SSTI Digest

Bond issues supporting higher education goals got mixed results in Tuesday’s election. A bond issue in Rhode Island to be used for the renovation and construction of the University of Rhode Island’s College of Engineering buildings was a winner in this year’s election, receiving 59.3 percent approval. The bond issue that would have created the Montana Biomedical Research Authority was not as lucky, with 56.9 percent of voters there rejecting the measure. Two other economic development measures fared well with Arkansas voters approving (65.22 percent) a referendum removing caps on state-issued bonds to help finance economic development projects and services. Alabama voters also approved (59.22 percent) an amendment giving communities the power to create zones to attract industry to the state. Other education funding initiatives had limited success. Proposition 51 in California authorizing $9 billion in general obligation bonds to fund improvement and construction of school facilities for K-12 schools and community colleges passed (59.41 percent). New Mexico voters approved authorizing $142.356 million in bond issuance for certain higher educational,…

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) announced a number of grants last week to aid regional innovation and entrepreneurship efforts through infrastructure improvements, the creation of new spaces, and business improvements in regions across the country. The grants fund projects in AR, AZ, CA, ME, MI, and OH. San Pedro, CA – A $3 million grant to AltaSea business hub will fund infrastructure improvements at City Dock No. 1 at the Port of Los Angeles, which will aid in the development of new ocean-related technologies. The hub will provide access to the deep-ocean and research space to study ocean-related problems. It is expected to create 220 jobs and attract $120 million in private investment over a six-year period. Phoenix, AZ – A warehouse in Phoenix will get new life as a makerspace through a $3 million grant to the Maricopa County Community College District and Gateway Community. The space will be used by students and individuals to access the tools and equipment needed to generate ideas and develop products. Akron, OH – A business incubator space will be created with the support of a $…

Venture development organizations are reaching into new territory for funding partners and finding success in innovative models. Two new funds, the San Diego Tech & Life Science Investor Syndicate and Rev1 Fund I in Columbus, OH, have recently opened with less traditional funding sources, testing the waters of crowdfunding and heavy corporate backing, respectively.  The San Diego fund, launched by CONNECT, allows anyone wanting to invest $1,000 the opportunity to participate alongside more experienced lead investors. Rev1 Fund I gathered significant backing from community corporate powerhouses located in Columbus, such as Nationwide, Cardinal Health, and Worthington Industries. It also has the backing of institutions like Ohio State University and the Columbus Foundation, as well as government backing from Ohio Third Frontier. The funding models present two ends of the spectrum of defining community involvement for venture development organizations. The San Diego Tech & Life Science Investor Syndicate expects to invest in about six deals a year, helping to fund early stage technology and life sciences startups in San Diego.  Crowdfunding has been…

Students at several California community colleges as well as California State University (CSU) campuses have access to a new incentive to graduate in four years through new state “promise” programs.  Gov. Jerry Brown Jr. signed SB 412 and AB 1741 creating “promise” programs that act in conjunction with a new 2025 Graduation Initiative, aiming to boost the number of students graduating from those institutions in four years to 40 percent. Success in the programs is intended to help address future workforce needs of California and improve achievement gaps. SB 412 supports eligible students in their pathways to a four-year degree through priority registration and academic advising. The California Promise program is open to students taking 30 units per year at select campuses and is designed to prioritize Pell-eligible and first-generation students, as well as those from underrepresented areas of the state.  At the same time, the California College Promise Innovation Grant program – established through AB 1741 – creates a $15 million grant program to incentivize community college districts to establish programs with the goals of…

A month after a federal court ruled that high-speed Internet service can be defined as a utility, four states have announced commitments to expand high quality, reliable broadband services to rural areas and other underrepresented groups. Two Midwest states, Wisconsin and Minnesota, will provide funding to help support projects that improve access to broadband and spur economic prosperity. California and Virginia are exploring strategies to improve their respective state’s broadband networks. The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) announced $35 million in broadband funding to expand broadband infrastructure in Minnesota. Approved during the 2016 legislative session, DEED will award grants through its Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant Program to pay for up to 50 percent of project development costs in unserved and underserved areas of the state, according to mhta.org. A maximum of $5 million per grant will be available. Under the new funding, $5 million will be targeted for underserved areas of the state and $500,000 for projects that propose to expand the availability and adoption of broadband service to areas…

In the last month, major new developments have occurred in TBED capital programs. Launch Tennessee and Pittsburgh-based Innovation Works both announced positive findings about the growth of their startup investment ecosystems with $1 billion being raised by Tennessee startups from 2012 to early 2016 and over $279 million invested in Pittsburgh startups in 2015. Meanwhile in Ohio, both Youngstown-based and Cincy-based startups will see an influx of capital, while a new $150 million fund focused on stem cell companies and regions has been launched. Tennessee Launch Tennessee (LaunchTN) announced that private investment in Tennessee-based, early stage companies surpassed $1 billion between 2012 and Q1 of 2016 – well ahead of its organizational goal of $1 billion invested by the end of 2017. LaunchTN attributes much of the local startup success to partnerships that have been cultivated with established organizations to offer mentorship at its accelerators. “Domain expertise from the music industry in Nashville and companies like FedEx in Memphis and Scripps in Knoxville gives our entrepreneurs real advantages in succeeding in those sectors,…

A bipartisan group of 17 governors signed the Governors’ Accord for a New Energy Future – a joint commitment to support the deployment of renewable, cleaner and more efficient energy technologies and other solutions to make the U.S. economy more productive and resilient as well as spur job creation in member states. The multi-state effort will work to implement clean energy policies and initiatives in four areas: clean energy, clean transportation choices, a modern electrical grid, and plan for a new energy future. Although the accord doesn’t provide specific efforts, senior advisors to participating governors are expected to convene shortly to discuss initial steps to pursue their shared priorities and commitments according to solarindustrymag.com. The 17 signatories are: Gov. Jerry Brown (CA); Gov. Dannel Mallory (CT); Gov. Jack Markell (DE); Gov. David Ige (HI); Gov. Terry Branstad (IA); Gov. Charlie Baker (MA); Gov. Rick Snyder (MI); Gov. Mark Dayton (MN); Gov. Brian Sandoval (NV); Gov. Maggie Hassan (NH); Gov. Andrew Cuomo (NY); Gov. Kate Brown (OR); Gov. Tom Wolf (PA); Gov. Gina Raimondo (RI); Gov. Peter Shumlin (VT);  Gov. Terry…

The California Community College Board of Governors unanimously approved a comprehensive workforce development plan to coordinate efforts across its 113-college system to help California close its considerable job skills gap, which is defined as the state needing one million workers credentialed for middle-skill jobs. The new plan includes 25 recommendations across seven areas of workforce development: student success; career pathways; workforce data and outcomes; curriculum; CTE faculty; regional coordination; and, funding. The recommendations are to help ensure a state-wide workforce with relevant skills and quality credentials that meet the needs of the state’s employers. The recommendations were developed by a 26-member Task Force comprised of individuals from inside the community college system and representatives of business, labor and equity groups. Read the announcement…

In his 1962 State of the Union address, John F. Kennedy said, "The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining."  Despite its foggy reputation, perhaps no region has had the sun shine on them more economically since that speech than California’s Bay Area. Currently, in spite of its strengths as a hub for talent, research, and innovation, the Bay Area lacks a cohesive and comprehensive regional economic strategy for sustaining economic growth, weathering business cycles and supporting shared prosperity. To combat this, A Roadmap for Economic Resilience: The Bay Area Regional Economic Strategy serves as a roof-repair-guide of sorts, offering viable solutions to support regionalism,  facilitate infrastructure investment, address housing affordability, encourage adaptive workforce development, and improve access to transportation options. The roadmap is a project of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, a think-tank focused on economic and policy issues facing the nine-county Bay Area region. According to the report, five examples of regional economic strategies were used to provide additional insight into the planning process. What makes…

In the first three quarters of 2015, U.S. venture capital firms have invested $47.2 billion, more than the year-end totals for 17 of the past 20 years, according to new data from the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). About $16.3 billion was invested in 1,070 deals in the third quarter, bringing the 2015 total to $47.2 billion in 2,239 deals. Investment activity is on track to reach its highest annual level since 2000, and the second highest year since the beginning of PwC’s Moneytree report. Both dollars and deal slightly fell in the third quarter, but still managed to rank as the second most active quarter since 2000. Venture capital activity also became a bit more democratic in the third quarter. The top 10 deals comprised 19 percent of all deals in Q3, down from 24 in Q2. These deals were spread across seven industries, indicating an unusual degree of diversity. While the top two sectors, Software and Biotechnology, continued to lead, activity was more evenly spread across industries. Media & Entertainment, Medical Devices and Equipment, IT Services and Industrial/Energy sectors all had more deals. Also, California…

Now that many governors have signed spending bills and legislative sessions are drawing to a close, the SSTI Digest will check on the status of proposals related to the innovation economy, and examine the state of technology-based economic development funding in the states. This week, we review spending bills in California, Iowa, Ohio and New Jersey. CaliforniaOn June 24, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a FY16 budget package that includes $115.4 billion in general fund spending. The final budget includes $49.4 billion in general funds for K-12 education, $14.2 for higher education and $214 million for labor and workforce development. Within the higher education allocation, there is $29.1 million in new funding for community college apprenticeship programs, including $14.1 million to expand current programs and $15 million for apprenticeship-demonstration projects in emerging industries. IowaIn early July, Gov. Terry Branstad approved $7.2 billion in general fund spending, but vetoed more than $55.7 million in K-12 education spending and $6.4 million for community colleges and state universities. The economic development budget (SF 499) includes $15.5 million…

Biotech is in the midst of an investment boom, at least in Silicon Valley. In the first quarter of this year, biotech firms in the region raised $574 million, the third highest quarter on record, according to data from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and reporting by the San Jose Mercury News. This peak represents a 103 percent increase over the same quarter the previous year. Nationwide, the sector is poised to attract a record-setting $7 billion this year, according to Bloomberg Business. However, Silicon Valley's biotech boom is less apparent in other parts of the country. U.S. biotech investment has generally tracked upward since the collapse that accompanied the 2008 recession. The recovery, however, brought a restructuring of the industry. Over the last seven years, the number of biotech deals secured has declined, while those that have received funding have gotten larger infusions of cash. In 2008, before the full effects of the crash were felt, 549 companies received a total of $5.2 billion, according to PwC/NVCA data. The following year, 2009, was the nadir of the recession for venture capital, dropping…