SSTI Digest

Women as business owners may be an underutilized resource for economic development and growth in the state of Wisconsin, according to a recent study from researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) – Women Business Leaders Across Wisconsin, 1990-2011. The researchers found that women-owned or managed more than 80,000 Wisconsin-based businesses (nearly 19 percent of all businesses) in 2011. Those businesses employed over 550,000 workers and earned $45 billion in sales. The authors found that the number of women-owned or managed businesses more than tripled between 1990 and 2011, growing significantly during the 1990s and then stabilizing between 2000 and 2011.The study also cites research that women-led businesses are more effectively led, financially honest, have more customers, increased sales and greater profits. However, the authors contend that women entrepreneurs may be an underutilized resource for economic development and growth. The authors highlight that only 19% of Wisconsin-based businesses are owned or managed by women, which is well below the national average for women-owned businesses – approximately 33 percent, according to…

Veolia, The Water Council, and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation have reached an agreement to launch the emPowering Opportunities in Water (POW!) program – a two-year national competition to support entrepreneurship and economic development while fostering sustainability efforts in the field of water. Sometime this year, Veolia, a leading water and wastewater treatment company, and The Water Council should issue a nationwide challenge to fast-track water-related ideas by entrepreneurs and startups revolving around specific areas of interest.  Startups that have the highest likelihood of solving the challenge, will be chosen to enter the program that will be housed at The Water Council’s Global Water Center located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Read the announcement… The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) recently announced that The Water Council became a new participant in the OPIC Partners Program. Via the OPIC Partners Program, The Water Council will be able to connect its network of U.S.-based, globally-minded water entrepreneurs and startups with OPIC’s development finance tools, network of investors, and…

This week, governors in Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Wisconsin unveiled their budget proposals. Included in the governors’ recommendations are several cases of agency restructuring and funds for workforce development, innovation tax credits, and other TBED-relevant issues. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder took an unconventional approach to issuing his $54 billion proposed FY2016 budget, releasing overviews on the popular blog-publishing platform Medium.  More than three-fourths of the governor’s proposed total spending is dedicated to education and health and human services. Under the budget recommendation, universities would receive an operations increase of $28 million (2 percent) and would be required to hold any tuition increases to less than 2.8 percent in order to receive new funding.  For workforce development, Gov. Snyder proposes $17.8 million to better prepare students for colleges and careers by expanding career and technical education programs throughout the state. To encourage more residents to master a skilled trade, Gov. Snyder also proposes a $10 million increase for skilled-trade training programs, bringing total…

The U.S. Small Business Administration has announced four new Regional Innovation Clusters that will be included among its portfolio of high-performing regional networks. Awardee clusters will receive $500,000-$550,000 for mentoring, counseling, pitch development and other small business support programs.  The new members of SBA’s cluster portfolio include Milwaukee’s Water Technology Cluster, Southeastern New Mexico’s Autonomous and Unmanned Systems Cluster, a Retail, Supply Chain and Food Processing Cluster spanning the Ozarks region and a Marine Industries Cluster in several Gulf Coast states. The four awardees will join SBA’s current portfolio of seven regional clusters from around the country. The geographic scope of these clusters varies considerably, with one defense-focused cluster based entirely in San Diego County, and another Advanced Power Cluster with participants in 30 states. In addition to offering funding for cluster development, SBA has aggressively tracked the development of these clusters and the impact of various initiatives. A July 2014 report on the third year of the cluster program observed that all seven participants…

Investments and policy to support innovation-focused agendas have flourished with the close of the 2014 legislative sessions in several states. Crowdfunding legislation, incentives for attracting talent, higher education affordability, punishing patent trolls, and encouraging greater accountability are some of the areas where lawmakers focused their efforts. States Support Crowdfunding LawsTwo states passed legislation to amend state securities laws in order to allow entrepreneurs to raise capital through crowdfunding platforms. Maine passed LD 1512 last month (see related Digest article) and more recently, a measure (HB 2023) was passed in Washington that enables businesses to raise up to $1 million through crowdfunding websites. The law stipulates that contributions must come from residents and businesses in the state. At least five other states have passed similar laws, and a related bill is making its way through the Alabama legislature. Enhancing Incentives for Job CreationNebraska lawmakers passed LB 1114, a measure that extends for another five years the Business Innovation Act, a program that offers technical assistance and R&D grants to…

A bill providing $35.4 million in workforce training grants to expand Wisconsin’s Fast Forward program was signed into law on Monday by Gov. Scott Walker. Funding will be available in the form of grants to technical colleges to reduce waiting lists for enrollment and for programs and courses that train students in high-demand fields. The funds also will support collaborative projects among school districts, technical colleges and businesses and for employment opportunities for people with disabilities. The measure, Act 139, was approved during a special session, which convened in January.    

In an effort to help spur economic prosperity, several universities have unveiled new initiatives to connect potential entrepreneurs with university resources and help integrate the entrepreneurs into their region’s innovation ecosystem. In partnership with other organizations, these programs are intended to position each respective university as a driver of regional economic development through the provision of education, training initiatives and other support services. The initiatives include new programs at Clarion University in Pennsylvania, Carroll University in Wisconsin and New York University (NYU).  The Blackstone Charitable Foundation also announced it will expand LaunchPad, a university-led entrepreneurship program, to a partnership that includes three universities in Southern California. As part of the Make It in PA initiative, Gov. Tom Corbett committed $300,000 to support the Clarion Regional Innovation Support Program (CRISP), an initiative aimed at supporting entrepreneurship through a collaborative regional support system. CRISP will be comprised of the Clarion University Center for Applied Research & Intellectual Property Development, the…

Between FY2007-12, research and development (R&D) spending at U.S. universities grew 27.5 percent, from about $51.6 billion to $65.8 billion, according to the latest edition of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) survey. The survey provides a look at R&D spending at U.S. universities, with data broken down by state, institution, research area and funding sources. California remained the leader in university R&D spending, but spending in the state grew at a slightly lower rate than the national average. Most of the other top 20 states experienced gains that exceeded the national average. University research spending in Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan and Washington grew at rates far outpacing other major R&D states. Expenditures in Colorado, which ranked 16th in spending, nearly doubled during the FY2007-12 period. Colorado’s gains were attributable to increased research activity at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins and, in particular, the University of Colorado, Denver, and Anschutz Medical Campus. Expenditures at the medical campus grew by 63…

The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program recently awarded $2.5 million for five pilot projects to improve small U.S. manufacturers' supply chain competitiveness and foster their readiness to adopt advanced technologies. The projects will be led by MEP centers and bring together teams of experts in specific technology areas. MEP centers in California, Georgia, Oregon, Texas and Wisconsin each will receive approximately $500,000 for the pilot efforts, which, in most cases, involve partners in other states. Read the announcement…

University-focused initiatives that help bring new technologies and products to market help drive regional economic development and encourage an entrepreneurial culture on campuses. To create stronger connections with the private sector, eliminate barriers between universities and the innovation community, and better support industry needs, some higher education institutions are honing in on entrepreneurship and commercialization activities. A November report from the Brookings Institution on university technology transfer delves into economic factors that have led to the organic emergence of a new model for technology transfer, including pressure on universities to be more responsive to market forces. This “nurturing startups model” incentivizes faculty to partner with local business incubators and capital investors to commercialize their research and technologies, the author says. The report also finds that only a few universities have been able to generate significant revenue from technology transfer activities and concludes with recommendations for government to better support these efforts. At the same time, the latest licensing activity survey…

Crowdfunding was poised to make a major splash on startup financing in 2013, aided by the passage of the 2012 JOBS Act, a projected explosion in the number of crowdfunding portals and the adoption of state crowdfunding exemptions. However, the crowdfunding industry did not have the anticipated gamechanging impact on startup financing, mostly due to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) cautious approach to the adoption of the crowdfunding rules mandated by the JOBS ACT. The SEC eased into the crowdfunding era by allowing for the general solicitation by businesses to raise equity from accredited investors via secure web-based portals. Finally, late in 2013 the SEC released proposed rules that would allow for equity crowdfunding from unaccredited investors sometime in 2014. States Push Ahead with Intrastate Crowdfunding ExemptionsWhile the SEC carefully developed its rules and regulations, states developed their own intrastate crowdfunding exemptions focused specifically on increasing the availability of  and retaining startup capital in their communities. On December 31, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law Public Act 264 that will allow…

Several bills promoting skills development through Wisconsin technical colleges were passed as part of Gov. Scott Walker's workforce agenda introduced in September (see the Sept. 26, 2013 issue of the Digest). A measure to create a tuition reimbursement program for apprentices or businesses that employ them passed with near unanimous support in hopes of bridging the skills gap reported by employers. Another bill, SB 336, increases funding to expand the Youth Apprenticeship program. To help better prepare students for in-demand careers, SB 331 provides a $1,000 per student incentive payment for school districts to encourage students to earn industry-recognized certificates before graduating high school.