SSTI Digest

Several of the key economic development and science & technology positions have been filled by some of the nation's 24 new governors. Many of these individuals will be involved in setting the state's tech-based economic development agenda and determining budget cuts, reorganization plans or program eliminations to handle the money squeeze. In addition, a few other lead S&T agencies have announced top-level changes.

Arizona Chris Cummiskey has been named director of the Government Information Technology Agency by Governor Janet Napolitano. Cummiskey served in the state senate since 1994 before running unsuccessfully for secretary of state last fall.

A new biotech report funded by a private foundation finds Arizona possesses many of the essential elements needed to become a national leader in the biosciences. Now, all the state needs is at least 10 years and a $1.4 billion public-private investment, according to the report Platform for Progress: Arizona's Bioscience Roadmap.

The Flinn Foundation is counting on the encouraging findings of its report, the detailed roadmap therein, and the momentum of the planning process to help energize the entire state to make the necessary effort. The planning process was overseen by a 25-member committee of state, business, university and economic development leaders.

Some of the 200-plus ballot measures decided in the 2002 General Election held Tuesday were dedicated to promoting tech-based economic development (TBED). The results were generally mixed, however. Promoters of Michigan's Life Sciences Corridor were pleased with the failure of an initiative that would have dictated the allocation of the state's tobacco settlement funds, including a smaller amount than the state is currently spending on life sciences research. However, the stock  market's decline over the last two years may have played a role in voters' rejection of several investment-related measures. Below, SSTI highlights some of the TBED- and university-related measures and initiatives that were addressed by voters in a dozen states.

Those that passed include the following:

The economic downturn and continuing state and local fiscal problems are not stopping most efforts to develop tech-based economies. Here are a few examples of recent groundbreakings from around the country.

Carl Russell has resigned as president and CEO of Tucson Technology Incubator Inc. Bo Statham, a consultant to UniSource Energy Corp. on new business development and a client adviser at the incubator, has been named interim president.

Tuesday’s primary resulted in the selection of gubernatorial candidates in nine states: Arizona, Connecticut, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin. As of press time, Florida’s primary results on the Democratic side were still uncertain.

SSTI reviewed the candidates’ campaign websites to determine their positions on economic development and the role of science and technology in today’s economy. Conventional political wisdom would indicate that in poor economic times, a major campaign theme would be economic development. If that’s the case this year, the theme is not reflected in most candidates’ websites.

The new Arizona Technology Council (ATC) has announced its vision and mission as a non-profit association committed to growing member companies and the technology industry in Central and Northern Arizona. ATC, formed in cooperation with the Arizona Department of Commerce, Southern Arizona Tech Council, various organizations and technology trade associations, will be led by former Phoenix mayor and ATC Chairman Paul Johnson, an appointed executive committee and a board of directors comprised of a cross-section of academic, private and public sector professionals.

Arizona was one of the first states to embrace cluster-based economic development in the early 1990s. While the formal clusters have had varying degrees of success since then, one of the challenges of a cluster-based approach to technology-based economic development is the fractionalized focus across sectors. Because of this, clusters can end up competing against each other for limited public resources, making cross-sector strategies difficult to identify or implement.

Research and studies also are usually concentrated on a particular sector rather than looking at the similar needs and issues that arise in several clusters or span many clusters.

The Greater Flagstaff Economic Council has announced Lewis Humphreys is its new vice president. Humphreys was with the Greater Tucson Economic Council.

Of Arizona's 664,454 businesses, 98 percent qualify as small businesses with fewer than 100 employees, according to a study released by the Arizona Department of Commerce and the Arizona State University's Center for the Advancement of Small Business. The study was conducted by the Masters Consulting Group (MCG), an MBA student organization at ASU's College of Business.

The number of Arizona's small businesses, estimated at 651,317 by the MCG report, includes 281,022 home-based businesses. For comparison, Arizona had 329,031 small firms in 1997, the last year for available U.S. Census data. The 1997 total, however, does not include limited liability partnerships, limited liability companies, not-for-profit corporations, and C corporations.

Arizona The Governor's Strategic Partnership for Economic Development (GSPED) has formally recognized the state's 12th industry cluster, E-Learning. The implementing organization for the cluster is the Globalized E-Learning Association, which grew from earlier efforts by the Arizona Telecommunications and Information Council, the telecommunications infrastructure foundation under GSPED. E-Learning is the 12th Arizona cluster recognized by GSPED since its inception in 1992.

Albuquerque, New Mexico Tenants of the Sante Fe Business Incubator have seen their one-story building increase from 10,000 sq. ft. to 30,000 sq. ft., according to a story by the Albuquerque Journal. The expansion is part of a $2.5 million project funded by the federal Economic Development Administration (EDA), the Regional Development Corporation and other agencies.

Arizona The U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce has started the Women's Business Growth Leadership Council to help boost women owned business revenue in Arizona, the Business Journal in Phoenix reported. The group is designed to help women better obtain financing and procurement opportunities from the government and large corporations.