SSTI Digest

The Small Business Administration recently released a new solicitation for the Regional Innovation Clusters initiative. Unlike what SBA has done in recent years, and returning to the program’s roots, all nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply alongside for-profit firms. In a change from prior solicitations, proposals must include whether the work will support an emerging or mature cluster. The timeline is relatively tight: submissions are due July 26. In recent years, SBA has only allowed for-profit firms to compete for the awards, despite universities and regional nonprofits having successfully managed cluster organizations since the initiative first launched. This solicitation marks a return to allowing nonprofit and for-profit entities to compete. Restoring the program eligibility has been a priority for the SSTI Innovation Advocacy Council, which also had advocated for growing the program from just $5 million in FY 2020. Last year, SBA moved the program internally to  run under the Office of Investment and Innovation (OII). The clusters initiative is run by the same team that manages the Growth Accelerators competition and is part of the same…

The U.S. House Committee on Appropriations' decision to cut non-defense spending by six percent in its initial FY 2025 spending bills is yielding predictably mixed results for programs relevant to tech-based economic development (TBED). Amidst the overall cuts, flat funding for the Economic Development Administration’s Build to Scale ($50 million) and Tech Hubs ($41 million) might be viewed as positive news. Programs bearing the brunt of budget cuts include the rest of EDA (30% reduction), the Minority Business Development Agency (20% reduction), and the Small Business Administration’s accelerators competition ($0). Meanwhile, the committee is proposing to maintain level funding for the National Institutes of Health but condensing from 27 centers into 15.

Nearly one out of every four workers in the United States is now involved in a STEM occupation, and 41 percent of those STEM workers do not have an associate’s degree or higher, according to data presented in the latest NSF Science & Engineering Indicator report, The STEM Labor Force: Scientists, Engineers, and Skilled Technical Workers.   The NSF S&E indicator report provides policy-relevant details about the representation of demographic groups in STEM, the STEM labor market's earnings, occupations, and industries, the geographic distribution of the STEM workforce, the degree attainment and training of workers in STEM, and foreign-born workers. The statistics may warrant some federal, state, and regional workforce-related TBED initiatives—and their resident innovation-driven companies—to revamp and broaden their approaches to training, job descriptions, employee recruitment, and hiring. STEM education and recruitment into STEM fields, particularly for underrepresented populations should increase for no other reason than the salary difference between STEM and non-STEM occupations presents an opportunity for upward mobility. For evidence, the new…

The CHIPS Research & Development Office (CHIPS R&D), part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, is tasked by the CHIPS and Science Act to invest $11 billion to ensure the U.S. develops and maintains a robust semiconductor workforce. Accordingly, CHIPS R&D anticipates that its Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) will require applicants to submit an Education and Workforce Plan (EWD). CHIPS R&D recently issued a guidebook for creating an EWD. As described in the guidebook, there are five key elements recommended for an EWD plan: A workforce needs assessment that considers the current workforce by occupation, skill set, wage, and demographics, as well as the pool of available workers with relevant skills, projected workforce needs, and any challenges or barriers to address. Metric and milestone targets that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) to measure the impact of the program. Also, these should be aligned with the objectives, timelines, and resources of the funding opportunity Demonstrated and proven models, curriculum, and pedagogy for training or upskilling workers that align with industry-wide or…

The recently released annual impact report from JumpStart, a Northeast Ohio-based venture development organization celebrating its 20th anniversary this year provides one of the latest examples of the out-sized economic and social benefits states and regions receive by making sustained investments in well-designed nonprofit, public-private TBED initiatives supporting innovation-driven entrepreneurs. The Jumpstart 2023 Economic Impact Report  documents tech startups served by JumpStart and its network of 13 entrepreneurial support providers directly generated $682 million of economic activity in Ohio in 2023 alone. The figure is 35% higher than reported in 2022. The report also notes that those same tech startups created and maintained 4,698 direct jobs supporting 3,175 households across the state last year

Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the median net worth of Americans jumped an inflation-adjusted 37%, from approximately $141,000 to $192,000, representing the largest increase reported across available data from the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF). Breaking net worth down into its two main components, assets and debts, shows that while debts have increased, the sharp rise in assets—both financial and nonfinancial—has driven these numbers. When separating Americans into the self-employed and those employed by another person or company, interesting trends are revealed; self-employed individuals have higher median and average net worths, and, in 2022, for the first time ever, lower median debts. The old adage, it pays to be your own boss, seems to hold. This article uses data from the 2022 SCF, the most recent release. New editions of the SCF are published triennially and include information on families’ balance sheets, pensions, income, and demographic characteristics. All dollar values are inflation-adjusted to 2022 USD.   An overview of net worth, assets and debt A look into SCF data reveals that since 1992, the median net…

July 25 at 3pm ET | Free Immigrant talent is a key driver of innovation in technology and entrepreneurship. However, navigating and understanding the many legal options available can be challenging. Join this TBED Community of Practice webinar to learn about pathways for TBED immigration, including lesser-known tools and under-utilized features of common immigration paths. Speakers: Sophie Alcorn, Founder & CEO of Alcorn Law Doug Rand, Senior Advisor to the Director of USCIS Register here to attend.

During a recent webinar presented by the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC), center representatives announced details of its initial round of R&D funding opportunities, as outlined in its vision for 2024 document. The projects to be funded, which NSTC refers to as Jump Start Projects, are (1) AI-based Radio Frequency (RF) Design and (2) Test Vehicles. ​ During the webinar, Jay Lewis, director of the CHIPS for America NSTC Program, noted that “the aim is to deliver impactful results through early investments in projects with a near-term time horizon.” ​He also announced that approximately $100 million will be available to fund the first set of external teams. ​ Further announcements regarding the NSTC facilities model and selection process, as well as the launch of a workforce center of excellence, are expected in the summer of 2024. As described during the webinar, the first project, Artificial Intelligence Driven Radio Frequency  Integrated Circuit Design Enablement (AIDRFIC), seeks to develop AI-based electronic design automation tools for radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) design. NSTC cited a lack of experienced RFIC designers in the…

Hear from your Peers—Three Build to Scale Success Stories June 20 @ 2pm ET | Free Are you interested in leveraging EDA's Build to Scale program to launch or grow your innovation programs? Go beyond what you can learn from the NOFO and video explainers and hear from three B2S awardees about their experiences with the program. Speakers will discuss what challenge they sought to address, how that process developed in practice, and what impact the award helped them achieve in their communities. Speakers: Amanda Hedrick, Director, Grants and Sponsored Programs, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, Shawnee State University/Kricker Innovation Hub Stacy Nimmo, Executive Director, Red Wing Ignite Tim Jones, Chief Operating Officer, Innosphere Ventures   Register for free today.

The American Council on Education (ACE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching are seeking input into a social and economic mobility classification. The feedback form, available here, will be open until July 31, 2024. (Note: The feedback window has closed for basic classification.) In addition to the basic classification, the 2025 Carnegie Classifications will also include a social and economic mobility classification, which will organize institutions by looking at student characteristics, access, and outcomes, according to the organizations. This classification “will identify institutions throughout the U.S. higher education landscape that provide strong socio-economic mobility for students, and it will equip users to understand how an institution’s data compares to similar campuses. ”Institutions will have the opportunity to review their social and economic mobility classifications before they are released alongside the ACE-Carnegie revised basic classification. “We plan to create a process this winter, similar to what existed in past years, where institutions will have a chance to preview their classifications ahead of finalization and…

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the reopening of five voucher opportunities (VOs) to accelerate clean energy technology adoption and the launch of two new VOs with $15 million in available funding to support manufacturers via the Voucher Program. The solicitations are structured so the first submission window solicits proposals from potential voucher providers and the second, which should be open soon, will be from potential voucher recipients. The application deadline for the first window is no later than July 9, 2024, at 3:00 p.m. ET. Voucher providers support entities that need help launching new clean energy technologies or projects. ENERGYWERX lists possible voucher providers as being: independent engineering and consulting firms, private labs and testing facilities, certification bodies, testing and validation centers, nonprofit entities or consultants with expertise in the regulatory and permitting processes, incubators and accelerators, or national labs. Details and application forms for voucher provider opportunities can be found at the links below: Voucher Opportunity 1 - Pre-Demonstration…

Three pieces of federal legislation enacted in 2021 and 2022—the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), CHIPS and Science Act (CHIPS Act), and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)—collectively authorize nearly $1.5 trillion to reshape America’s industrial landscape. But will this money help the 107 Black-owned and 151 Hispanic-owned companies in the manufacturing supply chains that the legislation is designed to support?  In the paper, Racial Equity in America’s New Industrial Transformation, Miles Chandler, Peter Eberhardt, and Howard Wial of the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) analyze original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and first-tier suppliers in 13 key supply chains to understand how the money from the above-mentioned federal legislation could, via their policy recommendations, lead to a racially and ethnically inclusive industrial future. The authors present data showing the extent of Black and Hispanic owners’ underrepresentation in 13 manufacturing supply chains, including within the semiconductor, wireless technology, electric vehicle, and battery industries. They report that "Black-owned businesses are 0.5 percent, and Hispanic-…