SSTI Digest

Gov. Gary Herbert unveiled last month an $11.3 billion spending plan for FY11 that maintains level funding for higher education and slightly reduces funding for the Utah Science Technology and Research initiative (USTAR). The governor's FY11 budget plan addresses a $693 million shortfall, which is spread across FY10-11 and anticipates $34 million in state revenue growth during the next year.  Read more ...

High-tech manufacturers in Connecticut seeking to innovate and diversify their processes are eligible for grants of up to $25,000 each under a new pilot program announced last week by Gov. Jodi Rell. The goal of the Connecticut Small Business Innovation and Diversification Program is to help the state's small businesses develop, produce and commercialize new products while streamlining delivery of products and services, according to the governor's press office. Matthew Nemerson, president and chief executive officer of the Connecticut Technology Council, said in a New Haven Register article that the money will be helpful in the innovation process for companies that have not yet received seed money, but are trying to develop a model or prototype or advance research. The program, administered through the Small Business Innovation Research Office at Connecticut Innovations, is open to Connecticut-based companies with fewer than 500 employees and requires matching funds.

Government intervention in the venture capital industry might be the key to boosting the performance of venture-backed businesses, according to a recent report published by the World Economic Forum. A review of 28,800 venture-backed firms from 126 countries found that enterprises receiving moderate levels of government venture capital support outperformed other firms in terms of value creation and patent creation.  Read more ...

There is no simple answer to a frequently asked question that SSTI receives: what should we expect to be a good return on public investment in research? A new working paper available from the National Bureau of Economic Research helps clarify the range of possible answers, though, and strongly suggests the investment is worthwhile. Reviewing studies from the past half century, the authors conclude the rates of return for R&D are "usually higher than those to ordinary capital" and social returns "are almost always estimated to be substantially greater than the private returns" - both conclusions supporting an increasing role for public research investment.  Read more ...

Arizona's state, regional and university leaders already have made efforts to stimulate elements of a high-tech economy; however, missing are key fundamentals necessary for the state to compete on a national level, finds a report on Arizona's tech economy. Benchmarking Arizona against states such as Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Oregon, the report finds that Arizona has the resources to pursue more aggressive tech-based economic development, yet the state needs a deeper pool of skilled and educated workers, sufficient access to capital to fund research, and state-level leadership that is informed and committed to implementing long-range development strategies. One of the key recommendations calls on the state and its institutions of higher education to focus on significantly increasing the number of locally educated and trained engineers and scientists.

The Ohio Business Roundtable's independent assessment of the outcomes and impacts from the first $473 million invested from Ohio's Third Frontier (OTF) Program since its creation in 2003 shows the program providing an annualized return of 22 percent - and climbing. Presented to the Ohio Department of Development Dec. 8, the report reveals product sales of OTF-funded projects already equal $440 million alone, nearly matching the state's investment. An additional $3.2 billion of follow-on funding has been secured for OTF projects as well. The rapid rate of return on the program's initial investments - even with the recession - suggest tax receipts from derived activities will surpass the state's investments as early as 2014. A renewal of the bonds supporting the program is likely to go before Ohio voters in May. Read the full presentation....

Lee Cheatham announced he is leaving his position as executive director of the Washington Technology Center and has accepted the position of operations director at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University. Chris Coleman, WTC's current CFO and director of business operations, has been selected to serve as interim executive director for the organization.

Congressional conferees on the FY10 Consolidated Appropriations Act picked the higher funding level between the House and Senate versions of the FY10 budget on many line items of interest to the TBED community. Despite its high-wage job potential, direct support for innovation-based regional growth strategies is not as easy to come by in the federal budget as is money for conventional economic development/infrastructure projects. That said, the most adaptable source of funding – the Economic Development Administration – received a $20 million increase over last year’s appropriations, excluding ARRA funds. Included in the $293 million appropriation is language encouraging EDA to support climate change mitigation and regional cluster initiatives. Highlights from the appropriation language [Emphasis added.]:

The FY10 Consolidated Appropriations Act that passed Congress during the past week includes $124.7 million for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) and $69.9 million for the Technology Innovation Partnership (TIP). Both initiatives are within the National Institute of Standards & Technology. MEP is a nationwide network of centers that strives to make U.S. manufacturers leaner, more competitive and more innovative. The partnership centers are funded by industry, states and NIST. TIP competitively funds high-impact applied research in areas of critical national need. February 15 is the next suggested deadline for submission of white papers to shape future TIP solicitations. More information is available at: http://www.nist.gov/tip/call_for_white_papers_sept09.pdf.

The program has not been authorized yet, but that did not stop Congress from including $2 million in the FY10 Consolidated Appropriations Act for the Federal and State Technology Partnership Program (FAST). The funding, tucked in one sentence of the conference report for the Small Business Administration appropriations, will provide grants to state-based SBIR/STTR outreach and assistance programs on a competitive basis. Enabling legislation for FAST is contained in SBIR’s Reauthorization, which has been stalled in contentious conference negotiations for several months.

SBA’s appropriation also includes funding for 80 additional full-time staff at the Administration, $113 million for the Small Business Development Centers, and $10 million for a proposed Entrepreneurial Development Initiative (EDI). Within 45 days of enactment of the budget, the Administrator is to submit a spending plan for EDI to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees for their approval prior to making any awards.

More information is available at: http://appropriations.house.gov/FY2010_consolidated.shtml.

To help train future scientists and support cutting-edge research in health and environmental issues, Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell is recommending $109.5 million in the FY11 capital budget for the University of Alaska Life Sciences Facility in Fairbanks. The multi-purpose teaching and research facility would house the Department of Biology and Wildlife and accommodate a wide-range of research programs, reports Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. The proposal hinges on legislative approval of $88.9 million in financing through certificates of participation and $20.6 million in bond financing through the University of Alaska for construction, according to the governor’s press office. Read more at: http://www.gov.state.ak.us/news.php?id=5191.

To keep alive the underground deep science laboratory, a National Science Foundation (NSF) research priority for scientific discovery in geophysics, Gov. Mike Rounds is asking lawmakers to approve $5.4 million in special appropriations for bridge funding through May 2011. During his budget presentation to the legislature last week, Gov. Rounds told lawmakers the $35 million allocated toward the effort in 2004 and 2005 would run out this month and $250 million in anticipated NSF funding would not be available until 2011. South Dakota’s Homestake gold mine was selected by NSF in 2007 as the site for the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory, which extends more than 8,000 ft. into the earth (see the July 18, 2007 issue of the Digest).

Gov. Rounds’FY11 budget also recommends $970,000 for the creation of a Ph.D. program in Physics, complementing the mission of the Sanford Underground Laboratory. Funding for both requests totaling $6.4 million would come from other fund special appropriations, according to budget documents.