SSTI Digest

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) recently released the first round of 33 awardees from the Small Business Vouchers Pilot program.  A total of $6.7 million will be awarded in the form of vouchers for assistance from DOE national laboratories of up to $300,000 a piece. Small cleantech businesses may be able to apply in nine technical categories. A second round of awards also has been announced, with a third to follow later in the year. Second round applications are due April 10, 2016. Details are available at: https://www.sbv.org/.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced the creation of a pay-for-performance workforce training program that will help Virginia workers acquire the industry certifications and occupational licenses that meet the needs of key businesses in each region of the state. The New Economy Workforce Credential Grant Fund and Program is part of a $20 million commitment to support workforce efforts across the state over the next two years including $12.5 million for credential incentives, $6 million for equipment needed by career and technical training programs, and $1.5 million for a veterans’ portal to strengthen outreach to this key population. The New Economy Workforce Credential Grant Fund and Program will take a two-step approach to helping state residents pay for the cost of attendance while working toward a certification or license. According to the governor’s office press release, the New Economy Workforce Credential Grant Fund will provide grants covering two-thirds of the tuition for students who are enrolled in a workforce training program designed to fill in-demand jobs in their home region. The incentives program provide one-third of the costs when…

A computer science education is viewed as a valuable prerequisite for many technology jobs, and, as a result, policymakers are responding to make these programs more ubiquitous. In January, the Obama administration announced his $4 billion Computer Science For All proposal, a nationwide effort to help all students from kindergarten through high school learn computer science. A cross-section of businesses, education leaders, and NGOs launched the Computer Science Education Coalition earlier this week, a nonprofit organization focused on encouraging Congress to invest $250 million or K-12 computer science education investments. These federal funds would complement state efforts – such as those detailed here – and spark further state initiatives to expand computer science education, according to the coalition. The Computer Science for Rhode Island initiative, announced this week by Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, states the goal of helping every public school in the state teach computer science classes by December 2017. In partnership with Microsoft, Code.org, and the state’s institutes of higher education, the initiative seeks to offer a menu of options…

This week, the White House announced the ConnectAll Initiative, an effort to reform federal communications programs to focus on bringing more Americans online. The focus of this effort will be on lower-income families who often lack access to affordable service and the devices to make use of them. Under the proposed plan, low-income families could be eligible for a monthly broadband subsidy. Getting more people online is vital to the future of the American economy and to shared prosperity, according to the report released by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in tandem with the White House announcement. Seeing the potential economic benefits, a number of states, including New York and Alabama, have recently made their own investments in Internet accessibility. The National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA) is taking a number of actions in support of the broadband accessibility push. NTIA is supporting a realignment of the FCC Lifeline program to offer subsidies for Internet access in low-income households. The Lifeline program was launched in the 1980s to provide financial assistance for telephone services in underserved areas. The program…

Over the last month, several universities have announced new initiatives that look to spur investments in university-related startups to support economic growth and prosperity within their region or state. These include efforts in Triangle Venture Alliance in North Carolina, Purdue Ventures in Indiana, and a partnership between Oregon State University and a local investment fund. North Carolina In North Carolina, four universities formed the Triangle Venture Alliance to provide equity-based seed funding to the alumni entrepreneurs from Duke University; The University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill (UNC-Chapel Hill); North Carolina State (NC State); and, North Carolina Central University. Triangle Venture Alliance will attempt to attract early stage capital by uniting and coordinating the efforts of each university’s alumni angel groups to source deals for university-related startups from all four universities. The new network will be supported by a $250,000 Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS) grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration as well as the Blackstone Entrepreneurship Network.  In addition to the announcement of…

The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced that it would commit up to $12.5 million in pilot grants to test novel ways of broadening participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). NSF INCLUDES will make up to 40 two-year, pilot awards to support STEM efforts that improve the preparation, increase the participation, and ensure the contributions of individuals from groups that traditionally have been underserved and/or underrepresented in the STEM including women, blacks, Hispanics, and people with disabilities. In the FY17 budget proposal, NSF has requested $16 million for larger, five-year alliance awards according to Sciencemag.org. The new initiative was originally proposed in Broadening Participation in America’s STEM Workforce – a 2012 report from an outside committee that advises NSF on diversity issues. Interested parties must submit their pre-proposals by April 15, 2016. More information is available at: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2016/nsf16544/nsf16544.htm?org=NSF. 

When factoring in the broader manufactured goods value chain – including activities such as research and development, corporate management, logistics operations, and advertising and branding – manufacturing’s footprint on the American economy is much larger than what is measured in most analyses, according to a new report from the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI). In their report, The Manufacturing Value Chain Is Much Bigger Than You Think! researchers from MAPI find that, although traditional analyses typically place manufacturing’s proportion of gross domestic product (GDP) at around 11 percent and its share of economy-wide full-time equivalent employment at 9 percent, the extended manufactured goods value chain accounts for approximately one-third of GDP and employment in the United States. The report’s authors use input-output calculations from Inforum at the University of Maryland to inform their analysis, under the guiding assumption that conventional analyses underscore the impact of manufacturing on the national economy. This report is unique in that it differentiates between the upstream and downstream…

New National Science Foundation data indicates that the federal government’s support for national laboratories and research centers has continued to decline in constant dollars after peaking with the 2011 infusion of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding.  Six federally funded research and development centers (FFRDC’s) comprise about one-half of all FFRDC spending: NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) and five Department of Energy national labs. Of these centers, JPL and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory experienced the greatest gains, with budgets increasing by about 9 percent between FY 2013-2014. FY 2014 was the final year for ARRA-based spending, leaving FFRDC support in and uncertain place in the post-Recovery Act period. Read the report…

Over the years, the SSTI Digest has covered every aspect of the innovation economy, touching on entrepreneurship, high-tech research, STEM education, economic trends, global competitiveness, federal, state and local policy, and much more. We have striven to achieve a balance between news and analysis, bringing our readers everything they need to understand the evolving state of tech-based economic development. To celebrate our second decade, SSTI has assembled some of the most important articles of our past 20 years. 3/1/1996Our First Issue The SSTI Weekly Digest kicked off with an impact assessment of the federal Advanced Technology Program and the announcement of a new pilot program at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to help manufacturers access financing. Even though the first issues went out via fax, many of the elements that have driven the Digest through its first 20 years were already in place at launch. Subscribers had access to news, funding opportunities, updates on their peers and important events. See related article for a flashback to the first issue. Read more… 9/6/1996MEP Reaches All 50…

On March 1, 1996, the first edition of the SSTI Digest was sent to a select group of fewer than 60 state tech-based economic development leaders. The original subscribers received the Digest via fax every Friday because Sprint offered unlimited, free calls and faxes each Friday. Since these early days, the Digest has grown to thousands of subscribers from across the country as well as hundreds of subscribers from several countries. Over the past 20 years, the Digest’s subscriber base has grown and diversified to include not only state economic development professionals, but professionals from local governments, venture development organizations, nonprofit organizations, and universities. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Digest, SSTI reached out to current subscribers of the Digest who also received the original edition to share their thoughts on the Digest and why it remains an essential read for them: “The SSTI Digest has always been a must-read for me, ever since the beginning. My ability to perform as a TBED professional, whether in a state-sponsored organization, in academia, or as a consultant, has been rooted in my broad knowledge of…

The Department of Energy (DOE) has published a formal response to the final report of the Commission to Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy Laboratories (CRENEL). The commission’s report, Securing America’s Future: Realizing the Potential of the Department of Energy’s National Laboratories found that the DOE Labs need to focus on six key themes: recognizing their value; rebuilding trust; maintaining alignment and quality; maximizing impact; managing effectiveness and efficiency; and, ensuring lasting change. In response to the recommendations offered in the CRENEL report, the DOE’s formal response indicates that the department is committed to executing the following objectives, including to: Identify and provide necessary resources by conducting rigorous, comprehensive strategic planning across DOE, to include the laboratories in the process; Assist Congress in its role of reviewing the laboratories by promoting greater transparency with Congress and the taxpayer; Implement laboratory stewardship through partnership; Clarify roles and responsibilities; Improve the development and implementation of requirements and improve the laboratory…

Governors around the country continue to lay out priorities for the next legislative session. In the coming weeks, SSTI will review gubernatorial addresses and budget proposals related to economic development. This week, we highlight developments in Illinois, Michigan and New Jersey. Illinois Illinois is now in its eighth month without an annual budget bill for the current fiscal year, but Gov. Bruce Rauner presented his spending plan for fiscal year 2017 last week. The state faces a $6.6 billion deficit, which the governor said would have to be bridged with drastic spending reductions, or a mix of tax increases and program reductions along with the governor’s larger legislative agenda. About $1.5 billion is proposed for the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity in FY 2017. This would include about $4.8 million for Regional Economic Development, $5.3 million for the Emerging Technology Program and $1.7 million for job training for economic development. No funding is provided for the Invest Illinois Venture Fund, which was also true in FY16. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder recently unveiled a $54.9 billion budget request for FY 2017…