State and Local Tech-based ED RoundUp

Baton Rouge 

The Louisiana Business and Technology Center (LBTC) celebrated on Wednesday its 13th year of existence with a reception at the Louisiana State University Faculty Club, honoring those tenants to graduate from the center's incubation program. LBTC, a small business incubator located on the campus of LSU in Baton Rouge, began in 1988 as a joint venture between LSU, the Greater Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce and the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority. The center has over 45,000 sq. ft. of office space that is currently leased to 20 tenant companies and has graduated 82 companies since 1988, including 66 companies still in operation. 



Folkston, Georgia 

A vacant school in Folkston soon will be home to the Okefenokee Education and Research Center, according to the Georgia Edition of The Florida Times-Union. Two million dollars from the state General Assembly and an agreement between the Georgia Wildlife Federation and Folkston is making way for the center. The first phase of the project will house researchers and student groups. The center also is expected to offset tax revenues and the jobs Charlton County lost when a local mining endeavor was abandoned. For more information, visit: http://www.nwf.org/okefenokee/edcenter.html 

New Jersey 

Either a testament to the program's design or the state of the economy, the New Jersey Technology Business Tax Certificate Transfer Program has become increasingly popular during the last two years. The program, a model used for similar tax credits in other states, allows small technology and biotechnology firms to sell unused Net Operating Loss carryforwards and unused R&D tax credits to other New Jersey corporations for at least 75 percent of their value. The state approved 118 applications totaling $40 million this year, the cap for the program. Last year, only 91 companies received the credit. More information is available at: http://www.njeda.com 

Sturgis, South Dakota 

While the economic synergy achieved through geographic proximity of information technology and biotech firms has been touted greatly, there are benefits of clustering in even more specialized sectors as well — food for thought for communities and regions lacking the research and corporate strengths to be the next Silicon Valley. The South Dakota Governor's Office of Economic Development recently announced the decision of a third gun manufacturing company to locate in Sturgis (pop. 6,444) in less than two months. A high-quality labor pool and the manufacturing-friendly economic development offices of the town, county and state were cited by the latest company as important reasons for the relocation.