TBED Tidbits

$10M Donation Funds Johns Hopkins Biomed Facility, Research Park

The Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University received a commitment of $10 million from the John G. Rangos Sr. Family Charitable Foundation. The institute - intended to provide space for interdisciplinary biological and medical research - will be housed in the first building constructed in the new life sciences park in East Baltimore, an $800 million urban redevelopment project. Groundbreaking for the building was held April 17 in the 80-acre park managed by East Baltimore Development Inc.

Kauffman Extends Entrepreneurship Support Across the Pond

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is joining forces with the United Kingdom's National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE) to create a scholarship program for 15-20 of Britain's most promising young entrepreneurs in a move backed by the UK's Department for Education and Skills and its Small Business Service. Beginning in September, the NCGE-Kauffman Entrepreneurship Fellows will develop their entrepreneurial skills and ideas for starting a business by spending six months in the U.S. with some of America's most innovative entrepreneurial thinkers, experts and business leaders. The students, selected by the NCGE, will spend the first three months in the UK in preparation for their period in the U.S. where, hosted by the Kauffman Foundation, they will spend time both in an entrepreneurial university setting and at entrepreneurial companies.

Effort to Create Colorado Institute of Technology Abandoned

The Colorado Institute of Technology, a first-term initiative of Gov. Bill Owens, is closing its doors after six years. The publicly established tech school was conceived to be entirely privately supported to the tune of $250 million. When originally founded, CIT received $41 million in funding by a few large organizations from the telecommunications and information technology fields. CIT activities focused on providing grants to support the development of new programs and curriculum opportunities for engineering, science and technology students in Colorado colleges and universities. Continuation funding never materialized, due in part, proponents say, to the restructuring of Colorado's IT community after the dot-com crash. With more than 10,000 students trained, CIT operations will cease at the end of April.

Texas Manufacturers Organize

Twenty-five Texas manufacturers signed on as founding members for the new Texas Association of Manufacturers (TAM) last month. With membership already spanning 12 industry sectors, the association is focusing its initial efforts on the special session of the state legislature and specifically on tax reform. Within weeks of forming, TAM joined 22 other associations in endorsing Gov. Perry's tax reform plan: http://www.governor.state.tx.us/divisions/press/pressreleases/PressRelease.2006-04-06.2542