SSTI Digest

In the midst of a national economic recession contributing to a record number of job losses in traditional industries, forward thinking states are exploring ideas and committing funds to help grow and diversify their economies and strengthen their renewable energy portfolios.

Over the past several months, governors, legislators and economic development groups have announced new initiatives aimed at job growth and energy independence in the new economy. The following overview provides a sampling of green energy initiatives and investments from numerous proposals and announcements across the nation.

On April 14, the National Science Board NSB released for public comment a draft report, Building a Sustainable Energy Future, which calls on the nation to lead the fundamental transformation of the current energy economy from one that is dependent on fossil fuel to one that thrives on sustainable and clean energy. The draft NSB report outlines key findings and makes recommendations for the federal government, with specific priority guidance for the National Science Foundation. 

The need for more urgent and more significant action underlies the Board's work. "The [current] scale and speed of adopting sustainable and clean energy technologies fall short of what is necessary to address today's challenges, which will only become more acute with the passage of time," the report says. 

Within the last two weeks, both Kentucky and Michigan announced major developments in their ongoing efforts to build a statewide advanced battery industry. With these initiatives, the states hope to better position themselves for upcoming rounds of advanced battery development grants from the federal government and other future sources of investment.

A partnership between the state of Kentucky, the University of Kentucky, the University of Louisville, and Argonne National Laboratory is establishing a national Battery Manufacturing R&D Center to be located in Lexington. Focusing initially on advancing lithium-ion battery manufacturing, the Center will utilize the research and personnel from the universities, but also will have complementary R&D facilities at Argonne. Existing Kentucky programs to fund research grants and recruit researchers will be used to enhance the Center's activities.

Last week, the Board of Trustees at the University of Toledo approved the creation of a School of Solar and Advanced Renewable Energy. The School will integrate faculty from multiple science, engineering, and business disciplines to offer its own degrees and perform collaborative research, often with industrial partners associated with the region's established solar energy and photovoltaics cluster.

Building a cluster of academic and industrial research can happen without policy interventions; however, Toledo's situation is different. The region's leadership in advanced renewable energy is the result of deliberate choices and continual injections of funding by a host of public and private partners. So how did Toledo do it?

One of the biggest challenges for green technologies and products is breaking into the market. Achieving the critical mass that allows production volume to drive down prices is difficult, particularly when the commodity being sold is, at least initially, more expensive to make because more of the actual cost of production is captured in the green company's business model.

Successful state, university and local TBED strategies to grow green(er) companies help fund product demonstrations and early adoption strategies to help with market penetration.  In Toronto, a broad group of CEOs took matters into their own hands. 

Seize the opportunity for recognition of outstanding achievement in tech-based economic development.

SSTI is pleased to invite applications for the 2009 awards cycle, a program recognizing exceptional achievements in approaches to improving state and regional economies through science, technology and innovation.

The purpose of the awards program is to showcase best practices across a broad spectrum of categories encompassing several elements that have been found in successful technology-based economies. The categories are:

The Ohio Department of Development invites bids for two Requests for Proposals (RFP) to provide evaluation services and other forms of technical assistance for the state's fiscal years 2010 and 2011.  Proposals for either opportunity are due by May 29. Specifically, Development is seeking contractors for the following:

Complete descriptions of these opportunities and others are available at: http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.

The Illinois Manufacturing Extension Center (IMEC) has posted a job opening for vice president, service development and delivery, to plan, organize and initiate activities aimed at achieving IMEC's objectives in service/product delivery to MEP small manufacturers, OEM/large manufacturing, and non-manufacturing markets.  Other duties include consulting services development and leadership, value stream management, service/product development and improvement, and corporate planning and coordination. The candidate must have 10 or more years of experience in the leadership of a business or organization comparable to IMEC.

Legislators in New York rejected Gov. David Paterson's proposal to consolidate the state's primary organization for supporting and enhancing technology-based economic development into the state's traditional economic development organization (see the Dec. 17, 2008 issue of the Digest). Leaving NYSTAR as a stand-alone entity, the lead TBED agency for New York will continue to administer successful investment, business assistance, and research programs that have helped to create high-wage jobs for nearly a decade.

Gov. Paterson signed the FY10 Transportation, Economic Development and Environmental Conservation Budget last week, providing $42.2 million of new appropriations for the New York Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR). This is a $6.2 million decrease from FY09. The figure does not include reappropriation carryovers from previous years.

Venture capitalists increasingly turn their attention to investment opportunities outside of the U.S., according to several recent industry reports. Though the U.S. continues to dominate the global venture industry, the current economic crisis has negatively affected national fundraising, investment and exits. At the same time, venture investment outside the U.S. reached a record $13.8 billion in 2008, a five percent increase over the previous year. China, India and Israel in particular have made strides in building thriving VC markets. Though the crisis has dampened some short-term figures in those countries as well, long-term expectations are high and many international venture firms expect their activities in those countries to grow in the coming years.

While there is no question that the economic recession has taken a toll on states' fiscal conditions, the degree by which states are affected can vary widely from one state to another, as evidenced most recently in Arkansas and Georgia. In Arkansas, legislators wrapped up their 2009 session with a plan to distribute a $300 million surplus, while the budget agreement made in Georgia would cut spending by $1.6 billion in the coming year. The following overview provides an outline of legislative actions affecting the two states' programs that support tech-based economic development efforts.

Arkansas Operating with a nearly $300 million surplus, lawmakers passed a spending plan last week that authorizes funds for several economic development projects, including $50 million for Gov. Mike Beebe's Quick Action Closing Fund to attract new businesses to the state. 

Funding for the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology, which administers the state's stem cell research program, would be cut nearly in half under Gov. Jon Corzine's FY10 budget recommendation. The commission is slated to receive $10.4 million, a decrease of $9.9 million from the FY09 adjusted appropriation, to administer grant programs focused on commercializing new technologies, develop early-stage growth companies and business incubators, and enhance New Jersey's stem cell research capability.

News of the reduction comes on top of additional proposed cuts to the commission in the current fiscal year. In February, Gov. Corzine called for additional 2009 budget cuts totaling $1.3 billion that included a reduction of $12.7 million for Commission on Science and Technology grants, and in January, the governor proposed a $13.7 million reduction for the New Jersey Stem Cell Research Institute.