With an annual budget of more than $4 billion and a record 15,000 employees, Los Alamos National Laboratory is consequently experiencing an uptick in shipping and procurement. To handle the increased workload, the Laboratory has contracted with the Pueblo Alliance to create a new distribution center outside Española. The center processes minimal-risk items only, such as office supplies. No specialized items, chemicals or hazardous materials are involved.
Located at Ohkay Owingeh, the Pueblo Alliance is a joint venture company comprising two tribally owned businesses: Tsay Corporation and San Ildefonso Services. Together, they provide staffing solutions for the Laboratory and other U.S. Department of Energy entities.
Started in October 2022, the pilot project has already achieved positive results. An order that used to take up to two weeks to be delivered to its on-site recipient now takes just one or two days.
The Laboratory had a record year of procurement in fiscal year 2022, spending $2.1 billion — and that translates to a lot more packages. The packages arrive at the distribution center in Española, where five Pueblo Alliance employees receive, check and sort them. The parcels are then placed in a Pueblo Alliance delivery vehicle, which one of the five employees then drives to the Laboratory’s Los Alamos warehouse.
When the initial phase of the distribution center project wraps in February , Pueblo Alliance employees and leaders will meet with Laboratory leaders to discuss the next phase of the project.
“The goal is to continue to expand, grow and improve the service,” said Maureen Armijo, the leader of the Strategic Sourcing group at the Laboratory.