The U.S. Departments of Labor, Commerce, and Education (the departments) released a strategy for workforce development with six overarching themes: industry-driven strategies, worker mobility, integrated systems, accountability, flexibility, and innovation. The plan was written in response to an April 2025 directive from the White House mandating an overhaul of the federal approach to supporting workforce training. 

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Overall, the trends identified in SSTI’s Q1 2025 analysis continue. While funding levels continue their upward trajectory, the influence of AI mega deals on total VC market activity persists (see 8/14/2025 Digest article). The trend of investment activity moving away from smaller transactions and toward larger deals also continues. These movements in investor deal preference may be persistent enough to necessitate that some TBED organizations evaluate their existing portfolios and prospective pipelines to determine if there are structural risks to companies’ abilities to secure sufficient capital, continue operations, and successfully meet their goals and those of the TBED organization in supporting the firms. 

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With federal research budgets under pressure and other nations accelerating their scientific investments, the U.S. faces critical choices about where to direct limited funds. Does concentrating resources in leading institutions best sustain discovery, or would broader geographic diffusion strengthen the nation’s overall research ecosystem? And, while discoveries are usually attributed to individual scientists or teams, the role played by research institutions in shaping where and how breakthroughs occur is not as well understood.  An academic research team recently explored these questions. 

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To grow their local populations and STEM workforce, communities across the country are experimenting with resident/worker attraction programs, as we have previously covered. But how effective are these programs? A recent study from the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research offers new insights by analyzing Tulsa Remote’s track record from its inception in 2018 to 2023.  

Tulsa Remote, launched in 2018 with funding from the George Kaiser Family Foundation, provides $10,000 to eligible remote workers who relocate to Tulsa and commit to stay for at least one year. According to their 2024 economic impact report, Tulsa Remote has attracted 3,475 remote workers, with 96% completing their one-year requirement and 70% continuing to live in Tulsa. The program spends roughly $15,000 per participant, including the incentive, administrative costs, and community benefits such as access to co-working spaces and other networking activities. 

The study focuses on what economists call the “but for” rate or the percentage of program participants who wouldn’t have moved to Tulsa without the incentive. Using administrative data from Tulsa Remote combined with…

Sixty-eight percent of business leaders polled for the Q4 2024 KPMG AI Quarterly Pulse Survey1 were planning to invest between $50-$250 million in GenAI over the next 12 months. Considering the investments companies are making in AI, shouldn’t the adoption rate be much higher? Apparently not. A new study from a team of researchers associated with M.I.T.’s Media Lab, covered in a New Yorker article, reports, “(d)espite $30-$40 billion in enterprise investment into GenAI … 95% of organizations are getting zero return.’”  

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A recent executive order from the White House aims to centralize federal grantmaking. This revamping of the grantmaking process would affect how decisions are made regarding the distribution of billions of dollars in research grants and have a significant impact on research universities.  While the order notes, “nothing in this order shall be construed to discourage or prevent the use of peer review methods,” it sidelines the peer review process with the disclaimer, “provided that peer review recommendations remain advisory” to the senior appointees. These senior appointees are directed to “use their independent judgment.”  All final grant award decisions across all agencies are to be made by political appointees. 

The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) recently notified the FY24 Build to Scale (B2S) competition applicants that it has canceled the FY24 competition and will announce a new B2S competition in early 2026. According to the announcement, Secretary Lutnick has directed EDA to restart a new B2S competition that better aligns with the goals of the current administration. 

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