New Mexico’s Energy Sector Generates Growth and Investment
When Spiritus Technologies was considering locating in New Mexico, it was evident that the state offered this growing company something unique: a ready-made foundation of world-class scientific talent and research infrastructure that traces its origins to Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), where the company’s co-founder and chief technology officer Matt Lee spent over a decade as a staff scientist and technical manager.
“When you’re building a climate technology company from the ground up, having access to that level of materials engineering expertise and advanced research facilities right in your backyard is invaluable,” says Charles Cadieu, Spiritus co-founder and CEO. For Cadieu and the entire Spiritus team, New Mexico has offered a remarkable ecosystem where advanced science meets practical application.
“Our technical team is based here, and when we needed to move from laboratory research to real-world execution, we found the talent that could help us scale quickly and responsibly,” Cadieu says.
Thriving Ecosystem
The company has also found specific collaborations, partnerships or access to resources within New Mexico to be particularly valuable to the company and its efforts. Most significantly, Spiritus is proud of the company’s partnership with the Nambé Pueblo Development Corp., a collaboration that is creating a new national model for how the tech industry and Indigenous communities can partner to build a sustainable and prosperous future.
“The insight and support from the Pueblo have been extremely valuable,” Cadieu says. “Also, the broader innovation ecosystem in New Mexico is another significant resource.”
The presence of world-class institutions like Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories, along with research universities like the University of New Mexico and New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, creates an environment rich with scientific expertise.
“This ecosystem is a key resource for talent recruitment and potential future research collaborations,” Cadieu says.
Spiritus Technologies is also making a name for itself within the climate technology sector thanks, in part, to the series of innovative projects and technologies that the company is working on.
For example, Spiritus is commercializing a breakthrough in Direct Air Capture (DAC) that makes removing CO₂ from the atmosphere scalable and affordable.
As Cadieu explains, this innovation centers on a novel solid sorbent material that passively captures CO₂ using very little energy.
“The DAC projects are modular, which helps with scalability. This holistic approach to DAC dramatically reduces the costs associated with carbon removal,” he says. “Our pilot facility in New Mexico is a real-world deployment of this technology. This project will prove our system’s efficiency and durability, advancing the timeline for commercial-scale deployment.”
Strong Talent Pool
A growing company like Spiritus needs to rely on a region that offers a solid talent pool and New Mexico fits the bill.
In fact, in building its team, Spiritus has been impressed with the talent pool in New Mexico. According to Cadieu, there is a high concentration of skilled individuals in the state, particularly in the engineering and physical sciences disciplines.
“It’s clear that the state’s national laboratories and universities cultivate a workforce with a unique capacity for solving complex technical problems,” Cadieu says. “We are confident that as we grow, we will be able to build our team with local talent.”
The state’s commitment to workforce development further reinforces the company’s belief that New Mexico has the human capital required to support a thriving climate-tech industry, he says.
“The feedback from our team in New Mexico is consistently positive and reinforces that we made the right choice,” Cadieu says. “There’s a tangible sense of purpose here, where innovation and tradition coexist in a really unique way.”
New Mexico’s outstanding quality of life is also a defining feature for the Spiritus team. With over 300 days of sunshine a year, the beautiful landscape offers many opportunities for outdoor recreation, from hiking in the mountains to exploring the vast high desert regions.
“This amazing environment provides a healthy work-life balance,” Cadieu says. “This helps us attract and retain a passionate team that is proud to call the Land of Enchantment home.”
Get to Know New Mexico
Want to learn more about living and working in New Mexico? Check out the latest edition of Livability New Mexico Economic Development.