SSTI Digest

The Dimension Mill has rebranded as Amplify Bloomington. It launched with support from Indiana University, Cook Group, the city of Bloomington, and a coalition of corporate partners. Former Bloomington Mayor and SSTI Board member John Fernandez leads the organization.

The Georgia Research Alliance recently published Impact ’25, its 2025 impact report. Top-line impacts include more than $1 billion in outside public-private funding awarded to GRA Scholars, $1 out of every $4 received for research at a GA university went to a GRA Scholar, 3,428 new workforce opportunities created, $350 million in revenue and outside funding to GRA-backed startups, and ranking eighth in U.S. university R&D (up from twelfth in 2021).

BioCrossroads has officially launched its BioCrossroads Startup Hub, a new, comprehensive ecosystem platform designed to serve as a centralized front door for Indiana’s life sciences startup community. Built as a continually evolving resource, this online hub brings together funding pathways, mentorship, regulatory and clinical resources, startup visibility, and ecosystem connections in one place. BioCrossroads is an initiative of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership.

State reserves shrank in fiscal year 2025, for the first time since the Great Recession. According the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO) and analysis from the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Fiscal 50 project, which provides data and research on state fiscal conditions, the capacity of states’ rainy day funds—the number of days they could cover state operations—fell for the first time since the Great Recession of 2007-09. According to estimates at the end of fiscal 2025, the median state could run operations for 46.9 days, down from the fiscal 2024 record high of 53.2 days. And while the decrease represents a major shift, most states have more money in their rainy-day funds than they did before the pandemic.

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has proposed a fiscal plan that includes a 4% statewide seasonal sales tax, effective through 2034, as part of his plan to bring Alaska’s state revenue and expenses in line for the long term. If adopted, the sales tax would be Alaska’s first statewide, general-purpose levy since state legislators abolished Alaska’s income tax in 1980.

Kansas lawmakers are exploring the creation of a state bitcoin reserve funded solely by abandoned digital assets, rather than using state funds to purchase cryptocurrency. Under the plan, the state would integrate abandoned or unclaimed digital assets into a new fund, with 10% of the deposits directed towards the state’s general fund, while any unclaimed or abandoned bitcoin would remain, creating a quasi-state bitcoin strategic reserve.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently signed the Clean & Reliable Grid Affordability Act, which seeks to make energy more affordable, including the incentivizing of battery storage and kick-starting nuclear power and renewable energy development in the state. 

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves announced that Elon Musk’s company, xAI, is investing over $20 billion in his state to build a new data center and power plant in Southaven. The center represents the largest single investment in the state’s history, Reeves said.

Drug prices in the United States and pharmaceutical profits are considered excessive by many, including officials of the Trump Administration. The fact that the firms charge significantly less for the same medications in other countries than here has many wondering why and what can be done about it. One proposed solution has been to use the federal “march-in” rights allowed by the 45-year-old Bayh-Dole Act to force a change. The proposal has sent both excitement and chills throughout the communities involved in healthcare price containment and intellectual property rights of federally supported R&D. To help everyone have a common grounding on the issue, the General Accountability Office (GAO) released a new report regarding the draft guidance under consideration. 

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick wants the federal government to receive a return on funding awarded for R&D, innovation and economic development. The New Jersey Economic Development Authority has financed a dozen various technology innovation initiatives with the same expectation for the state’s money. Here’s how NJEDA says it's working.

As we come to the end of February, more than half of the governors have either delivered their 2026 State of the State, their Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Budget addresses, or a combination of the two, laying out their priorities for the coming year. With forecasted revenues for many states tightening, many governors and lawmakers, with a few exceptions, offer cautious or constrained funding priorities and proposed initiatives.

It may not always be rocket science, but that doesn’t mean companies with scientific or technologically sophisticated innovations have an easy time raising capital. New academic research might lead one to wonder: Should TBED policy makers provide training for angel and VC investors that improves their understanding of critical tech - or continue to focus primarily on funding gaps and teaching founders to speak the language of VCs?

It has been five long, dark months for the nation’s small innovation-focused businesses and the regional innovation systems that rely on them for their strongest startups and future leaders, but a ray of light appeared Wednesday afternoon as a compromise was announced on the stalled reauthorization of the federal SBIR/STTR programs. And, if passed as written, we won’t have to go through this again until September 2031, which shifts future debate until an off-election year.

Personal income has nearly quadrupled in constant dollars over the past 56 years, from approximately $791 billion in 1969 to $2.9 trillion by 2024 in inflation-adjusted 1969 USD ($24.9 trillion in current dollars, increasing an average of seven percent each year), reveals SSTI analysis of the full breadth of newly released U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) data. Standardized by population, growth is more conservative, with an average annual current dollar increase of 5%; in 1969, per capita personal income (PCPI) was just $3,931, but by 2024 had risen to $8,100 when adjusted for inflation to 1969 USD ($69,273 in current dollars).