SSTI Digest

Beautifully adorned to capture the spirit of the ocean, the Arctic Room at the Georgia Aquarium is your starting point to re- connect with colleagues, experience close encounters with majestic beluga whales, and simply enjoy an evening among friends. This lively event provides a wonderful pre-conference opportunity to network with conference attendees and our local hosts, Invest Atlanta and Clark Atlanta University, over drinks and light hors d'oeuvres by Wolfgang Puck Catering. The event begins at 6:00 PM on Sunday, October 29. Learn more: http://www.ssticonference.org/?page_id=297.

SSTI's conference is packed with timely and thought-provoking workshops, discussion groups and networking opportunities certain to keep you busy during your Atlanta stay. But to fill the gaps in between and maximize your experience, we've arranged some exciting activities geared toward improving your overall wellness and better connecting you to the people you most want to meet and share ideas. Hatha Yoga6:15 AM Monday, October 29, & 6:30 AM Tuesday, October 30Start your days in Atlanta re- laxed and re- juvenated by attending a complimentary Hatha yoga class. Our amazing instructor will guide you through softly flowing movements and deep breathing that will feel wonderful after a day of traveling and help focus your mind for the conference activities ahead. This session is designed to accommodate all ages, shapes, sizes and flexibility levels. Not one bit of experience needed and registration is not required. Grab your hotel towel or bring your yoga mat and come as you are! Morning Pi Mile Run/Walk6:15 AM Monday, October 29, & 6:30 AM Tuesday, October 30This is your chance to run the Tyler Brown Pi Mile, a 3.14 mile…

A limited number of conference sponsorship opportunities remain. Due to numerous requests, we have unveiled highly visible interactive opportunities at the right price point. A few of the exciting options include: Exhibiting Sponsor — $3,000 — SSTI believes conference exhibitors deserve to stand out to attendees, so exhibits are placed prominently in a highly visible location. Hotel Room Key Cards — $2,500 — Attendees will see your company logo each time they unlock their hotel room door. This opportunity provides great visibility for your organization. Dine-Around Facilitator — $2,500 — Mix and mingle with conference attendees at a casual dinner as you guide your group on this fun networking dinner in Atlanta. As an SSTI conference sponsor, you have the chance to showcase your organization with the decision makers responsible for crafting and implementing local and state-level policies and programs that directly contribute to the nation's competitiveness. Today's marketplace is about belonging and staying connected. No other event brings together so many of the nation's top players in the technology-based economic…

SSTI extends its appreciation and thanks to the following exemplary organizations helping to make SSTI's 16th Annual Conference a success: Host Sponsors: Georgia Institute of Technology Georgia Research Alliance Invest Atlanta National Sponsors: Battelle FLC NIST MEP NorTech ASME Idaho National Laboratory Innovation Policyworks Greater Oklahoma City Chamber i2e Oak Ridge National Laboratory Local Sponsors: British Consulate-General Atlanta Emory University Georgia Health Sciences University Georgia State University Metro Atlanta Chamber Technology Association of Georgia The University of Georgia The University Financing Foundation, Inc. Descriptions of all sponsors, including links to their individual websites for more information, are available at http://www.ssticonference.org/?page_id=36. Sponsorship opportunities remain available. Please contact Noelle at sheets@ssti.org for more information

Tom Ridge, the first secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and a former governor of Pennsylvania, has been elected chairman of the State Science and Technology Institute's (SSTI) Board of Trustees. As chairman, Ridge will lead the board in providing strategic guidance and oversight of SSTI's operations as the group works to encourage economic growth through science, technology and innovation. "SSTI focuses on issues central to our nation's competitiveness," said Ridge. "Many of the interests and areas that I'm passionate about, such as rebuilding America's manufacturing sector, align with SSTI's mission. I look forward to helping them advance their goals." Ridge was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982 prior to serving as Pennsylvania's 43rd governor. In 2001, he became the first assistant to the president for Homeland Security and in 2003, the first secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Today, Ridge is president and CEO of Ridge Global, an international security and risk management advisory firm, and also a partner at Ridge Policy Group, a full-service government relations and…

The Obama administration today announced the 12 winners of the multi-agency Rural Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge. Approximately $9 million in federal funding will help support rural public-private partnerships to promote job creation, accelerate innovation and provide assistance to entrepreneurs and businesses in a wide range of industrial sectors in rural regions across the country. Economic development partnerships and initiatives in Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia will receive awards ranging from nearly $200,000 to over $1 million from participating federal agencies. Based on grantee estimates, it is expected that in the short term a total of 2,990 jobs will be created or retained and $35.5 million in private investment will be leveraged. In the long term, grantees estimate that a total of 6,460 jobs will be created or retained and $69.6 million in private investment will be leveraged.Read the release...

A bill introduced less than three months ago to spur economic activity through high-impact university-industry R&D projects and provide tools for tech-based startup companies was passed with overwhelming support in the legislature. In addition to the matching fund, the bill includes funding to provide paid internships to startup technology companies and establishes an entrepreneur and startup venture capital mentoring program. Measures to address the state's skills gap and promote manufacturing competitiveness also are included. The goal of the matching grant fund is to invest in high-growth areas with priority given to large-scale, long-term R&D activities that have the greatest potential to support science and technological innovation and job opportunities through industry partnerships. To this end, the state hopes to identify two or three technology areas that afford the best opportunity for a competitive global advantage and provide significant matching funds in response to federal solicitations for high-impact projects. The bill authorizes $25 million in new bond funding with another $25 million from previous bond authorization. Funds will be…

In the first half of 2012, venture capitalists invested $13.1 billion in 1,707 deals, according to data from the quarterly survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). This represents a marked decline from the first half of last year, when investors completed 1,942 deals with $14.7 billion. Though activity picked up in the second quarter (Q2) in 2012, both deals and dollars remained lower than the same quarter last year. The slowdown may be a reflection of some larger structural changes, as the entire industry contracts and venture capital (VC) dollars become concentrated in the hands of fewer firms. Since many of the remaining large firms are focused on information technology (IT) companies, IT deals have increased while investments in other sectors has declined. The PWC/NVCA release notes that, despite the decline from 2011, the industry experienced a double-digit increase in both dollars and deals in Q2 compared to Q1. Deals grew by 11 percent and total dollars increased by 17 percent. The first half of 2012, however, has seen much lower activity than the first half of 2011, when it appeared that the venture…

In 2010, eight of 13 Western U.S. states currently maintain at least one tax exemption to encourage research and development according to a report from the Council of State Governments. In Trends in Western State Business Incentive, CSG looks at trends in the type and number of incentive business programs being used by 13 Western states — Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Among the report's findings, all 13 states had tax incentives targeted at building a knowledge-based economy including: Twelve of 13 states provided a tax exemption for at least one of the following: goods in transit, inventory and new equipment; All 13 states provided a tax exemption on raw materials used in manufacturing; Every Western state offers two or more types of incentives for renewable energy and at least one type of incentive for energy efficiency; and, Nine states provided tax incentives for the creation of jobs or for industrial investment. The report also provides state profiles and a brief review of economic trends in the west, including an evaluation of trends in employment, unemployment…

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has released a breakdown of federal research and development (R&D) funding by research area. The report includes FY10 spending, FY11 preliminary spending levels and proposed FY12 levels. In 2010, national defense led the list of research priorities, receiving 59 percent of all U.S. R&D spending. Health research captured another 21.5 percent of spending. NSF provides tables for each research area that separate spending by federal agency and program. Download the data at: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf12322/.

Motivated by a number of interests, including enhancing economic development for their states, governors are seeking ways to be more energy efficient and build their portfolio of renewables. To help states move forward in these efforts, the National Governors Association (NGA) has released a white paper outlining 10 new ways to address longstanding challenges focused around four approaches: Redesigning utility incentives to invest in energy efficiency; Increasing consumer access to information and financing; Removing regulatory barriers to residential solar power; and, Creating new ways to reduce the energy used in state buildings and fleets. Recent efforts seen in some states over the past several years point to promising innovations that NGA says can help states advance their goals even in fiscally constrained times. For example, Oregon created a Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU) as an alternative to the traditional regulatory model in an effort to motivate utility investment in energy efficiency. In most regulatory structures, utilities earn their profit from selling electricity and face a disincentive to invest in energy efficiency, the authors state. However, SEUs…

Argonne is a Department of Energy national laboratory located in Lemont, IL, a southwest suburb of Chicago, with over 1,500 scientist and engineers performing world-class research aimed at solving the nation's energy, environmental and security challenges. ANL is seeking to fill the three positions listed below: Deputy Director of TDC and Manager of Industrial Partnership Development Business Development Executive Technology Transfer and Commercialization Business Systems Manager (IT Implementation Manager)