Pegasus Global Holdings, an international technology development firm, announced plans to build an uninhabited city in New Mexico designed to test self-driving cars, smart energy grids and other new technologies.
“Our center is unique,” Pegasus CEO Robert Brumley said. “Up until this time, these proving grounds have been government-owned and contract-operated. This is contractor-owned, contractor-operated where the government is buying services and access to the facility.”
Brumley met with the heads of UNM’s IT department, business school and engineering school in July.
“UNM will have a very big role to play in the next few months,” he said.
Douglas M. Brown, dean of Anderson School of Management, said he met with Brumley and local attorney John Salazar from the Rodey Law Firm at a meeting where Pegasus presented its project.
Brown said Brumley didn’t address a specific role for UNM, but he said the project presented research and job creation possibilities.
“My principle motivation is to try to find internships and good permanent jobs for our students,” Brown said. “Some (projects) might lend themselves to business professors, but I suspect more would be in engineering, hard sciences of medical research. I hope it materializes and provides the economic boost and educational and employment opportunities we need.”
Last Monday, Pegasus released a statement announcing the start of a five-month study to evaluate the costs and benefits of the future research facility and determine where in New Mexico the facility will be built.
Pegasus has deemed this its “Sandbox project,” and the facility, which will be known as the Center for Innovation, Testing and Evaluation, represents a new era in the way research is developed, Brumley said. Pegasus plans to build the city near either Las Cruces or Albuquerque on available land close to academic institutions such as UNM and research labs such as Sandia.
“This is the way things will work in the future,” he said. “We will take the financial risk: It’s a mindset shift from the government as an owner to governor as a consumer. The taxpayer doesn’t have to put up the money to fund it, just to use it.”
Many of the nation’s top research facilities, including the Los Alamos and Sandia laboratories, are government-owned. “Sandbox” would be the first contractor-owned facility of its kind, open to both private and government firms alike.
Brumley said Pegasus developed the concept for the project after experiencing difficulty with government-run facilities, which are booked months in advance and aren’t always available to private companies.
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“We want everyone to have access to technological proving grounds,” he said.
The Associated Press reported the project is projected to cost $200 million. In a press release, Pegasus said the project hopes to create 350 direct jobs and 3,500 indirect jobs in the development, construction and ongoing operation of the facility.
Brumley said the company’s goal following the feasibility study is to target investors and raise the necessary funds for construction. The company hopes to gather the necessary funding to break ground in June 2012 and become operational by 2014. Brumley said the state of New Mexico is not a financial partner, and that the money for the project will come from private funds.
Following collaboration throughout the summer between Pegasus and the NM State Government, Brumley said he and his colleagues met with Gov. Susana Martinez and Secretary of Economic Development Jon Barela during the first week of September.
The group discussed crucial government support for the project.
The state has committed to providing non-financial involvement — resources the state normally provides to businesses — and an introduction to the different agencies and regulatory rules to aid in planning.
“I am confident this innovative project would provide a great boost to New Mexico’s economy,” Martinez said.
State officials and the company signed a memorandum of understanding pertaining to feasibility study and the state’s involvement in the project.
Brumley said his reception in New Mexico has been warm.
“I was absolutely blown away,” he said. “The state really picked up on this and ran with it. Barela and Martinez (were) very kind.
We will look to them for the kind of role government should provide: assistance with the state land office, services, and regulatory help, and we will provide what we should: risk and capital.”
Brumley said Pegasus chose New Mexico because of its land availability and reputation for technological research.
“We’re not from New Mexico, but we want to be a New Mexico business,” he said. “We want to hire and build in the state. We want our project to be … a center for inventors, innovators and investors — and a driver of employment.”
