For some, it will broaden the scope of their work. But potential problems must not be ignored. As lab officials are quick to point out, their developmental costs are quite modest, consisting almost entirely of the staff time needed to manage the enterprise. Sandia subsidizes no one. The land will be sold or leased at market prices from DOE and local owners.
Firms pay for construction.
They may qualify for industrial revenue bonds or other concessions common to local economic development programs, but Sandia does not bear these costs. This means that the focus of evaluation can be on technology transfer and the contribution to Sandia's own missions. Whatever the approach taken to measuring these results, the evaluation system should be set up immediately, so that it can collect the needed data as they are generated, not years after the fact when such information may be unobtainable. A real-time evaluation system could also serve as a management tool to help focus the park's objectives. Finally, the evaluation results could at least shed light on the question of whether other national labs might use-fully emulate Sandia's initiative.