July 19, 2013. Retrieved online July 22, 2013 from Alta LeCompte, Las Cruces Bulletin
Research park embraces broader mission
Wayne Savage, who managed the construction of Spaceport America, has been named executive director of the New Mexico State University Arrowhead Business and Research Park.
Savage began his duties in June and is already looking for ways to enhance the business park’s role in supporting economic development and business innovation in the region.
“From my background of property management and large project delivery – most recently focused on Spaceport America and the commercial space industry development here in southern New Mexico – I’ve come to understand that economic development has been at the core of everything I’ve done,” Savage said.
He said one goal he has for Arrowhead Park is to redefine and clarify what the park has to offer potential tenants. That means updating the park’s master plan to reflect a broader mixed-use development mission that targets industries that are tied to some of NMSU’s research and academic strengths, such as agriculture, aerospace, energy, sustainability, manufacturing and engineering.
Arrowhead Park is being developed as a public-private land partnership that links scientists, technologists and entrepreneurs contributing to economic development in New Mexico. It is a growing hub for innovation and creativity that will provide an entrepreneurial environment with space, facilities and services to foster cooperation between NMSU research efforts and technology-based entrepreneurs and businesses in southern New Mexico.
Savage shifts focus
Following a career managing projects in the semiconductor industry, he returned to Las Cruces and in 2007 began pursuing a job with the spaceport because he thought it would be “the most exciting project of my career.”
As his role evolved, he became more aware of the economic development implications of the project.
Read the Las Cruces Bulletin article