SSTI Digest

John S. Maxson has been named as the new president of The Illinois Coalition. Mr. Maxson fills the position vacated by Shaye Mandle earlier this spring.

The Illinois Innovation Initiative has named Jerry Mitchell to serve as commercialization manager. Mr. Mitchell is also president of the Midwest Entrepreneurs Forum.

Shaye Mandle has resigned as president of the Illinois Coalition to accept a position as the new executive director of the East West Corporate Corridor Association in DuPage County.

More than $1.26 billion in royalties were collected by U.S. colleges and universities in FY 2000, according to the tenth annual licensing survey released by the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM). In addition, the FY 2000 Annual AUTM Licensing Survey reported 347 new products were introduced to market and at least 454 spin-off companies were created by the institutions, where inventors filed for more than 8,500 U.S. patents.  Attesting to the localized economic development impact of strong university research, more than 80 percent of the start-up companies were located in the academic institution's home state or province.  Other survey highlights include:  Two-thirds of the 4,346 new licenses/options in FY 2000 were granted to companies with fewer than 500 employees. Start-up businesses were launched to commercialize 626 of the licenses. New licenses rose 11 percent over 1999 survey results.  Invention disclosures rose 6 percent from 1999 to a FY 2000 total of 13,032.  Patent applications grew by 15…

Illinois  The March 7 Chicago Tribune reported that the new 840-acre DuPage County Technology Park has hired its first executive director. Jack Tenison, deputy administrator for county government in Dupage, will start the position April 1 and will work to link development of the property with the nearby Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Argonne National Lab, the area universities, and the adjacent airport. The Trib says a $34 million state grant will pay for planning and preliminary construction of the park.  Indiana  The Purdue Research Foundation is planning to build a technology center with the hopes of attracting high-tech companies. The Northwest Indiana Technology Center will be built on 400 acres the university purchased in 1998 and will serve as an incubator, providing office space, phone systems and computer equipment. In addition, the center will be modeled after the 600-acre Purdue Research Park located near the university's West Lafayette campus.  Mississippi  Mississippi State…

This is the final installment in this year's coverage of the Governors' State of the State and Budget Addresses highlighting issues of importance to the tech-based economic development community. Illinois George Ryan, State of the State/Budget Address and Supporting Press Materials, February 20, 2002 Funds will be earmarked for a new post-genomics institute at the University of Illinois, a new chemical sciences building at UI's Chicago campus, a cancer research center at Southern Illinois University in Springfield, and a new facility for the treatment of juvenile diabetes at the University of Chicago. Continued support for a new biomedical research building and a nanotechnology center for Northwestern University. Citing a federal government commitment of $1 billion, a nearly $100 million per year operating budget, and employment of 400 highly skill engineers and scientists, the Governor calls for $13 million in support for the Rare Isotope Accelerator. Scientists at the Argonne National Laboratory in the Chicago area are trying to land the…

Chicago Chicago CivicNet recently named 22 firms as finalists for an endeavor to build and operate a network connecting 1,600 public buildings in Chicago with fiber optic cable. CivicNet, an initiative of the City of Chicago and the Mayor's Council of Technology Advisors, saw more than 60 companies respond to the Request for Information issued by the City in November 2001. A finalist competing for CivicNet's Request for Proposals (issued in December) will win $25 million a year for the next 10 years to build the digital network that, being extended to private homes and businesses, would mean considerable additional revenue. A listing of the finalists, who must submit proposals by March 29, is available at: http://www.chicagocivicnet.net/ New York Numerous business and academic leaders recently joined Gov. George Pataki to announce up to $150 million in private sector support for a Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics in Buffalo. Plans for the center call for a 150,000-square-foot building to house drug design research space, computational and three dimensional…

Carbondale, Illinois The latest issue of the Illinois Coalition's TechAlert reports Southern Illinois University at Carbondale has broken ground on the $40 million, 45-acre Southern Illinois University Research Park. Plans call for the park to include 12 buildings totaling nearly 236,000 sq. ft. When full, the park should house approximately 75 companies with 800-1,200 tech-skilled employees. Financing for the initial phase has come from an Illinois FIRST grant of $500,000, a $300,000 Congressional earmark, and approximately $700,000 in other federal funds. Verizon also has invested $800,000 in an on-site fiber optic switching center. The park is adjacent to the university's Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Center, which houses the Southern Regional Center of the Illinois Manufacturing Center and the Business Incubator Program. Roanoke, Virginia Residents are beginning to question the rapid rise in Roanoke's debt load to finance many redevelopment projects aimed at making the city more attractive for technology businesses, according to a recent story in…

With 90 percent of Chicago’s economy in slow-growth sectors such as manufacturing, retail, financial services and real estate, leaders from business, academia, government and nonprofit groups have joined forces to develop and implement a strategy to establish the city as a key player in the New Economy. Mayor Richard Daley unveiled A New Economy Growth Strategy for Chicagoland earlier this month, accompanied by announcements of new initiatives and commitments by leaders of several entities central to the plan’s success.  The plan calls for a unified effort toward two goals: 1) make Chicago a prime location for technology startups, and 2) create world-class leadership in priority New Economy sectors of biotechnology/biomedical, wireless software, software development, and emerging technology such as nanotechnology.  To achieve the first goal, five areas are to receive attention:  increase availability of “smart” capital, such as venture capital, angel investment, technology investment by incumbent businesses, and seed capital from other…

With ten firms, Chicago leaders win bragging rights for being called home by the greatest number of Inc. magazine's "Inner City 100," the fastest growing urban businesses. In fact, six of the top 50 companies were from the Windy City. Five businesses from Buffalo won inclusion in the magazine's list, earning the New York city the unofficial title as the second most popular home. Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Oakland, CA each had four companies on the list. The "Inner City 100" is compiled by Inc. and the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, a nonprofit organization founded by Harvard professor Michael Porter. The list of 100 firms, selected based on five-year sales growth, was narrowed from more than 2,300 nominations. Profitability and number of employees are not considered in making the award, although to be eligible for consideration, a company must have had at least 10 employees and $1 million in sales in 1999. To see the full list, visit: http://www.inc.com/incmagazine/inner100/

The e-newsletter of the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds, NASVF Net News, reports Sallie Traxler has become the Executive Director for the Council of Development Finance Agencies. Also, the e-newsletter reports Dan Loague has been promoted to the position of NASVF Executive Director.

Advanced Technology Program The Advanced Technology Program (ATP) within the National Institute of Standards and Technology is accepting applications for three leadership positions: the Deputy Director for ATP, the Director of the Economic Assessment Office, and Director of Information Technology and Applications. Starting pay for all three positions is $115,811 - $130,200. Position descriptions and application procedures are available at the following webpages: Deputy Director, ATP http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/wfjic/jobs/BT4653.htm Director, Economic Assessment Office http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/wfjic/jobs/BT4643.htm Director, Information Technology and Applications http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/wfjic/jobs/BT4623.htm Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University invites applications for the position of Assistant Director of State and Federal Relations. The successful candidate will provide professional support for the Executive Director of State and Federal Relations, serving as a staff advisor in the execution of the University’s overall state and federal…