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Can you believe how fast
our beautiful northern New Mexico spring is going? Summer arrives in just three
weeks, on June 21, when the Sun reaches its highest point in the heavens and we
enjoy the longest day of the year.
Speaking of high points
. . .
What's our big news? Today
June 1, the Laboratory comes under the management of Los Alamos National
Security, or LANS, and our office gets a new name-the Community Programs Office,
or CPO. With the new name comes greater responsibility and more opportunities in
the areas of community giving, economic development, and
education.
All of the staff here at
CPO are excited by our new challenges. In the months ahead, please let us know
how we�re doing.
Make it a safe and
wonderful June!
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| Lab's New Community
Commitment Plan |
On June 1, LANS, LLC
assumed overall management responsibilities for Los Alamos National Laboratory
and will begin implementation of a new Community Commitment Plan focused on
three main areas� economic development, education and community giving
programs.
Based on a strong desire to
reinvigorate the ties that already exist between the Laboratory and the regional
community, the plan creates, broadens, and strengthens partnerships that are
mutually beneficial and better aligns the Laboratory's many community outreach
programs to better complement and sustain community-led efforts that make a
difference!
The Community
Programs Office (CPO), formerly Community Relations Office, has been
established and structured to emphasize the plan's three main areas of focus:
economic development, education, and community giving. CPO will be actively
engaged in managing a wide scope of activities to support and measure progress
across the entire northern region of New Mexico.
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| Restaurant Owner, Diplomat,
Youth Supporter . . . |
 
Florence Jaramillo,
owner of Rancho
de Chimayo restaurant, received an important national award In Chicago on
May 20. The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation inducted her
into its College of Diplomats. She was one of four restaurant industry leaders
from around the country given one of the Association�s highest honors this
year.
Jaramillo was honored for
her pioneering work in support of Chimayo area organizations that fight drug use
among area youth, a problem that has grown to critical proportions in the
beautiful Chimayo area over the last decade. She is a founder of the Chimayo
Drug Prevention Task Force and the Chimayo Youth Conservation Corps. With an
annual budget of $600,000, the Corps employs 72 teenagers year-round.
Jaramillo has also been a
driving force behind the Chimayo Boys & Girls Club. Seventy-one teens
attended the Club�s youth summer camp in 2005. The LANL Foundation helped get
the Chimayo organizations off the ground. They now have a combined annual budget
of more than $1 million.
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| Indigenous Entrepreneurs at
UNM |
Indigenous entrepreneurship
will be the subject of a three-day conference in Albuquerque June 19�22. The
conference, sponsored by UNM�s Robert
O. Anderson Schools of Management, will offer academic workshop sessions,
receptions, luncheons, cultural performances, a gala banquet, and an indigenous
business expo.
Sessions are aimed at
business professionals, government workers, NGOs, academics, students�anyone
interested in learning and sharing experiences about indigenous entrepreneurship
and economic development.
One highlight will be the
Indigenous Business Team Competition. Student teams present business plans to a
panel of judges that includes successful entrepreneurs and experts in
accounting, law, and management. Business students enrolled full-time during
spring semester this year are eligible. First place in the competition is worth
$5,000.
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| The Other Trinity
Site |
On May 23, County planners
briefed the Los Alamos County Council on plans to develop the "Trinity
Site" in Los Alamos�a 42-acre piece of property near the intersection of Trinity
Drive and DP Road.
Los
Alamos County and Los
Alamos Public Schools own two key parcels and have agreed to consider
developing it for retail, commercial, and housing uses. The property now hosts
office and maintenance activities.
County planners hope to
develop a mix of uses that optimizes the project�s contributions to a
sustainable local economy. In March, five development firms submitted responses
to a County request for qualifications. The next step in the process will be to
ask one or more of these firms to submit proposals.
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| What's the Big Idea?
|
Nineteen New Mexico
companies pitched their inventions and plans to potential investors last month
at the 13th Annual Equity Capital Symposium in Albuquerque. Hosted by Technical
Ventures Corp., the series was a venue for matching new technology with
potential investors. This year�s theme was "What's the Big Idea?"
Duncan McBranch, LANL
Tech Transfer Division Leader, said that under LANS the Laboratory will
maintain its longstanding strategic focus on scientific and technological
advances, but place a greater emphasis on getting promising products and
applications into the marketplace.
Laboratory technologies
described at the symposium included:
- File Scrubber, a digital eraser for cleaning up persistent remnants
of old documents on electronic media
- Genie Pro, software for automatically labeling regions and objects in
image data with a broad range of potential uses, including industrial
intelligence
- The Lab's cutting-edge computer modeling technology, again with
potential applications in many areas, such as tracking the spread of disease
- The Lab's unique and historic capabilities in the production of
isotopes
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| Art for Kids
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The Harwood Art
Museum in Taos, part of the University of New Mexico, will offer a free
program for children of all ages and their parents on Saturday, June 24. The
Harwood's collections and special exhibitions will be explored, followed by a
kid-friendly art activity. The program starts at 10 am.
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| Pentagon 9/11
Memorial |
On May 20, during the
employee event Celebrating an Era with Pride and Honor, the Laboratory
dedicated a memorial to those killed on September 11, 2001, when a hijacked
airliner crashed into the Pentagon. The memorial, located near the entrance to
the NSSB, features a limestone block recovered from the damaged and destroyed
portion of the Pentagon building. Inscribed in the block are the names of the
185 passengers, crew, and Pentagon workers who died.
In the words of Lab
Director Bob Kuckuck, speaking at the dedication, the memorial will not
only keep the memory of the Pentagon 9/11 victims alive but "serve as a powerful
reminder of the Laboratory�s historic links to the Pentagon and our national
security mission."
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| Kudos
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Student Kudos. New
Mexico Highlands University graduate student Mark Jacome-Salazar, a
graduate of West Las Vegas High School, has been selected by the Smithsonian
Office of Latino Initiatives to participate in their summer institute. This is
the second year in a row a Highlands student has won a place in the highly
competitive program. Jacome-Salazar is completing an M.A. in Media Arts and
Computer Science through a program partnership with the New Mexico Department of
Cultural Affairs designed to launch students on careers in New Mexico's museums
and cultural tourism industry.
Community Kudos.
Three New Mexico communities came off looking good in Forbes Magazine�s 2006
ratings based on business and career opportunities in U.S. metropolitan areas.
Santa Fe city and county moved up ten notches over 2005 to rank 26th out
of 179 small communities. Las Cruces topped this by ranking second in the
same category. But Albuquerque was the true star in the Forbes survey: it
ranked first in business and career opportunities, beating out 200 other
metropolitan areas with populations over 230,000.
Volunteer Kudos.
John C. Dodgion II, Audits and Assessments Office, has won the Lab�s Vecinos
volunteer recognition award for May. Each month Vecinos donates $1,000 to a
nonprofit, school, or Pueblo organization in honor of a volunteer Lab employee,
student, or subcontractor. The Community Programs Office is partnering with the
LANL Foundation to coordinate Vecinos. Dodgion's award will go to Fine Arts for
Children & Teens, Inc., or FACT, an arts education organization
serving at-risk youth in Espanola.
Leadership Kudos.
The 2005 class of Leadership Los Alamos ended May 12. The class had 29 members,
including future leaders from the local business community, Los Alamos Public
Schools, Los Alamos County, and Bandelier. Five members were from the Lab and
Protection Technologies Los Alamos (PTLA). Applications for the 2006 class are
now being taken. Call 606-0277 for more information.
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