Thursday, September 8, 2011

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico’s Third District wrote to New Mexico’s national laboratories and military bases today urging them to contract more with New Mexico-headquartered businesses in order to encourage business opportunities in the state.

Below is the text of the letter to Los Alamos National Laboratory.  Similar letters were also sent to Sandia National Laboratory, Kirtland Air Force Base, Cannon Air Force Base, Holloman Air Force Base, and the Air Force Research Laboratory.

September 8, 2011

Dr. Charles McMillan
Director
Los Alamos National Laboratory
PO Box 1663
Los Alamos, NM 87545

Dear Dr. McMillan,

During the past five weeks I have traveled my Congressional district to discuss the future of New Mexico with my constituents. One theme that resonated everywhere I traveled was the issue of jobs and the need to encourage business opportunities in our state.

As you know, the state of New Mexico is home to a treasured assortment of locally headquartered businesses that support our many federal installations.  The people and businesses of New Mexico have a long history of providing excellent service and products as they fulfill their federal contracts.  Since the federal government has a very heavy presence within our state due to the number of national labs and military bases, these contracts are among the primary drivers of economic growth and job creation in New Mexico.

Many New Mexican businesses, including minority, women, and veteran-owned businesses are poised and prepared to carry out contracts and enter into business relationships with the many federal entities who do business within our state, and I would like to encourage you and your team to consider the many benefits that New Mexico-headquartered businesses have to offer.

I urge you to consider local small businesses when your officials write policies that influence how acquisition officials and program managers interact with contractors.  Further, if there are special requirements or capabilities that will be needed for upcoming contracts, I encourage you to publicize them with sufficient advance notice so that local businesses can be better prepared to compete for specialized or complicated contracts.

I strongly believe that developing relationships between your facility and New Mexico’s promising small business community will provide mutual benefits to all New Mexicans.  Fostering and developing these hard-working, locally headquartered businesses will expand our state’s industrial base and lead to even more fruitful relationships in the future as companies grow and gain expertise in support of our federal installations.

Thank you for your attention to this matter and I look forward to working with you to create greater opportunities for New Mexico.

Sincerely,

Ben Ray Luján
Member of Congress 

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