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"If our children are to have the kind of jobs we want them to, this type of facility is one of the finest advantages we can give them for many generations," said South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds in his 2004 State of the State Address on Tuesday.

John Calvin, Secretary of the South Dakota Department of Tourism and State Development, has announced his resignation effective Dec. 15.

Jennifer Alexander is the new president of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce.

The nonprofit Challenger Learning Center of Alaska Board of Directors recently announced the hiring of Sharon Gherman as its new Executive Director. Gherman was the former K-12 program executive for the Alaska Science and Technology Foundation.

Phillip Z. Sobocinski has accepted a new position as Assistant Director of the new Office of Corporate Relations in the Office of the Chancellor, University of Wisconsin-Madison. The new initiative will be led by Charles Hoslet.

South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds announced Friday that John Calvin has been named Secretary for the Department of Tourism and State Development. The newly formed department combines the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, Department of Tourism, Office of Tribal Relations, Division of Cultural Affairs, and the South Dakota Housing Development Authority.

Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski has named Edgar Blatchford, a journalism professor at the University of Alaska, to serve as commissioner for the Department of Community and Economic Development.

J.A. Hans Roeterink, chief technical officer and vice president of network operations for T-Systems in New York, is the new executive director of the Alaska Science & Technology Foundation. Roeterink begins Nov. 1, succeeding Jamie Kenworthy.

The Center for Advanced Technology and Innovation (CATI) Partnership Board and the Gateway Technical College Board of Directors recently held a groundbreaking to begin construction of the new 40,000-square-foot facility located in Sturtevant’s Renaissance Park.

The state technology-based economic development community is losing one of its most dynamic and longest-serving leaders by the end of the year. Jamie Kenworthy, executive director of the Alaska Science & Technology Foundation (ASTF), has announced his retirement effective December 1.

Alaska

The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) is better equipped to study technologies and barriers to developing energy resources in Alaska, thanks to a cooperative agreement with the University of Alaska. A story in Inside Energy reported that NETL recently established its fourth office in the U.S. in Fairbanks, helping to fulfill a Department of Energy (DOE) venture begun in FY 2000. In 2001, DOE awarded a $24-million grant to the university to operate the new Arctic Energy Technology Development Laboratory. A total of $30 million is expected to be awarded by September toward the effort.



California

To complete a school assignment aimed at closing the digital divide, engineering and business students at the University of Southern California have teamed with a church to create a cyber cafe, the Daily Trojan recently reported. The cafe, which will be free to the community, is intended to bridge the technological gap among minorities via computer training.



Colorado

The Colorado Public Employees Retirement Association has injected $11 million into a private venture fund to support the commercialization of university research in the state. The University of Colorado Technology Transfer Office, to help the process along, is doubling its budget to $2.3 million and increasing the office's staff from 11 to 16, according to an Associated Press report. The university also is increasing the researcher's share of royalties from one-fourth to one-third of the proceeds.



New Mexico

The Multi-Agency Network (Magnet), an initiative to link state agencies through a broadband fiber-optic network, is expected to boost economic development in communities throughout New Mexico, according to the Albuquerque Journal. The Magnet initiative will offer high-speed data services to state agencies in 35 New Mexico towns. A multimillion-dollar contract to finance construction of the network would increase competition among the state's telecommunication companies, including AT&T, Qwest and Worldcom. Qwest owns 85 percent of the state's phone lines.



In a related story in the Journal, a $1 million grant to build a fiber-optic network near Sandia National Laboraties also is inching closer to fruition. The grant was awarded in 2000 by the U.S. Economic Development Administration to develop the network on the 200-plus acres east of South Eubank, the location of the Sandia Science and Technology Park. In need of a master plan for the park and roads under which to install the network, the project had been delayed. Both of those needs have been fulfilled, however, and the project only awaits the selection of a contractor to build the network. One of six teams of contractors who submitted proposals is expected to be chosen by May 23.



Wisconsin

Plans for two advanced technology centers are in the works for Kenosha and Racine Counties in Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently reported. To open in January 2003 and the fall of 2003, respectively, the Center for Advanced Telecommunications (CATI) and the Center for Advanced Telecommunications Technology (CATT) will be assisted by a $1 million state planning grant. CATI, which will be built in Racine County, will serve as an incubator, a tech transfer hub and an education program to stimulate entrepreneurship. CATT will be located on the Gateway Technical College campus in Kenosha County; the center will foster training and jobs in biological and chemical technology and telecommunications.