growing los alamos lab announces expansion plans

Pebble Labs is planning to expand its facility presence in Los Alamos with the construction of five new buildings.

The company, which conducts research on food and crop safety, has now received nearly $20 million in funding from both the State of New Mexico and Los Alamos County to increase both its footprint as well as its workforce.

Founded three years ago as an offshoot of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Pebble currently operates inside the Entrada Business Park on the east side of Los Alamos.

Work is slated to begin initially on the $60 million construction of two new buildings, with plans for five more structures to be completed sometime in the next ten years.

Pebble will also purchase the 26,000 square foot building containing the New Mexico Consortium Biological Laboratory at 100 Entrada Drive before beginning construction on the two new buildings on land adjacent to the consortium structure.

The State of New Mexico is providing $4 million in local economic development funding for the expansion, which will also see Pebble’s staff grow from its current 83 to more than 230.

In a press conference announcing the expansion, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said she thought the state is on the verge of “not just a single announcement, but a series of announcements that clearly talk about STEM bioscience.”

The Governor added that “there is no reason why the state can’t be the epicenter for this work.”

Late last month, members of the Los Alamos County Council voted in favor of approving the sale of up to $60 million in industrial revenue bonds for Pebble.

Developing ways to enhance the safety of seafood without chemicals and antibiotics, and mass-production agriculture absent pesticides and other chemicals, Pebble’s goal is to provide a foundation for both more sustainable food supplies as well as better disease control.

By Garry Boulard

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