SFIP enjoyed some very favorable local press coverage last week, in the Santa Fe New Mexican and  Albuquerque Business First (summarized below). This is especially gratifying because SFIP, while global in its outlook and desired impact, works at the community scale; and we find that northern New Mexico and Santa Fe are often great test-beds for developing community-centric solutions.

In addition, SFIP has an economic development role to play in the local economy. Indeed, its genesis was as an economic development strategy for Santa Fe, posing the question:  Can a city do technology-based economic development without a research university to draw on?  And posing the answer:  let’s position Santa Fe as a globally recognized center for creative problem solving.  The original plan called for an ambitious physical facility, that would host leading organizations in residence for extended periods to assist them with their innovation challenges.  Then came the recession…

As noted in both news articles, the resulting shift in economic perspectives, combined with trends in innovation practices, collaborative frameworks, and the role of social enterprise, led to a classic “pivot” and our new strategy:  a project-driven, networked architecture, utilizing all of the abundant resources within Santa Fe and beyond, with minimum central overhead and organization, and an internally-generated agenda focusing on complex, systems-level challenges.

We think of this in terms of “Think Globally, Act Locally, Scale Broadly.”  And, in practice, Santa Fe Is the Park.  

Here’s what the press had to say:

According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, “The Santa Fe Innovation Park has advanced its plan to position itself as a global center of excellence in microgrid innovation and design.”

And the Albuquerque Business First reports that “The Santa Fe Innovation Park is heralding the early success of three projects that could transform Santa Fe.”

We’re grateful for this local support and appreciation, and will continue working with the community to develop globally effective solutions.

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