Kentucky Innovation Act Calls for $53 Million S&T Investment

Kentucky Governor Paul Patton and House Speaker Jody Richardson have announced a new technology bill to help Kentucky develop an innovation-driven economy. House Bill 572, the Kentucky Innovation Act, is a result of the Science and Technology Strategy designed by the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation in August, 1999 (see September 3, 1999 SSTI Weekly Digest (http://www.ssti.org/Digest/1999/090399.htm).

The bill calls for the Commonwealth to make a $53 million investment in several new economic development, research, and technology transfer programs and initiatives. Along with the state’s $4 million match for the National Science Foundation’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Research (EPSCoR), the bill includes the following funding proposals:

• $4.25 million for the Council on Post-secondary Education to develop a statewide network of Regional Technology Corporations to provide resources to specific industry clusters, primarily in rural Kentucky. In addition, the Council would oversee the Kentucky Research and Development Voucher Fund, described below.
• A $20 million Kentucky Research and Development Voucher Fund would financially assist small- and medium-sized Kentucky-based companies that partner with Kentucky universities in their research and development activities. Awards from the fund would be made to the universities, would be up to $100,000 per year for up to two years, and would require a 1:1 match from the company.
• The Kentucky Rural Innovation Fund, funded at $1 million, will assist rural, small businesses in undertaking research and development activities in partnership with post-secondary institutions and the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) network within the state. Awards, made to the companies, would be limited to $50,000 for up to two years.
• A $20 million Kentucky Commercialization Fund would encourage the commercial exploitation of promising technologies developed within the state’s universities. Seed funds of $75,000 per year for up to three years, would be awarded to universities for technologies found to have commercial potential. To ensure greater university participation in the program, an aggregate of no more than 70 percent of the funds would be awarded to the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville.
• $350,000 would be directed to assist small manufacturers with process modernization.
• The Strategic Technology Capacity Initiative, a new $1.25 million department within the Cabinet for Economic Development, would focus on the recruitment of research and development organizations within the state, attract high technology centers into Kentucky and support their growth and development, and build and sustain technology-driven and research-focused industries with the goal of creating technology regions within the state.
• $500,000 would fund three specific planning projects: developing a  knowledge-based economic development strategy, conducting an entrepreneurial audit of state government practices, and preparing an economic development strategy targeting the financial services industry.
• $2 million would fund workforce training initiatives that target high-tech jobs.

The plan also calls for the creation of the Kentucky Innovation Commission, a 15-member independent advisory council including the governor, executive cabinet officials, legislative representatives, and private sector members. The commission would provide information to the Governor and to the Legislature regarding the status of the business, research and development, and high technology training areas within the state. Staff support for the commission would be provided by the state budget office.

For more information or the complete version of the bill, visit: http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/record/00rs/HB572.htm