An Albuquerque company capitalizing on the demand for cleaning services during the Covid-19 pandemic is working with a New Mexico school. The deal represents one of several potential market opportunities for the local technology company, Build With Robots, which has gained momentum during the public health crisis.
Build With Robots offers a robot, called the Breezy One, that sprays a disinfectant. It has deployed its cleaning robot at St. Mary's Catholic School, an Albuquerque institution that teaches preschool through eighth grade. In addition to providing sanitization, the robot may improve the efficiency of the school's staff, allowing maintenance personnel to focus on other tasks while the robot sanitizes.
“[The robot] can be in the cafeteria and one of my maintenance [workers] can be up on the third floor," said Principal Rebecca Maestas-Sanchez. There are other benefits, as the robot "doesn't need paid vacation," she said in jest.
The machine costs about $20 per day to operate, Maestas-Sanchez added.
Build With Robots is now "building robots like crazy to try to scale," said Build With Robots CEO Chris Ziomek. Over the course of about eight months last year, the firm booked about $800,000 in sales for the Breezy One robot, he added.
The company partnered with Albuquerque entertainment venue Electric Playhouse last year to provide a testing ground for the technology. Ziomek told Business First the robot could sanitize all of Electric Playhouse, which occupies a 24,000-square-foot facility at the West Bluff Shopping Center, in about 20 minutes. The Albuquerque International Sunport also took advantage of the technology, using Breezy One to sanitize at night, according to a Sunport news release.
Build With Robots sees opportunity in public service institutions. Ziomek said “in general, the commercial organizations are looking at [Covid-19] as a cost adder… so they’re not really thinking long term” but that “schools, airports… hospitals, they’re thinking that this is actually a good practice longterm."
The company plans to hire about 10 people in the first half of the year, according to Ziomek. The state selected the company several times last year to receive Job Training Incentive Program funds, including one award worth $178,636, Business First reported in November. The program funds training for newly-created jobs in expanding or relocating businesses, according to the state.
