SSTI Digest

Policymakers and practitioners continually seek new ideas to integrate into their overall TBED strategies in order to capitalize on innovative approaches and remain a competitive force in the global marketplace. Over the last few months, two new concepts in TBED aimed at supporting higher education have surfaced in New York and Wisconsin with two distinct goals: achieving the status of a world-renowned research capital and increasing college graduates to raise per capita income.   NY Considers $3B for Research, Star Faculty, Education Zones In New York, Gov. Eliot Spitzer will consider a multi-billion investment in the State University of New York (SUNY) and the City University of New York (CUNY) intended to boost the state’s higher education system and enhance university research centers.   The New York State Commission on Higher Education – created by the governor earlier this year – released this week a preliminary report that calls for establishing a $3 billion research fund and hiring additional full-time faculty and eminent scholars. Additionally, the report endorses a compact for public higher education…

Jeffrey Boyce was named the assistant vice president of the Research Foundation of the State University of New York. Boyce had been the deputy commissioner for manufacturing services at Empire State Development.

Marilyn Higgins joined Syracuse University as vice president for community engagement and economic impact.

Linda Hartsock was hired by Empire State Development to serve as regional director for Central New York.

Implementing successful technology-based development initiatives in rural areas is an ongoing challenge for many parts of the country. Earlier this month, New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer signed legislation establishing a new program to stimulate employment and income growth by promoting cluster-based strategies in rural regions of the state. Sponsored by Sen. George H. Winner Jr., chairman of New York’s Legislative Commission on Rural Resources, Senate Bill 3234 outlines the Cluster Based Industry and Agribusiness Development Grant Program, which will provide seed grants of up to $25,000 on a competitive basis to community-based economic development corporations.   The initiative will be administered by New York’s Rural Revitalization Program while the funds will be dispersed by the Empire State Development (ESD) Corporation, the state’s lead economic development agency as part of its comprehensive rural revitalization program. Clusters are expected to be organized around the existing strengths in certain regions, as well as the emerging technologies and research under development at the universities and colleges dotting the landscape of rural New…

Jerome Mahone is the new director of Venture Creations, a business incubator at Rochester Institute of Technology.

Paul Tonko was elected as president and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. Tonko replaces Peter Smith, whose resignation is effective at the end of June.

Deal’s Impact on Texas Operations Remains Unclear If you follow college sports, you know all how strong rivalries can be between certain schools. Bragging rights after a football game spill over into competitions over everything. Those that cross neighboring state borders seem to have even more edge sometimes.   Follow the semiconductor industry for long and you will find similar rivalries arising between two states whose capitals are 1,575 miles apart: New York and Texas. Both states’ capitals – Albany and Austin – want to be the global center for nanoelectronics.   The trophy is SEMATECH, the semiconductor industry’s research consortium. The consortium is a research partnership that includes the largest commercial producers and consumers of semiconductors, comprising more than 50 percent of the world's microchip market.   The New York and Texas state governments have demonstrated over the years that they are willing to pay handsomely for that trophy, too.   News last week broke that New York may have pulled a coup – stealing SEMATECH’s headquarters from…

New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer nominated Edward Reinfurt to serve as executive director of the New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation. Reinfurt has been vice president of the Business Council of New York State, a statewide 4,000-member chamber of commerce, since its founding in 1980.

Jeffrey Corcoran has been named director of the new SUNY Fredonia High Technology Incubator in Dunkirk, N.Y.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer has named Avi Schick and David Emil, respectively, as chairman and president of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.

The Center for Economic Growth has selected F. Michael Tucker as its new president and CEO. Tucker replaces Kelly Lovell, who left the position in December to become president and CEO of International Business Development Group.