ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Lockheed Martin/Sandia National Laboratories are donating $100,000 to Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce’s Barelas Job Opportunity Center. Labs Director and President C. Paul Robinson will present a check for $100,000 at the Hispano Chamber’s annual gala event, Noche Encantada, on January 27 at the Albuquerque Convention Center Ballroom.

The Barelas Job Opportunity Center, now under construction at 1309 Fourth Street SW, is expected to be completed in February. The building will also house the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce.

Lockheed Martin/Sandia’s Corporate Contributions Program awards community investment grants to local nonprofit organizations that encourage the development of youth in the community. “This gift is part of Lockheed Martin/Sandia and Technology Ventures Corporation’s long-term partnership with the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce and continuing commitment to the job center,” says Don Carson, Director of Sandia’s Public Relations and Communications Center. “We are pleased to help make the Barelas Job Opportunity Center a reality. This Center will be a major asset for the Barelas neighborhood and the entire City of Albuquerque. I applaud the Chamber for having the vision to build it.”

Although the job training center will be open to any Albuquerque resident, the Hispano Chamber of Commerce will devote a significant amount of the space to providing jobs and career development opportunities for Barelas-area residents. Barelas, one of Albuquerque’s older Hispanic neighborhoods, has been economically challenged since rail travel declined in the 1950s followed by the building of Interstate-40 in the 1960s, which diverted traffic away from downtown.

Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce contact:
Maria Elena Alvarez, maria_alvarez@ahcnm.org