SSTI Digest

A recent study prepared for the Maine Technology Institute and the Office of Innovation within Maine’s Department of Economic and Community Development examines and ranks 16 identified technology clusters in Maine - defining eight as sustainable clusters, five as potential clusters, and three as emerging clusters. These labels are based upon an extended view of clusters, namely that successful clusters depend on knowledge generation and knowledge spillovers and not just specification within certain industries. Along with measures of entrepreneurship and product production and distribution, Maine’s Technology Sectors and Clusters: Status and Strategy examines 7,300 records of patents, grants and publications in the state to determine potential research strengths and opportunities within the state’s clusters. This report follows up and expands on a previous cluster analysis by the Maine Science and Technology Foundation (see the June 28, 2002 issue of the Digest), which identified seven broad technology sectors in the state. The 16 clusters analyzed in this report are comparatively narrower in scope, yet align with the seven technology sectors. For…

The Conference Board of Canada earlier this week named David Wolfe, professor of political science and co-director of the Program on Globalization and Regional Innovation Systems (PROGRIS) at the University of Toronto Mississauga's Centre for International Studies, as its fifth Scholar in Residence. Begun in 2005, the board’s prestigious scholar-in-residence program so far has focused on broader national issues such as regulatory reform and an emerging new federalism. Dr. Wolfe’s appointment recognizes the national importance of TBED-related research and policies for Canada’s continued growth and competitiveness. Through his individual and collaborative publications and PROGRIS projects such as the Innovation Systems Research Network (ISRN) and the Ontario Network for Regional Innovation Systems (ONRIS), Dr. Wolfe has made considerable contributions to international academicians’ and practitioners’ understanding of the evolving and varied roles of regions, cities and clusters in innovation and creativity. Dr. Wolfe also has presented at SSTI’s annual conference on numerous occasions, each time ranking among the highest rating…

The under-30 crowd may be the early adopters of many of the new gadgets in our lives - and the young techies who quickly became billionaires producing those toys may grab all the headlines - but a new study reveals most U.S.-born technology and engineering company founders are actually middle-aged, well educated and hold degrees from a wide assortment of universities.   In fact, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and researchers at Duke and Harvard universities discovered twice as many U.S.-born tech entrepreneurs start ventures in their 50s as do those in their early 20s. Further, while highly ranked schools are overrepresented among start-ups in the survey, 92 percent of U.S.-born founders graduate from non-Ivy League universities, according to the study, Education and Tech Entrepreneurship. The study analyzed U.S. engineering and tech companies founded from 1995-2005, representing the most current decade of data.   How does this affect state and local policies to encourage tech entrepreneurship?   “Probably the most compelling fact in the study is that advanced education is critical to the success of tech startups,…

More information on these opportunities and others is available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm. JumpStart, a nonprofit venture development organization in Cleveland, recently announced two positions openings: Chief Development Officer (CDO). This position has a dual role of managing and directing multiple internal new and emerging business development opportunities, as well as having an outward-oriented position responsible for nurturing and stewarding financial supporters. The CDO will be responsible for both sets of activities, managing multiple working groups while developing and maintaining external relationships working closely with JumpStart’s CEO. A Bachelor of Arts degree is required; an advanced degree is preferred. Chief Marketing Officer. This position will manage a three- to five-person team and will be a critical member of JumpStart's senior management team. The ideal candidate will have 15 years of experience in a variety of marketing roles and will have worked in a start-up environment. An understanding of the early-stage investing industry and an appreciation for the Northeast Ohio environment also are helpful. A bachelor’s degree is…

Lori Broyles was appointed coordinator of the Women's Business Center in Oklahoma City. University of Arizona Economic Development recently made three staff changes: Molly Gilbert was promoted to assistant director of the Office of Economic Development. Ken Marcus, previously the director of the University of Arizona Science and Technology Park (UASTP), continues in the role of chief financial officer (CFO) for UASTP and the Arizona Center for Innovation and expands his duties as the CFO for the Arizona Bioscience Park and the Arizona Research Park Authority. Marshall Worden was named director of UASTP. The Angel Capital Association and Angel Capital Education Foundation have named Stephanie Hanbury-Brown – founder of Golden Seeds LLC, an innovative network of primarily women angel investors who identify and invest in women-led ventures – as the recipient of the 2008 Hans Severiens Award. The award recognizes one person each year for outstanding accomplishments in the advancement of angel investing. Mike Kluse is now the permanent director of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) after having served as PNNL's interim director for 16…

Legislators in Alaska, Iowa and Oklahoma recently approved funding for several TBED-related initiatives within state operating and capital budgets for the upcoming fiscal year. Alaska Legislators Create Renewable Energy Fund The 2008 legislative session wrapped up earlier this month, resulting in statewide support for renewable energy following the passage of the fiscal year 2009 operating (HB 310) and capital budget (SB 221).   Lawmakers agreed to Gov. Sarah Palin’s proposal supporting alternative energy projects in the upcoming fiscal year and beyond with the passage of HB 152, which creates a renewable energy grant fund and recommendation program to be administered by the Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) and establishes a seven-member advisory committee.   The legislation requires AEA, in consultation with the advisory committee, to identify criteria to evaluate the benefit and feasibility of energy-related projects and develop a methodology for distributing funds. The capital budget agreement includes a "$50 million capitalization of the fund" for the grant program in FY09, AEA notes. AEA will solicit projects…

SSTI’s VC Dashboard Value Enlarged with Addition of Per Capita Data The runaway success of California and a few other major venture capital centers in the U.S. has made it difficult to get a firm grasp on the venture capital scene in the rest of the country. In the April 16, 2008 issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest, SSTI looked at the impact of removing California from the data to get a clearer picture of how venture capital investment is distributed throughout the other 49 states. This approach, however, does not make it any easier to evaluate a state's venture activity relative to its actual capacity for investment. Such a study would require reliable metrics on the demand for investment, which we have yet to uncover.   In the absence of such metrics, it may help to examine each state's amount of investment and number of deals at the broadest and most general standardization level -- venture capital investment relative to the state’s total population. While total population is no substitute for data on investment capacity, it can provide a thumbnail sketch of how states are performing in light of their size. This approach could also help…

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? It is true most states offer R&D tax credits to their corporate residents at this point. Little has been known about the credits’ impacts or effectiveness on recruitment, however. Most of the academic research on the topic has focused on the federal R&D tax credits and competition among nations.   On the state level, in theory at least, a rationally acting, research-intensive firm can be expected to select a location within a state that has an R&D tax credit over another state without one – all other things being equal. Note: The italicized phrase is a critical but impossible one that is required for these kinds of conclusive statements.    A recent research paper published in Economic Development Quarterly begins to shed some light on the effectiveness of state R&D tax credit…

Urban universities often have to cope with issues of land scarcity unique to their high density settings. In many cases, it’s because of their own success as an attractive magnet for other activities. The result? Major expansions can take years of negotiation and planning – and top dollar – to accomplish. In addition, tensions with neighbors and community sometimes arise over new development or incompatible land use. Some municipalities may struggle in a love-hate relationship with the colleges, welcoming the above-average wages of academic employment and accompanying economic growth, yet fretting over losing tax base as schools acquire more land. Rarely does a large piece of land exist in close proximity to an urban university that is both available and affordable – land providing the academic institution and local tech-based economic development programs the room to create opportunities for future research, innovation and science-based growth.   Fortunately for the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, one of those large tracts of marginally used land - the state fairgrounds - sits adjacent to and between the school’s…

As Massachusetts legislators are in the process of crafting a compromise bill for the statewide Life Sciences Initiative, one new issue to emerge would have the state taking an equity position in the life sciences companies in which the state provides financial support. Insuring the state receives the economic development impacts promised by a company when the state provides financial support is not particularly new. Clawbacks for deals that leave state or fail to live up to employment promises are being demanded by states and communities with increasing frequency on conventional recruitment economic development projects.   The House version of the bill – H. 4554 – includes an “Equity investment” clause in which the state receives no less than 3 percent of the equity in a company that received state grants. The equity clause calls for a future quasi-public agency to become an equity partner in a biotech firm if state funds are used, and it only applies to firms that fail to secure venture or angel investor capital, according to a Boston Herald article. However, S. 2566, the Senate version of the bill that passed last month, does…

With just about two weeks left to apply for the 2008 Excellence in TBED Awards, applications are already coming in, and while there is no prize for early birds, we’ll gladly accept your entry at any time. No need to worry though; there is no penalty for procrastinators, other than the risk of a too hastily prepared proposal.   New to this year’s application brochure is a one-page set of application guidelines that was developed from the suggestions submitted by judges on last year’s award committees. This resource serves as a useful tool when crafting your narrative. Be sure to check it out at http://www.ssti.org/awards.htm.   The deadline to apply is May 16, 2008.   To learn more about last year’s winners, please visit: http://www.ssti.org/Awards/07winners.htm

Excitement already is building for SSTI's 12th annual conference, Encouraging Regional Innovation, and we only published the "save the date" postcards last week! Past participants know SSTI's annual conference is the only event of the year to bring together so many thought leaders and practitioners from all aspects of TBED from every corner of the country and every type of organization, with such varied angles and perspectives on every issue. The Oct. 14-16 event at the Intercontinental Hotel in Cleveland promises to help professionally advance the tech-based economic development community through a series of fully interactive plenary sessions and discussion based breakouts.  To help our members get the most of the premiere conference of the year, SSTI is making available for the first time team pricing for members' registration to the full conference. This special offer provides significant discounts to our member organizations for multiple-staff registrations to the conference. The first registration is the regular price – already discounted $100 from non-member prices. Each additional employee of the member organization registering at the same…