Vic Kolenc | El Paso Times


Microsoft President Brad Smith made his fourth visit to El Paso to launch the Microsoft El Paso Innovation Hub in Downtown as another part of the company's multimillion-dollar economic development efforts in the Borderplex.

He also announced on Monday the Seattle technology company will provide a $1 million grant over four years to give El Paso small businesses, including startups and nonprofit groups, free access to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Cloud (Internet) computing services. That will lower barriers to starting a business, he said.

The hub and tech services grant are the latest components in Microsoft's TechSpark economic development program, which Microsoft launched in El Paso and five other areas five years ago to boost local economies by spreading technology.

Microsoft has spent more than $10 million in the El Paso-Juárez area in the last five years for TechSpark-related programs and grants, including computer science education classes in this region's high schools and the Bridge Accelerator program in Juárez, which helps grow manufacturing supply chain companies on both sides of the border.

That money helped foster programs and partnerships that added 3,300 jobs in the El Paso-Juárez economy over the last five years, including about 700 through the Bridge Accelerator, according to Microsoft's calculations.

Innovation Hub in defunct Bitwise space

The Innovation Hub — soon to offer free digital skills training for individuals, small businesses and nonprofit groups — is in an office vacated in June by Bitwise Industries, a California tech training company that went bankrupt shortly after opening its El Paso operation.

It's in a former factory turned into an office building years ago at 500 W. Overland Ave., near the Chihuahuas baseball stadium in the long-struggling Union Plaza District.

The new $1 million grant adds to the $10 million total invested by Microsoft in this area, and company officials plan to spend even more money here in coming years, Smith said in an interview after his Innovation Hub launch with a group of El Paso-Juárez community leaders.

El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser praised Microsoft at the hub launch for its investment in El Paso, which, he said, is helping El Paso small businesses get the technology resources they need to grow.

The Borderplex "is an exciting region with lots of talent, lots of small businesses, and a really important role in the economy of North America" with its large manufacturing, logistics, and call center industries," Smith said.

"But traditionally it's had a shortage of access to digital technology, and I think we've helped to close the gap some" for small businesses and individuals, he said. "And with AI coming, I think it can be an accelerant for the economy more broadly."

El Paso native put hometown on Microsoft map

Smith didn't know much about El Paso in 2017 when Microsoft formed the TechSpark program.

"I knew (U.S.) Gen. (John) Pershing had come here (during the Mexican Revolution), and I knew there was the Rio Grande," he said.

It was Carol Ann Browne, his chief of staff, an El Paso native and Coronado High School graduate, who put El Paso on Smith's and Microsoft's map, he recalled.

Microsoft aims to teach AI skills in El Paso

Spreading access to AI is a big part of what needs to be done in future years, Smith said. Artificial Intelligence is the capability of a computer system to mimic human-like cognitive functions such as learning and problem-solving.

"AI will create challenges — we shouldn't be pollyannaish about it — but it's going to create new opportunities for this economy," he said.

"I think AI will change jobs. I think that will benefit people who learn AI skills and incorporate it in their work," Smith said.

Those who don't have AI skills may find problems in the job market, he said. Schools, employers, nonprofit groups, and government agencies need to do AI skills training, he said.

"El Paso is what I call a growing success story, and I think it provides lessons and hope and inspiration for other places as well," Smith said. "We've got to bottle some of what works in places like this and find ways to help other people learn faster (about) what does seem to make the difference."

That's why Microsoft has recently expanded components of TechSpark to communities in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

More: El Paso jobs: Flagstone Foods, Prod Design set multimillion-dollar factory expansions

The Microsoft Innovation Hub will begin its tech skills workshop series Oct. 14 through Fab Lab El Paso. Register on the Fab Lab's website (fablabelpaso.org/skillslink).