Monthly news, events & updates
Building a Rainforest in the Desert | May 2022
EDA University Center Activity for January, February and March
Rainforest Pitch Competition Winners Announced
LLCs Vs. Corporations Webinar
Join us for Pitch Deck Competition Finals
Mentoring Hours for Your Startup or Idea
See listing near end of newsletter
Upcoming Events
UNM Rainforest Innovations Receives $800K EDA American Rescue Plan Grant for New Mexico Tribal Entrepreneurship Project
UNM Rainforest Innovations, the University of New Mexico’s technology transfer and economic development organization, has been awarded an $800,000 American Rescue Plan Economic Adjustment Assistance grant from the federal Economic Development Administration (EDA) to help break down barriers and generate opportunity through entrepreneurship in historically underserved communities in New Mexico with a primary focus on coal-impacted tribal communities.
Meet Cecilia Pacheco, the new Program Manager for Tribal Entrepreneurship.

Ms. Pacheco can be reached at: (505) 272-2548 or
One of the overarching goals of the project is to mitigate the barriers that impact tribal entrepreneurs, and notably coal-impacted communities, from starting and growing resilient businesses. Some of the ways UNM Rainforest Innovations aims to do this is by providing mentoring and entrepreneurial training opportunities, link resources available in urban parts of the state to rural communities and engage statewide partners to create further connection points within the vast entrepreneurial ecosystem in New Mexico.
University of New Mexico Inventors Honored for Issued Patents, Trademarks and Copyrights at 2022 Innovation Awards
UNM Rainforest Innovations hosted its nineteenth annual Innovation Awards on Tuesday, April 26. This annual event recognizes the accomplishments of University of New Mexico (UNM) inventors who have received issued U.S. patents, registered trademarks, and copyrights within the past year. Between March 1, 2021 and February 28, 2022, 44 UNM inventors received issued U.S. patents for 39 technologies and 1 copyright. Of those patents, 32 patents and 1 copyright were for technologies developed on main campus, 5 were for technologies developed on the health sciences campus, and 2 patents were a collaboration between UNM main campus and health sciences.

Congratulations to all the awardees!
Jeremy S. Edwards, Ph.D. Selected as 2022 Rainforest Innovation Fellow
The work accomplished by Dr. Edwards and others has substantially reduced the cost of sequencing a human genome down to just a few hundred dollars. DNA sequencing technology has the potential to significantly and substantially impact health care, both directly by providing diagnostic and prognostic markers for the clinical setting, and indirectly by accelerating the pace of basic and clinical biomedical research.
Federal Laboratory Consortium Enters into Partnership with UNM Rainforest Innovations
The Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) has entered into a strategic partnership with UNM Rainforest Innovations, based in Albuquerque, NM, as part of an ongoing campaign to help small to large businesses with innovative technologies succeed through collaborations with federal laboratories.

Under the agreement, the FLC and UNM Rainforest Innovations will jointly encourage partnerships between federal laboratories and industry, especially small businesses, to help move technologies out of the lab and into the marketplace – a vital process known as technology transfer. These public-private partnerships will support new innovations, leading to job creation and economic benefits.
UNM Department of Spanish and Portuguese Graduate Student Finds Startup Opportunity in the NM Rainforest
Before starting her Hispanic Linguistics Master’s Program at The University of New Mexico (UNM), Isabel Last was trained to teach Spanish as a second language. Throughout her teaching experience, she consistently found that regardless of how creative and immersive she tried to make her lessons and activities, there was a definitive limit to how well instructors could contextualize the content. She knew language teaching needed a paradigm shift. This is where her idea for Faena, an innovative narrative-based language learning video game, began.

Faena creates a story-filled environment in which the user, instead of memorizing conjugation tables and fill-in the blank worksheets, can learn a new language by actually speaking and interacting with characters.
In the Spotlight - Featured UNM Inventor
Melanie E. Moses, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Computer Science
Associate Professor, Department of Biology
The University of New Mexico
External Faculty, Santa Fe Institute
Dr. Moses' research areas include scalable swarm robotic systems, biologically inspired computation, and computational immunology.
LLCs Versus Corporations as Startup Structures
NM Rainforest Webinar
Tuesday, May 24 at 10:00 a.m. (MDT)
Join us for this webinar where Quarles & Brady and Osage University Partners will discuss the use of LLCs as a startup vehicle and the differences of using an LLC vs. a C Corp as the company structure.

The webinar will include a deep dive on each of the following topics:
  • Governance and structural concerns of LLCs, including organizational documents, founders’ agreements, and management provisions
  • Tax issues, including partnership provisions and conversion opportunities for LLCs
  • Investor concerns on LLCs, particularly from the venture capital lens
  • Accounting issues on tax and structure of LLCs vs. C Corporations
Attend Upcoming Open Office Hours
Providing Mentoring for Your Startup/Idea
Rainforest Mentor Office Hours with Stacy Sacco
For the past 20 years, Mr. Stacy Sacco has taught entrepreneurial studies at the UNM Anderson School of Management, and served as the Director of the UNM Small Business Institute. He currently is the President of Sacco Connections, a management consulting firm, and hosts a free, informational website, with 3,000+ links to local jobs, events and resources.

Mr. Sacco will be available for one-on-one mentoring where he will give guidance, coaching and perspective to enhance entrepreneurship and provide connections to resources at UNM and in the community. There are many resources available to those who have ideas that they may want to turn into a business!


Stacy Sacco will be available either IN-PERSON at the Lobo Rainforest Building or VIRTUALLY via Zoom based on your personal preference. Click Sign Up to select the time frame you plan to attend.
Mentoring for Entrepreneurs with Mytegia Lee
Come to virtual 1:1 mentoring with Mytegia Lee where she will provide guidance, coaching, perspective, and connections to enhance entrepreneurship and connections to resources at UNM and in the community. There are many resources available to those who have ideas that they may want to turn into a business! Join Mytegia on Zoom and learn more about what is available and which connections are the best fit for you.

Ms. Lee is the Executive Director of the Southwest Native Assets Coalition (SNAC). Prior to joining SNAC she worked in the commercial banking and financing services industry providing credit analysis, financial education as well as small dollar loan origination and servicing throughout western New Mexico.


These are VIRTUAL office hours, please register to select the time frame when you can attend your meeting on Zoom. After you register, a Zoom link and calendar invitation will be emailed to you.
SCORE Office Hours
SCORE mentors will be available for one-on-one, confidential discussions and mentoring to inventors, students, and start-up companies.

SCORE's mentors (https://albuquerque.score.org/) are successful business people and entrepreneurs who want to give back to the community by helping other entrepreneurs become and stay successful. SCORE has been helping small businesses start and grow in the Albuquerque area for over 50 years through mentoring and workshops and seminars. SCORE is the largest National resource partner of the Small Business Administration (SBA) with about 11,000 SCORE volunteers sharing their time and talents to help America's small businesses.

In Person at the Lobo Rainforest Building:

In accordance with UNM policy, please wear a mask. Walk-ins are welcome, or click Sign Up to select the time frame you plan to stop by.
UNM Rainforest Innovations | Website

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