SSTI Digest

A bipartisan group of 17 governors signed the Governors’ Accord for a New Energy Future – a joint commitment to support the deployment of renewable, cleaner and more efficient energy technologies and other solutions to make the U.S. economy more productive and resilient as well as spur job creation in member states. The multi-state effort will work to implement clean energy policies and initiatives in four areas: clean energy, clean transportation choices, a modern electrical grid, and plan for a new energy future. Although the accord doesn’t provide specific efforts, senior advisors to participating governors are expected to convene shortly to discuss initial steps to pursue their shared priorities and commitments according to solarindustrymag.com. The 17 signatories are: Gov. Jerry Brown (CA); Gov. Dannel Mallory (CT); Gov. Jack Markell (DE); Gov. David Ige (HI); Gov. Terry Branstad (IA); Gov. Charlie Baker (MA); Gov. Rick Snyder (MI); Gov. Mark Dayton (MN); Gov. Brian Sandoval (NV); Gov. Maggie Hassan (NH); Gov. Andrew Cuomo (NY); Gov. Kate Brown (OR); Gov. Tom Wolf (PA); Gov. Gina Raimondo (RI); Gov. Peter Shumlin (VT);  Gov. Terry…

SSTI’s analysis of gubernatorial addresses, strategic plans and budget proposals continues this week with highlights from Alabama, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. Governors are facing difficult fiscal situations in several of these states, often scaling back tech-based economic development efforts. Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, however, is using a fiscal surplus to invest in higher education and regionally focused economic initiatives. Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley rolled out his Great State 2019 plan during his State of the State address earlier this month, with many aspects included in his proposed fiscal year 2017 budget. Education and workforce efforts plan a key role in the plan and include the FUTURE scholarship program to provide every student with the chance to attend a state community college, and a consolidation of the state’s regional workforce development councils. The governor instructs the Office of Broadband Development to step up its efforts to expand access to high-speed data services, particularly telemedicine. Last year, Gov. Bentley permanently established the Alabama Small Business Commission and Advisory Committee,…

While many states have begun negotiations on budget plans for FY17 and beyond, Pennsylvania has made some progress on FY16 spending. Gov. Tom Wolf signed a partial budget that funded many agencies and programs related to economic development, but that did not include higher education funding and other operations. In the coming months, SSTI will review gubernatorial addresses and budget proposals related to economic development. This week, we highlight developments in Hawaii, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Hawaii Gov. David Ige released his $13 billion proposed fiscal year 2017 supplemental budget in late December, building on the biennial budget passed last year. The governor’s office is touting $729 million in infrastructure and economic development spending and another $248 million for education. The boost for infrastructure spending would support improvements to airports in Kona and Honolulu, and the modernization of Honolulu harbor. Most of the new education funding would support capital improvements, but $4 million is provided for the operating costs of the University of Hawaii’s Cancer Center. The proposed supplemental budget…

In the face of declining state funding and drawn-out budget negotiations, universities are moving beyond traditional budget procedures to secure funding for their economic development activities. Over the past few months, several universities have leveraged new sources of public and private funds to establish seed funds for university technology. These efforts are intended to increase the number of businesses emerging from their respective educational and research programs and spur regional economic prosperity. PennsylvaniaIn Philadelphia, Drexel University announced that it will establish a $10 million seed fund to make early stage investment in technologies developed by Drexel-affiliated entrepreneurs. The university will raises $5 million in funding that will be matched by Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeast Pennsylvania (BFP) over the next 10-years to support the fund. In addition to committing $5 million in funding, BFP will open an office at Innovation Center @3401, a workspace and resource center for early stage tech and business services companies. Innovation Center @3401 is operated by Drexel University and the University City Science Center, and…

Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto announced the launch of the Pittsburgh Roadmap for Inclusive Innovation, a strategic plan that is intended to support economic growth and the equitable access to technology, city resources, and information. The roadmap includes three primary goals that include: Bridge the digital divide and facilitate residents’ participation in the new economy; Improve the city’s capacity to serve the public in the digital age; and, Increase Pittsburgh’s resilience in the digital age by strengthening the clean tech and local business sectors. Under the proposed strategic plan, the city of Pittsburgh and its partner organizations intend to undertake over 100 Initiatives and projects including: Increase public wireless Internet accessibility in communities through public locations; Connect underserved communities with Maker and STEAM programming through existing AmeriCorps program funding; Improve the city’s procurement process through a web-based application to streamline the purchasing process, improving procurement efficiency, transparency, and effectiveness; Support the incubation of Clean Tech through a public and private…

Pennsylvania’s economic development strategy should focus on building businesses rather than poaching, according to a new report from the Keystone Research Center (KRC) – All Pennsylvanians Prospering Together (APP): A Pennsylvania Economic Development Strategy for the Long Term. KRC’s Executive Director Stephen Herzenberg contends, “Pennsylvania needs to renew its historic bipartisan commitment to economic development,” and “create a national model of an economic development strategy in which all the people contribute to a joint effort to expand the economic pie and benefit from the growth of that pie.” In the report, KRC identifies four core principles to guide the state’s efforts: Investing in public goods  that deliver public benefits; Practicing market-based, not market-distorting, economic development; Investing in innovation and growing Pennsylvania’s own companies; and, Pursuing a Pennsylvania good jobs strategy. To achieve the KRC goal of Pennsylvania as a national model for an inclusive, equitable strategy focused on building not poaching, the authors identify several recommendations that include, but…

Several governors released their proposed budgets over the last two weeks, and while some states continue to deal with budget shortfalls that prevent many new initiatives from coming into fruition, governors in Pennsylvania and North Carolina included numerous proposals focused on innovation and economic development. Additionally, governors in Louisiana and Massachusetts highlighted new workforce development proposals.  Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposed $33.8 billion fiscal year 2015-16 budget prioritizes strengthening the commonwealth’s middle class, allocating funds to a variety of workforce, economic development, and education initiatives. To enhance Pennsylvania’s business friendliness, Gov. Wolf proposes lowering the Corporate Net Income Tax (CNIT) from 9.99 percent to 5.99 percent, improving the commonwealth’s ranking from second-highest to fourteenth-lowest. For technology-based economic development, Gov. Wolf proposes an increase of $100 million for the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority Fund, meant to support entrepreneurs, established companies, and manufacturing innovation. This increase would be…

SSTI's Tech Talkin' Govs series has returned as governors across the country formally convene 2015 legislative sessions. The series highlights new and expanded TBED proposals from governors' State of the State, Budget and Inaugural addresses. The final installment of this year’s series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Alabama, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas. Read the first, second, third, fourth and fifth installments of this year’s series. AlabamaGov. Robert Bentley, 2015 State of the State Address, March 3, 2015"This Session we will introduce the Made in Alabama Accelerate Alabama Jobs Incentive Package. Our current incentives are 15 years old, out of date and 100 – percent dependent on borrowing money. "This new incentives package will no longer be based solely on debt. "It will increase incentives for new projects that locate in rural areas, like Vernon, Alabama. "It will offer incentives for those who invest in Small Businesses and Start-Ups. "It will provide research and development credits for work done with Alabama-based research centers. And…

Pennsylvania’s largest universities by student population, Penn State and Temple University, both announced plans this week to make a concerted investment in their respective innovation ecosystems. Pennsylvania State University (PSU) President Eric Barron announced $30 million in new investments for economic development and student career students, while Temple University and Ben Franklin Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania established a new startup accelerator to assist university ventures. The $30 million investment by Penn State, which will be augmented through fundraising and industry and government partnerships, will be used for a variety of assets to the university’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. These include dozens of entrepreneurs-in-residence, new faculty members in areas of potential economic impact, a new faculty reward structure that promotes interdisciplinary partnerships, and the launch of an online platform to encourage outside investment in startup companies. The university will focus on products and processes in the energy, food security, environmental protection, health care, manufacturing, educational technology, medical devices, and…

Purdue University, the University City Science Center, and Washington State University announced the creation of new investment funds to support the growth of university-affiliated startups in their respective communities. These three recently announced commercialization funds all share a common trend – they will be managed or assisted in the management process via public-private partnerships. In Baton Rouge, LA, the Research Park Corporation also announced the creation of a fund to assist Louisiana State University researchers compete for commercialization funding from the university. Purdue UniversityIn partnership with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, the Purdue Foundry announced the creation of the Elevate Purdue Foundry Fund, a three-year, $2 million fund to support qualified Purdue-affiliated startups. The funds are intended to support a startup venture that will commercialize licensed Purdue University intellectual property or that will leverage other Purdue assets such as research collaborations. It will offer two levels of support: Black Award – a $20,000 convertible nonrecourse note; and, Gold Award – a debt or equity…

In Q3 2014, venture capital (VC) investments in the U.S. dropped by 30 percent from Q2 totals, according a new report from CB Insights. Q3 VC deal levels also dropped by 10 percent from Q2 totals. The severe drop, however, can be attributed to Q2 being the most successful VC quarter since Q1 2001. The good news is that the first three quarters of 2014 saw the U.S. VC investment total reach $33.75 billion – an increase of 59 percent compared to the first nine months of last year. The initial public offering (IPO) market fell off significantly in Q3 with just 18 U.S.-based, VC-backed companies going public. In comparison, 59 companies went public in Q1 and Q2 combined. CB Insight researchers also found while late-stage deal share remained consistent at about 16 percent with Q1 and Q2, the size of those investments in share of venture capital dollars by series dropped from 35 percent in Q1 to only 22 percent in Q3. Read the report… Ohio Startups Attract $149M in Investments in 2013Investors made $149 million in total investments to Ohio startups in 2013, according to a recent report from VentureOhio. In Ohio VentureReport…

Between 2000 and 2010, about one-third of U.S. manufacturing employment – approximately five million jobs – were lost as a result of new technologies in the manufacturing process or competition from abroad, according to The Brookings Institution. “The decoupling of innovation from manufacturing,” as described by Harvard Professor Venky Narayanamurti, where “Americans brought great ideas to light, but then left the execution – manufacturing, and jobs – to others” has left the United States in a job crunch throughout the supply chain. In recent years, however, U.S. companies are increasingly moving their manufacturing stateside. Earlier this year, Whirlpool announced the addition of 400 new jobs for its Greenville, OH, KitchenAid plant. Caterpillar, which revealed plans to shift its production of small construction machinery to a new plant in North America in 2011, opened a $200 million facility in Athens, GA, in October 2013 with the potential to hire thousands of workers.  While other companies, ranging from Apple to crib maker Stanley Furniture, are moving back – or “reshoring” – for their own…