For three decades, the SSTI Digest has been the source for news, insights, and analysis about technology-based economic development. We bring together stories on federal and state policy, funding opportunities, program models, and research that matter to people working to strengthen regional innovation economies.
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The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES), housed within the National Science Foundation (NSF), recently launched a new “Indicators Explorer” data visualization tool that allows users to quickly build line, bar, and column charts as well as various maps and other graphics from within the Indicators platform. The tool draws on 28 indicators across topics pertinent to S&E such as patents, research publications, R&D expenditures, and the STEM workforce. NSF expects to update the tool periodically with new indicators and data.
When a major employer closes, jobs disappear, buildings sit empty, and communities are left wondering what comes next. A new white paper from the Association of University Research Parks (AURP) and the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) looks at how that disruption can become a starting point for economic reinvention.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT), and leaders from the state’s business and innovation sectors recently announced the creation of a new public‑private partnership: the Governor’s Competitiveness Council. Led by members of the business community in collaboration with government officials, the council will develop a long‑term, statewide vision to strengthen Colorado’s national business competitiveness and greater enhance the state’s innovation ecosystem. The council will also craft a data‑driven strategy to benchmark Colorado’s competitive advantages and identify legislative, policy, and regulatory recommendations aimed at further strengthening the state’s economy.
Strong regional ecosystems connect universities, entrepreneurs, investors, manufacturers, workforce organizations, and state and local governments. Rather than supporting just isolated institutions, federal agencies are now investing in collaborative regional networks capable of translating research into new companies, industries, and jobs. The intent is not for every region to become the next Silicon Valley, but to enable regions to compete by organizing around what they already do well.
As SSTI noted in its recent look at quarterly investment activity, gaining insight into angel investment is difficult because of the challenges of separating angel activity from seed and other early VC transactions. Fortunately, the Angel Capital Association (ACA) recently published a report that provides a deep dive into 2025 angel investment activity and provides more clarity on this important financial partner for regional innovation. The big picture takeaway from the ACA report is that, like VCs, angel groups are making larger investments in fewer companies.
As those involved with the longstanding, internationally recognized program know, an air of uncertainty has enveloped NIST’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) for the past two years. With the release of the new Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for MEP Centers (see SSTI’s write‑up here), it appears that perhaps many of those troubles may be in the past. Even so, the uncertainty has prompted many manufacturers, small businesses, and MEP centers to explore alternate funding sources, partnerships, and forms of assistance beyond NIST.
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released a Notice of Funding Opportunity for 14 Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) centers. The funding will establish MEP centers in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Utah and Vermont.
Selected applicants must secure nonfederal matching funds (or cost-share) of at least 50% and will enter into a cooperative agreement with NIST to operate the centers. The new centers will join the MEP National Network™, which comprises MEP centers across the country and includes nearly 1,400 manufacturing advisers and experts at more than 450 MEP service locations, with oversight provided by the MEP program at the federal level.
NIST plans to award up to the following amounts to centers in each location:
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced 278 awards to 342 participating institutions to fund projects with the goal of accelerating a new era of AI-driven scientific breakthroughs in energy, discovery science, and national security.
SSTI has mapped each of these Genesis Mission project awardees in Figure 1 below to provide a quick look at how these awards totaling up to $5 billion are geographically distributed.
The White House report from Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Director Michael Kratsios, Science: A New Golden Age, first announced in a July 22 Wall Street Journal article, iterates federal R&D policies and practices for FY 2028, outlines an almost industrial policy approach to federal investment, and provides a plan to move federal research programs toward a focus on individual scientists rather than university-based programs. It calls for more flexible, multidisciplinary, and multi-organizational, team-oriented research projects rather than centers housed within the nation’s research institutions.
The White House report from Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Director Michael Kratsios, Science: A New Golden Age, first announced in a July 22 Wall Street Journal article, iterates federal R&D policies and practices for FY 2028, outlines an almost industrial policy approach to federal investment, and provides a plan to move federal research programs toward a focus on individual scientists rather than university-based programs. It calls for more flexible, multidisciplinary, and multi-organizational, team-oriented research projects rather than centers housed within the nation’s research institutions.
As revenues continue to tighten, many states entered fiscal year 2027 (FY 2027)—which began July 1 for most—with cautious or constrained spending priorities. With the exception of South Carolina, all states have now enacted their FY 2027 budgets. Most adopted maintenance‑level or reduced spending plans that limited new recurring expenditures, reduced one‑time appropriations, and reprioritized core services such as Medicaid and education.
The U.S. Department of Commerce recently announced that the Economic Development Administration (EDA) intends to award $169 million across six selected Tech Hubs. The competition for this funding was open to the 19 designated Hubs that had not yet received EDA Tech Hubs Implementation Awards.
