SSTI Digest

A new program that builds upon the successes of North Dakota's Centers of Excellence and Research Excellence programs will fund up to half of the cost of R&D and commercialization projects conducted by the state's research universities. Under Research North Dakota (RND), the development and commercialization of new products will be achieved on a project-by-project basis and state funds will be matched with private-sector cash investment. Just two years ago, the eight-year old Centers of Excellence program was restructured as the Centers of Research Excellence to place a greater focus on R&D and commercialization activities. In their initial 2005 incarnation, the Centers of Excellence were more broadly focused in areas spanning energy and advanced manufacturing to workforce development and tourism (see the May 2, 2005 issue of the Digest). As part of a statewide effort to identify opportunities for growth in the coming years, a task force unveiled in November a recommendation to establish the Research North Dakota program as the successor to the centers program in its report North Dakota 2020 & Beyond. Under the RND program, no new centers will…

SSTI's Tech Talkin' Govs series has returned for its 13th annual edition. The series highlights new and expanded TBED proposals from governors' State of the State, Budget and Inaugural addresses across the nation. The first edition includes excerpts from speeches delivered in North Dakota, New Hampshire, New York, and Virginia. North DakotaGov. Jack Dalrymple, State of the State Address, Jan. 8, 2013“A year ago we set out on a state visioning process called 2020 and Beyond. We partnered with the North Dakota Chamber of Commerce and held meetings throughout the state to hear people's own ideas about how to create a better future for our state. ... “... We also heard that people in North Dakota are looking for more diversity in their career opportunities. This led us to recommend a new streamlined approach to the concept of public-private joint ventures that are based on ideas coming out of our research universities. We propose calling it Research ND, leveraging our universities to partner in ventures that create interesting, high-paying jobs.” New HampshireGov. Maggie Hassan, Inaugural…

On November 6, in addition to the presidential election, eleven state and two territorial gubernatorial contests will be decided. Seven of these races (Delaware, Missouri, North Dakota, Puerto Rico, Utah, Vermont, and West Virginia) include a sitting governor running for re-election, while the remaining six (American Samoa, Indiana, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Washington) are open races. Of the races involving incumbents, four are a Democratic governors being challenged, while three sitting Republican governors are up for re-election — two of them for a full term after completing the terms of the previous governors who left for other positions. Five of the open races are a contest for a seat being vacated by a Democrat, while only one is currently held by a Republican. SSTI took a look at the TBED platforms of the candidates for governor. Delaware Jack Markell (D)Gov. Jack Markell has pursued a multi-pronged approach to economic development that includes providing small businesses access to credit, creating tax incentives for businesses to hire Delawareans, expanding the research and job training facilities at the…

Tony Grindberg, executive director at the NDSU Research and Technology Park, has announced his resignation effective Sept. 30. He has accepted a position as the business unit manager for the Aerospace Business Unit of Appareo Systems, LLC. Appareo Systems is headquartered in the NDSU Research Park on the NDSU campus. Grindberg has been with the NDSU Research Park for the past 10 years. Harold Bradley has retired from the Kauffman Foundation after serving as chief investment officer since 2007. Bradley's departure follows that of Bob Litan, Kauffman's vice president for research and policy, who joined Bloomberg Government in Washington as director of research earlier this month. Mary McLean, the foundation's managing director of investments, will take on day-to-day responsibilities tied to the supervision of the investment staff. George Bald, New Hampshire's commissioner of the Department of Resources and Economic Development, is retiring effective Nov. 1. Thomas Rainey has been named director of the new Bioinspire medical device focused incubator program in Peoria, AZ. Maine Gov. Paul LePage has nominated Robert Martin to serve as…

As budgets for economic development tighten across all sectors, measuring and reporting impact becomes even more crucial for sustaining support. The Association of University Research Parks points to three impressive impact reports released this year from Indiana's Purdue Research Park, Nebraska Technology Park and North Dakota State University Research and Technology Park. The Purdue study found the park network is responsible for a $1.3 billion annual impact for the state and more than 4,000 high-quality jobs paying an average annual salary that is 65 percent higher than the state's average. In Nebraska, researchers found the University of Nebraska Technology Park has an estimated $589.6 million annual impact on the state's economy, and North Dakota State University Research and Technology Park generates $10.9 million annually for local and state governments. SSTI has compiled below recent announcements for development of tech parks from states including Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, South Carolina, and West Virginia. Phase II of the Alabama Robotics Technology Park opened in August. The 35,000-square-foot facility features a test…

Lawmakers last week passed the 2011-13 biennial budget, providing $12 million for the state's Centers of Research Excellence program. Although it is less than Gov. Jack Dalrymple's request of $20 million to expand the program and provide additional funding for three new centers, the legislature's appropriation will allow for continued investments in infrastructure and research capacity at a time when many states are reducing funding for TBED to help fill budget deficits. The approved budget also includes $1 million for technology-based entrepreneurship grants and establishes a program to provide matching grants for startup technology businesses. The budget bill for the Department of Commerce allocates $12 million for the Centers of Excellence over the biennium, down from $19.5 million last biennium. Of this amount, $4 million is set aside to advance a limited deployment-cooperative airspace project with the state's research universities, with $2.7 million awarded to the University of North Dakota (UND) and $1.3 million awarded to North Dakota State University (NDSU). Another $4 million each will go to UND and NDSU; however, $3 million of UND's funds…

TBED PeopleSSTI board members Rob Atkinson and Rebecca Bagley and SSTI member Stephen Tang were appointed to the U.S. Department of Commerce Innovation Advisory Board. The 15-member board will guide a study of U.S. economic competitiveness and innovation to help inform national policies. Tom Thornton, who recently resigned as president and chief executive of the Kansas Bioscience Authority, has joined Cleveland Clinic Innovations as its general manager of alliances. North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple named Alan Anderson to head the North Dakota Department of Commerce. Paul Govig has been serving as the acting commissioner since December of last year when Shane Goettle left the department. Govig will continue to serve as deputy Commerce commissioner. Lee Fisher, former Ohio lieutenant governor who also served as director of the state's Department of Development, has been named president and CEO of CEOs for Cities. Harvard University announced that Gordon Jones will be the inaugural director of the Harvard Innovation Lab, a $20 million community center for entrepreneurship that is slated to open this fall. Clemson University leaders John…

The 11th Annual Tech Talkin' Govs series highlights new and expanded TBED proposals from governors' State of the State, Budget and Inaugural Addresses across the nation. The first edition includes excerpts from speeches delivered in the following states: New YorkGov. Andrew Cuomo, State of the State Address, Jan. 5, 2011"We must change the way we engage in economic development planning and execution. Those working at the local level know their area economies best and we will empower them through the creation of regional economic development councils that can coordinate and integrate state agency responses with local government and business activities to create jobs. "These will not be advisory councils but instead planning and implementation councils that are empowered to allocate resources. ... " ... While New York's universities rank second nationally in total research spending, they still lag behind other states' universities in finding ways to commercialize New York research. One of the most important tasks of the regional economic development councils will be to assist those institutions in transforming their…

With an overall projected reserve of about $1.2 billion at the end of the 2011-13 biennium, North Dakota is well positioned to invest in growing economic sectors during a time when most states across the country are cutting programs to fill massive budget deficits. Gov. Jack Dalrymple outlined a budget for the next two years that would capitalize on the state's institutions of higher education and energy industry. Proposals include extending the Centers of Excellence program with an additional $20 million, establishing an Office of Energy Development to focus on the state's growing energy sector, and increasing funding for higher education to hold down tuition. The governor wants to restructure the state's highly successful Centers of Excellence program by targeting additional funding toward three new centers. In total, $20 million is proposed for the centers, which includes $5 million in carryover funding from current unexpended appropriations. New investments include: $10 million for Centers of Research Excellence for commercialization and research talent attraction grants with up to $3 million for infrastructure development grants; $5 million to provide assistance…

Providing strong evidence for how public investments in research and TBED pay off even on a short time horizon, a recent impact analysis calculated the total impact from the first $19.9 million North Dakota spent over the past four years for the establishment of 20 Centers of Excellence across the state. The analysts from North Dakota State University reported a combined cumulative impact of $329.5 million for the 30 months ending June 2009. The total includes both direct reported results and estimates for indirect impacts. Already, the centers and their client businesses reported direct employment growth of 921.5 jobs. The centers also had captured $115.5 million in match and federal research leverage from the state’s initial investment. The analysis concluded because of the Centers, seven new spin-off companies were created, five companies expanded within North Dakota, and five companies expanded to the state. An additional $42.4 million has been disbursed to the centers or awaits future allocation by the state. The full report is available at: http://www.commerce.nd.gov/news/detail.asp?newsID=610

The Piedmont Triad Research Park laid off Bill Dean, director of the park, and Nancy Johnson, marketing director. Park officials said that the park's project manager and executive assistant also were laid off. Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter announced that he has tapped Don Elliman, director of the Colorado Office of Economic Development, to serve as the state government's first chief operating officer. The Florida STEM Council, funded by a $580,000 grant from Workforce Florida, has been created to connect education, workforce, business and economic development leaders to identify opportunities to build and measure the state's supply of workers with skills and knowledge in these fields to support innovation in existing and emerging industries. Malcolm Kahn has been appointed vice president for enterprise development & licensing at Stevens Institute of Technology. Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation has named Kevin Carr as interim CEO, replacing Tracy Taylor, who resigned last month. Jill Kline has been named the new Wyoming Entrepreneur.Biz associate state…

With less money to spend on risky endeavors, many states are taking more targeted approaches toward economic development, seeking out sectors of the economy they consider most likely to grow and be sustainable beyond current conditions. In Hawaii, for example, lawmakers established an Aerospace Advisory Committee this session seeking long-term growth in aerospace-related industries. Missouri legislators, meanwhile, passed an "emergency jobs bill" expanding tax credits for technology business projects, and North Dakota lawmakers increased funding for agricultural research and infrastructure. The following overview provides highlights of approved budgets and legislation from the 2009 sessions in Hawaii, Missouri and North Dakota. Hawaii Lawmakers agreed to a scaled-back restructuring plan for the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT), separating one division from the department and transferring two attached agencies to other departments. A proposal introduced earlier in the session called for the removal of several programs from DBEDT, including transferring the state's lead TBED organization, the High Technology…