SSTI Digest

The fifth installment of SSTI's Tech Talkin' Govs' series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Minnesota, New Jersey, and Tennessee. The first four installments are available in the Jan. 13, Jan. 20, Jan. 27, and Feb. 10 Digests.

Minnesota
Gov. Tim Pawlenty, State of the State Address, Feb. 11, 2010
"So today, I urge the Legislature to pass my Jobs Creation Bill that has six vital parts: a 20 percent reduction in the corporate tax rate; a 20 percent exclusion from taxation for small businesses; an angel investment tax credit; a supercharged research and development tax credit; a capital gains exclusion for qualified investments; and, incentives for companies to invest in Minnesota small businesses. ...

“Minnesota faces a crisis of competitiveness.” It didn’t take Minnesota’s leaders long to recognize the state’s precipitous fall in the standings for many major indicators over the past two decades paralleled the state’s prolonged diinvestment from a proactive TBED strategy. The report from the Minnesota S&T Economic Development Project Committee, created by the state legislature just last fall and co-chaired by the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, holds little back in its condemnation of the state’s nearly 20-year abandonment of any significant investments or policies to promote science, technology and innovation. More available at: http://image.exct.net/lib/ff2c15797266/m/1/2010+Science+and+Technology+Initiative+Presentation.pdf.

As one of several states working to recruit and retain companies that create green jobs, Minnesota lawmakers passed a measure to create a multiagency authority to promote, market and coordinate state agency collaboration on green enterprise and green economy projects. At the same time, legislators rejected Gov. Tim Pawlenty's Green JOBZ proposal, creating a tax-free program for renewable and clean energy businesses modeled after the original JOBZ program and part of the governor's Jobs and Recovery Act (see the Feb. 4, 2009 issue of the Digest).

W. Steven Burke is the new president of Biofuels Center of North Carolina.

Bill Gimson has been named executive director of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. Gimson recently retired as the chief operating officer of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Jeremy Hill has been named the director of the Center for Economic Development and Business Research at Wichita State University. Hill replaces Janet Harrah, who left the post for Northern Kentucky University.

Though green jobs have become the focus of many TBED initiatives at the federal, state and local levels, it remains difficult to estimate the size of the green workforce. Green jobs are a relatively new focus for economic development, and there is no standard definition of the green economy and green occupations. Several recent reports have taken on the task of defining green jobs, including the industry sectors that should be folded into that definition.

Green Jobs in Minnesota: Market Analysis, a report prepared for the Minnesota Green Jobs Task Force, takes a new approach to estimating the size of the green collar workforce by using market information that tracks levels of green activity in a variety of industries. The report identifies four industry sectors that make up the U.S. green energy economy: green products, renewable energy, green services and environmental conservation.

As part of the 2010-11 biennial budget unveiled last week, Gov. Tim Pawlenty proposed a package of tax incentives directed toward small, emerging businesses and companies that create green jobs and services. The governor's proposed Minnesota Jobs Recovery Act calls for a sizable investment over the next biennium with even greater costs beginning in 2012.

Within the Department of Employment and Economic Development, the governor is proposing investment tax credits totaling $50 million, deferred until 2012. Under the proposal, $38 million in tax incentives would be available to insurance companies for early-stage investments in certified capital companies. This proposal creates a 60 percent tax credit in the form of an insurance premium tax credit and is allowed only in the fifth calendar year after the investment is made at a rate not exceeding 20 percent of the earned credit in any taxable year, according to budget documents.

The third installment of the Tech Talkin' Govs series includes highlights from state of the state, budget and inaugural addresses from governors in Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, and New Mexico.

Minnesota
Gov. Tim Pawlenty, State of the State Address, Jan. 15, 2009

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.

Armed with professional advice from mentors in scientific fields and free access to sophisticated design and engineering software, teachers and students from Hawaii, Kansas, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Vermont and Virginia will participate in a national competition to solve a real-world engineering challenge defined by the aviation industry.
 
The idea behind the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Real World Design Challenge is to create a pipeline of highly qualified workers by preparing high school students for careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields based on issues facing high-tech and defense industries.
 

California
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a bill authorizing community service districts to provide high-speed Internet services in areas in which no private company has done so. The districts, which provide basic infrastructure such as water, sewer and police services, will help extend broadband access into rural areas of the state that remain underserved. The bill reflects the recommendations of the California Broadband Task Force, which was created in 2006 by Gov. Schwarzenegger and presented its findings in January (see the Dec. 4, 2006 issue of the Digest).

Minnesota legislators established the Office of Science and Technology (OST) to develop a collaborative partnership between industry, academia and government that will coordinate federal funding procurement efforts in S&T with Minnesota. OST's efforts will focus on developing the partnership to help small help businesses access federal grants for technology development and promote contractual relationships between Minnesota small, medium and large businesses according to the governor's press office. 
 
The Department of Employment and Economic Development will receive $400,000 for the effort in fiscal year 2009 to expand current SBIR and STTR efforts and develop a process for technology partnering and commercialization to enhance the S&T funding pipeline.
 
Legislators also approved: 

• $9 million for bioscience business development infrastructure;

Two weeks ago, Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter vetoed legislation to repeal state R&D income tax credits for Idaho companies. Among his reasons for the veto, Gov. Otter claimed removing the credits would put Idaho at a competitive disadvantage because surrounding states over similar incentives. Was he right?