SSTI Digest

Department of Treasury ARRA includes $100 million in new funding for the Department of Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund program. The program provides financial assistance to locally-based organizations engaged in building regional economies, increasing the availability of affordable housing or offering basic banking services in underserved communities. Treasury uses a number of programs to carry out this mission, including the Bank Enterprise Award program, the CDFI program, New Markets Tax Credits (NMTCs), Native American CDFI Assistance and certification programs for CDFI's and community development entities (CDEs). In addition to the new funding, ARRA also increases the maximum amount of qualified equity investments to be made through the NMTC program by $1.5 billion in both calendars years 2008 and 2009. The 2008 funding is reserved for qualified CDEs that submitted an application in 2008, but did not receive an allocation. Another $8 million has been reserved for financial assistance, technical assistance, training and outreach programs for Native American, Native Hawaiian and Alaskan Native communities.…

Department of Labor The Department of Labor will receive $750 million for a program to provide competitive grants for worker training and placement in high growth and emerging industries. Of this amount, $500 million is directed for careers in energy efficiency and renewable energy. Training for health care careers is specified in the bill to be the main priority of the remaining $250 million in this program, but the conference report indicates training for wireless and broadband deployment, advanced manufacturing, and other high-demand industry sectors may be included.

ARRA contains a number of provisions to provide fiscal relief to the states at a time of record deficits. Most attention has focused on the $53.6 billion provided through the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, but the act also contains other provisions to assist the states. The State Fiscal Stabilization Fund directs $53.6 billion to the states through the U.S. Department of Education. The Fund holds back $5 billion for the secretary of Education for State Incentive Grants and an Innovation Fund. The Incentive Grants are to states that have met certain education provisions (e.g., achieving equity in teacher distribution). The $650 million Innovation Fund will be used for awards to recognize school districts or partnerships between nonprofit organizations and state education agencies, school districts or one or more schools that have made achievement gains. The remaining $48.6 billion is allocated to the states with 61 percent based on the size of the population ages 5 through 24 and 39 percent based on total population. For the amount that each state receives, 81.8 percent is directed to support elementary, secondary and higher education. The remaining 18.2…

Department of Labor The Department of Labor will receive $750 million for a program to provide competitive grants for worker training and placement in high growth and emerging industries. Of this amount, $500 million is directed for careers in energy efficiency and renewable energy. Training for health care careers is specified in the bill to be the main priority of the remaining $250 million in this program, but the conference report indicates training for wireless and broadband deployment, advanced manufacturing, and other high-demand industry sectors may be included.

Department of Energy ARRA includes $39 billion in stimulus funding for the Department of Energy (DoE) as part of the package's support for upgrading the country's infrastructure and power grid. DoE allocations include funding for the department's science office, research grants, and energy efficiency programs. The stimulus bill provides $16.8 billion for DoE energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, including $2.5 billion to support applied research, development, demonstration and deployment of advanced energy technologies. Almost half of this R&D funding will be dedicated to biomass- and geothermal-related projects, which will receive $800 million and $400 million respectively. Other energy efficiency and renewable energy investments include: Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants - $3.2 billion, including $400 million in competitive grants; the program provides federal grants to units of local government, Indian tribes, and states to reduce energy use and fossil fuel emissions, and for improvements in energy efficiency; Weatherization Assistance Program - $5 billion; State Energy Program - $3.1 billion; Advanced Battery…

Whichever version of the H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), emerges from conference committee would provide a significant reversal to the direction spending has gone for the past four years for federal research and development, based on data released by the National Science Foundation during the past week.  From FY 2005 through FY 2008, federal R&D obligations decreased 7.8 percent in constant dollars. Between FY07 and FY08 alone, total federal R&D spending dropped $3.5 billion or 4.8 percent of the $116.7 billion total in FY07 once adjusted for inflation. In constant 2000 dollars, projected obligations for FY08 approximate the FY03 spending levels.  Potentially more troubling for sustaining the nation's innovation edge are the disproportionate drops in basic and applied research versus development. Basic research spending in constant dollars has not been as low as FY08 levels since FY2002; applied research levels set innovation back to 2001. Federal investment in R&D plant for each of the three fiscal years 2006, 2007, and 2008 are the three lowest years of investment, in constant dollars, since at least 1990, the…

On March 12 from 1:00-5:00 p.m. in San Francisco, SSTI is co-hosting a meeting with officials from the Technology Innovation Program (TIP) and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) that we would encourage you or one of your colleagues to attend. TIP and MEP are two of the most market-driven programs operated by the federal government. Both programs have launched new investments and innovative services in the last year. The meeting will give you a chance to learn about: New federal funding opportunities; New resources to support early-stage research; New products and services to expand manufacturing; New tools to help foster growth and innovation in companies you work with; New models to accelerate technology commercialization and translation; and New ideas about ways to integrate state, local,and federal investments. Who should attend? Company officials responsible for new product development; Local and regional economic developers interested in innovation; University technology transfer officials; Managers from non-profits interested in commercialization of new technologies; and State agency technology program managers. …

As the U.S. Congress is ironing out the details of the stimulus package, the final share of science and technology investments within the bill is not known at this time. However outside of the U.S., other countries have recently announced their own proposals to improve the research and innovation infrastructure of their countries. In China Premier Wen Jiabao announced last month an acceleration of 600 billion yuan ($88 billion) in spending toward 16 planned major projects in science and technology, designed to accomplish short-term stimulus and long-term economic goals. The projects were outlined two years ago in "National Guidelines for Medium- and Long-term Plans for Science and Technology Development," which specified China's investment strategies from 2006 to 2020. , These 16 projects include the development of large aircraft, advanced integrated circuits, wireless technology, energy extraction, high-end machinery, software systems, novel medicines and water treatment, according to the Wall Street Journal and Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology. In November, China announced a 4 trillion yuan ($580 billion) general stimulus package. The first…

Gov. Jim Doyle unveiled today an economic stimulus plan for Wisconsin that includes a proposal to enhance tax credits for angel and venture investors in support of start-up technology companies. A coalition assembled to improve Wisconsin's existing investor tax credits law applauded the governor's announcement to refine the four-year-old program. The Wisconsin Growth Capital Coalition, which is comprised of nearly 30 public/private TBED organizations and investment funds, have suggested specific improvements in Wisconsin's investor tax credits law to encourage angel and venture capitalists to invest in qualified early-stage deals. Wisconsin's investor tax credits law, sometimes known as the Act 255 tax credit law, currently grants 25 percent credits spread over two years. The program is credited with helping to nearly triple early-stage investments by angel investors and venture capitalists in Wisconsin companies since its enactment. In 2007, early-stage investments in Wisconsin reached $147 million, according to a report by the Wisconsin Angel Network, which found the dollars spread over scores of deals in high-growth businesses ranging from advanced…

Adding to a growing number of governors proposing to consolidate state economic development agencies, Gov. Jodi Rell last week announced in her budget request her intention to overhaul Connecticut's job creation infrastructure by merging several state agencies into the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD). In recent months, governors in New York and Kansas, for example, have touted cost savings, streamlining government services, and creating a more efficient system to assist in business development and job creation as reasons for the proposed mergers. However, in two cases, critics have argued the consolidations would lead to a loss of key programs serving the TBED community (see the Jan. 21, 2009 and the Dec. 17, 2008 issues of the Digest). Under Gov. Rell's proposal, the state's two primary financing agencies, Connecticut Innovations, a 20-year-old quasi-public agency that provides venture capital to high-tech start-up companies, and the Connecticut Development Authority would be combined to form a new Connecticut Economic Innovations Authority. DECD would oversee the state's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) outreach program and the tourism…

According to the most recent release of gross domestic product (GDP) by metro area, 23 of the nation's 363 metro areas experienced a decrease in inflation-adjusted GDP from 2002 to 2006. Benchmarking against the aggregate U.S. metro GDP growth rate over those five years - which increased 12.8 percent - 167 of the nation's metros grew at a faster rate. On a per-capita GDP basis however, the wealth was more concentrated as only 61 (about one-sixth) of metros had an average per-capita GDP higher than the U.S. metro average of $41,510. Topping the list of metros in per-capita GDP were the regions concentrated around Bridgeport, CT ($78,944 per person); San Jose, CA ($76,290); Charlotte, NC ($63,668); San Francisco/Oakland, CA ($61,895); and the District of Columbia ($60,757). From 2002 to 2006, the per-capita GDP across all U.S. metros increased by 8.2 percent. Of the 363 metros, 157 bested this increase. Only 40 of the metros witnessed a per-capita GDP decrease over this period. So where does your metro stand? SSTI has prepared a table listing not only the 2006 GDP for every U.S. metro area in current dollars, but the 2006 per-capita GDP values, as…

The complete description of this opportunity and others are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm. The National Business Incubation Association, (NBIA) the world's leading organization advancing business incubation and entrepreneurship, has retained ELF Associates to recruit a Chief Executive Officer. The CEO will be responsible for the accomplishment of the organizational and programmatic goals and objectives including Board  governance and support; executive leadership and management; program management; external relations, financial management; human resource management; information management and administrative operations; and marketing/member relations. A bachelor's degree and familiarity with the industry are required. A minimum of 5-10 years of professional management and leadership experience in the business incubation industry is preferred.