SSTI Digest

The National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices has selected seven states to participate in a year-long policy academy named State Strategies for Promoting Innovative Clusters and Regional Economies. Teams from the seven states – Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Oregon and West Virginia – will collaborate with staff from the NGA to create action plans for improving each state’s competitiveness and economy through cluster development. Additionally, during the next year, the selected states will learn about research on clusters and best practices for cluster improvement, perform an analysis to gain insight on their existing state clusters, and plan strategies to orient state investments, workforce development, and education initiatives around potential clusters.

 

But what are the main factors that influence the growth of successful clusters within regions? Andreas Eisingerlich and Leslie Boehm peer into this question in a recent article in Business Insight, a series produced this year by the Wall Street Journal in cooperation with M.I.T. Sloan Management Review. After looking at different clusters on three continents, the authors identified four key factors determining the growth potential and competitiveness of a cluster. They found the most successful clusters:

Mark Allen was named the new senior vice provost for research and innovation at Georgia Tech. Allen replaces Charlie Liotta, who has returned to the school's faculty.

Dr. Donald Colbert is the new executive director of the Augusta BioBusiness Center and Georgia Medical Authority. Colbert replaces Lenie Roos-Gabridge, who retired in July.

The Georgia Biomedical Partnership has become Georgia Bio, The Life Sciences Partnership.

The Georgia Department of Economic Development has promoted Carol Henderson to director of its Innovation and Technology Office.

The Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) within the Georgia Institute of Technology announced its affiliated companies have received more than $1 billion in venture capital funding since 1999. Amassed from 160 separate deals, the amount represents 15 percent of the total venture capital in Georgia, about one out of its every five deals in the state.

 

Taking a closer look at the numbers over the past eight years, 75 companies at the ATDC received funding from 139 separate venture capital investors. Ten of these companies raised more than $25 million, and 56 percent of the deals came from outside of Georgia.

 

Considered one of the nation’s most successful technology incubators, the ATDC is a component of Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, which is the school’s primary organization for economic development and technology commercialization. Since its creation in 1980, the incubator has developed 112 companies, with locations in the cities of Atlanta, Savannah, and Warner Robins.

 

The center's website is http://www.atdc.org/.

Complete descriptions of the position openings described below are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.



Georgia Tech's Enterprise Innovation Institute is seeking someone for the position of SBIR Development Manager. For the SBIR Assistance Program, which provides development guidance for Georgia small businesses/companies, the SBIR Development Manager will aid small Georgia technology-based companies in developing commercialization plans and helping with understanding the commercial market for their product. Four to six years of job-related experience in accounting/business, engineering, supervisory/management is preferred. A master's degree also is desired.



The University of Missouri is seeking qualified applicants for the position of Vice President for Research and Economic Development. As the university’s senior executive for economic development and research-related initiatives, the vice president for research and economic development will be responsible for promoting the commercialization of patented intelligence and products of faculty discovery, innovation and development. He or she also will work closely with the chief research officers and chancellors from each of the university's four campuses. A doctoral degree, as well as experience in higher education as both a faculty member and proficient researcher, is preferred.

Georgia Tech's Advanced Technology Development Center has named Jason Burr director of its Savannah office.

Are you thinking about making a career change? If so, visit the SSTI Job Corner at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.



In addition to the new opportunities described below, the SSTI Job Corner has openings for these positions:

Complete descriptions of the position openings described below are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.



The Georgia Medical Center Authority (GMCA), a state authority whose mission is to develop the life sciences industry in Georgia, is seeking an executive director. Reporting directly to the GMCA board, this individual is responsible for managing the Augusta BioBusiness Center, the provision of bond financing for life science R&D and manufacturing facilities statewide, leadership in developing a research park in east central Georgia, recruiting companies, and performing other duties. The successful candidate ideally will have educational and work experience related to life sciences business development and bond financing, and be a proven executive with outstanding communication and interpersonal skills.



The University of Maine is seeking a director for its newly created Student Innovation Center. Reporting to the senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, the director is primarily responsible for providing leadership for the center, which includes all academic, fiscal, strategic planning and personnel matters. Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree and business operations knowledge, management or creative entrepreneurial experience – typically seven or more years. A master’s degree is preferred.

The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) is seeking a director to run its Innovation and Technology Office. The director is responsible for implementing and expanding a statewide technology and innovation-based economic development program that encompasses a full range of sales, marketing, business recruitment, business development, community development and public relations activities. A bachelor's degree in the life sciences, engineering or a closely related field is required; a master's degree in these fields is preferred. A full description of this opportunity and others is available through the SSTI Job Corner at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.

Describing the impact of universities can be a vexing issue for both the higher education and TBED communities. Two recent reports, one by the Atlanta Regional Council for Higher Education (ARCHE) and the other by the Iowa Board of Regents, utilize different approaches to help communicate the importance of higher education institutions to a local economy.

 

The ARCHE report combines economic development statistics derived from input-output analysis with the personal stories of seven individuals who in some form are heavily influenced by the presence of the 49 degree-granting, accredited higher education institutions located in the Atlanta region. The report emphasizes the economic and social impact that the region’s universities have on hundreds of thousands of individuals and the state of Georgia. Some of the economic impacts of the region’s universities include: