SSTI Digest

Highlights from State of the State addresses delivered in Alaska and Hawaii are included in the third installment of the Tech Talkin’ series.   Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, State of the State Address, Jan. 15, 2008 “I'm appointing an Energy Coordinator, to activate a statewide Energy Plan. We'll use earnings from a $250 million ‘Renewable Energy Fund’ for alternative projects, like hydro, wind, geothermal, and biomass.” Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle, State of the State Address, Jan. 22, 2008 “We are proposing to start Creative Academies, modeled after the successful STEM Academies, to nurture and support the many talents of Hawai‘i’s keiki. These academies would focus on animation, digital media, game development and writing and publishing in elementary through high school. “We propose the creation of a Commission on Higher Education made up of the presidents of Hawai‘i’s major universities, members of the community, and business leaders. This Commission will give us the opportunity to embrace new ideas and new ways of using federal and state education dollars…

Although the national venture capital investment continues to expand, many parts of the country still lack access to reliable sources of business capital. Even in states that rank in the top tier for venture investment, there are often insufficient capital resources to support businesses at every stage of development. In order to support entrepreneurs and to attract more attention from the industry, an increasing number of cities, regional organizations, community and technical colleges, and other groups are creating their own capital programs. These programs frequently focus on providing funding at the pre-seed and start-up stages of business development when it is difficult to attract funding.   Northeast Ohio The Lorain County Community College (LCCC) Foundation recently announced that it would make its first three grants to support Northeast Ohio start-ups through its new Innovation Fund. These grants provide pre-seed and technology validation funding for businesses in the region that agree to provide internships for LCCC students and to participate in on-campus lectures on entrepreneurship. The program offers grants of up to $100,…

While many universities offer business plan competitions and programs in entrepreneurship and commercialization, fewer opportunities are available to learn about the capital side of the equation. Last week, however, two major conferences invited students to learn more about venture capital (VC) investment and emerging trends in the venture industry.   The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania's student-run Private Equity & Venture Capital Conference hosted a day of discussions about developments in the venture capital field. More than 900 industry leaders, alumni, faculty and students met for the 14th annual conference to discuss changes in legislation and the regulatory environment for venture investors and the expanding global-orientation of investment.   Students were able to meet and talk with national and local venture professionals and to learn about how venture firms respond to change. The conference included panels on how federal and state governance can affect the competitiveness of U.S. private capital and on how capital firms can thrive despite downturns in the overall economy.  …

Each year, the National Science Foundation releases updated information for their Federal Funds for Research and Development series. SSTI has prepared a table illustrating the amount of federal R&D obligations provided to industry in each state from 2000 to 2004, the most recent years for which statistics are available. Additionally, the relative ranking of each state is displayed for every year in this period.   For the entire U.S., federal R&D obligations to industry were $27.6 billion in 2000 before steadily increasing to $39.1 billion in 2004. This represents a 41.6 percent increase over the five-year period. In 2004, the states receiving the most federal R&D funding for industry were California ($7.87 billion), Texas ($3.30 billion), Virginia ($3.25 billion), Maryland ($2.38 billion) and Missouri ($2.37 billion). In 2004, 13 states had amounts higher than $1 billion, whereas 10 states received less than $50 million.   The values show a high amount of volatility over the years, and the relative ranking among states changes dramatically in some cases. Mississippi, for example, received $105 million in…

Tom Ballard was named director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Partnerships Directorate, formerly known as Technology Transfer and Economic Development. Ballard had been serving as the organization's interim director since August 2007. The Howard County Economic Development Authority appointed Larry Collins as a new technology manager and as executive director of the new Howard Technology Council. The Great Lakes Entrepreneur's Quest hired Diane Durance as its new executive director, succeeding Art DeMonte, now a full-time business consultant. Durance formerly was president of the Ann Arbor IT Zone. William "Chip" Farmer was named interim director of the Greater Richmond Technology Council. Farmer replaces Robert Stolle, who left in December 2007 to join Core Consulting, a business and information technology consulting firm. The Indiana Business Incubator Society announced its plans to become a formal organization. The Illinois Technology Development Alliance (ITDA) this week promoted John Noel to become ITDA's permanent president. Noel had…

Tom Ballard was named director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Partnerships Directorate, formerly known as Technology Transfer and Economic Development. Ballard had been serving as the organization's interim director since August 2007.

The Howard County Economic Development Authority appointed Larry Collins as a new technology manager and as executive director of the new Howard Technology Council.

The Great Lakes Entrepreneur's Quest hired Diane Durance as its new executive director, succeeding Art DeMonte, now a full-time business consultant. Durance formerly was president of the Ann Arbor IT Zone.

William "Chip" Farmer was named interim director of the Greater Richmond Technology Council. Farmer replaces Robert Stolle, who left in December 2007 to join Core Consulting, a business and information technology consulting firm.

The Indiana Business Incubator Society announced its plans to become a formal organization.

The Illinois Technology Development Alliance (ITDA) this week promoted John Noel to become ITDA's permanent president. Noel had been serving as interim president over the past 15 months.

Lisa Porter was named the first director of the new Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity. Porter, NASA's associate administrator of the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, said she will leave the agency in February.