks, which is extremely exciting,” Greenberg said.

All that work didn’t appear out of nowhere.

After the discovery of modern physics in the early 20th century, there was “a sort of second quantum revolution” in the 1990s — “quantum 2.0,” explained Ivan Deutsch. He leads the Quantum New Mexico Institute, a UNM collaboration with national laboratories in the state founded in January.

“We came to understand that our ability to harness the physics at the microscopic level can allow us to have incredibly more powerful computers that can solve really intractable problems,” he said.

Google recently unveiled “Willow,” its latest quantum computing chip that has about 100 qubits. It’s been described as a breakthrough in quantum research and development.

But it’s not just big tech taking advantage of quantum technology, Deutsch said; startups are getting involved, too, and the EDD quantum award program will help that grow in New Mexico.

“This is just a first step to a broader growth and partnership between the state and the private sector to help really establish what could be a really important industry for New Mexico,” Deutsch said.

He hopes the program also promotes necessary workforce and training. He pointed to education initiatives to get high school or college students interested in quantum technology, like Sandia National Labs’ student summer camp called QCamp or CNM’s quantum science lab and training boot camp.

Quantum New Mexico Institute in September hosted a quantum symposium, inviting leaders from different companies to see New Mexico as a potential place to expand their businesses.

“That was very exciting to see the big picture of having the potential for the workforce they need and the environment they need (in New Mexico),” Deutsch said.

Funding from Elevate Quantum can create 10,000 jobs, allowing the training of up to 30,000 workers, Greenberg said.

“The North Star for us is that the average quantum job right now pays about $125,000 (annually) and there are three open jobs for every qualified candidate,” Greenberg said. “And so our goal is to try to make sure some of those jobs occur here.”

Jobs in quantum technology aren’t limited to people who have PhDs, he added. There's a need for a labor-based workforce, like welders or heating, ventilation and cooling technicians. About four people don’t hold a PhD in the field for every one person that does, Greenberg said.

“It's very hardware-focused and being able to solve problems with manufacturing talent is one of the key bottlenecks in quantum development,” he said.

Quantum can also act as an additional economic driver in the state, helping diversify the state’s economy, as Lujan Grisham’s administration has pushed for, Meyers Sackett and Greenberg said. Greenberg added that it’s likely not one industry will completely replace revenue from oil and gas, which funds upwards of a third of the state’s budget.

And despite some economic drivers in New Mexico potentially fielding uncertain consequences under a conservative federal administration starting in 2025, technology is often touted as a bipartisan issue.

Deutsch pointed out that the National Quantum Initiative was started under the first Trump administration and accelerated under the Biden administration. He anticipates funding for it will be reauthorized.

“Our technological strength is important for our economic strength as well as our national security,” he said. “And I think everyone understands that.”

New Mexico has the strongest quantum research and development in the world, Deutsch said, “and we want to translate that now into how that can help grow our tech economy.”

Greenberg agreed: “It's really hard to fathom how big of an opportunity this is for New Mexico, and it's up to us to make sure to take advantage of it.”

Editor's note 12/16 2:30 p.m.: This article has been updated to clarify where funding would come from to create up to 10,000 jobs.