SSTI Digest

John Wasilisin was named deputy executive director of the Maryland Technology Development Corporation.

Steve Zylstra stepped down as CEO of the Pittsburgh Technology Council.

With all of the recent activity from its state legislature, Arkansas will soon possess one of the nation's most comprehensive portfolios of state-supported TBED initiatives. A number of TBED-related acts passed by the Arkansas General Assembly this session have all received Gov. Mike Beebe's signature. The result could be a public injection of up to $140 million for Arkansas's TBED community over the next biennium. Most of the new TBED initiatives were outlined in the 2007 Legislative Agenda created by Accelerate Arkansas, an independent statewide coalition organized under the Arkansas Economic Acceleration Foundation. Accelerate Arkansas' goal is to raise the state's average wage to the national average by 2020, a goal to be advanced by investments in research, entrepreneurship, risk capital, and Arkansas' science and engineering workforce. Every component of the legislative agenda proposed by Accelerate Arkansas was accepted by the legislature. The General Assembly also passed additional TBED legislation during the recent session, including authorization for research parks, broadband access, and R&D tax credits. The package…

To promote excellence and accelerate innovation in the nation's aerospace, defence, security and space industries, Canada earlier this month launched the Strategic Aerospace and Defence Initiative (SADI) -- a repayable contribution program being administered by Industry Canada's Industrial Technologies Office (ITO). Canadian aerospace, defence, security and space industries are knowledge-intensive and major contributors to Canada's economy. The aerospace sector, alone, had sales of $21.8 billion and exports of $18.5 billion and employed 75,000 highly skilled-and-paid Canadians in 2005. SADI is expected to invest nearly $900 million over the next five years, with funding to reach up to $225 million per year, in support of these industries. SADI was developed with three objectives in mind: (1) to encourage strategic R&D that will result in innovation and excellence in new products and services; (2) to provide enhanced opportunities for Canadian A&D industries; and (3) to foster collaboration between research institutes, colleges, universities and the private sector. By investing in strategic R&D projects, ITO will…

Several U.S. states have introduced plans in attempts to take the early lead in the country's emerging biofuels industry. For example, in 2006, the Washington legislature approved the initial components of the state's Bioenergy Program. Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen also has proposed a $73 million investment in biofuels research over the next five years though a new Biofuels Initiative at the University of Tennessee, and the Oklahoma legislature is mulling a $40 million Bioenergy Center to coordinate state research.   North Carolina is the latest state to enter the fray with an ambitious plan to fund biofuel research and infrastructure. Last week, the Environmental Review Commission of the state's General Assembly met to discuss "Fueling North Carolina's Future: North Carolina's Strategic Plan for Biofuels Leadership," a nine-point plan to boost the biofuels industry. The plan, commissioned by the state legislature in August 2006, was developed after leaders observed that the 5.6 billion gallons of petroleum-based liquid fuels sold in North Carolina each year were not contributing in any meaningful way to the state's economy. …

A $295 million three-part bond referendum package passed by the Maine State Legislature last week includes a number of components central to the state’s TBED strategy, including funds to support continued development of the state’s research enterprise, expanded broadband access and increased rural/economic development financing.   The largest TBED item provides $50 million for the Maine Technology Fund to support research, development, and commercialization efforts of Maine-based public and private entities. The funds are limited to the state’s targeted fields of biotechnology, marine technology, composite materials, environmental technology, forestry and agriculture, information technology, and precision manufacturing.   Additionally, the package includes $48.5 million for improvements at the University of Maine and the state community college system and $2 million for revitalizing downtowns and expanding access to digital resources through the New Century Community Program.   Several revolving loan funds also will be replenished with a combined pool of $6.5 million, including the Maine…

One of the most vexing problems facing states, outside of a few well known success stories, is a persistent lack of attention from the venture capital industry. In 2006, almost 60 percent of venture capital investment was concentrated in California and Massachusetts. The other 48 states have had to devise their own strategies to compete with Silicon Valley, Route 128 and each other to gain the attention of potential investors. Mississippi, for example, attracted only two venture investment deals and only $8 million in VC investment last year, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ annual MoneyTree Survey. The lack of access to capital was stifling the state’s economy, especially its high-tech industries, Momentum Mississippi concluded in a study last year. To help remedy Mississippi's situation, the state legislature recently approved a package authorizing five new state funds to support early-stage high-tech companies and to build an in-state market for private equity investment. The funds will be administered by the Mississippi Technology Alliance (MTA), a nonprofit organization that works closely with the state to provide services to investors…

The U.S. as a whole showed an increase of 5.41 percent in per capita personal income from fiscal year 2005, according to second quarter 2006 estimates of state personal income data released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).   Using BEA data, SSTI has compiled a table ranking all 50 states and the District of Columbia by per capita personal income and percent change between FY 2003-06. Twenty-four states showed an increase in per capita personal income over the four-year period greater than the national average of 15.51 percent. Among those states, Wyoming led the nation with a 22.1 percent increase, followed by Oklahoma (20.8 percent), the District of Columbia (19.7 percent), Louisiana (19.4 percent) and Hawaii (19.4 percent).   In per capita personal income, the District of Columbia led the nation from FY 2003-06 with an average of $56,307 per person in FY06. Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland and New York ranked 2-6, respectively, throughout the four-year period. Of the remaining top 10 states, Wyoming moved up eight places to seventh in FY06 (the largest jump in rank over the four-year period…

Approximately $60 million is expected to be available under a new Advanced Technology Program (ATP) competition to support high-risk industrial R&D projects, the program announced today. As part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, ATP offers funding for specific research projects by individual companies or industry-led joint ventures to accelerate the development of innovative technologies. Multiyear awards are made on a cost-shared basis for technically challenging, high-risk research that has the potential for broad national benefit. The program encourages path-breaking research on emerging or enabling technologies that lead to revolutionary new products and industrial processes and services that address national priorities and generate large societal benefits.   A single company can receive a total of up to $2 million for R&D activities over a three-year period. For single-company recipients, ATP funds may only be used to pay direct costs. A joint venture can receive funds for R&D activities for up to five years, with no funding limitation other than available funds.…

With the close of its 2007 regular session, the New Mexico State Legislature wrapped up "one of the most productive sessions in state history." Those were the words of Gov. Bill Richardson, following the legislature's adjournment last month. The governor had outlined a number of economic development and energy initiatives in his 2007 State of the State Address that he hoped would be brought to bear (see the Jan. 15, 2007 issue of the Digest). While not all of the initiatives were realized during the regular session, there were a few victories providing the governor cause to celebrate: Senate Bill 418 increases the state's Renewable Portfolio Standard, signed into law by Gov. Richardson in 2004. The bill requires that at least 15 percent of an electric utility's power supply come from renewable sources by 2015 and 20 percent by 2020 -- up from the prior requirement that 10 percent of the state's electricity come from such sources by 2011. House Bill 188 creates the Renewable Energy Transmission Authority, which will lead efforts to promote clean energy jobs and resources in New Mexico. The bill's fiscal impact report notes, "The executive budget proposal…

Incentive packages to attract companies are nothing new in economic development. In recent years, though, incentives have been used to recruit technology companies, and these incentive packages are growing in scope and complexity, with some in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Two recent reports that take a close look at experiences in North Carolina and Iowa may be of interest to communities and states using incentive packages to recruit companies to their area.   North Carolina In 2004, Dell accepted an incentive package to build a computer assembly plant in North Carolina. With the state’s contribution over a 15-year period valued at $242 million, plus an additional $40 million provided by its counties, the North Carolina Department of Commerce argued the package was reasonable because the investments would stimulate 8,086 jobs. Researchers at the North Carolina Budget and Tax Center and the Corporation for Enterprise Development analyzed the incentive package, however, noting differences between North Carolina’s offer and Virginia’s $37 million offer for the same project. Virginia believed its project would yield 4,113 jobs while…

The Department of Education is beginning to implement the first wave of initiatives based on the recommendations of the Commission on the Future of Higher Education. Department Secretary Margaret Spellings recently met with national leaders to discuss the recommendations of the commission's report, released in September 2006. Secretary Spellings emphasized the federal government's commitment to cooperating with states in order to create an educational system tailored to the 21st century economy and the needs of students.   Among the announcements is the unveiling of a new online tool to simplify the federal financial aid process. FAFSA4caster will help simplify the process of filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and will provide users with an early estimate of a student's aid package. The site is the department's first step toward solving some of the problems with the financial aid system pointed out by the commission, which found that many students were discouraged from pursuing a college degree because of financial uncertainty. In the near future, the department plans to partner with states to use existing income and tax data…