SSTI Digest

Each year, SSTI recognizes initiatives that greatly impact state and regional economies through a national competition showcasing effective and innovative approaches to building tech-based economies.

The Excellence in TBED Awards are presented to organizations demonstrating successful local, state and regional efforts across six categories:

2010 Timeline

Call for Applications April 6

Deadline for Applications June 1

Winners Recognized September 15-16

Capturing national attention for initiating successful programs to sustain the nation’s position as a global leader for innovation and competitiveness, six organizations were named recipients of SSTI’s 2009 Excellence in TBED Award. The third annual awards follow a nationwide competition recognizing outstanding achievements in tech-based economic development (TBED) emphasizing impact, strategic value and replicability.

“The impressive stories behind each of these six initiatives illustrate how strategic TBED investments work to promote regional growth through science and innovation,” said Dan Berglund, SSTI President and CEO. “These organizations serve as best practice models in the field for their demonstrated leadership and meaningful impact to state and regional economies.”

Recipients were honored Thursday Oct. 22, 2009 during a ceremony at SSTI’s 13th Annual Conference in Overland Park, KS, attended by top economic development professionals from across the nation. The following initiatives were selected to receive the Excellence in TBED Award for 2009:

SSTI has an effective new learning tool for TBED policymakers and practitioners seeking guidance in approaches to building and sustaining tech-based economies. Through exclusive interviews with Excellence in TBED Award recipients, find out first-hand how these award winning initiatives successfully responded to a critical need by applying innovative approaches to generate substantial economic gains for their region.

You can now subscribe to the SSTI Excellence in TBED Awards podcast in iTunes, your RSS reader or any podcast client. To subscribe in iTunes:

Copy this link: http://www.ssti.org/Awards/feed.xml Open iTunes and select "Advanced" from the top menu". Choose "Subscribe to podcast" and paste in the above URL.

 

For other podcast clients or RSS readers, use the above link and consult your application's instructions.

Recent interviews include:

With the America COMPETES Act up for reauthorization, there is an opportunity for Congress to inject some innovation into the nation's innovation policies, writes Rob Atkinson, in a recent paper from the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation. Atkinson outlines eight specific recommendations to improve the Act — many closely tied to the goals and current investment strategies of state and regional tech-based economic development organizations — including direct funding support for TBED. The proposals include: Create a $110 million SCNR program (Spurring Commercialization of Our Nation's Research) under NIST to support university, state and federal laboratory technology commercialization initiatives. Fund joint government-industry STEM Ph.D. fellowships. Allow foreign students receiving STEM Ph.D.s from U.S. universities to automatically qualify for green cards. Create a university-industry collaborative R&D tax credit. Fund industry-university-government manufacturing research and deployment centers.

A bill recently introduced in the U.S. Senate would allow immigrant entrepreneurs to obtain a two-year visa if they have secured the support of a qualified U.S. investor. Supporters, including bill sponsors Senators John Kerry and Richard Lugar, argue that the measure would help ensure American competitiveness by drawing on global entrepreneurial talent. The bill would also help create new investment opportunities for U.S. venture capitalists.

Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty last week presented a budget plan for the upcoming year that includes $19 billion in new federal stimulus funds as part of Canada's two-year, $62 billion Economic Action Plan. The 2010 budget directs $1.9 billion, or 10 percent of the stimulus funds, for post-secondary education infrastructure, research, technology innovation and environmental protection.  A recent article in The Chronicle of Higher Education points to conflicting reactions to the proposed investments, however.

Although the 2010 budget would increase funding for the nation's three research granting councils by $32 million per year, the councils were cut nearly $150 million last year, which was never restored, the article states. When inflation is taken into account, this leaves the councils in worse shape than they were previously, said James Turk, executive director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers, in the article.

In a meeting of the Government Commission on High Technology and Innovation last week, Russian Prime Minister Vladmir Putin made several announcements in support of new technology and innovation investments. Putin said $37.3 billion, or more than 10 percent of the federal budget, is appropriated for fundamental and applied science, higher education, high-tech medicine, space exploration, aviation, and the nuclear industry in 2010. The Finance Ministry and Economic Development Industry also will consider introducing tax incentives for innovation and providing innovative companies priority access to government purchases. Putin also announced the establishment of the Department of Science, High Technology and Education within the Government Executive Office to identify ways of removing administrative barriers for innovative businesses and to craft policies to attract capital for research and high-tech projects. Read the transcript: http://www.government.gov.ru/eng/gov/priorities/docs/9605/

Lawmakers approved last week the 2010-11 biennial budget, dedicating more than $76 million for energy research projects funded by the state's share of federal Abandoned Mine Land (AML) funds. The University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources will receive $45 million for development of a subcommerical scale CO2 sequestration research demonstration project, $14 million for clean coal technology research, and $17.4 million for operation of the school. Three bills regulating the wind energy industry also were signed into law by Gov. Dave Freudenthal last week.

The wind industry bills signed by the governor mandate a $1 per-megawatt-hour tax on wind energy generated in the state beginning in 2012 (HB 101), set minimum state standards for wind projects (HB 72), and suspend the power of wind companies to use eminent domain for one year (HB 79).

The Obama administration recently released a national plan to secure public and private sector networks. The Comprehensive National Cybersecuirty Initiative consists of 12 priority areas, including improved coordination of cybersecurity research, commercialization assistance for strategic technologies and expanded cyber education. Read the complete strategic plan at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/cybersecurity/comprehensive-national-cybersecurity-initiative

MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning is researching how economic development organizations are working with small businesses to address market opportunities or needs related to global climate change and the "green economy." The department currently is looking for economic development organizations to complete a brief, voluntary survey (10 minutes) relating to "green" programs and activities. Results will be shared with the economic development community and be made publicly available. To take the survey, go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7Q7QRDT. Questions regarding this survey may be sent to Karl Seidman at seidman@mit.edu or (617) 253-3964 or Rebecca Economos at economos@mit.edu

Last year, U.S. venture capital investment dropped to its lowest level in over a decade, according to data from the PricewaterhouseCoopers Moneytree Survey and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). This drop was fueled by the national economic crisis, which created a number of issues within the industry. Cash-strapped investors were less willing to make risky investments, venture firms avoided fundraising campaigns because of the overall climate, fewer venture-backed companies achieved successful exits and many venture capital firms dedicated their investments to supporting their portfolio companies (see the January 27 issue). This week's Useful Stats column provides an overview of venture industry investment over the past 15 years, and what recent trends might mean for the industry.

Silicon Valley, a region often looked to for trends in the technology field, is expected to see a rise in the number of new high-tech incubators and the expansion of existing incubators in the coming months. A recent Wall Street Journal article points to these openings as a sign of revival for technology startup companies amid a relatively slow period last year as startup investment plunged during the recession. Across the nation, specialized incubators spanning clean energy, sustainable architecture and advanced materials have emerged over the past several months to support high-tech ventures.

USTAR announced in January the opening of Utah's first incubator focused on information technology and renewable energy. The Southern Utah Information Technology and Renewable Energy Incubator, located in St. George, will support businesses focused on high technology, green technology and alternative energy.