A Wyoming tech company is expanding to Santa Fe, and bringing with it big aspirations for the future.
SavantX, a quantum computing company founded in 2015, selected the City Different for its corporate research headquarters. The company plans to hire 116 people in the next decade. It plans to bring several tech positions, including data scientists, software engineers, quantum scientists and cybersecurity professionals, SavantX President and CEO Ed Heinbockel said.
To support the company's expansion, the New Mexico Economic Development Department has committed $450,000 in Local Economic Development Act money. The city of Santa Fe will contribute $50,000 in LEDA money, according to a New Mexico Economic Development Department release.
SavantX positions have an average annual salary of more than $90,000, according to the release. With high-tech companies often bringing high-paying jobs, SavantX and other companies like it can be a powerful economic development tool for the state.
"New Mexico’s assistance from LEDA and the Job Training Incentive Program comes at a time when there is more economic uncertainty. Knowing the incentives are in place was a major factor in bringing SavantX operations to New Mexico," Heinbockel said in a prepared statement.
LEDA money is used as a closing fund to grow existing New Mexico businesses and recruit others to the state.
SavantX considered sites in Utah, Idaho, Oregon and California, but it chose Santa Fe in part because of its close proximity to Sandia National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory, Heinbockel said.
“Santa Fe has a built-in workforce from the labs of people already doing quantum computing. In a lot of ways, Santa Fe is the nexus of this new computing."
The company's SavantX PRO analytics solution is designed to uncover useful business insights from datasets. The technology uses artificial intelligence to identify relationships and patterns, and filter data. The platform can be custom suited for different types of uses, Heinbockel said.
SavantX plans to target various industries, including defense and nuclear energy, Heinbockel said. It is leasing a building at 504 Jose Street in Santa Fe, according to the release.
