SSTI Digest

The 2008 Excellence in TBED Awards call for applications is right around the corner, and this year, your organization could be recognized as a national leader in the TBED community.   As an award winner, you: Gain positive exposure for your initiative; Enhance your organization’s public image by promoting awareness of critical TBED issues; and, Are provided with a forum to showcase your accomplishments during dedicated breakout sessions at SSTI’s annual conference. For these reasons and so many more, mark your calendars now for the tentative schedule of the 2008 Excellence in TBED Awards:   Call for application – March 19 Deadline for application – May 16 Winners recognized – SSTI’s 12th Annual Conference, October 15-16, 2008   To learn more about the 2007 Excellence in TBED Award winners, visit: http://www.ssti.org/awards.htm

Earlier this month, the Canadian Minister of Industry announced the establishment of 11 new Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECRs) to pursue multidisciplinary work in the areas of environmental science, natural resources and energy, health and life sciences, and information and communication technologies. This $163 million investment joins a $105 million investment last year that created seven other CECRs across Canada.   The CECR initiative is a component of Canada’s Science and Technology Strategy (see the May 21, 2007 issue of the Digest) and is administered by the Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) program. Organizations that are eligible for CECR funding are nonprofit corporations formed by universities, research organizations, private firms or other nongovernmental parties. The average grant size for each CECR was around $15 million, to be distributed over 3-5 years.   Four of the 11 new centers are based in Vancouver: Advanced Applied Physics Solutions Inc, a nonprofit subsidiary of TRIUMF, Canada’s National Laboratory for Particle and Nuclear Physics located. The Centre for Drug…

With the goals of reducing crude oil consumption by a whopping 72 percent and identifying clean energy sources to cover 70 percent of the state’s energy needs by 2030, Hawaii has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to figure out exactly how to get the job done under the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative.   To call the plan merely ambitious seems like an understatement. Hawaii currently depends on imported fossil fuels to meet 90 percent of its energy needs, the MOU begins. Despite that, Hawaii already generates more of its energy from biomass than any other state.   Both the state and DOE believe the goal is reasonable, however, given the abundance of clean energy resources the islands naturally enjoy – sunshine, wind and geothermal sources. In addition, the cost of importing fossil fuels across the Pacific continues to make traditional energy sources less attractive economically. The MOU states “every 10 percent increase in world oil prices results in a 0.5 percent reduction in the state’s GDP.”   DOE’s role is to begin immediately, according to…

Transforming as many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as possible into globally competitive firms is a challenge, as most TBED practitioners know. The complexity of combining all of Europe into a single market makes the work even more daunting.   To simplify the process for SMEs in more than 40 countries, the European Commission recently launched a consolidated Enterprise Europe Network. The network consolidates the older Euro Info Centres and the Innovation Relay Centres.   According to promotional materials, assistance services offered by the network include a business partner search within technology and business cooperation databases and access to information on funding opportunities. Network experts will provide “individual on-site visits to companies to assess their needs and a broad range of promotion and information material. Representatives of the network can also help businesses understand EU law, how it applies to their business and how to make the most the internal market and EU programs.”   In addition, the network is intended to help with some of the most pressing needs…

Gov. Rod Blagojevich unveiled a $25 billion capital plan supporting, in small part, several energy and technology projects, while at the same time eliminating funding in his fiscal year 2009 operating budget for several TBED-related programs within the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO).   The bulk of the spending for the governor’s Illinois Works proposal would be spent on road and bridge construction ($14.4 billion), with $1.1 billion earmarked for both higher education and energy and technology projects. Gov. Blagojevich said during his Budget Address that the plan – which requires $11 billion in new state funds – would be funded primarily through a brief sale of the state lottery, which is expected to generate $10-12 billion. Of that amount, $7 billion would be used to fund the capital plan, and the state would issue bonds for another $3.8 billion, according to the governor’s office. The proposal invests in new and existing programs within DCEO, including: $77.5 million for development of coal gasification plants; $25 million for construction of conventional ethanol, cellulosic ethanol and biodesiel production…

This year's edition of the Angel Capital Association's (ACA) Angel Group Confidence Report reveals that angel investors are "cautiously optimistic" about their opportunities in 2008, despite recent predictions of a slowdown for the overall U.S. economy. In a survey of ACA members, nearly 55 percent predicted that the number of angel investments made by their group and the total dollars invested will increase this year. While most expect a decrease in the number of positive exits (through acquisitions or initial public offerings), 48 percent believe that both the quantity and quality of the deals they see in the coming year will be better than in 2007.   The report also includes a glimpse into the nature of angel capital groups’ activities in 2007. A vast majority of groups still focus on seed and early-stage investments, despite an increase in later-stage angel investment. Seed and start-up companies are targeted by 81.5 percent of groups, and 85.2 percent invest in early-stage firms. Expansion and later-stage companies are targeted by only 38.3 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively. Software continues to dominate the field, with 82.9 percent of…

Across the nation, policymakers, business leaders, private foundations and nonprofit groups are investing in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduates to maintain a competitive U.S. workforce. From middle school math and science labs to engineering-centered summer camps and tuition reimbursement for undergraduates who pursue these fields, there is widespread support for STEM graduates.   The authors of a recent report from the national campaign Skills2Compete argue that while increasing the number of scientists and engineers is critical for the U.S. to remain a globally competitive force, researchers are underestimating middle skill job prospects and find that investments in these areas will likely generate important returns for the U.S. economy.   Refuting the notion that America’s labor force is increasingly comprised of very low and very high skilled jobs with a hollowing out in the middle, the report, America’s Forgotten Middle-Skill Jobs, calls for greater public investment to develop workforce education and training for jobs in the middle-skill range. Described as jobs requiring more than…

The best path to breaking the cycle of poverty from one generation to the next is a college degree, according to a new Brookings Institution report. Getting Ahead or Losing Ground: Economic Mobility in America reveals 41 percent of degree-holding people whose parents’ income placed their families in the bottom 20 percent of the population, or quintile, now have incomes placing them among the top 40 percent. Conversely, only 16 percent of college degree holders originally from the lowest income group remained in the bottom income quintile in adulthood. The balance, 47 percent of degree-holders from the lowest income population, move up either one or two income quintiles.   Further evidence of the importance a college education plays on breaking poverty is provided by those who do not obtain a degree. Only 14 percent of adults from a lowest economic group who do not attain a college degree make the ascent to the top 40 percent by income, the report states. Forty-five percent of non-degree people growing up in the lowest quintile remain there in adulthood.   Education may impact mobility at the highest rungs of the income…

BioConnect of Greater Charlotte, a new networking group for Charlotte, N.C.-area workers in life-science-related fields, held its inaugural meeting earlier this month. The North Carolina Biotechnology Center has hired Yonnie Butler as business development director of its business and technology development unit. Bob Calcaterra announced he is resigning as president of the Nidus Center for Scientific Enterprise, effective this spring, to help form a venture capital fund. James Ellick is taking a leave of absence as director of the Idaho Department of Commerce for personal reasons. Bo Fishback is the new vice president of entrepreneurship for the Kauffman Foundation. A number of regional economic development organizations in Tennessee have formed a partnership called Innovation Valley Inc. Partners in Innovation Valley Inc. include the Blount County Chamber of Commerce, Knoxville Area Chamber Partnership, Loudon County Economic Development Agency, Oak Ridge Economic Partnership, The Roane Alliance and Tellico Reservoir Development Agency.…

BioConnect of Greater Charlotte, a new networking group for Charlotte, N.C.-area workers in life-science-related fields, held its inaugural meeting earlier this month.

The North Carolina Biotechnology Center has hired Yonnie Butler as business development director of its business and technology development unit.

Bob Calcaterra announced he is resigning as president of the Nidus Center for Scientific Enterprise, effective this spring, to help form a venture capital fund.