SSTI Digest

In support of Gov. Bill Richardson's proposal to develop a workforce trained for 21st century jobs, the New Mexico State Legislature passed two bills this session allocating funds and creating training programs for green jobs. Lawmakers also supported a technology transfer initiative and several measures aimed at growing the state's solar industry. HB 622 creates a green jobs fund from which higher education institutes will create green job training programs. The fund was initially designed to receive money from bonds issued by the New Mexico Finance Authority; however, that provision was eliminated and now the fund will receive appropriations from federal green jobs programs and any other allocations, according to an article in The New Mexico Independent. Lawmakers also passed a measure designating a portion of state funds for training in the green energy sector. SB 318 requires a minimum of $1 million from the state's Job Training Incentive program be used for this purpose. During his state of the state address earlier this year, Gov. Richardson said the first point in his economic security plan is to continue to compete for, attract and create high…

Make 2009 your organization's year to be recognized as a national leader in the TBED community! Legislative leaders and key stakeholders need to know the valuable impact of TBED on local, state and regional economies. SSTI's Excellence in TBED Awards showcase these accomplishments and tell the story of how successful TBED initiatives have responded to a critical need by applying innovative approaches to generate substantial economic gains for their region. As an award winner, you: Gain positive exposure for your initiative; Enhance your organization's public image by promoting awareness of critical TBED issues; and, Showcase your accomplishments during dedicated breakout sessions at SSTI's annual conference. For these reasons and so many more, mark your calendars now for the tentative schedule of the 2009 Excellence in TBED Awards: Call for applications - April 21 Deadline for applications - June 16 Winners recognized - SSTI's 13th Annual Conference, Oct. 22-23, 2009, in Overland Park, Kansas More information about the awards program  and past award winners is available at: http://www.sstiawards.org…

Though angel investments dropped considerably in 2008, the total number of deals held steady, according to a year-end analysis released by the University of New Hampshire's Center for Venture Research (CVR).  Total investments fell 26.2 percent from 2007 to $19.2 billion, while deals fell only 2.9 percent. Deal size, however, declined by 24 percent. CVR concludes that although the current economic climate has not reduced angel activity significantly, it has caused investors to scale back the size of their investments. Angel investors continue to be the primary source of seed and startup capital for entrepreneurs. In 2008, 45 percent of angel deals invested in companies at the seed and startup phase, up from 39 percent in 2007. A majority of angel capital recipients, 63 percent, are in their first sequence of fundraising, a number that has held steady for several years. Angel investors are becoming less interested in expansion-stage deals, which received only 14 percent of total angel dollars. Healthcare/Medical Devices and Equipment took the lead as the most popular sector for angel investment, passing Software in 2008. Healthcare companies received 16…

With its most recent release of academic research and development expenditures, the NSF has provided insight into the portion of funding that originates from private companies. SSTI has prepared a table showing these industry-financed R&D expenditures to academic institutions within each state from FY03 to FY07, the percent change over this period and rank, the percentage of each state's total funding originating from industry and this percentage's relative rank. In the U.S., private companies supplied $2.67 billion in R&D expenditures to the nation's universities and colleges in FY07. California led the country with $357 million from industry. This was followed by North Carolina at $256 million and Texas at $203 million. New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Massachusetts are the only other states with more than $100 million in FY07 from industry. Over the five-year period from FY03 to FY07, Hawaii experienced the largest increase by percent, at 219 percent. This was followed by South Dakota (a 195% increase), West Virginia (139%), Ohio (134 %), Rhode Island (119%) and Oregon (111%). Even though the amount for seven states at least doubled over the five years…

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. Georgia Research Alliance VentureLab 2007 Winner for the Commercializing Research category Listen to a six-minute clip of SSTI's interview with GRA Senior Vice President Susan Shows. VentureLab is a technology commercialization program operating at five of GRA's partner universities. The program seeks out university-based research and awards three phases of commercialization and seed grants to universities and early-stage companies. A unique aspect of the program is the VentureLab Fellows, who often serve as the first CEO's of new companies, developing business plans…

For many states facing a challenging budget year, level funding for science and technology is welcome news to the tech-based economic development (TBED) community. With the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act earlier this year, governors are seeking solutions to stimulate their respective states' economies through new and expanded programs within specific priority areas. The following states recently unveiled budget proposals that would continue or grow TBED investments using a combination of federal stimulus money and state and local funds. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn unveiled a $26 billion capital plan that includes investments in energy and the environment and access to capital programs to boost job creation and retention. The Illinois Jobs Now initiative would be financed in part with federal stimulus funds. More than $1 billion in federal recovery money would be directed to the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) for programs promoting renewable energy, energy efficiency, clean coal technology, broadband deployment, electric grid expansion, and science and technology research. Highlights of the proposed FY10 Capital…

Last week, the U.S. Department of Treasury released the details of its plan to award $100 million in grants to community-based financial institutions. These funds, along with an additional $3 billion in tax credit authority, were allocated to Treasury programs by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) last month. Both the grants and tax credits will support loan funds, credit unions, banks, venture capital firms and other financing entities through the department's Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. The implementation plan provides $90 million in ARRA funding for CDFI Financial Assistance awards. Combined with FY09 standard annual funding, the CDFI Fund expects to make $145 million in Financial Assistance awards in this fiscal year. Another $8 million will support qualified Community Development Entities (CDEs) in Native American communities. Financial Assistance awards invest in qualified CDEs that provide financial products and services in low-income and underserved communities. The awards enable CDFIs to leverage private capital to respond to the needs of their target market, and take the form of equity investments, loans,…

Utah's 2009 legislative session ended earlier this month with a significant boost in funding to the Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative (USTAR) for recruiting science and technology researchers at the University of Utah and Utah State University. Lawmakers approved SB 240, allocating $33 million in one-time federal stimulus funds to the state-funded initiative to grow Utah's knowledge economy. The bill also modifies provisions relating to USTAR's Governing Authority adding the executive director of the Governor's Office of Economic Development as a member and vice chair of the authority. The appropriation grew significantly from the earlier version of the bill allocating $10 million for operating expenses and funding for research teams. The approved FY10 budget includes $15.9 million for USTAR operating expenses with $14.1 million earmarked for Research Teams and $983,400 allotted for Technology Outreach. The Public Education budget provides $6.2 million ($700,000 less than last fiscal year) for USTAR Centers, a program to extend the school year for math and science teachers. Lawmakers eliminated the remaining $5 million appropriated last…

TechConnect West Virginia (TechConnectWV) released a new plan on Monday to build a larger and more robust technology economy. The report, West Virginia Blueprint for Technology-Based Economic Development, proposes a four-part, general strategy for TBED and targets several key industries for development. Two years of study went into the report, which highlights the success that neighboring states, such as Pennsylvania and North Carolina, have had in investing in TBED. The initial study concluded that West Virginia would have to move quickly to remain competitive in light of the progress already being made in other states. To do so, the state would have to overcome several barriers to high-tech growth, including a lack of technology talent, early stage capital, serial entrepreneurs, national awareness and technology leadership. A successful plan would have to build on the state's strengths such as its large number of nonprofit, academic and federal research institutions, an increased focus on tech transfer and commercialization at its public universities and a growing technology sector in the North Central part of the state. The plan proposes 18 action steps…

The National Science Foundation has made available the FY 2007 version of its Academic Research and Development Expenditures statistical tables. The release contains detailed information on research expenditures at individual academic institutions. SSTI has prepared a table that shows for each state the amount of R&D expenditures from 2003 to 2007, the percent change and relative rank over this period, the percentage of each state's expenditures that originate from the federal government, and the relative rank of this percentage. California led the nation with $6.7 billion in expenditures at its universities and colleges, followed by New York and Texas with $3.9 billion and $3.4 billion respectively. Maryland, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania were in the $2 billion to $3 billion range in FY07, while six states - Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Florida, Georgia, Wisconsin - had amounts larger than $1 billion. Fifteen states had amounts lower than $300 million. From 2003-2007, the U.S. saw a 23.3 percent increase. Maine experienced the largest five-year jump greatly exceeding the national average, rising by 63.7 percent to $137 million in FY07. Four other…

According to the National Science Foundation, the number of science and engineering PhDs awarded in the U.S. has been increasing every year since 2002. To further examine trends of the PhDs awarded in each state, SSTI has prepared a table showing the number of S&E PhDs per 100,000 residents and each state's relative rank from 2002 to 2006, as well as the percent change in PhDs awarded per capita over these five years and the rank of that change. In the U.S., there were 10.00 science and engineering PhDs awarded per 100,000 people in 2006. In that year, the District of Columbia had the highest ratio among jurisdictions with 58.08 S&E PhDs awarded per 100,000 people. This was followed by Massachusetts (26.78), Rhode Island (20.79), Delaware (17.12) and Maryland (14.96). Thirty-four of the states had a per capita number less than the U.S. average, and six states had less than five PhDs awarded per 100,000 people. Over the five-year period from 2002 to 2006, the U.S. witnessed a 14.3 percent increase in per capita S&E PhDs awarded. Arkansas was the state with the highest S&E PhDs per capita increase, at 47.5 percent. This was followed by West…

This week, Congress passed H.R. 1541, a continuing resolution that extends the SBIR program in its current state until July 31, 2009. The extension provides another four-month window for the two chambers to develop a compromise toward full reauthorization.  The 100-word resolution extends all other programs within the Small Business Administration that were set to expire Friday, March 19, including the National Women's Business Council, the HUBZone Program, and the Federal and State Technology Partnership Program (which has not received an appropriation for several years).