GA, UT see level funding for TBED initiatives

SSTI’s analysis of approved FY2018 state budgets continues with a review of action by the Georgia and Utah legislatures. Stability is the word for both states with level funding for the Georgia Research Alliance, Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, and Utah’s USTAR program. The Georgia legislature did approve the governor’s proposal to increase funding for scholarship programs by $50 million.

Georgia

Georgia’s FY 2018 budget includes a significant increase for the state’s HOPE Scholarship program and stable funding for the Georgia Research Alliance and Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute. The HOPE Scholarship and Zell Miller Scholarship program budgets increase $50 million from $715 million in FY 2017 to $766 million in FY 2018 in keeping with the governor’s recommended budget; the HOPE Scholarship program provides tuition assistance for students that graduated from high school with at least a 3.0 GPA, while Zell Miller recipients must graduate with a minimum 3.7 GPA and a minimum 1200 SAT score on the math and reading portions or a minimum 26 on the ACT.

The Georgia Research Alliance’s state funding remains essentially level at $5.1 million in FY 2018.

The Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI²) at Georgia Tech provides business and industry assistance, technology commercialization, and economic development. Among its services are the Georgia MEP and the Advanced Technology Development Center. EI² ‘s general fund budget increases from $19.3 million in FY 2017 to $19.5 million in FY 2018.

Utah

USTAR, the state’s primary tech-based economic development program, received level general revenue funding totaling $22.141 million in FY 2018. The organization accomplishes its mission through programs and services focused in three areas:  principal researchers, competitive grant programs, and technology entrepreneurship services.