As the need for cleaning services remains high, a tech company offering a sanitizing robot plans to expand and add jobs in Albuquerque.
Build With Robots will grow to 24 employees within one year, with a total of 64 jobs created by the end of 2024, according to a news release from the New Mexico Economic Development Department. The company also plans to expand into a new Downtown facility near the intersection of Commercial Street and Marquette Avenue, according to plans filed with the city.
The new location will include space for manufacturing, research and development, as well as a robot demonstration area to host clients, according to the news release.
The company is currently located in the FUSE Makerspace and the Verge Building, according to its website.
Build With Robots offers a robot, called the BreezyOne, that sprays disinfectant. It has deployed its cleaning robot at St. Mary's Catholic School, the Albuquerque International Sunport and Electric Playhouse. Demand for the robot has potentially been driven by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, which has led to an increased need for cleaning.
CEO Chris Ziomek previously 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.
Build With Robots' expansion is backed by a $360,000 in Local Economic Development Act incentives. LEDA money is used as a closing fund to grow existing New Mexico businesses and recruit others to the state. The city of Albuquerque is the fiscal agent for the project, pending approval from city council, according to the state's release.
In February, Ziomek said the company was "building robots like crazy to try to scale." Over the course of about eight months last year, the firm booked about $800,000 in sales for the BreezyOne robot, Business First reported.
“In New Mexico it takes a village to build a company,” Build With Robots Chief Strategy Officer Matthew Ennis said in a statement. “The state assistance is critical and provides us an important investment as we decide to stay in New Mexico and grow.”
