SSTI Digest

Entrepreneurial support and capital access remain key concerns for regional innovation economies, as evidenced by the abundance of new activity in 2019. From accelerators, many of which are sector-specific, to seed funds, we highlight 26 of the most interesting developments from the past year. This is the latest in our series of articles highlighting innovation system activities in states across the country in 2019.

SSTI notes the recent passing of two officials who helped shaped the impact science and technology had on the American economy. Dr. Mary Good served as Under Secretary of Technology in the U.S. Department of Commerce during the Clinton Administration led the Administration’s Clean Car Initiative and oversaw NIST at the time the Manufacturing Extension Partnership began its expansion to national presence. Mary was as passionate as she was smart. You can read more about her life here.

A strong advocate for building bridges between states, universities and industry, Dr. Joseph Bordogna’s career included nine years as deputy director at the National Science Foundation during the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations. In addition to advocating for the Partnerships for Innovation program, he was a consistent voice at NSF for including state perspectives in NSF’s operations. Joe’s accomplishments were many, and they are captured in his obituary.

Sensing a gap in conversation about the importance of higher education, Strada Education Network and Gallup partnered to conduct a study on how Americans value their educations. The resulting report focuses on the relationship between two primary questions; whether consumers feel their educations were worth the cost and if they felt their educations made them attractive job candidates.

The U.S. continues to be the global leader in total R&D expenditures, spending $483 billion (adjusted to 2010 purchasing parity dollars) in 2017 compared to China’s expenditures of $443 billion. However, according to a recent publication from the National Science Foundation, China surpassed the U.S. in expenditures on experimental development in 2014 and has since continued to increase its lead. In 2017, China spent more than $370 billion on experimental development compared to just over $300 billion in the United States.

Across the U.S., the federal government provided 53 percent of R&D funding at institutions of higher education in FY 2018. Those institutions provided 26 percent of the funding themselves, and most of the remainder was provided by a mix of nonprofit organizations (7 percent), industry (6 percent), and state and local government (5 percent). The specific contributions varied from state to state, however, with some relying more on specific relationships to support R&D within the state.

As covered recently by SSTI, NSF’s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics provides survey data on R&D funding at institutions of higher education. NSF’s report includes source of funding, attributable to federal government, state and local government, institutions, business, nonprofit organizations, or other sources.

Turning good intentions into actions is part of the motivation behind a recent report from the Community Strategies Group (CSG) of the Aspen Institute. The report, Rural Development Hubs: Strengthening America’s Rural Innovation Infrastructure, focuses on actions that could build capacity to advance rural community and economic development to improve equity, health and prosperity for future generations. Identifying those that are working to “do development differently” in rural America, the report draws on the wisdom of leaders from 43 rural intermediaries, and includes recommendations on creating stronger rural development systems.

SSTI is excited to announce Little Rock, Arkansas, as the site for our 2020 Annual Conference, Oct. 5-7. The conference is the premier gathering of practitioners and policymakers from across the country who work to create a better future through science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship.

“Bringing the conference to Little Rock and sharing the story of what is happening in Arkansas with others will give people from throughout the country the opportunity to see the progress that’s being made in the state,” said Dan Berglund, SSTI president and CEO. “We are thrilled to be working with the Arkansas Research Alliance, along with the many partners that they have assembled, who will be able to tell the story of the challenges they have faced, and what they have done to overcome them. We think it’s a story that will resonate throughout the country.”

While Virginia has worked over the past 30 years to build their innovation economy, this past year it changed up the game. SSTI recently talked with Robby Demeria, Virginia’s deputy secretary of commerce and trade for technology, about the planning underway in Virginia and how the commonwealth is proceeding with a new initiative to grow their economy.

Tax incentives don’t affect a company’s decision on where to locate in a majority of cases, according to a new book. Making Sense of Incentives: Taming Business Incentives to Promote Prosperity by Timothy J. Bartik of the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research does conclude that better-designed tax-incentive programs “when combined with business services and other smart policies … can be a cost-effective way to promote inclusive local economic growth.”

The Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC) is showcasing a new, online gallery of successful stories of regional value produced when state and local government entities and federal laboratories work together. The State and Local Government T2 Partnerships Gallery features 11 stories from nine states, spotlighting partnerships from nine federal agencies, 12 federal laboratories, and their respective state and local government partners. Each successful collaboration explains the R&D that produced innovative technologies, and how the technologies have benefited local communities and economies nationwide. The stories are available to download and share, and cover topics such as:

Earnings for Appalachian manufacturing workers grew 3.4 percent from 2012 through 2017 to an average of $63,583. The growth is in the Appalachian Regional Commission’s Industrial Make-up of the Appalachian Region, 2002-2017, which reviews employment and wages by sector across the region. Appalachian workers overall saw earnings increase by 3.7 percent over the five years. In the rest of the country, manufacturing wage growth was 1.2 percent or 3.3 percent across all sectors.

Expenditures in higher education R&D (HERD) grew in FY 2018, increasing by $4.1 billion over FY 2017, the largest year-over-year increase since FY 2010-2011 according to an SSTI analysis of recently released data from the National Science Foundation’s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. For the 10-year period from FY 2009 to FY 2018, HERD grew by 38.4 percent nationally, representing an increase of nearly $22 billion. Higher education R&D expenditures grew the fastest over this 10-year period in the District of Columbia (78.2 percent), Connecticut (65.5 percent), Washington (59.5 percent), and Utah (59.3 percent). The largest absolute gains over the same period were seen in California ($2.5 billion increase), New York ($2.3 billion), and Pennsylvania ($1.6 billion). The map below shows the one-, five- and 10-year percentage changes in each state’s higher education R&D expenditures.