Albuquerque lies at the center of the New Mexico Technology
Corridor, a concentration of high-tech private companies and government
institutions along the Rio Grande. Larger institutions whose employees
contribute to the population are numerous and include Sandia National
Laboratories, Kirtland Air Force Base, and the attendant contracting companies
which bring highly educated workers to a somewhat isolated region. Intel
operates a large semiconductor factory or "fab" in suburban Rio
Rancho, in neighboring Sandoval County, with its attendant large capital
investment. Northrop Grumman is located
