SSTI Digest

The Small Business Administration (SBA) announced a $2.5 million funding competition for accelerators and other entrepreneurial ecosystem models to compete for monetary prizes of $50,000 each to fund operating budgets. The Growth Accelerator Fund Competition is open to business accelerators, incubators, coworking spaces, shared makerspaces, and other entrepreneurial ecosystem models from across the country.

Registration is LIVE for SSTI’s 2014 Annual Conference, Regional Prosperity Through Innovation, and we want you to be there! For a limited time, we are offering an early registration rate of only $575 for members, $520 for multi-member and $675 for all others. With rates like these you can bring your whole team to Chicago for the conference on September 14-16. Register Today! Registration fees will go up after June 15.

A $150 million fund, formed under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Business Investment Program (RBIP), will provide equity capital to small businesses in rural parts of the country. The fund will be managed by Advantage Capital Partners, which, along with eight other farm credit institutions, has pledged the backing capital for the effort. USDA has announced that it will accept applications for other new Rural Business Investment Companies to raise funds from farm credit institutions in order to make equity investments. Applications are due July 29. Read the announcement…

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is accepting applications for the Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub (REACH) program to support proof-of-concept centers (Hubs) that facilitate and accelerate the translation of biomedical innovations into commercial products that improve patient care and enhance health. NIH intends to award approximately $9 million to institutions of higher education to establish three new REACH Hubs. In addition to helping identify innovations appropriate for commercialization, REACH Hubs must provide entrepreneurial educational opportunities to academic investigators about the design and conduct of product definition studies and the commercialization processes required for transitioning a technology out of academic labs to the private sector via a startup venture or a licensing agreement. Applications are due June 26. Read the federal funding announcement…

American manufacturing competitiveness is on the rise, according to a study issued by the Boston Consulting Group and touted by the White House. Only seven of the 25 largest exporting countries in the world have lower manufacturing costs than the United States. The primary gain in U.S. advantage has come from access to cheap domestic supplies of natural gas. Wholesale prices for natural gas have dropped by over 50 percent since 2005 and are expected to decline for at least the next five years. The dropping prices create a significant cost advantage for U.S. manufacturers that have ripple effects through the entire manufacturing value chain. Other contributing factors to rising U.S. competitiveness include lower labor costs than other developed countries, rising domestic productivity, and rising labor costs in the developing world. Global companies are taking note of the systemic advantages that are driving the revival of American manufacturing and are making long-term investments in the U.S., according to the study.

The Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) and the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of Arizona State University (ASU), both SSTI members, are among 19 awardees to receive $9 million total for advanced manufacturing projects. Grants were announced by NIST under the AMTech program, which supports new or existing industry consortia in developing technology roadmaps aimed at strengthening U.S. manufacturing and innovation performance across industries, according to a news release. GRA will receive $499,636 for a cell manufacturing consortium and ASU will receive $499,441 for architecting an institute for flexible electronics manufacturing. 

Aimee Dobrzeniecki, NIST MEP deputy director, will be leaving the MEP system May 16. Dobrzeniecki is joining Cathy Renault at Innovation Policyworks and will expand the company by opening a DC office.

Mark Crowell, the founding executive director of the University of Virginia Innovation and associate vice president for research, will step down May 16. Crowell plans to become a consultant based in Chapel Hill, NC.

David Wurzer, formerly a senior managing director at Connecticut Innovations, has been appointed chief investment officer and executive vice president.

An impactful program could be underrepresented and its message lost if not presented in a clear, concise manner. The goal of SSTI’s Exellence in TBED awards program is to highlight how successful innovation-focused efforts have transformed economies. Because your story has to be compelling to the reader, we have provided several resources to help your team write a better application – and bring home a win for your state or region! Listen to a call with helpful tips from judges, download writing samples from past years’ winners, and review the brochure, which explains the program and provides complete instructions. Applications are due June 17. Learn more at: http://www.sstiawards.org/.

The FY15 budget agreement approved last week by lawmakers dedicates $60 million to elevate the state’s status in cancer care and research, with another $20 million slated for peer-reviewed research grants. The cancer research initiative was a major priority for Gov. Rick Scott during the session. The budget also increases funding for economic development incentives and provides level funds for university-based technology commercialization.

As a result of deep cuts to higher education funding following the recession, issues surrounding affordability, access to programs and services, and quality could jeopardize the nation’s competitiveness. A new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities finds that although a majority of states have begun to restore some of the cuts, 48 states are spending less per student than they did before the recession.

The authors present data on funding for higher education pre- and post-recession and call on policymakers to rebuild their higher education systems by rejecting tax cuts and instead consider options for new revenue. In response to funding cuts during the recession and a slow recovery, higher education institutions increased tuition, eliminated faculty positions and merged programs. For example, Arizona’s university system cut more than 2,100 positions, eliminated 182 colleges, schools, programs and departments, and closed eight extension campuses.

Rapidly rising tuition also is blamed for more student debt and for deterring low-income students from enrolling in college.

Visit www.sstiawards.org to sign up for the May 7 call to learn more about the 2014 awards program and for helpful hints on writing an outstanding application. This could be your year to capture national recognition for your local, state or regional innovation efforts. Check out the latest adventures of SSTI’s Traveling Vase. 

Tyler Okerlund has been selected to serve as the state SBIR/STTR program director at the UND Center for Innovation.

Johnna Reeder has been named president and chief executive officer of REDI Cincinnati, LLC, the regional organization charged with business attraction and expansion.

Northern Arizona Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology’s Board of Directors announced the departure of current President and CEO Russ Yelton. Annette Zinky will be serving as interim president and CEO of NACET.