SSTI Digest

Yes, it could happen. Bid packets are available today. Your organization could host SSTI's 14th annual conference during the fall of 2010. More than 350 of the nation's greatest thinkers and practitioners for building tech-based economies could descend on YOUR city. Over the past 11 years, SSTI's annual conference has grown to become the nation's largest gathering of the tech-based economic development community. The 14th annual conference brings the opportunity to acknowledge the impact and growth of tech-based economic development. It is our hope that this conference will inspire even more collaboration, creativity and success across the nation. The conference host is an integral part in the preparation and success of each conference. Because of the host’s knowledge of local and regional resources, the host is asked for suggestions and advice concerning local suppliers, destinations and potential experts/speakers. Also, the host receives 40 complimentary conference registrations.

As you begin to fill in your 2008 calendar, remember to mark Oct. 14-16, 2008, to attend SSTI's 12th annual conference in Cleveland! Past attendees know SSTI's conference is the premiere professional development event for the TBED community. And 2008 will be no exception. Back by popular demand, we will be offering an array of pre-conference workshops on Oct. 14. The InterContinental Hotel Cleveland, site of this year's conference, is built with state-of-the-art conference technology, including an automated response system to maximize the interaction between the audience and speakers. The hotel is located in the heart of the Cleveland Clinic, which is ranked among America's top three hospitals by U.S.News & World Report.

Complete descriptions of these opportunities and others are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm. The Edison Materials Technology Center (EMTEC), a collaborative technology development organization whose mission is accelerating technology to market, is seeking to hire a senior scientist and a senior project engineer for its Cleveland office. Both positions will lead or support collaborative projects in alternative and advanced energy materials and materials processing development. A Ph.D. in engineering sciences is required for the senior scientist position; a bachelor's degree in engineering or the sciences is required for the senior project engineer position.

So far this year, SSTI's Funding Supplement has made its subscribers aware of more than 1,400 different opportunities to secure funding. If you aren't a subscriber, your client companies, academic researchers, and state and local TBED efforts are at a significant disadvantage! Finding alternate sources of cash to support the research and commercialization goals of your client companies and academic researchers is a valuable service provided by the most successful state and regional TBED programs – those programs subscribing to the Funding Supplement. Competition for federal research funding is growing, particularly as program budgets have been relatively flat or declining in recent federal budget cycles. But your tech companies and faculty researchers are at the greatest disadvantage if they aren't even aware of all the opportunities available to them. Don't remain in the dark for 2008. Sign up your organization as one of SSTI's members today to begin your subscription to the SSTI Funding Supplement.

Edison had Menlo Park. Monet had the gardens at Giverny. Ubiquitous computing had PARC. To what extent were the great things that happened at each of these localities influenced by the places themselves?    Reducing that question to economic development policy terms: Can the places of great creations be created by design?   In this issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest, we examine how the design and planning of physical space can influence scientific discovery, individuals and research groups, and the performance of technology-based economic development (TBED) organizations. We combine concepts from many fields – including architecture, urban planning and, of course, economic development – to present various perspectives that may be of interest to the TBED community.  

While discussions of successful university technology transfer programs tend to revolve around a select set of high-achieving institutions, a number of less-recognized institutions are now being proposed as national models for their approaches to entrepreneurial support and regional outreach. A recent report from Innovation Associates highlights 10 colleges, universities and community colleges that are emerging as significant contributors to their regional economy through tech transfer activities. The list includes institutions that are maximizing the impact of their research investment and entrepreneurial programs despite their small size, geographic isolation, or limited R&D budget. Montana State University, Springfield Technical Community College and the University of Central Florida are listed among these emerging tech transfer centers.

On the heels of our successful 2007 annual conference, held last week in Baltimore, SSTI is pleased to announce that Cleveland will be the location for our 12th annual conference. The nation’s premier event for sharing ideas on the best ways to encourage technology-based economic development and foster regional prosperity in a global economy will be held at the InterContinental Hotel in Cleveland, Oct. 14-16, 2008.    Cleveland was selected after a national competitive bid process. Key to winning the bid was the efforts of NorTech in demonstrating regional commitments to technology research, development, innovation, commercialization, and entrepreneurship to spur economic growth in Northeast Ohio. NorTech, Northeast Ohio’s leading technology-based economic development organization, worked in partnership with the Ohio Department of Development, regional businesses, foundations, research institutions, and nonprofit community.

Jim Cookinham, founder of the Northeast Ohio Software Association and vice president of networks and education for COSE (Council for Smaller Enterprises), said he will retire at the end of 2007.

As with every public policy or program to promote economic development, TBED initiatives can fall victim to critics’ concerns regarding the value of these approaches if performance measurement is not an integral component of your efforts. Fair assessment of impact, though, remains a thorny issue for many TBED strategies because of the early stage of investment (e.g. support for university research, entrepreneurship education or even seed capital).   Even when one does measure the impact of a specific program or policy, additional potentially legitimate concerns can be raised for how well your performance compares to similar efforts in other parts of the state or country. Or, the lack of any sense of a control group of companies or entrepreneurs who did not participate in the initiative to use to benchmark the difference made by the effort can lead to unwarranted criticism from skeptics.  

North Canton, Ohio, has been chosen as the site for the nation's newest Department of Defense (DoD) Center of Excellence. Centers of Excellence deal with specific military technology needs that are deemed critical to the nation's defense and security. The Defense Metals Technology Center (DMTC), to be located at Stark State College, will become the principal repository of data and coordination of the various academic, government and industrial entities involved with highly specialized and strategic metals, including titanium. The result of the vision and creative effort led by Congressman Ralph Regula (R-OH), the DMTC is being funded by the 2006 National Defense Appropriation Bill and the State of Ohio Department of Development. The center's executive director will be Charlie Clark, who previously served as director of government relations for the University of Akron.

With the goal of improving the competitiveness of their workforces, many states and regions are searching for the best policies to encourage participation in educational opportunities beyond high school. Dual enrollment plans are one type of such policies that enable students to enroll in postsecondary level courses while still in high school.   According to a recently released study that examines Ohio’s dual enrollment plan, 47 states have enacted policies related to dual enrollment as of August 2006. A joint publication by the KnowledgeWorks Foundation and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), The Promise of Dual Enrollment: Assessing Ohio’s Early College Access Policy is the first report that collects and analyzes available data on the state’s program since its inception 18 years ago. The report provides insight into the participation rates, accessibility, levels of success, and costs of the policy to the state.  

Together, we’re growing a strong and vibrant tech-based economic development community. State Sponsors Virginia Economic Development Partnership Washington Life Sciences Discovery Fund Affiliates Center for Advanced Engineering & Research City of Dublin, Ohio Defense Metals Technology Center Idaho National Laboratory Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce Wisconsin Security Research Consortium