SSTI Digest

The methods of measuring the "innovativeness" of a region take many forms, including metrics which gauge the concentration of those inventing new ideas though patents. From data made available through the Office of the University Economist at Arizona State University, one can track over time the number of patent inventors per capita by metro area. SSTI has adapted a table made available though ASU Economist Dennis Hoffman that highlights the number of inventors per 1,000 residents in each metro and their relative rank for 357 metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S. Data identified by a single year in this chart actually refers to an average value in the number of inventors over the preceding five years. According to ASU, "the geographic allocation of a patent granted is determined by the residence of the first-named inventor at the time of the grant." Looking at the most recent 2005 data that averages values over the 2001 to 2005 timeframe, the metro region of Santa Fe, NM - home to many employees from Los Alamos National Laboratory - led the country with 4.44 inventors per 1,000 residents. Rounding out the top ten metros using…

The Piedmont Triad Research Park laid off Bill Dean, director of the park, and Nancy Johnson, marketing director. Park officials said that the park's project manager and executive assistant also were laid off. Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter announced that he has tapped Don Elliman, director of the Colorado Office of Economic Development, to serve as the state government's first chief operating officer. The Florida STEM Council, funded by a $580,000 grant from Workforce Florida, has been created to connect education, workforce, business and economic development leaders to identify opportunities to build and measure the state's supply of workers with skills and knowledge in these fields to support innovation in existing and emerging industries. Malcolm Kahn has been appointed vice president for enterprise development & licensing at Stevens Institute of Technology. Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation has named Kevin Carr as interim CEO, replacing Tracy Taylor, who resigned last month. Jill Kline has been named the new Wyoming Entrepreneur.Biz associate state…

Listen to SSTI's Interview with Wayne Sumple and Bob Torrani of the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT) 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. CCAT's Manufacturing Supply Chain Innovation 2008 Winner for the Improving the Competitiveness of Existing Industries category Listen to a 10-minute clip of SSTI's interview with CCAT director Bob Torrani and program manager Wayne Sumple or the full conversation (18 minutes). Focusing on the aerospace and defense sector of Connecticut's business, the…

New evidence suggests that venture capitalists increasingly view international investment as the future of the industry. The 2009 Global Venture Capital Survey, conducted by the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and Deloitte, finds that 52 percent of venture capitalists around the world are currently investing outside their home country. Most investors also believe that their involvement with international partners will increase in the near future. Fifty-four percent of respondents predict that their number of limited partners outside their home country will increase over the next three years. Overseas investment means new opportunities for venture firms, but for U.S. firms, particularly those in areas without a strong local venture industry, this trend could mean that attracting the attention of investors will soon become even more difficult that it is now. While the U.S. is still home to more venture capital firms than any other country, most of these firms are located in California and a few other coastal states. Over the past few years, industry investment has become more, not less, concentrated in California (see the July 2, 2008 issue). This trend, along…

On June 18, the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship will markup S. 1233, a bill to reauthorize and expand the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. Both programs are within weeks of expiring on July 30. The bill was introduced June 10 by committee chair Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and co-sponsored by ranking minority member on the Committee, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME). Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) became a co-sponsor on June 15. Additional senators in both parties are expected to join the list of co-sponsors as the bill encompasses a compromise many analysts see as palatable to address some of the thorniest issues for SBIR's reauthorization. SBIR, first authorized in 1982 and credited with providing startup and early-stage financing for several thousand technology and research-related firms across the country, has enjoyed broad, bipartisan support for each of its previous reauthorizations. The current effort has proven more problematic despite several positive evaluations by the Government Accountability Office and most recently the National Academies of Science The House and…

A new Pew Charitable Trusts report finds far-reaching national benefits to the growth of the clean energy sector. Between 1998 and 2007, clean energy jobs grew by 9.1 percent, while total jobs grew by only 3.7 percent according to data collected by Pew. While the industry is still in infancy, its growth rate over the past decade has outpaced other emerging technology sectors that have been the focus of TBED efforts, including biotechnology. The Pew report addresses the challenge of defining what the clean energy economy is and what types of jobs can be categorized as green jobs. They define the clean energy economy as being comprised of five categories: Clean energy - jobs, businesses and investments that help to produce, transmit and store energy from renewable sources; Energy efficiency - activities that help to reduce consumption; Environmentally-friendly production - those jobs and companies that mitigate harmful environmental impacts; Conservation and pollution mitigation - helps to manage emission and natural resources more effectively; and, Training and support - serves as a support mechanism across all of the other categories to help build the clean…

Gov. Deval Patrick announced last week a venture funds competition providing seed money and mentoring to support new business development, adding to a growing number of states seeking to boost entrepreneurial efforts during the economic downturn (see the March 5, 2009 issue of the Digest). Supported through a $100,000 planning grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative's John Adams Innovation Institute, the MassChallenge Venture Funds Competition will solicit startup plans from academics and professionals around the world and select winners to receive funding for immediate launch, according to a press release. Selected companies must be headquartered in the state, create at least five jobs, and secure matching investment funds. The founders of MassChallenge, a nonprofit entity, aim to raise $25 million to fund 25-30 startups per year in the areas of healthcare, life sciences, information technology, software, gaming, clean technology, energy, and social development. A Boston-area entrepreneur, Microsoft, and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation also have contributed funding to launch the competition. In addition to a $50,000 cash prize, winners receive…

Gov. Bob Riley signed a bill last month extending tax credits and incentives to knowledge-based industries and green employers to encourage growth and expansion in these fields throughout the state. Touted by the governor's office as a recruitment tool to influence the location decision for thousands of new jobs, the bill extends capital credits and tax abatements currently offered to new and expanding manufacturers to corporate headquarters, R&D facilities, and producers of electricity or natural gas from biomass or renewable energy resources, cellulosic biofuel producers, and other green employers. The bill also extends Alabama's 20-year credit period existing under the corporate income tax Capital Credit program to 30 years and updates the base wage requirement to $15 per hour. Outlined during his state of the state address earlier this year, the measure is a critical component of the governor's Alabama Economic Recovery Plan to increase the state's competitiveness and emerge as a leader in the green economy (see the Feb. 4, 2009 issue of the Digest). The full text of HB 568 is available at: http://www.legislature.state.al.us/. Gov. Riley…

On Monday, legislation was introduced in a special session of the Kentucky Legislature to amend several of Kentucky's economic development incentive programs. Additionally, HB 3 contains language to secure funding and land for a proposed lithium-ion battery manufacturing complex (see the April 22, 2009 issue of the Digest) in Hardin County. Proposed changes to the economic development incentive programs include: Consolidating existing tax credits under the Kentucky Economic Opportunity Zone, Kentucky Jobs Development Act, Kentucky Industrial Development Act, and Kentucky Rural Economic Development Act into a single, flexible tax incentive; Providing a sales and use tax refund for firms utilizing computer and telecommunications equipment that invest a minimum of $100 million; Expanding sales tax reimbursement for electronic processing equipment costing at least $50,000; and, Creating an income tax credit for new hires at companies with less than 50 employees that also invest $5,000 in qualified equipment and technology; While many of the proposed changes were approved by both the Kentucky House and Senate during the recently completed session of the…

Competing priorities, lack of funding, and inflexible negotiation strategies are among the challenges the Government Accountability Office found for the Department of Energy's efforts to transfer technology out of the DOE labs. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 requires DOE to establish goals for technology transfer and provide Congress its implementation plan no later than February 2006.  After consulting with officials at 17 national laboratories, however, GAO concluded, "DOE cannot determine its laboratories' effectiveness in transferring technologies outside DOE because it has not yet established department-wide goals for technology transfer and lacks reliable performance data." DOE uses four types of technology transfer: cooperative research and development agreements (CRADAs); non federal work-for-others agreements; licensing agreements; and user-facility agreements. What is considered technology transfer for/with private companies, university, and state or local government includes the following: Performing research on behalf of or in collaboration with these above-mentioned entities; Licensing the laboratories existing technologies for…

With the release of advance 2008 and revised GDP statistics by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), SSTI has prepared a table showing real GDP per capita (in chained 2000 dollars) for every state and the District of Columbia for the five-year period from 2004 to 2008. The table also includes: Ranking for 2008 state GDP per capita; Comparison of 2008 GDP per capita to the U.S. average; Five-year percent change in state GDP per capita; and, Ranking of the five-year percent change. In 2008, the real GDP per capita for the U.S. as a whole was $37,899, a decrease from the previous year's figure of $37,967. The previous annual decrease was in 2001. As often is the case, the District of Columbia had the highest GDP per capita, more than three times the national average. Delaware was the state with the highest GDP per capita at $56,401 - 49 percent higher than the U.S. average. Rounding out the top five states were Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. Overall, only 18 states in addition to Washington D.C. had a real GDP per capita higher than the U.S. average in 2008. Over the five years, North Dakota had the largest real GDP per capita…

The complete description of this opportunity and others are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm. The University of Missouri System is seeking qualified applicants for the position of assistant vice president for research and economic development. The assistant vice president for research and economic development is responsible for promoting the commercialization of intellectual property and products of faculty discovery, innovation and development. A bachelor's degree in business administration, marketing or a closely related discipline is required.  An advanced science degree closely related to research is preferred.