SSTI Digest

SSTI is proud to announce the addition of two new staff members to its team. Sheri Stickely will join SSTI on Aug. 15 as a Vice President. Sheri is leaving the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Technology (OCAST) to join SSTI. She has served most recently as Interim Executive Director and has been with OCAST since its inception in 1987.

Sheri has established a track record as one of the nation's most creative and effective leaders in the tech-based economic development community. We're excited that she'll be joining the team. Sheri's experience, respect from her peers, energy, and creativity will allow SSTI to broaden and deepen the services which will have an impact across the country.

Ed Morrison, formerly with the Weatherhead School of Management in Cleveland, opened the Institute for Open Source Economic Development. He will continue to maintain the EDPro weblog.

A ballot initiative designed to bolster the Ohio economy and create jobs by continuing the state’s public works infrastructure program and supporting the commercialization of science and technology-based research was announced last week by Gov. Bob Taft and other legislative leaders. The initiative, to appear on the Nov. 8 ballot, is a second attempt to pass funding for part of the state’s Third Frontier Project, which failed in its first go-round in 2003 (see the Nov. 7, 2003 issue of the Digest).

If approved, the ballot initiative would provide operating dollars to bolster the Third Frontier Project, prepare job-ready sites for industrial development, and renew the public works bond fund, including:

The University of Toledo and its partners are seeking a director for the Toledo Science and Technology Corridor. The Corridor is an initiative to enhance the region's innovation-based economy through investments that promote linkages and collaboration among academic institutions, business industries and government entities. Responsibilities will include developing and implementing a plan that is aligned with the university's various educational missions, obtaining support from community leaders and members of local neighborhoods, preparing proposals and other initiatives to gain external funding, and coordinating joint Corridor projects and activities with partners, as well as technology business recruitment activities. The preferred candidate will hold a Bachelor's degree and, preferably, an advanced degree in a relevant field, among other qualifications. A full description, including contact information, is available through the SSTI Job Corner, http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.

The University of Cincinnati has appointed Anne Chasser to serve as associate vice president for technology transfer and commercialization in the school's Office of Research.

Ohio Department of Development Director Bruce Johnson has been sworn in as the state's lieutenant governor. Johnson is expected to serve both positions for the balance of Gov. Bob Taft's term.

Michael DeAloia has been named tech czar for the City of Cleveland.

While federal law and our own moral ethics prevent us from putting her to work in the near future, SSTI is excited to welcome Madelynn Elizabeth Carr to the world as the newest member of the SSTI team. Ms. Carr was born to SSTI Executive Assistant Ruth Carr and her husband, Larry, on Wednesday, Nov. 17.

John Nauseef has been appointed CEO of Dayton Development Coalition, filling the position to be vacated by Ron White when he resigns at the end of the year.

Jesse Jones is the new CEO of Ohio's IT Alliance. Jones formerly was chief technology officer of the City of Columbus.

There are less than 100 of our readers - now approaching a total of 100,000 - that may be able to look into their electronic mailboxes and even eight-year-old paper files to see that this issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest is our 400th. What began in March 1996 as a two-page weekly fax to key science and technology leaders in most states has evolved into the one of the most widely read e-news sources for the tech-based economic development community in the U.S. The addition of the funding supplement to the Digest in January 2001 made the publication a powerful and popular tool for encouraging research, innovation and entrepreneurship by increasing local access to and awareness of federal and foundation research and economic development grant opportunities.

Baiju Shah is the new president of the Cleveland's BioEnterprise Corp., succeeding Matt Jennings.