Top Stories from 2016 and a Preview of 2017

This week, we take a look at the top SSTI Weekly Digest stories from 2016 and give you an idea of what to look for in the coming months.

Venture capital market stories are always popular with our readers, and this year you found the January story VC Trends to Look for in 2016 particularly interesting. If you liked that one, you may have also read one of the follow ups that ran later in the year, when Companies Receiving VC Funding Declined for 5th Straight Quarter, or you may have turned to the picture of the global VC market in the story that ran the following week. And you’ll want to check back for more information on what is happening with VC in 2017 in the forthcoming January and February issues.

Those interested in news regarding universities, startups and accelerators checked out the University Pre-Accelerators the New Hot Trend, story that ran in February. We’ll be reaching out to some of those pre-accelerators to find out what sort of success they’ve had and get back to you on their stories in 2017. Graduates and other professionals may have checked out our Recent Research: Do Jobs Follow People, or People Follow Jobs?, or perhaps a different piece we ran on research examining College Majors and Underemployment Following the Great Recession. Scientists and engineers who are not working in their field of study could possibly relate to Engineering Job Mismatch Spurs Study. And for those that are at the university level, we recently ran a couple of stories revealing how university R&D funding has shifted (University R&D Funding Sources Shift While Overall Level Grows and Useful Stats: 50 State Table Reveals University R&D Change Over Five Years) and we’re digging deeper into those stats to bring you further analysis of what the numbers mean and will profile those results in the coming months.

We covered the new rules in equity crowdfunding and changes to the definition of accredited investor, with additional stories regarding innovative funding and the more recent story on alternatives to the traditional VC model.

You were also interested in our analyses of business R&D performance and intensity by state.

Workforce stories were popular, as well. The $1 billion investment in community development, workforce training, and innovation that was announced in Massachusetts in August was a popular read. Learning how workforce impacts economic resiliency resonated, as did reading about state efforts to build the talent pipeline and support of workforce development by several foundations.

We were proud to report on the success of the Regional Innovation Strategies program, one of our top legislative priorities, that benefited 35 organizations this year with $15 million in funding. We hope to bring you more success stories from the program in 2017.

And in looking ahead to the coming year, you were interested in our Agenda for President-elect Trump to Move America Toward an Innovation Economy, and we promise to keep you up to date on developments as they occur. 

Those were just a few of our top stories from 2016. Check back on our website, subscribe to the SSTI Weekly Digest, and become a member to stay attuned to the top stories in TBED in 2017!