SSTI Digest

The Obama administration recently announced two directives to accelerate the commercialization of research and provide small businesses with streamlined access to federal resources. In his announcement, President Obama tied the directives to his administration's recent jobs push, and noted the need to bypass Congress in order to quickly implement the changes. The first memorandum instructs all federal agencies with research facilities to increase research and regional innovation partnerships with the private sector and develop five-year plans. The second calls for the creation of a one-stop shop for small businesses that would give them access to the full range of federal business support services. The commercialization memorandum instructs research agencies to speed commercialization in three ways. First, agencies are to promote the creation of public-private research partnerships, accelerate the processing of small business research and development grants and foster university-startup collaborations. The administration suggests that these changes could speed grants to startups by 50 percent. The second component is to give agencies more flexibility to…

Instant Access to Best Practices from 20 Leading TBED Practitioners Over the last four years, SSTI has interviewed many of the nation's experts who are heading up programs recognized for applying innovative approaches to generate substantial economic gains for their region. Each of the 20 podcasts succinctly describe critical components involved in elevating these programs to a level of national recognition and offer advice that is applicable across several sectors of economic development policy and practice. This year's award winners will be available to talk one-on-one and in small groups during a special roundtable session during the SSTI Annual Conference. Each of the winners will provide three key "take-aways" from their program so attendees are guaranteed to leave with at least 18 new ideas to apply to their practice. We also encourage you to look for our past winners (they'll be easy to spot!) and engage them in conversation about their achievements.

We've all heard politicians overhype a development project — it could be the recruitment of a large manufacturer or a new economic development-related public initiative. We cringe as the figures are often unrealistic, under-researched or over-multiplied. A front page article in a recent Wall Street Journal (subscription required) highlighted this problem quite plainly. Public radio program, This American Life, thought it worth an entire hour-long episode. For many in the tech-based economic development world, the problem seems even more complicated because they believe public investments to encourage research, technology commercialization and innovation are often too far upstream in the job creation spectrum to have meaningful impact numbers for years. If true, then how should we measure the impact and performance of public tech-based economic development initiatives? At SSTI's Annual Conference, we won't be afraid to fully engage this debate during one of our kickoff breakout sessions. It will take active participation of the audience of fellow experience practitioners to resolve it in the end. And we will. By the end of "The Great Debate…

The Obama administration, congress and the private sector must implement a comprehensive policy package to unleash startups and empower small businesses, according to a newly released report, Taking Action, Building Confidence, from the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. The report outlines a three-phase approach to accelerate short-term job growth, while rebuilding long-term U.S. competitiveness: Catalyzing job growth by capturing "low hanging fruit" over the short-term; Focusing on broader ways to accelerate job creation while also lifting U.S. competitiveness over the next two to five years; and, Developing proposals on the broader factors influencing American competitiveness over the next five to 10 years. To achieve this three-phase job creation approach, the council's work centered on developing a series of proposals that address the "U.S. jobs challenge." Council members were divided into seven working groups and tasked with identifying and prioritizing solutions to the challenge. During the development of the recommendations, the council also held an infrastructure summit, round-table discussions and "listening…

In what is considered typical for an odd-numbered year, only 34 questions have been certified in nine statewide ballots this election year. Some of those measures include redirecting funds to support higher education, revenue enhancements for states, and repealing legislation that limits collective bargaining for public employees. Ballot Initiatives ColoradoVoters in Colorado will decide on a measure to increase the state income and sales tax to 5 percent and 3 percent, up from 4.63 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively. Reports estimate the measure would generate about $3 billion to help fund education. The measure is Proposistion 103. LouisianaAmendment 1 would re-direct Tobacco Settlement Proceeds to the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS) scholarship program once the balance in the state's Millennium Trust Fund reaches $1.38 billion. The scholarship program is available for state residents who attend public colleges or universities. OhioIssue 2 is a veto referendum on legislation passed earlier this year that limits collective bargaining for public employees in the state. If upheld, SB 5 only would permit public…

The Office of Science and Technology (OSTP) is soliciting advice on how to best stimulate job creation through investments in biological research and development. In a new Request for Information (RFI), OSTP asks for input on national challenges related to biotechnology research, eduction, entrepreneurship and partnerships. Submissions, which are due by December 6, 2011, will help shape the administration's bioeconomy strategy. Last month at the signing of the America Invents Act, President Obama announced that the administration would develop a long-term roadmap to address national challenges in health, energy and agriculture. The resulting National Bioeconomy Blueprint is expected by January 2012. OSTP is requesting input in the following areas: Grand challenges — long-term, vital goals related to health, energy, the environment and agriculture that would benefit from action by the federal government, companies, nonprofit foundations or other stakeholders; Research and development — priorities for federal investment, critical technical challenges that are slowing technological progress, and multidisciplinary pathways to predict the protein…

A newly established policy academy providing guidance and technical assistance will help seven states improve their environment for innovation and align state R&D investments, workforce development and education systems with current and future needs of advanced manufacturing industries. The policy academy will help each state develop a plan or overcome barriers for putting a plan into action through a highly interactive team-based process that includes input from NGA, MEP, EDA, SSTI, private sector consultants, and research organizations. Participating states include Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. Ideas and strategies resulting from the academy's work will serve as models for all states. NIST, MEP and EDA are providing funding, leadership and technical assistance to the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices. Learn more...

Michigan State University, Rutgers University and the University of Michigan all have announced new initiatives that are intended to fuel innovation and grow regional economies. Michigan State established the University Center for Regional Economic Innovation — a university-based, economic development research center focused on generating businesses and jobs statewide. Rutgers University created a Disruptive Innovation Fund to provide up to $1 million to support the commercialization of innovative products. The University of Michigan's Michigan Investment in New Technology Startups initiative will invest directly into U-M startup businesses. Michigan State University (MSU) and its partners announced MSU's University Center for Regional Economic Innovation — a university-based, economic development research center focused on generating businesses and jobs statewide. According to the center's director Rex LaMore, the center will focus on investigating issues such economic development tools that replace the widely used tax abatements for businesses. MSU faculty and student also will work with local and regional governments to improve and document…

A coalition of private businesses and nonprofit organizations, including Microsoft, Best Buy, the Boys and Girls Club and the National Urban League, has launched a new initiative to increase broadband adoption and teach technology skills. The new Connect to Compete initiative, which will be managed by One Economy, will deploy a variety of digital training resources, courses and tech jobs matching programs beginning next year. Earlier this year, U.S. Federal Communications Commissioner (FCC) Julius Genachowski issued a call for digital skills training to help bridge the broadband gap and to connect American workers with jobs that require basic computer knowledge. The FCC plans to launch its own "Digital Literacy Corps" in the near future. Learn more about Connect to Compete...

As budgets for economic development tighten across all sectors, measuring and reporting impact becomes even more crucial for sustaining support. The Association of University Research Parks points to three impressive impact reports released this year from Indiana's Purdue Research Park, Nebraska Technology Park and North Dakota State University Research and Technology Park. The Purdue study found the park network is responsible for a $1.3 billion annual impact for the state and more than 4,000 high-quality jobs paying an average annual salary that is 65 percent higher than the state's average. In Nebraska, researchers found the University of Nebraska Technology Park has an estimated $589.6 million annual impact on the state's economy, and North Dakota State University Research and Technology Park generates $10.9 million annually for local and state governments. SSTI has compiled below recent announcements for development of tech parks from states including Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, South Carolina, and West Virginia. Phase II of the Alabama Robotics Technology Park opened in August. The 35,000-square-foot facility features a test…

Job CornerThe Invest Nebraska Corporation is hiring a CEO to join their team in Lincoln, NE. The CEO will manage Invest Nebraska's programs throughout the State of Nebraska. Invest Nebraska Corporation is a private, nonprofit venture development organization focused on developing high-growth companies in Nebraska and growing the state's economy. Baylor University currently is accepting applications for the position of director, BRIC Innovative Business Accelerator. The Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative is a 300,000-square-feet facility housing university and industry collaborative research, advanced manufacturing and high technology workforce development, symposia meeting and conferencing space, and the business incubator. The BIBA director will manage university and external business support organizations to leverage business start-up competitive status

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is the latest governor to call a special session focused on economic development proposals he says will create jobs (see the Sept. 7, 2011 issue of the Digest). Gov. Walker issued the executive order last week, calling it a "Back to Work Wisconsin" special session. Among the proposals lawmakers will consider is the creation of a grant fund to provide capital for biotech companies by allocating and reinvesting a portion of the growth in income taxes from the bioscience industry into new tech firms. The Next Generation Jobs Act (LRB 2861) creates both a reserve fund and a 12-member board to make the grants, issue loans, and make direct investments in bioscience businesses headquartered in Wisconsin. The fund would be capped at $50 million annually and $500 million over the 15-year life of the program. A similar bill recently was passed in Missouri called the Missouri Science and Innovation Reinvestment Act (MOSIRA). However, language in the bill would prevent it from taking effect if lawmakers fail to pass a larger economic development incentives bill, reports the Kansas City Business Journal. Lawmakers are expected to vote on…