SSTI Digest

Southern Growth hired Ted Abernathy, Jr., former Executive Vice President & COO of the Research Triangle Regional Partnership, to serve as its Executive Director, filling the vacancy created by Jim Clinton's resignation in September. The Minnesota Center for Engineering & Manufacturing Excellence has hired Ronald Bennett as executive director. The City of Virginia Beach Economic Development Department has hired Scott Hall to fill their newly created position of Business Development Coordinator. Marquette University has named Keith Osterhage as executive director for its office of research and sponsored programs. Mary Jo Waits is the new Director for NGA Center for Best Practices' Social, Economic & Workforce Programs Division within the National Governors Association. Dennis Yablonsky, secretary of the Pennsylvania Dept. of Community & Economic Development resigned effective Oct. 23. New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine named Jerold Zaro as Chief of the Governor's Office of Economic Growth. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm has reorganized the Department of Labor and Economic Growth and changed the department's name…

Four recipients selected as best practice models in technology-based economic development were honored during an awards ceremony last week in Cleveland during SSTI's 12th Annual Conference. The awards follow a national competition emphasizing impact and replicability in approaches to building and sustaining tech-based economies. "A crucial component to growing the nation's economy is supporting programs that are successful in developing and implementing initiatives that create high-paying jobs and provide U.S. businesses with the tools they need to compete in the global economy," said Dan Berglund, SSTI President and CEO. "This year's award recipients have generated significant returns for local, state and regional economies, each having an impressive story to share."  The following recipients were selected to receive the Excellence in TBED Award for 2008: Maryland Technology Transfer Fund - Commercializing Research Category A program of the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO), the Maryland Technology Transfer Fund supports product development in early-stage companies by providing funds to defray the…

Bank bailouts may be capturing all of the headlines, but a new initiative from the European Union (EU) promises to inject a considerable pool of money during the downturn to accelerate the development of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. The European Commission, as well as participants from the European research community and industry will contribute nearly 1 billion Euros (U.S. $1.28 billion) to the public-private partnership over the next six years to fund research. Stakeholders believe that this effort will help speed the commercialization of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies by two to five years, and are hoping for a mass-market rollout of these technologies before 2020. The Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Technology Initiative (JTI) is one of five JTIs launched by the EU over the last year in strategic fields of industrial research. The others address technological and economic goals including reducing time-to-market for new medicines, lowering the carbon impact of air transportation, improving complex computer systems, and implementing nanoelectronic research projects. These initiatives are led by non-profits representing the interests of industry stakeholders,…

Still no sign of improvement as the U.S. enters the third quarter of its initial public offering (IPO) drought.  Just one venture-backed company made an IPO exit in the third quarter of 2008, according to a release from Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) also were down 43 percent from the same quarter last year. NVCA explains that this slowdown is attributable to both the crisis in the financial markets and to a longer-term reduction in the number of exits. If this trend continues, they warn that capital could become scarce for companies seeking first time investments. Since the beginning of the calendar year, which coincides with the start of the drought cited by NVCA, there have been only six venture-backed IPOs and 199 M&As. By this same time last year, 55 venture-backed companies had made an IPO and 271 had been acquired. Many later-stage venture-backed companies are choosing to delay an IPO exit until market conditions improve. Similarly, larger corporations are postponing merger and acquisition activity in the near-term.  Mark Heesen, president of NVCA, believes that if this…

For several years governors across the country have announced life science and biotech initiatives that are as broad as they are large. The devil is in the details, and in most cases related to bio-based economic development, so are the opportunities. Participants in SSTI's 12th annual conference last week were reminded targeted investments in specialized areas related to merging existing life science and other technological strengths in a region are likely to have the greatest economic impact. Over the past few weeks, two new initiatives were announced - one in Northeast Ohio and one in Wisconsin - highlighting more focused approaches to building research and commercialization capabilities within multiple industries through advances in the life sciences. The partners forming the BioInnovation Institute at Akron have committed in aggregate more than $80 million to create various research, education, and commercialization projects based upon the intersections of materials science and biotechnology. These projects will include the Orthopedic Research Institute of Northeastern Ohio, the Center for Biomaterials and Medicine at the University of Akron, a medical…

The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced earlier this month the establishment of five new university-based centers developing interdisciplinary research and education programs in partnership with industry in the areas of biorenewable chemicals, green energy systems, communications networks, medical implants and smart lighting. Each of the Engineering Research Centers (ERC) will receive $18.5 million over five years to focus on technological breakthroughs that lead to new products and services, according to NSF. Additional institutional support has also been secured through several of the partnering universities. The centers can apply for a renewal through NSF that extends another five years and are expected to be self supporting after 10 years. The five new centers place an increased emphasis on innovation and entrepreneurship, partnerships with small research firms and international collaboration and cultural exchange. They include: NSF ERC for Biorenewable Chemicals - Based at Iowa State University, the center will develop technologies to transform the petroleum-based chemical industry into an industry based on plants and other biorenewables.…

Complete descriptions of these opportunities and others are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm. The Cornell Center for Materials Research (CCMR) is in search of an individual to serve as industrial programs manager under the supervision of our Industrial Outreach Director. The manager will focus specifically on NY state industry and will assist in all aspects of the industrial outreach program at CCMR. The manager will be primarily responsible for all activities related to NY state Small business program including marketing of the program to NY state companies, facilitating research and technical collaborations between small businesses and CCMR faculty, promoting the use of the CCMR facilities, maintaining and broadening the CCMR network of state partners and providing advice for external funding and referrals to the CCMR network of services providers. A strong scientific background in physics, engineering, or chemistry, excellent communication and presentation skills and a sound business mind The Ohio Department of Development is seeking a biomedical program administrator. The selected candidate will oversee and administer project grants in…

Complete descriptions of these opportunities and others are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm. The Georgia Institute of Technology announces a search for the position of vice provost for development and technology ventures.  The vice provost for development and technology ventures is the Institute's chief economic development, reporting to the senior vice provost for research and innovation. The selected candidate will function as the executive director of the Enterprise Innovation Institute, whose mission is to serve as the catalyst for entrepreneurship, commercialization and economic development at Georgia Tech.  In addition to operating the economic development activities at Georgia Tech, the vice provost for development and technology ventures serves as the Institute's chief liaison with State government on matters pertaining to economic development. Successful candidates are expected to have successful relevant experience within an academic setting and have earned graduate degrees in business, sciences and/or engineering.

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 Eminent Scholars® 2007 Winner for the Expanding the Research Infrastructure category The Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) Eminent Scholars program brings pre-eminent scientists to Georgia's research universities and provides them with the tools they need to lead R&D teams with the greatest potential for generating significant gains for the state. The program is principally an endowment based program that couples $750,000 raised from the State of Georgia with $750,000 raised by the host university through private sources to create a $1.5 million permanent endowment. The income generated by the endowment is used to fund the discretionary activity of the scholar.   To date, the program has recruited…

Only 12 days remain for you to register before Encouraging Regional Innovation kicks off on October 14 in Cleveland with four pre-conference sessions. With the economy seemingly changing every hour, there's never been a more important time to join your colleagues at the nation's premier conference on tech-based economic development. This year's conference, we think, has a great mix of sessions to help you plan for what the future may hold: thought-provoking policy sessions with an underlying theme of "where do we go from here?," best practice sessions to give you new ideas, and sessions to give you tools to operate your programs more effectively. More than 330 people have already registered for the conference. Join them by registering on-line at: https://www.ssti.org/Conf08/registration.htm To further your educational opportunities, sign up for one of four intensive pre-conference sessions:          Full-day pre-conference sessions (9:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Oct 14) Secrets for Successful Biocommercialization Support This intensive full-day workshop developed in partnership with Cleveland Clinic…

Anticipated declines in property tax, local sales tax and local income taxes combined with increased expenditures for energy and fuel, infrastructure, and employee-related costs have city finance officers anticipating worsening fiscal conditions over the next two years. Released this month by the National League of Cities (NLC), the City Fiscal Conditions in 2008 survey finds that in 2008, nearly two in three city finance officers reported that their cities are less able to meet fiscal needs compared to last year, particularly those cities that rely heavily upon property taxes. Moreover, nearly 80 percent of fiscal officers forecast even more troubling times ahead for 2009. Findings of the survey reveal that the fall out in the housing market, the weakening of consumer spending, and declines in jobs and income are negatively impacting city fiscal conditions. Additionally, the survey finds: At the close of 2008, finance officers predict that revenues and spending will decline in inflation-adjusted terms, with revenues decreasing by 4.3 percent and spending decreasing by 1.5 percent; Property tax revenues increased by 6.3 percent in…

Technology-focused incubators are an important component to fostering entrepreneurial development in a region by nurturing businesses in the earliest stages of development and helping them grow into larger companies that employ high-wage workers and bring new technologies to the market. The following select announcements provide an overview of new incubators from across the nation, illustrating the vital role of entrepreneurial development in growing high-tech regional economies. Ann Arbor Spark announced last month a new location for its proposed business incubator in downtown Ypsilanti, reports the Ann Arbor News. The 8,500-square-foot incubator, which is expected to open in December, will provide space for 10 start-up technology companies for two years, the article states. Battle Creek Unlimited announced in August they are developing a virtual incubator as a Web 2.0 network to match high-tech start-up companies with universities and public entities. With partial funding from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, the virtual incubator will offer services including quick access to resources, business progress monitoring, and the ability…