SSTI Digest

The first four installments of SSTI's look at how tech-based economic development (TBED) will play in the 2006 legislative priorities of the governors can be found in the Digest archives at: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/digest.htm

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, State-of-the-State Address, Mar. 27, 2006 "I also propose a $31 million investment to retain higher education faculty. ... We can plug the brain drain of displaced professors taking higher-paying jobs elsewhere.  Any loss of educators will be followed by a brain drain of students. ...

Sometimes, the economic advantages of consolidating state and local initiatives addressing different elements of building tech-based economies outweighs any potential dilution of specific efforts. Other times, the addition of an entirely new entity is required to provide concentrated focus on specific needs or activities. Here are a few of the most recent examples of the realignment of the TBED community:

The Utah Information Technology Association (UITA) and the Utah Life Science Association are merging in March to become the Utah Technology Council. UITA President and Chief Executive Officer Richard Nelson will provide leadership for the new council. A new Life Sciences director position will be added to the staff.

Southern Growth Policies Board has launched its 2006 online survey at http://www.southern.org/main/surveyintro.shtml to poll Southern citizens on their attitudes towards innovation and technology, and their role in the economic future of the region. All Digest readers within the Southern Growth's service-area are encouraged to share their opinions and ideas on strategies for increasing the role of innovation and technology in southern businesses, universities and governments, and the potential of technology to create jobs and wealth in the South. The 12-question survey should take only a few minutes to complete.

Louisiana Department of Economic Development announced Robert Fudickar will be the technology industry director for the state agency.

The year-long battle between Lafayette Utilities System (LUS) and competitors BellSouth Louisiana and Cox Communications over the utility company's proposed Fiber for the Future project came to an end last month when voters approved the $125 million fiber optics plan by a vote of 62 percent to 38 percent.

The LUS Initiative, called Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH), proposes to bring fiber optics to every home and business in Lafayette in order to deliver cable TV, telephone, and Internet services at a cost of 20 percent less than current providers. A special election was called last month to decide whether the city could issue $125 million worth of bonds to fund the project, according to The Advocate.

Pauli Jacobi, director of the Louisiana State University System Research and Technology Foundation, is resigning her position but will remain an LSU employee.

With hopes of creating a geographic concentration of academic and private bioscience research and commercialization, the Louisiana legislature ended its 2005 session with passage of a bill creating a new development authority. House Bill 742, the Greater New Orleans Biosciences Economic Development District Act, focuses on an area of several blocks in downtown New Orleans, but the bill grants the district's board the ability to redefine its boundaries by additional properties, including those outside the Orleans parish. The district may issue bonds to support acquisition of land and construction of buildings and other facilities.

Louisiana State University's Business and Technology Center (LBTC) recently received the National Business Incubation Association's (NBIA) 2005 Randall M. Whaley Incubator of the Year award, recognizing overall excellence in business incubation programs. The award is NBIA's most prestigious honor, presented as a tribute to NBIA's first chairman.

As a measure of LBTC's success, an economic analysis released this month by the Louisiana Technology Park reveals steady progress in the local economy and start-up companies in the Baton Rouge area. LBTC is the innovating hub for the Louisiana Technology Park, which will help create an additional 443 new jobs in 2005. The total is up from 272 jobs projected in 2004, according to the analysis.

Sylvia Goldman has resigned as director of the Louisiana Department of Economic Development, effective at the end of March.

Norma Grace, vice chancellor for technology and economic development at the University of New Orleans, has been elected as the 2004-05 president of the Association of University Research Parks.

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco appointed state bond commisssion director Sharon Perez to serve as undersecretary for the Louisiana Department of Economic Development, and Secretary Michael Olivier named Dane Revette director of the agency's energy cluster.

The Louisiana Emerging Technologies Center announced Arthur Cooper will serve as its first executive director.