SSTI Digest

The Maryland Technology Development Corporation has awarded more than $500,000 to seven start-up technology companies. The program, TEDCO’s Maryland Technology Transfer Fund (MTTF), is designed to help businesses transfer technology from Maryland universities and federal laboratories into the marketplace. The grants range between $70,000 and $75,000.   TEDCO reports that MTTF has provided funding to 71 companies. With a total investment of $4,078,793, these companies have gone on to receive downstream funding from angel and venture investors, federal awards and other resources exceeding $152.4 million.  

Like many states, Wisconsin has struggled to attract consistent attention from the national venture capital industry. Capital can be especially difficult to obtain in the state, since entrepreneurs with limited resources are often unable to participate in the expensive and complicated process of presenting their cases to venture capital firms based on the coasts. To address this market failure, Wisconsin has established several programs to encourage the formation of local venture and angel capital groups and incentives for in-state equity investment.

With the rapidly rising cost of health insurance, entrepreneurs frequently find themselves unable to pay their premium in the early stages of business ownership. Often, this means going without health insurance or abandoning plans to launch a new firm. The North Central Iowa Alliance (NCIA) has announced a new initiative to lower this barrier facing new business owners. The Helping Entrepreneurs Launch Program at North Central Iowa (HELP @ NCI) will make health insurance available to qualified entrepreneurs in the region during the first three years of their business' existence.   The program will be launched in partnership with the North Iowa Area Community College John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center, which will offer a regional feeder system for HELP @ NCI along with its other services for entrepreneurs. Though the program is offered at no cost to participants, business owners will be made aware of the expenses so that they can incorporate health insurance into the business planning.  

Innovation and technology, two key components of NGA Chair Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano's Innovation America initiative, were the subject of much discussion during the National Governors Association's (NGA) recently concluded annual meeting. The two components are given even more attention in three new reports released by NGA during the meeting. With the reports' release, NGA has completed its series of publications - seven in all - that were produced as part of Innovation America, an initiative that places science, technology, engineering and mathematics education at its center.

Business incubators, known for the business support services they provide entrepreneurs, have shown themselves through the years to be a valuable resource in the process of starting and growing companies. Office and laboratory space provided at a reduced cost to tenants is just one of the benefits. Many incubators also offer access to university research, mentoring and seed and venture capital in order to encourage entrepreneurship and ensure the success of new high-technology start-up companies.

For a country to attain a thriving information technology (IT) sector, an environment that promotes competitiveness, protects innovation, and invests in education and infrastructure must be supported. According to a report released this month by the Economist Intelligence Unit, which created an “IT Industry Competitiveness Index” to measure and compare this environment, the U.S. ranks first among 64 countries from around the world. Authored by Kim Thomas, The Means to Compete: Benchmarking IT Industry Competitiveness used a combination of 25 quantitative and qualitative indicators to produce a score and ranking for each county in the report.   Besides the U.S., the countries with overall index scores in the top 10 were Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Australia, Taiwan, Sweden, Denmark, Canada and Switzerland. The assortment of indicators was organized into six distinct categories, each with a specific weighting for the composite index score. These categories included:

Angel networks are often seen as an effective way to make sense of hodgepodge of individual investors, institutional funds and investment groups that make up the early-stage capital industry. Though many regions suffer from a lack of early-stage capital, this problem is often exacerbated by insufficient knowledge among entrepreneurs about local angel investors and groups and vice versa. Angel networks can fill this void by facilitating communication between local investors and entrepreneurs, thereby increasing the number of opportunities available to both. Several states provide financial support for angel networks, including Wisconsin (Wisconsin Angel Network), Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania Angel Network), Mississippi (Mississippi Angel Network) and Washington (WTC Angel Network).

As community leaders plan the physical development of their regions, some recent research may offer insight into the benefits of encouraging close proximity between firms. A group from Statistics Canada has published a paper exploring the various gains in productivity that manufacturing firms experience due to geographic concentration. In Urban Economies and Productivity, John Baldwin, Desmond Beckstead, W. Mark Brown and David Rigby use longitudinal data from a collection of approximately 20,000 manufacturing establishments across Canada.  

Together, we’re growing a strong and vibrant tech-based economic development community. State Sponsors Virginia Economic Development Partnership Washington Life Sciences Discovery Fund Affiliates Center for Advanced Engineering & Research City of Dublin, Ohio Defense Metals Technology Center Idaho National Laboratory Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce Wisconsin Security Research Consortium

As part of the budget deal agreed upon earlier this week between Gov. Ed Rendell and Pennsylvania lawmakers, two of the governor’s major TBED priorities - the Jonas Salk Legacy Fund and an alternative energy fund - will be voted on later this year.    Under the budget agreement, lawmakers committed to a roll call vote in November to decide on the Jonas Salk Legacy Fund, which proposes borrowing $500 million from the state’s tobacco settlement proceeds to invest in scientific research (see the Feb. 19, 2007 issue of the Digest). The initiative will be matched on a dollar-for-dollar basis, yielding $1 billion in new bioscience investments, according to the governor’s press office.  

The deepest mine in the U.S. has been selected by the National Science Foundation as site of its Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory. Also known as the “Homestake” in the Black Hills of South Dakota, the site contains 375 miles of tunnels, some extending more than 8,000 feet into the earth. Why build a national laboratory with some components more than a mile below the earth’s surface? Because the unique environment deep under the earth allows for some very interesting experiments to occur. In the field of particle physics for example, thousands of feet of rock can be used to shield equipment from the cosmic rays that make particle detection difficult. In microbiology, tiny organisms living without sunlight miles below the surface with the ability to degrade waste and produce energy can be observed and studied. And in the earth sciences, geophysical characteristics of the earth’s crust including thermal properties and tectonic stresses can be further explored.

From federal, state and local governments to nonprofit organizations and private industry, nearly every sector has a stake in recruiting youth to the high-tech manufacturing jobs of the future in order to maintain a competitive advantage.   According to a 2005 Survey by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), 80 percent of U.S. manufacturers indicated they face a moderate-to-severe shortage of qualified workers. The survey finds that “this human capital performance gap threatens our nation’s ability to compete in today’s fast moving and increasingly demanding global economy.”   In addition, research shows a direct relationship between manufacturing’s negative image – which is tied to the old stereotype of the assembly line – and the decreasing number of young people pursing manufacturing careers, according to NAM. Several states have enacted programs and partnerships to address not only the shortage of qualified workers, but also the stigma of traditional manufacturing.