SSTI Digest

Foundations increasingly are tapping into the unique skills of institutions of higher education by partnering with them to support entrepreneurial growth within their surrounding communities. These foundations view institutions of higher education as the ideal partners to provide education and business services necessary for entrepreneurs to reach their potential. Several foundations recently have announced funding to support entrepreneurship development activities at universities including the Ratcliffe Foundation and the Allstate Foundation. The Blackstone Charitable Foundation also announced that it is accepting applications from institutions of higher education and nonprofit organizations to pilot, expand or replicate entrepreneurship initiatives.

The Great Recession forced a number of U.S. manufacturers and service providers to look outside national borders to not only succeed, but to survive in the face of a weak domestic market. In their latest report, On the Threshold: Refocusing U.S. Export Assistance Strategy for Manufacturers, Stone & Associates argues that the U.S. must focus on bolstering manufacturing exports as a way to lessen U.S. reliance on its domestic market, reduce the trade deficit, and foster job creation. Rather than focus on macro-level strategy, the report centers on firm-level measures that export assistance organizations can take to aid small- and mid-sized manufacturers (SMMs) in increasing their exports.

New legislation passed by the California legislature would expand the state’s Innovation Hub (iHub) program, which supports commercialization and entrepreneurship at a regional level. The program initially was launched in March 2010 through the state’s Business, Transportation and Housing Agency. Under the new bill, administration of the current 12 iHubs and any future hubs would formally be moved to the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, which has informally overseen the project in more recent years. The updated legislation also allows the office to issue proposals to designate new hubs, including hubs that would overlap current hubs as long as they have a distinct focus on separate industry sectors. A new state treasury account also would allow the iHubs program to collect funds from private sources. Governor Jerry Brown now has 30 days to sign or veto the bill. Read the legislation...

Typically, marketing efforts for cities and states encompass the promotion of a variety of desirable qualities to attract businesses and creative talent. Lately, it seems the title of Chief Innovation Officer has picked up steam in localities and across states as leaders seek to brand their region as “the” place for innovation. Take Colorado, for example, where last week Gov. John Hickenlooper rolled out a new logo and slogan for the state and, at the same time, appointed a new Chief Innovation Officer charged with leading the state’s efforts to increase competitiveness.

States incentives for biotech research have proven to be an effective tool to attract star scientists, innovative firms and high-quality jobs, according to a recent academic article. Enrico Moretti and Daniel J. Wilson examined the performance of state biotech incentives in 11 states and found that these policies demonstrate an impressive ability to draw in firms and researchers from other states and create related jobs in construction and retail. These incentives, however, have little impact on patenting at academic institutions, and do not seem to increase productivity at established firms in the state.

The Global Clinton Initiative (GCI) and five partner organizations announced a regional pilot program that will create a manufacturing supply chain network to support small- and midsized-manufacturers in the Hudson Valley region of New York. The goal of the pilot program is to create a scalable model that will ultimately provide a framework for a nationwide supply chain network and grow the country’s manufacturing base. The proposed National Supply Chain Network Initiative’s (NSNI) key components include helping to connect small- and midsized-manufacturers with large manufacturers as suppliers, improving access to innovation in manufacturing, providing direction technical and other assistance through the use of a state-of-the-art online portal that leverages the expertise of existing organizations and addressing other issues related to a healthy manufacturing sector (e.g., capital/financing, green manufacturing practices). According to the press release, the GCI intends to launch an additional two pilot programs – one in the Midwest and another in the West.

A new report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project cites that 20 percent of Americans do not have broadband access, while an additional 10 percent of Americans have broadband access via smartphones. The report suggests that age, educational attainment, and household income continue to be the defining factors for home broadband adoption. Broadband access is recognized as a driver for economic mobility, and communities across the country are addressing the issue with a range of policies that provide models for increasing affordability and access.

Electric vehicles may be gaining momentum. In 2013, Tesla has outsold other luxury car makers in California and received high safety ratings from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  To help support this growing industry, ARPA-E has granted a total of $36 million to 22 projects at national laboratories, universities, and private companies around the country as part of its new Robust Affordable Next Generation Energy Story Systems (RANGE) program. RANGE will work to harness this network of research to improve electric vehicle energy storage systems, therefore increasing driving range, through new chemistry and design.

The winding down of the space shuttle program in Florida’s Space Coast by the Obama administration in 2010 spurred a transition in NASA’s areas of focus, including an increased emphasis on commercializing technologies and industry partnerships. NASA recently announced several new initiatives with tech firms, universities, and state agencies geared toward investing in cutting-edge research and technology and developing an educated workforce.

Well-designed research centers can help bring an innovation ecosystem together through the spillover effects of knowledge dissemination, student learning experiences, local early access to new technologies, and by attracting R&D funding. In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently announced a $30 million initiative led by SUNY’s College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) to transform and revitalize a vacant building into a hub for smart cities technology companies, research, education and workforce training.

Politics often gets entangled in economic development policy, occasionally around the incendiary argument around who are the “makers” and who are the “takers.” The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) provides data on the amount of government transfers to households including those related to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, income maintenance programs and unemployment insurance. Civic Analytics, based in Texas, composed a data set of these BEA statistics alongside figures on Total Personal Income (TPI) in U.S counties (with the exception of Alaska that does not collect a personal income tax) to inject statistical foundations in the discussion. Read the civic analytics article...

Lack of female role models is a key deterrant for women cosnidering entry in S&T fields, according to a recent study. Sociology professor Dr. Catherine Riegle-Crumb of the Population Research Center at the University of Texas investigated why there are comparatively few women compared to men in technology and other STEM fields.

Dr. Riegle-Crumb is the principle investigator on an NSF grant to study how high school academic preparation has an influence on the selection of a STEM major in college – which would imply a post-collegiate career in a STEM field.  As part of this grant, Dr. Riegle-Crumb followed 10,000 high school students and found that the gender gap in high school physics, used as a proxy for this scientific gender gap as a whole, varies across the country.  Indeed, in some regions there are more girls in physics classes than boys. Why?