SSTI Digest

The following overview is a synopsis of select recent announcements from research parks across the world, including groundbreakings and development plans to support vibrant regional economies based on science, technology and innovation.    The Armenian government recently allocated 80 million drams (est. $266,000 USD) from this year’s state budget to build a technopark in Gyumri, reports the ArmInfo News Agency. Armenian Minister of Trade and Economic Development Nerses Yeritsyan said that all main higher education institutes of Gyumri, as well as several international organizations and donors, are involved in the project, which is slated for completion by the end of the year.  

Four leading members of the technology-based economic development community were elected to the State Science and Technology Institute (SSTI) board of trustees today, each bringing fresh perspective and unique insight on issues affecting SSTI’s nationwide network of policymakers and practitioners working to improve state and regional economies through science, technology and innovation.   The four will join SSTI’s existing nine trustees in providing strategic guidance and oversight for the organization’s 39 state sponsors and 148 affiliates and supporters. Representing government, higher education and industry sectors, the new appointees are:

The full-color, full-conference brochure will hit the streets next week but we wanted to give Digest readers the first peek at what promises to be a very special event for the technology-based economic development (TBED) community. SSTI’s 12th Annual Conference will be held Oct. 14-16, 2008, at the Intercontinental Hotel Cleveland.

Last month, Gov. Jennifer Granholm announced legislative approval of two TBED priorities unveiled during her State of the State Address, a program supporting in-state entrepreneurs and continued investment in an initiative to train displaced workers. 

Despite ongoing concern about the lack of venture-backed initial public offerings (IPOs), venture investment held steady at $7.4 billion in the second quarter of 2008, according to the Moneytree Report published by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) based on data provided by Thompson Reuters. Though venture investment dropped slightly from $7.5 billion to $7.4 billion from the first to the second quarter of the year, venture activity remain on track to hit the same level of investment as 2007 by year’s end.

While the overall figures seem encouraging, a much higher percentage of investment is being targeted at late-stage, rather than early-stage, companies and to firms based in Silicon Valley and not the rest of the country. This trend could mean trouble for new capital-seeking companies outside of the Bay Area.

How should states determine the focus and location of significant investments into academic research? The process can easily become politicized when more than one research institution, sizable metropolitan area or major industry exist in the state. On occasion, geographic and political influences trump more rational factors, resulting in the “peanut butter effect” of dollars and activities being spread evenly across a state or across institutions at the possible detriment to having a meaningful impact.

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.  

Opportunities to secure jobs requiring specialized training and more educated workers - the same types of higher wage positions coveted by U.S. tech-based economic development practitioners - increasingly are appearing in other countries as companies look to enter new markets and reduce costs. As a result, offshoring and its effects on an ever-changing U.S. labor force are topics receiving a lot of play during this election cycle.

Offshoring is not being discussed only by politicians, however. What follows is a synthesis of four recent research reports shedding light on different angles or perspectives of the offshoring debate.

A complete description of this opportunity and others is available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.

High Tech Rochester (HTR), a nonprofit economic development organization focused on the Greater Rochester, N.Y., technology and high growth business sector, is seeking someone to serve as its president and CEO. This position will report to an active and engaged Board of Directors and be responsible for the overall performance of HTR and its programs, among other responsibilities. An undergraduate degree (technical degree preferred) and an MBA or other relevant graduate training or experience is required. Candidates also should have 10 years of business experience and managerial responsibility in a fast-paced entrepreneurial setting.

A consortium of Michigan’s 15 public universities recently announced a decade-long initiative to launch 200 new businesses in the state. The Michigan Initiative for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (MIIE) plans to raise and distribute $75 million over the next seven years through grants for commercialization projects, university-industry partnerships and entrepreneurship education. Last week, the initiative made its first round of awards, which included 20 grants totaling $1.3 million. Another $2.2 million in matching funds is expected for this round of awardees from private businesses and universities.

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).

Searching for good reasons to support localized college scholarship programs for urban residents? A recent working paper from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York provides convincing evidence: a one point increase in the percentage of residents with a college degree is associated with a 2.3 percent increase in a metro area's gross domestic product (GDP) per person.

While not the subject of the paper, community and regional policymakers may expect if they couple this fact with the other benefits associated with having a more educated populace - such as lower crime rates, lower vacancy rates, higher property values, and more entrepreneurship - that subsidized higher education programs should "pay" for themselves through higher tax revenues and lower costs to the public.