SSTI Digest

An advocate for small businesses in Washington known as “Mr. Small Business,” Milton Stewart died of pneumonia on Nov. 5 in Phoenix.

If you haven't purchased your 2005 wall calendar or updated your computer-based planner yet, you will need to soon, to schedule travel and update budget requests. At the top of many lists will be SSTI's 9th annual conference, Oct. 19-21, 2005 in Atlanta, but how do you conveniently find out about the many other high quality events happening throughout the year? While many organizations and associations only post their own events, SSTI maintains an open calendar web page as a service to the larger TBED community. Each of the more than 100 current announcements includes a link or contact to obtain additional information. For example, here is one offering from each of the next four months from the calendar page: Dec. 7-8: The 2nd Annual Southeast Wireless Symposium 2004 will be held in Winston-Salem, N.C. This year's theme is Broadband for Everyone - The Role of Wireless and Deploying Wireless. More information is available at: http://www.e-nc.org Jan. 9-13:  The 84th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board will be held in Washington, D.C. More information is available at…

The Oct. 25 issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest previewed ballot issues in six states that would have implications for their respective state efforts to grow a knowledge-based economy. The unofficial results at press time for each are provided below: Arizona -- Proposition 102, allowing university tech transfer authority, failed with 527 percent voting against. Arkansas -- Amendment Two, allowing state to issue $500 million in bonds for economic development, passed with 61.9 percent in favor. California -- Proposition 71, $3 billion stem cell research, passed with 59 percent in favor Maine -- Question 1, a property tax cap, failed with 63 percent against. Rhode Island -- Question 13, authorizing $50 million in bonds for a biotechnology center, passed with 57.9 percent approving. Utah -- Amendment Two, allowing university tech transfer authority, passed with 57.5 percent in favor.

While the presidential election has been dominating the news, voters across the country will be acting on an array of tech-based economic development issues on Election Day next week. The largest is an initiative in California that would provide up to $3 billion for embryonic stem cell research. If approved by California voters, Proposition 71 would have the potential of significantly changing the landscape of where stem cell research is carried out and have significant economic development implications. Under current federal regulations, federal funding for embryonic stem cell research is limited to a specific set of already existing lines. With $300 million in new state funding for the next 10 years, Proposition 71 could prove to be an irresistible force for researchers, setting California up to be the focal point for stem cell research in the U.S. Even if federal restrictions are eased, California's funding may put it in a dominant position as it will be better able to leverage funding from the National Institutes of Health. Other significant ballot measures are highlighted below: Arizona …

Garza Fernandez, president of the Southern Arizona Industry and Aerospace Alliance, announced her resignation to devote more time to the Technology Development and Research Institute.

Scott Davis will be the new director for the University of Arizona Office of Economic Development.

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, State of the State Address, Jan. 12, 2004 "The Governor's Council on Innovation and Technology recently released a blueprint for developing Arizona's tech industries, so that we can become pace setters in an increasingly competitive arena. [Note: See the Jan. 9 issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest for details.] "I plan to implement this strategy, which includes a package of legislation to establish early stage and venture capital investments in Arizona's growing innovative industry sectors. We must invest in these high-tech sectors and in our rural economies, to ensure growth in the number of high-paying jobs in Arizona. My legislation will help us to do just that, and it will not require money from the General Fund in 2005. "More than 20 states have made similar investments, and we must do the same if we are to compete for the future." Colorado Gov. Bill Owens, State of the State Address, Jan. 8, 2004 "Contrast the solid return on our tourism investment with the unacceptable record of the CAPCO…

In 2003, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano charged the Governor's Council on Innovation and Technology with developing specific recommendations to help diversify the state's economy. With recommendations including new and expanded tax credits, public-private venture capital, angel capital funds, workforce development and internship programs, and lobbying Washington for more funding, the governor now must find a way to finance the plan in a tight fiscal environment. The draft recommendations from the group, released in December, were developed through five strategic themes: building on Arizona's core competencies; investment versus expenditure; collaboration and partnership – engagement; accountability – measurements, shared responsibility; and leadership and commitment, both public and private. While some of the recommendations are vague, others are very specific: Establish the Arizona Small Business Opportunity Program, which would provide a tax credit of 30 percent to 35 percent to promote seed or pre-seed stage investment in the biosciences and rural Arizona. The credit could be deferred over…

The University of Arizona Office of Economic Development (UA OED) has released its annual report card on economic growth and development in the Arizona-Sonora region. Funded by the Arizona-Mexico Commission and the Arizona Department of Commerce, Regional Economic Indicators: Arizona-Sonora 2003 monitors economic changes in the Arizona-Sonora region via 33 indicators across four broad areas: Position in North American Free Trade Agreement and global markets; Cross-border economic integration; Performance of leading industry sectors; and, Dimensions of quality of life. Almost half of the 32 indicators are covered in the report's Leading Sectors section, which includes manufacturing, agribusiness, mining and transportation. The Arizona-Sonora region's share of border states' and U.S.-Mexico production levels is measured in each sector by looking at the sector's contribution to GSP. How Arizona and Sonora performed individually also are considered. In conducting the Arizona-Sonora region report, UA OED researchers relied on data from such sources as the U.S. Census Bureau,…

Arizona Universities Partner to Create Joint Biomedical Campus In an economy in which nearly every public university across the country is facing tighter budgets, the presidents of the three state universities of Arizona – the University of Arizona, Northern Arizona University, Arizona State University – have decided the best way to expand and improve the state’s biomedical research capabilities is to jointly form a single biomedical campus in downtown Phoenix. According to an Oct. 1 article in the Arizona Republic, the Arizona Biomedical Collaboration will facilitate coordination of research and encourage better interaction among student, faculty and other researchers. The project also should yield biotech spinoffs and additional economic development benefits for the city. ASU and UA have committed a combined $27 million toward the Arizona Biomedical Collaboration facility, which is expected to house as many as 15,000 students. Accelerator Expanding at Idaho State University Contributions totaling $1.8 million from the state, Idaho National Engineering and…

New university-based research efforts in biodesign, nanotechnology, embedded systems and virtual manufacturing show that Arizona has stepped forward to compete in the knowledge economy, according to a recent study by Morrison Institute for Public Policy, a unit of Arizona State University. The Institute's 44-page report, Seeds of Prosperity: Public Investment in Science and Technology, uses the research projects that ASU initiated with voter-approved Proposition 301, proceeds from a sales tax, as a lens for understanding the value of science and technology (S&T) research to Arizona's economy. It also introduces "CAT measures" designed to assess the lasting economic value of such research for the state and region. The CAT measures are intended to help assess whether connections were made among ASU researchers and external groups, attention was attracted to ASU's research, and talent was recruited, retained or developed. The researchers argue, "The CAT measures provide Arizona with a truly original way to evaluate the long-term economic development contribution of public investment in…

Since her inauguration in January, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano has pushed legislation intended to increase university tech transfer and commercialization (see related item in this issue). But will it work? Do economic incentives really encourage university researchers to pursue commercialization goals? Or are academics "pure" scientists, truly beyond monetary motives as many would argue? A new econometric model that looked at the tech transfer policies of 102 U.S. research universities and their licensing/royalty incomes during the 1990s finds that, yes, even academic researchers have their price. Economic incentives, such as royalty sharing arrangements, do affect the number of inventions produced and the licensing income generated by universities, according to Incentives and Invention in Universities. The recent National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper by Saul Lach and Mark Schankerman posits that, controlling for other factors such as institution size, quality, research funding and technology licensing inputs, universities that provide higher royalty shares to researchers…