SSTI Digest

The U.S. Senate has passed an FY12 funding bill encompassing appropriations measures for the Department of Agriculture; Commerce, Justice and Science; and Transportation and Housing and Urban Development. The bill includes funding for NASA, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the National Science Foundation, as well as other technology agencies and programs. By combining the separate appropriations bills, the Senate hopes to increase its leverage in conferences with the House. The American Institute of Physics publication FYI has prepared a breakdown of technology-related agency funding in the bill.

In Technology Transfer in Southeast Wisconsin, a new report from the Public Policy Forum, researchers call for a "full-fledged collaborative infrastructure" that is adept at transferring technologies developed at the region's research institutions to entrepreneurs that will use them to create businesses and jobs in the region. The report does tout some efforts to develop a collaborative infrastructure for the knowledge economy including the recently established Clinical and Translational Science Institute of Southeast Wisconsin (CTSI) — a collaborative dedicated to using research to inform and improve medical practice that includes the region's prominent research and academic institutions. However, according to the report, "many more dollars are spent on research and development than are recouped in licensing royalties or equity positions in new companies" in southeastern Wisconsin. To remedy this problem, the report provides three models that could enhance regional collaboration in technology transfer and potentially augment the effectiveness of existing efforts:

The European Union (EU) released its first competitiveness report on all 27 EU member nations and six associated countries — Innovation Union Competitiveness Report 2011. Providing a deeper perspective on European R&D intensity, the report is intended to monitor the progress towards EU and national R&D headline targets and provide economic evidence and analysis to underpin the development of EU and national innovation policies. Twelve key findings are highlighted within the report including:

With less than three months until the start of the 2012 legislative session for many states, governors and state economic development groups are working to define areas of investment seen as key to their state's competitiveness. In Florida, Gov. Rick Scott unveiled a job creation and growth agenda that prioritizes science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education to produce more graduates for a competitive workforce. Meanwhile, leaders in Mississippi and Virginia issued reports that identify industry sectors most likely to grow their states' economies.

Florida

Building on a decade of work by the Coalition for Plant and Life Sciences, BioSTL launched last month to provide funding and support for emerging bioscience companies. The group also will dedicate resources such as training and recruiting entrepreneurs and increasing venture capital investment to collectively benefit partner organizations working to increase bioscience activity in the region. Washington University in St. Louis, BJC HealthCare, and the St. Louis Life Sciences Project each committed $2 million per year for five years, totaling $30 million to launch the effort. A majority of the funds will be dedicated to pre-seed and seed investments to support new company formation.

Gov. Jay Nixon last week signed into law the Missouri Science and Innovation Reinvestment Act (MOSIRA) nearly two years after first proposing the initiative (see the Jan. 6, 2010 issue of the Digest). MOSIRA creates a funding source to grow research and technology companies by capturing a percentage of the growth in state revenue over a base year (fiscal year 2010) from a designated group of science and innovation companies. The Missouri Technology Corporation will administer the funds, reinvesting them through loans and other means in programs designed to create jobs, nurture startups and bring science and technology companies to the state, according to the governor's office. Implementing the bill may prove to be a challenging task, however. The bill, SB7, contains a clause that makes it contingent on the passage of a larger economic development incentives bill, which failed to pass in the legislature. The ultimate decision may come from the courts who could decide whether or not to void the contingency wording, reports The Kansas City Star. The governor's signature on the bill allows the state to initiate steps toward implementing the measures.

Florida's Institute for Commercialization of Public Research has launched a new loan program for early stage and life science companies developing technologies out of the state's universities and research institutions. The Seed Capital Accelerator Program will match private investment in university spinouts through loans of $50,000 to $300,000. The program is intended to help attract the attention of angel and venture firms to promising university research.

American manufacturing companies cannot fill as many as 600,000 skilled positions — even as unemployment numbers hover at historic levels — according to Boiling Point? The Skills Gap in U.S. Manufacturing, a new report from Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute. This annual skills report provides a stark snapshot of the manufacturing sector's inability to find qualified workers.

U.S. venture capital firms invested $6.95 billion in 86 deals in the third quarter of 2011, according to the more recent release from the PricewaterhouseCoopers and National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) Moneytree report. The figures represent a 12 percent decline in dollars and a 14 percent decline in since from the previous quarter, but an increase in both dollars and deals over the third quarter of 2010. Despite the loss compared to the previous quarter, national venture investment appears to be continuing its gradual rebound from the collapse in late 2008.

The Canadian government must focus its research and development (R&D) support efforts on "the goal of growing innovative firms into larger enterprises, rooted in Canada but facing outward to the world and equipped to compete with the best," according to Innovation Canada: A Call to Action — a new report commissioned by the Honorable Gary Goodyear, the Canadian Minister of State for Science and Technology. The authors contends that Canada has a solid foundation to build its knowledge economy. The country maintains several strengths including a strong financial sector, "attractive" corporate tax rates, a diverse, well-educated workforce and significant natural resource endowments. However, they cite empirical evidence that shows Canada lagging behind other highly developed countries including the U.S., several European Union members and some East Asian countries.

Developed by an expert panel — comprised of individuals from the private sector, the sciences and academia — the report highlights six recommendations to strengthen federal R&D programs that support business and commercially oriented R&D:

Jeffrey Brancato has recently joined NorTech as vice president. Prior to joining NorTech, Brancato was the associate vice president for Economic Development at the University of Massachusetts.

Randal Charlton has announced his retirement as executive director of TechTown, the Wayne State University research and technology park. Leslie Smith, the general manager of TechTown has been appointed to fill the position beginning Nov. 1.

Martin Briley has been named CEO and president of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. Since 1997, Briley has been executive director of the Prince William County Department of Economic Development.

Richard Baier, Nebraska's Department of Economic Development director plans to step down at the end of Oct. to take an executive-level position with the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce.

Building on several of the new programs enacted during the regular legislative session (see the June 15, 2011 issue of the Digest), Gov. Dan Malloy last week signed into law HB 6801, a comprehensive legislative package that authorizes $626 million in bonds to support efforts aimed at job creation. The bill has several components to support high-tech entrepreneurship, workforce development, and incentivize manufacturers and small businesses.

To encourage more early stage investment in startup, technology-based businesses, the bill reduces the minimum cash investment to qualify for the angel investor income tax credit from $100,000 to $25,000. Aggregate new credits are limited to $6 million per year in FY12-13 and $3 million in FY14.

Connecticut Innovations, a quasi-public organization supporting high-tech industries in the state, is recapitalized with $125 million over five years under the bill. Of that amount, $15 million is reserved for the existing preeseed financing program, which provides capital and support services to businesses developing new concepts.