SSTI Digest

In this week’s continuing coverage of gubernatorial addresses as they impact the innovation economy, the common themes from Alaska, Michigan, and Maine were issues of opportunity, affordability and housing. Michigan and South Carolina governors proposed initiatives and programs that seek to assist in providing access to post-secondary education, their states’ economic competiveness, and securing jobs of the future for their residents. The following highlights have been excerpted from State of the States or budget addresses given between Jan. 24, 2023 and Jan. 30, 2024. Additional addresses and states will be covered in future Digest issues. With the start of the new year, governors have begun to deliver their State of the State addresses, laying out proposals for new programs and discussing the conditions of their states. As states’ revenue levels return to more typical levels, lawmakers, with a few exceptions, are taking a more cautious, or constrained, view of their funding priorities and proposed initiatives. Many governors also appear to be more restrained in their addresses this year, speaking more to the previous year’s successes, suggesting lawmakers tighten…

South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA), a public, non-profit corporation chartered in 1983 by the State of South Carolina , had over a $1.19 billion impact on the state’s economy in 2023. Their recently published annual report shows what’s included in the billion-plus-dollar impact, determined by a study conducted at the University of South Carolina Darla Moore School of Business. SCRA provides funding and support to accelerate the growth of academic startups; lab and administrative workspaces; facilitation and funding for partnerships between and among industry, startups, and academic institutions; assistance and funding for the relocation of technology-based companies to South Carolina; and coaching and funding for startups that may also receive investments from its affiliate, SC Launch Inc. The report indicates that in 2023, SCRA and its investment affiliate, SC Launch Inc.: Supported 5,825 South Carolina-based jobs. The average salary for SCRA Member Companies and SC Launch Inc. Portfolio Companies was $91,209, 70% higher than the state’s average of $53,618. Generated $330 million in additional investment capital for its supported startups to grow their…

The White House recently published a data tool, accompanied by a downloadable excel file housing two datasets, with recent investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The tool and data provide a view of the spending that is occurring across the United States from the two acts. In addition to a categorical breakdown of awards, agency, department, project name, funding source, and more are available for each award. The first dataset reflects a subset of BIL and IRA funding, including projects with at least state-level geodata (some include more specific geodata such as county and/or city) announced as of November 22, 2023 (BIL and IRA) and awarded as of September 30, 2023 (BIL). The set, however, excludes private investments and funding from other sources like the American Rescue Plan. The data spans 11 categories, including key investment areas such as broadband, clean energy, transportation, and environmental remediation, and represents awards totaling over $160 billion. The second dataset is dedicated solely to BIL-funded projects. It encompasses formula funding allocated to states and territories and…

A spate of super-sized donations has recently benefited various organizations and higher education institutions. They include what is reported as the largest single contribution to a historically Black college or university (HBCU), $100 million to UNCF, and $350 million from the Lilly Endowment, Inc. for projects in Indiana. Businesswoman and philanthropist Ronda Stryker and her husband, William Johnston, Chairman of Greenleaf Trust, gave $100 million to Spelman College, a historically Black women’s college. The donation is the largest single contribution ever made to a historically Black college or university (HBCU). Lilly Endowment Inc., awarded $100 million of unrestricted grant money to the UNCF (United Negro College Fund) to support UNCF’s capital campaign. UNCF is undertaking a $1 billion capital campaign that includes five components: student scholarships, unrestricted funds to enhance the endowments for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), capacity-building programs for member HBCUs (such as technology, training, and research), cash reserves and endowed funds for UNCF and support for UNCF’s annual campaign. Additionally, Lilly…

The United States has one of the most diversified economies of any nation, yet also the most dynamic; over the past five years, from 2018 through 2022, the U.S.’ agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industry has grown 53%, while other industries such as manufacturing and construction have grown at a slower pace—17% and 23% respectively—compared to a 25% increase in overall gross domestic product. Economies differ greatly from state to state, in terms of size and composition. This edition of Useful Stats uses U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) data[1] to explore a breakdown of changes in industry gross domestic product (GDP) for each state and Washington, D.C. over the 5 years from 2018 to 2022, which provides a snapshot of state’s economies prior to and after the pandemic.   State industry GDP profiles Over the five years from 2018 through 2022, the U.S.’ largest industry by GDP has remained finance, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing, with a 2022 value of $5.3 trillion, followed by professional and business services ($3.3 trillion), manufacturing ($2.6 trillion), and educational services, health care, and social assistance ($2.…

SSTI’s 2024 Annual Conference dates & location set: Dec 10-12 in Arizona! Coming off one of its most successful events ever, SSTI is happy to announce the nation’s largest annual gathering of leading practitioners and policymakers working toward regional innovation and growth through technology-based economic development will be held at the Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass in the Gila River Indian Community in metro Phoenix on December 9-12, 2024.

In this week’s continuing coverage of gubernatorial addresses as they impact the innovation economy, the common themes from Hawaii, Massachusetts and North Dakota were addressing the cost of housing. Hawaii and Massachusetts governors discussed addressing climate change, and North Dakota’s governor called for the creation of a new office focused on rural communities. The following highlights have been excerpted from State of the States or budget addresses given between January 17, 2023 and January 23, 2024. Additional addresses and states will be covered in future Digest issues. With the start of the new year, governors have begun to deliver their State of the State addresses, laying out proposals for new programs and discussing the conditions of their states. As states’ revenue levels return to more typical levels, lawmakers, with a few exceptions, are taking a more cautious, or constrained, view of their funding priorities and proposed initiatives. Many governors also appear to be more restrained in their addresses this year, speaking more to the previous year’s successes, suggesting lawmakers tighten their state’s fiscal belts while providing targeted investments…

The NSF Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) is accepting EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) proposals that will advance the state of the art in assessing place-based innovation's societal and economic impacts. This funding opportunity aims to address gaps in publicly available data and associated knowledge to adequately and appropriately benchmark activities in place-based innovation grounded in integrating research and development, translation, and workforce development. The dear colleague letter  emphasizes the role of cross-sector partnerships in place-based innovation and how to best leverage all of the regional talent to create inclusive and equitable innovation ecosystems. Please note the following deadlines associated with this funding opportunity: February 12, 2024: Concept Outlines must be received via email to either Xueying “Shirley” Han (xhan@nsf.gov) or Rebecca Shearman (rshearma@nsf.gov) by 5 p.m. submitter's local time. The correspondence permitting submission of an EAGER proposal can be expected approximately four weeks after submission of the Concept Outline. April 17, 2024: deadline for…

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted a final rule last night, by a 3-2 vote that would require prospective special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) to disclose their sponsors, compensation, target companies, and conflicts of interest and to require SPAC targets to register with the SEC. As SSTI covered during the pandemic SPAC boom, the vehicle provides private companies with a lower-scrutiny, higher-cost path to enter the public markets by merging with a listed SPAC. Interest in and performance of deals involving SPACs have waned since 2022, but this is also true of the more traditional initial public offering path to the public markets. The impact of the SEC's changes, therefore, may be difficult to determine until more investors are ready to drive private companies to the public markets. See sec.gov for the final rule, comments, and factsheet.

Income inequality in the U.S. has increased from 2006 to 2022, according to American Community Survey (ACS) data. While it’s increased in the nation as a whole, it decreased in North Dakota, Washington, Hawaii, Nebraska, and Montana from 2018 to 2022. New York and Washington, D.C. lead the nation in income inequality. This edition of Useful Stats explores state-level Gini index data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s ACS, analyzed by the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) at the University of Minnesota. The Gini index (or coefficient) is a summary measure of income inequality, ranging from zero (perfect equality) to 1 (perfect inequality).[1] Perfect equality, or a Gini index value of zero, represents a situation where everyone receives an equal share of income, while perfect inequality (Gini index = 1) represents a single individual or group receiving all income. Read more about the Gini index in the World Bank’s glossary.   Gini index values by state The U.S. national Gini index has risen from 0.46 in 2006 to 0.486 in 2022, peaking in 2014 at 0.49. An increase in the Gini index value represents a shift towards further inequality.…

A working paper by a team of Harvard-affiliated researchers presents challenging findings for growth equity impact investors. Given the potential alignment between this sector of the market and publicly funded capital access programs (including many venture development organizations and the State Small Business Credit Initiative), this research may find its way into public policy debates. The paper, which has not yet been published in an academic journal, also contains several shortcomings in its approach that should caution any stakeholders from acting on its findings alone. The research contains findings that seem to speak for and against the value of impact investing, but the authors land on a negative overall evaluation of impact investors. On the one hand, the authors provide clear evidence that these investors have portfolios that are different from traditional investors, but on the other hand, they find that these deals generally would have occurred without the impact investors’ involvement. These apparently contradictory findings can be reconciled because the number of impact investments is much lower than the number of traditional investments—i.e., impact…

In this week’s continuing coverage of gubernatorial addresses as they impact the innovation economy, New Mexico Governor calls for $170 million to bolster hydrogen, geothermal and next-generation battery storage. Rhode Island Governor proposes building a new life science school at the University of Rhode Island and cybersecurity bond to grow Rhode Island College’s cybersecurity program. Meanwhile, West Virginia’s governor proposes increasing spending to attract people to move to the state. With the start of the new year, governors have begun to deliver their State of the State addresses, laying out proposals for new programs and discussing the conditions of their states. As states’ revenue levels return to more typical levels, lawmakers, with a few exceptions, are taking a more cautious, or constrained, view of their funding priorities and proposed initiatives. Many governors also appear to be more restrained in their addresses this year, speaking more to the previous year’s successes, suggesting lawmakers tighten their state’s fiscal belts while providing targeted investments into key or signature programs, as well as previously proposed initiatives, rather than…