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SSTI Digest

SBA to pilot 7(a) lines of credit against sales or assets to allow loans to more companies

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently announced plans to launch a 7(a) Working Capital Pilot (WCP) Program later this year. The program will offer a lines of credit, made by 7(a) lenders and backed by the SBA. It is designed to give greater flexibility than a traditional term loan. This pilot program, according to an SBA press release, will include both a “transaction-based” and “asset-based” model, allowing borrowers to leverage sales or assets to access working capital. Depending on the details of the capital structure that are revealed when the program launches, these models may enable both newer technology companies that have sales but few assets and legacy companies that have assets but insufficient cashflow to invest in new technologies with the opportunity to access financing through SBA’s popular 7(a) vehicle.

House Republicans advancing legislation to restructure NIH

House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers recently published Reforming the National Institutes of Health: Framework for Discussion. The blueprint calls for reducing the number of NIH institutes and centers (ICs) from 27 to 15, largely by merging some of them. The reorganization and proposed funding levels are illustrated in Figure 1.

Book Notes: Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI

Note: This brief quasi-book review/book synopsis is the first item in an experimental new section of SSTI’s newsletter, potentially joining other regular sections such as Useful Stats, Fed/Leg News, State News, Member Updates, and Recent Research. Its periodic continuation after the contributions we present over the summer will depend on feedback from our members and Digest readers. Comments may be shared with skinner @ ssti.org

Tech Hubs: EDA announces implementation awards

The Economic Development Administration today announced $504 million in funding across 12 Tech Hubs, the culmination of a 14-month selection process to choose the first regions funded for implementation projects under the program. The 12 Hubs receiving implementation awards are listed in the graphic below.

SBA seeks regional clusters; nonprofits welcome to apply

The Small Business Administration recently released a new solicitation for the Regional Innovation Clusters initiative. Unlike what SBA has done in recent years, and returning to the program’s roots, all nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply alongside for-profit firms. In a change from prior solicitations, proposals must include whether the work will support an emerging or mature cluster. The timeline is relatively tight: submissions are due July 26.

House budgets limit TBED funding, restructure NIH

The U.S. House Committee on Appropriations' decision to cut non-defense spending by six percent in its initial FY 2025 spending bills is yielding predictably mixed results for programs relevant to tech-based economic development (TBED). Amidst the overall cuts, flat funding for the Economic Development Administration’s Build to Scale ($50 million) and Tech Hubs ($41 million) might be viewed as positive news. Programs bearing the brunt of budget cuts include the rest of EDA (30% reduction), the Minority Business Development Agency (20% reduction), and the Small Business Administration’s accelerators competition ($0). Meanwhile, the committee is proposing to maintain level funding for the National Institutes of Health but condensing from 27 centers into 15.

NSF publishes new report on the STEM labor force

Nearly one out of every four workers in the United States is now involved in a STEM occupation, and 41 percent of those STEM workers do not have an associate’s degree or higher, according to data presented in the latest NSF Science & Engineering Indicator report, The STEM Labor Force: Scientists, Engineers, and Skilled Technical Workers.  

CHIPS R&D issues guidebook for creating education and workforce development plans

The CHIPS Research & Development Office (CHIPS R&D), part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, is tasked by the CHIPS and Science Act to invest $11 billion to ensure the U.S. develops and maintains a robust semiconductor workforce. Accordingly, CHIPS R&D anticipates that its Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) will require applicants to submit an Education and Workforce Plan (EWD). CHIPS R&D recently issued a guidebook for creating an EWD.

JumpStart reports $1.6 billion in economic impact on Ohio in 2023

The recently released annual impact report from JumpStart, a Northeast Ohio-based venture development organization celebrating its 20th anniversary this year provides one of the latest examples of the out-sized economic and social benefits states and regions receive by making sustained investments in well-designed nonprofit, public-private TBED initiatives supporting innovation-driven entrepreneurs.

Useful Stats: Net worth surges 37% coming out of the pandemic; entrepreneurs lead

Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the median net worth of Americans jumped an inflation-adjusted 37%, from approximately $141,000 to $192,000, representing the largest increase reported across available data from the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF). Breaking net worth down into its two main components, assets and debts, shows that while debts have increased, the sharp rise in assets—both financial and nonfinancial—has driven these numbers. When separating Americans into the self-employed and those employed by another person or company, interesting trends are revealed; self-employed individuals have higher median and average net worths, and, in 2022, for the first time ever, lower median debts. The old adage, it pays to be your own boss, seems to hold.

TBED COP Webinar: Immigration pathways for TBED

July 25 at 3pm ET | Free

National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) reveals R&D topics for Jump Start Projects

During a recent webinar presented by the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC), center representatives announced details of its initial round of R&D funding opportunities, as outlined in its vision for 2024 document. The projects to be funded, which NSTC refers to as Jump Start Projects, are (1) AI-based Radio Frequency (RF) Design and (2) Test Vehicles. ​ During the webinar, Jay Lewis, director of the CHIPS for America NSTC Program, noted that “the aim is to deliver impactful results through early investments in projects with a near-term time horizon.” ​He also announced that approximately $100 million will be available to fund the first set of external teams. ​ Further announcements regarding the NSTC facilities model and selection process, as well as the launch of a workforce center of excellence, are expected in the summer of 2024.

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