SSTI Digest

Renee Winsky has resigned as the CEO of the Tech Council of Maryland. Winsky has headed the technology trade group since September 2009. Larry Letow, chairman of the council, will serve as CEO on an interim basis. Tom Ballard has retired as director of partnerships at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and accepted the position of director of Innovation and Entrepreneurial Initiatives at Pershing Yoakley and Associates. Mark Lytle has been selected to become the division director of the Georgia Centers of Innovation. Most recently, Lytle was director of the Georgia Department of Economic Development's foreign direct investment team. He succeeds Sidney Elliott, who served as interim director of COI before retiring at the end of last year. Gov. Phil Bryant has tapped businessman and philanthropist Jim Barksdale as interim director of the Mississippi Development Authority. The governor said he expects the interim term to last 90 to 120 days. Gov. Jay Nixon has named Jason Hall as the new director of the Missouri Department of Economic Development. Hall is currently the executive director of the Missouri Technology Corporation. He succeeds David Kerr. Nebraska Gov.

President Obama recently announced his intention to streamline the six federal departments and agencies focused on business and trade into a single department. Doing so would require Congress to grant the president authority to reorganize the Executive branch and then submit the proposal to Congress as an up or down vote. The new department would help coordinate federal trade policy, and provide a comprehensive source for business support. As an indication of the president's commitment to improving federal support for small businesses, he also announced that he would promote the Small Business Administration (SBA) to a cabinet-level agency. The consolidation would include the core business and trade functions of the Department of Commerce, the Small Business Administration, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. In his announcement, President Obama said that the move would allow entrepreneurs to have a single office, website and phone number to turn to through all stages of their business' development.

To help meet the goals of Virginia's Top Jobs Act enacted earlier this year, Gov. Bob McDonnell proposed $200 million in additional higher education funding over the next two years. A large portion of the new funds would support cancer and high-tech research, competitive research grant awards, and efforts to graduate more science, technology, engineering, mathematics and healthcare (STEM-H) majors. The Top Jobs Act outlines a plan for achieving an additional 100,000 undergraduate degrees over the next 15 years through a new higher education funding policy, targeted economic and innovation incentives, and the creation of a STEM public-private partnership. In accordance with the legislation, the state's colleges and universities completed six-year plans identifying initiatives to help meet those objectives.

Gov. McDonnell's proposed funding for the 2012-14 biennium would support some of the efforts proposed by the universities, including:

After 14 short-term continuing resolutions and years of negotiations, the federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Tranfer (STTR) programs have been reauthorized through 2017. The legislation changes a number of features of SBIR/STTR, including making it possible for companies that are majority-owned by venture capital firms to receive awards. President Obama is expected to sign the bill in the near future.

Last week, the House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization (HR 1540) conference report, which had incorporated the SBIR reauthorization. The six-year term of the conference agreement was a compromise between the three-year reauthorization approved by the House in April and the eight-year term passed by the Senate earlier this month. Funding for awards will increase gradually over the six-year period. Federal science agency set-asides for SBIR will increase from 2.5 percent of their budget in the first year to 3.2 percent by 2017. STTR set-asides will grow from 0.3 percent to 0.45 percent.

This week, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) established a new office to coordinate the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP), an initiative created by the White House in June 2011 to facilitate advanced manufacturing collaborations among industry, academia and government partners. The National Program Office for AMP involves all federal agencies related to manufacturing, including the new Office of Manufacturing Policy of the National Economic Council.

RIAN, the Regional Innovation Acceleration Network, is launching a webinar series beginning in January. These webinars will be presented by experts and practitioners in the field on a range of topics that will help to connect the Venture Development Organization community and exchange best practices and new ideas. The January schedule includes presentations on integrity, accelerators, and the EB-5 program. See the RIAN Events page or the News page for more information.

Ownership of intellectual property (IP) rights has become central to the strategies of innovating firms worldwide, according to The Changing Face of Innovation, a new report from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Researchers contend that rapidly growing global investments in innovation and the globalization of economic activities are key drivers of this trend. Between 1980 and 2009, global patents rose from 800,000 applications to 1.8 million. During this time, international royalty and licensing fee revenue increased from $2.8 billion in 1970 to $27 billion in 1990, and to approximately $180 billion in 2009 outpacing global gross domestic product (GDP). These results have led to the emergence of new market intermediates (e.g., IP clearinghouses and brokerages). The researchers also contend that this trend will move IP policy to the forefront of innovation policy.

A new report from the Milken Institute, Best-Performing Cities 2011, finds cities that saw significant improvements to their economic performance between 2010 and 2011 were able to:

Finding new and creative ways for high-tech companies to succeed is an important component in business incubation. A recent study examining best practices for supporting new company formation finds it is the synergy among multiple practices, policies and services that produces optimal outcomes. At the same time, collecting standardized measures, reporting on progress annually, conducting external independent evaluations, tracking programs, and continuing to enhance practices are singled out as important policy implications. Over the past few months, several new incubator models have emerged — including a concept for a hybrid-accelerator and a startup incubator that floats. Select announcements are included below. 

To bring more tech-related companies and jobs to Wyoming, Gov. Matt Mead's budget request for the new biennium adds $15 million to broaden an existing fund established last year for the recruitment of mega data centers. If approved by the legislature, the state would make available $30 million for both large-scale recruitment and to attract smaller technology companies. Anticipating flat growth over the next two years, the budget for 2013-14 proposes a slight reduction in ongoing spending from last biennium. However, the governor recommends expanding an appropriation for data center recruitment to provide the state with more opportunity to attract large-scale high technology opportunities and jobs. In February, Gov. Mead signed a measure providing tax incentives for construction of data centers.

The White House announced two initiatives intended to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses and create jobs by increasing their access to capital and resources. The first initiative focuses on providing up to $1 billion in new capital to help early-stage small businesses. The other will attempt to provide entrepreneurs with free resources and services needed to help startups grow their businesses and create jobs. Read the press release...

Innovative companies involved in commercializing research with universities and federal agencies often cite complicated contracts and uncertainty surrounding the process as a barrier to bringing more technologies to the marketplace. In an effort to remove some of those hurdles, two new initiatives recently were announced from the University of Minnesota (UM) and the Department of Energy (DOE).

Hoping to provide companies with a stronger incentive to commercialize university-based technologies, UM has developed a new approach to intellectual property (IP) allowing companies to pre-pay a fee and receive an exclusive worldwide license with royalties taking effect only in case of significant commercial success. Agreements established under the new Minnesota Innovation Partnerships (MN-IP) allow a pre-paid option fee that amounts to 10 percent of a sponsored research contract or $15,000, whichever is greater. It includes an option to exclusive license with pre-set terms, no annual minimums or fees, and no time limits or milestones. In exchange, the university would collect a 1 percent royalty fee if annual sales involving licensed intellectual property exceed $20 million.