Albuquerque Journal | February 25, 2010

City OKs $150K for Art-Science Think Tank

Kiera Hay | February 25, 2010

The Santa Fe City Council agreed on Wednesday to give the Santa Fe Complex $150,000 for another year of operation.

The money will fund the second year of a three-year economic development contract between the city and the newbie nonprofit, founded in 2008 as a sort of community think tank and gathering place for the arts and sciences.

Councilors approved the funding unanimously, though not without raising some concerns. Among them was the high rent, around $7,000 a month, the center pays for its two buildings on Agua Fria Street near the Santa Fe Railyard.

“Economic development money is supposed to be spread in the community and maximized to get the best bang for our dollars. We are spending, of the $150,000, half of that on rent and it’s going to one person,” Councilor Matthew Ortiz said.

Ortiz suggested the city look into helping the nonprofit move to space on public property, perhaps at the College of Santa Fe.

Councilor Patti Bushee said she wanted a better analysis of the benefits the Santa Fe Complex is providing to the local economy.

“I think of it as an incubator. It has great potential. It does things no one else does,” Bushee said.

But, she added, “I’m going to ask you to branch out and grow beyond city funding, because it won’t go past that, as far as I can see, if you don’t bring in some solid sources of funding.”

Besides municipal money and revenue, the nonprofit gets about $50,000 from a number of other groups, such as the McCune Foundation and New Mexico Film Office.

The $150,000 in city cash is actually a bit less than the center’s 2009 contract, which was for $165,000. The municipality has been working on reducing most of its contracts because of declining gross receipts tax revenues.

In 2009, the Santa Fe Complex’s first full year of operation, it launched 39 projects valued at $1.4 million, created the equivalent of 21 jobs and helped start five businesses, according to city economic development staff. Around $75,000 in gross receipts tax revenue was produced from the $1.4 million.

For 2010, the nonprofit’s contract stipulates it achieve a series of goals, including 23,000 employment man-hours at an average wage of $50 per hour, 20 public lectures, seven public workshops and “at least one international conference in agent-based modeling or other applied complexity area.”

The work hours will come out of $383,000 in contract money pulled in directly by the Santa Fe Complex, as well as $1 million for projects housed in or affiliated with the nonprofit, city staff said.

Santa Fe Complex is a “key” part of the city’s efforts to diversify its economy and create high-paying jobs in areas other than tourism and government, Housing and Community Development Department director Kathy McCormick said in a memo to councilors.

McCormick said Wednesday that the nonprofit “represents an entrée into the new economy for Santa Fe.”

Around two dozen people showed up to support the Santa Fe Complex, and a public hearing attracted a half-dozen speakers.

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Source: Albuquerque Journal