SSTI Digest

Having world-class facilities to train workers or support research in fields most likely to benefit the state is a draw for many reasons. Attracting outside investment, retaining talent and generating buzz are just a few of the benefits. Last year, Connecticut lawmakers dedicated more than $2 billion to expand science and technology education on the campuses of the University of Connecticut, including construction of new STEM facilities and for build research and teaching labs. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is the latest state leader to announce funding proposals aimed at either building new facilities or making capital improvements for training students in high-wage, high-demand fields.

Robbie Melton has been named the executive director and CEO of the High Technology Development Corporation.

Gov. Bobby Jindal has appointed Louisiana Tech University president Les Guice to chair the Louisiana Innovation Council.

Brian Cummings, formerly Ohio State University’s vice president of technology commercialization, has joined Alta Ventures as the Midwest representative.

KP Reddy, community catalyst at ATDC, has been named interim general manager. Previously, Michael Hersh held the position of general manager.

The Michigan State University Foundation has named David Washburn, president and CEO of the University of Tennessee Research Foundation, as its executive director.

Several common themes surrounding higher education have emerged as governors across the country unveil investment priorities for the upcoming fiscal year or biennium. In many states, governors have proposed more funding to increase affordability by freezing tuition or creating new scholarship funds. Support for expanding research capacity, technology-related infrastructure and job training in high-demand industries are some of the proposed measures aimed at competitiveness.  

College Affordability

The second installment of SSTI’s Tech Talkin’ Govs series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and Virginia. The first installment is available here.

Alabama

Gov. Robert Bentley, State of the State Address, Jan. 14, 2014

“We must create greater opportunity for Alabamians to acquire the skills needed for higher-paying jobs. Companies are looking for and jobs are waiting for skilled workers. ...

“... We will present legislation creating a Statewide Workforce Council of business and industry leaders who will advise educators and colleges on the workforce needs on the types of jobs needed in each region.

Crowdfunding was poised to make a major splash on startup financing in 2013, aided by the passage of the 2012 JOBS Act, a projected explosion in the number of crowdfunding portals and the adoption of state crowdfunding exemptions. However, the crowdfunding industry did not have the anticipated gamechanging impact on startup financing, mostly due to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) cautious approach to the adoption of the crowdfunding rules mandated by the JOBS ACT. The SEC eased into the crowdfunding era by allowing for the general solicitation by businesses to raise equity from accredited investors via secure web-based portals.

Georgia Tech has launched a crowdfunding resource for university-based students and faculty. Originally announced in the spring, Georgia Tech joins several other universities that are using crowdfunding to finance commercialization and the development of startups based on university research. The field has become common and relevant enough that an online community has started tracking this growth.

Georgia Tech’s new crowdfunding site, Georgia Tech Starter, launched last week will allow science and engineering researchers an alternative source of funding in a time of restricted government grants. Unlike other crowdfunding services, online investors in the research will not receive any tangible rewards, although they may receive a tax deduction. In addition, the university will provide project review, administration and facility upkeep, which makes the fee paid to Georgia Tech significantly higher at 35 percent than other crowdfunding sites. Currently, only members of the Georgia Tech community can utilize Georgia Tech Starter, although this may expand in the future.

As many state legislative sessions wind down, a clearer picture of the current direction of state innovation policies is emerging. This week’s SSTI Weekly Digest presents a few of the major trends in technology-based economic development initiatives approved by state legislatures during their most recent sessions. While this review is not meant to be comprehensive, it should illuminate the shifts states are making to refine their investments in the high-tech economy by providing smarter, more targeted support.

Over the past few months, the Digest has reported on several major capital access initiatives, transparency efforts and agency reorganizations that have made headlines amid a slow economic recovery and renewed attention to accountability in economic development.

While other stories in this issue will examine some of the trends in legislation that previously have gone unreported in the Digest, several major legislative efforts have appeared in earlier issues, but represent other intriguing developments in state innovation policy.

Since 2011, three states (Kansas, Georgia and North Carolina) have enacted securities exemptions that allow their state's entrepreneurs and small businesses to raise up to $1 million dollars via the sale of securities to residents of the state — Washington lawmakers introduced similar legislation in 2013 session where it is still pending. These exemptions, commonly referred to as crowdfunding exemptions, are intended to increase the pool of investors for small businesses by allowing them to publicly offer securities without having to spend the significant time and cost associated with registering a sale of securities with the state

The enacted exemptions from Kansas, Georgia and North Carolina as well as the proposed legislation in Washington share several similarities including:

Rice University's Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship has been named the top university business incubator in the world by the University Business Incubator (UBI) Index based in Sweden. The group reviewed 550 university business incubators and studied 150 incubators to determine the top incubators in the world based on their value for the ecosystem, their value for clients, and their attraction rate and past performance. Other U.S. incubators that made the UBI Index Top list include VentureLab, the University of Buffalo Technology Incubator, and Tech 20/20.

New nonprofit initiatives have been re-defined in Seattle and Atlanta to support their cities' startup communities. Startup Seattle and Startup Atlanta will work to serve, support, and link the regional innovation systems and startup ventures in their respective cities. Both entities previously were developed by and for the local entrepreneurial communities to support new companies but are restructuring as independent organizations.

Startup Seattle was established by StartupCity LLC in 2012 as a grassroots organization to aid local startups and unite and serve the regional innovation and startup systems in the city. It originally was funded by Startup Weekend, Microsoft BizSpark, TechStars, and Founders Co–op. It now will be a collaboration between the city of Seattle and local technology and business leaders since the City Council and the Seattle Office of Economic Development, with additional support from the Startup Seattle Advisory Group, will take over operations of Startup Seattle from StartupCity LLC.

As the 2013 legislative session draws to a close for several states, lawmakers approved measures to create new opportunities for economic growth or expand investments in programs demonstrating positive outcomes. Lawmakers in Georgia increased funding for established university-based research initiatives and set up a state-run venture capital fund to invest in innovative companies. In Virginia, a new cybersecurity accelerator will help propel technology and companies in an emerging sector.

GeorgiaDuring this year's legislative session, lawmakers boosted funding for university-based research initiatives, set up a venture capital fund to invest in startups, and passed a bill enabling more students to gain eligibility for scholarships at technical colleges.

Two universities, the University of New Mexico (Albuquerque, NM) and the University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ), are expanding or restructuring their economic development operations to improve commercialization of technology stemming from faculty research and the coordination and business development in their communities.

The University of New Mexico's Science and Technology Corporation (STC) will assume economic development responsibilities for the university. The STC is a nonprofit organization that has managed the university's technology commercialization since 1994. In its new role, the STC will coordinate all university-related economic development operations. The STC will function as the innovation door between the academic community and the general public, including businesses, national laboratories like the Sandia National Laboratory and the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and public entities.