SSTI Digest

USTAR hosted the Utah Technology Innovation Summit last week to celebrate the state’s achievements in the field. The event featured strong pro-science and innovation statements from a variety of politicians and awards to teachers and scientists. During the opening, USTAR Director Ivy Estabrooke was named the governor’s science advisor (pictured at right). The summit was held in the same venue as SSTI’s 2018 Annual Conference.  

SSTI’s analysis of approved FY2018 state budgets continues with a review of action by the Georgia and Utah legislatures. Stability is the word for both states with level funding for the Georgia Research Alliance, Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, and Utah’s USTAR program. The Georgia legislature did approve the governor’s proposal to increase funding for scholarship programs by $50 million. Georgia Georgia’s FY 2018 budget includes a significant increase for the state’s HOPE Scholarship program and stable funding for the Georgia Research Alliance and Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute. The HOPE Scholarship and Zell Miller Scholarship program budgets increase $50 million from $715 million in FY 2017 to $766 million in FY 2018 in keeping with the governor’s recommended budget; the HOPE Scholarship program provides tuition assistance for students that graduated from high school with at least a 3.0 GPA, while Zell Miller recipients must graduate with a minimum 3.7 GPA and a minimum 1200 SAT score on the math and reading portions or a minimum 26 on the ACT. The Georgia Research Alliance…

Noting a growing need for additional education to meet workforce needs, several states have announced programs focusing on education and workforce needs, channeling state funding to grants that will focus on aligning learning opportunities with business and industry needs, or creating new initiatives in the private sector. Reaching a higher educational attainment among a greater percentage of the workforce by 2025 is also a goal set by several of the states. Among the initiatives undertaken are free tuition options in Arkansas through the ARFuture grant, Nevada STEM Workforce Challenge Grants, a grant program in Utah focused on education and industry, and a private sector effort in New Hampshire. In Arkansas, Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed the ARFuture grant bill early this month, providing two years of tuition and fees at an Arkansas community or technical college to any state student who enrolls in a high-demand field of study, such as computer science or welding, or in a STEM field. The new grant will be funded by repurposing $8.2 million in general revenue funds from the state’s Workforce Improvement Grant (WIG), a needs-based grant for adult students 24 years old…

More than half of the country’s governors have delivered their state of the state addresses. Last week’s addresses tended to relate to the national election and the incoming administration, with some governors heralding the change and others pledging to try to reach a bipartisan understanding while standing firm on issues they believe in, like climate change in California. Although TBED issues may not have been at the forefront of the addresses, science, technology and especially innovation and higher education continue to receive attention. This week we zero in on comments delivered by governors in California, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana and Utah. California Gov. Jerry Brown thanked those that were gathered to hear his address for their enthusiasm, noting that, “It is just what we need for the battle ahead. So keep it up and don't ever falter.” Instead of the usual address laying out his plan for the state, Brown used his address to focus on the state within the broader context of the country and its challenges. While he did not focus on technology issues, he did stress the science behind climate change and…

SSTI has analyzed more recently released state budgets for TBED-related initiatives, and this week we present findings from our review of AZ, GA, IA, IN, UT and VA.    Arizona Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s proposed $9.8 billion FY 2018 budget would support R&D infrastructure at the state’s three public universities (University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and Northern Arizona University) through the newly-announced University Capital Investment Program. This program would enable universities to use the transaction privilege tax revenues that they generate for as much as $1 billion in bonding for new research and development infrastructure, including deferred maintenance projects. Education is a major emphasis of the governor’s proposed budget, and while the majority of funds go toward teachers and schools more broadly, Ducey also proposes $5 million in new investments to help connect rural schools to high-speed internet, as well as $200,000 to support a new statewide computer science and coding initiative. The Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA), the state’s main economic development arm, would receive $54,969,…

As the school year kicks off, several corporate foundations have announced new commitments to support hands-on K-12 science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) experiences for children across the country. These new partnerships continue a trend of corporate funders bypassing funding for STEM curriculum development to focus on active learning experiences that are shown to have positive impact on STEM retention. Among the corporate foundations making announcements include Microsoft Philanthropies, Motorola Solutions Foundation, and Qualcomm. On September 5, Virginia Tech University (Virginia Tech) and Qualcomm Inc. announced the launch of the  Qualcomm Thinkabit Lab at Virginia Tech’s Northern Virginia Center in Falls Church, VA. Through a multi-year partnership, the Thinkabit Lab experience offers both teachers and students an engaging learning environment including access to laboratory space, a makerspace, and classroom sessions. The intent of the Thinkabit Lab is to offer K-12 students “first introduction to hands-on STEM learning and real-world careers.”  Additionally, Virginia Tech faculty research will assess how…

To build 21st century workforces in key S&T sectors, several new public-private initiatives have been launched in South Carolina, New Jersey, Utah, and Montana. These initiatives are intended to better align the educational training of students with the needs of industries that each respective state has identified as a key industry cluster. Target industries include advanced manufacturing, aerospace, biotechnology, chemistry and plastics, and cyber security. South Carolina Earlier this month, in partnership with the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance, the state announced the launch of the South Carolina Future Makers (SC Future Makers) workforce initiative. The initiative’s mission is to increase the skilled workforce pipeline entering advanced manufacturing and technical-related careers. Via a web-based portal, individuals can search for careers in the state’s 10 key industry clusters. The portal also provides information on apprenticeships, technical colleges, and four-year colleges to expose and connect South Carolina’s next generation to all of the state’s educational and career-development opportunities. In partnership…

The National Governors Association’s (NGA) Center for Best Practices launched the 2016 Policy Academy on Scaling Work-Based Learning – a pilot program in six states that blends work experience and applied learning to develop youth and young adults’ foundational and technical skills to expand their education, career and employment opportunities. The goal of the program is to connect 16- to 29-year-olds with middle-skills career opportunities in STEM-intensive industries such as advanced manufacturing, health care, information technology and energy. The six states that will take part in the 18-month pilot program include Indiana, Iowa, Montana, New Hampshire, Utah, and Washington.  Read the press release: http://www.nga.org/cms/home/news-room/news-releases/2015--news-releases/col2-content/states-look-to-increase-career.default.html. 

A number of governors around the U.S. have already begun rolling out budget proposals for the next legislative session. This week, SSTI examines gubernatorial spending recommendations related to research, commercialization, STEM education and entrepreneurship in Alaska, South Dakota and Utah. See our previous article on proposals in Florida and Wyoming. AlaskaGov. Bill Walker released a $4.8 billion budget plan for fiscal year 2017, along with details of his administration’s plan to achieve long-term financial stability. The state’s budget would again be streamlined to address a $3.5 billion deficit resulting from the decline in oil prices and production, but Gov. Walker has also proposed a more extensive set of structural adjustments. Under the New Sustainable Alaska Plan, the state would reduce spending, restructure the Alaska Permanent Fund, institute the first personal income tax in more than 30 years, and pursue a natural gas pipeline project. Though the reductions would be less severe than last year, funding for state agencies would be again streamlined, with agency appropriations down 11 percent since FY 2015. The University of Alaska…

Over the past few months, SSTI has followed proposals issued by governors in their budget requests, State of the State Addresses, Inaugural Speeches and other events. Now that many state legislatures have begun approving budgets, the Digest will check on the status of these proposals, and examine the state of technology-based economic development funding in the states. This week, we review budgets in Arizona, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming ArizonaArizona legislators approved many of Gov. Doug Ducey's proposals to dramatically reduce higher education spending. The governor's budget recommended ending all funding for three of the state's community colleges. Under the approved bill, community colleges in Maricopa and Pima will lose all state support, though the Pinal County Community College system would receive about $2 million, according to an article in The Arizona Republic. However, STEM and workforce programs at state-funded community colleges will receive about $5 million. Legislators approved even larger reductions for the state's higher education system than the governor proposed. Gov. Ducey proposed a $75…

This article is part of SSTI's series on trends in state technology-based economic development legislation in 2014. Read our other entries covering legislative action on patent reform, research capacity, technology commercialization & infrastructure, tax credits & STEM and manufacturing & clusters. Addressing accessibility, affordability and ensuring workforce preparedness topped legislators’ agendas in many states during the 2014 sessions. States and regions are increasingly competing for talent as the trend toward growing and nurturing innovation ecosystems continues. Attracting and retaining high-tech companies also requires states to have a steady stream of tech-savvy workers. Specifically, policymakers are interested in matching worker skills with industry sectors important to their communities, and many of the efforts put into place during the legislative sessions focus on building long-term relationships between industry and higher education. Three states, Louisiana, Utah and Wisconsin, dedicated notably large sums of money toward workforce training with a STEM focus. One of the largest investments was made in Louisiana, where…

Spencer Eccles, executive director of the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development, is departing state government to form a private investment company. Travis Sheridan, currently the assistant vice president for innovation and entrepreneurship for the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, will become the new executive director of the Venture Café Foundation. Bill Turpin has been appointed president and CEO of the Missouri Innovation Center.