SSTI Digest

The U.S. National Science Foundation announced a new $60 million investment led by NSF's Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships — the Accelerating Research Translation, or ART, program. The program will build capacity and infrastructure at higher education institutions that are needed to strengthen and scale the translation of basic research outcomes into impactful solutions and practice. Through ART, NSF will provide up to $6 million per award over four years to academic institutions that have demonstrated strong basic science and engineering research but are eager to grow their translational research activities and develop the associated requisite infrastructure. Proposals should have a blend of educational and training opportunities; activities to grow capacity for research in the short and long terms; and, specific activities that show significant promise for translating research results to practice in the short term. An introductory webinar is planned for Tuesday, Feb. 21.

After a busy election season that saw gubernatorial elections in 36 states, newly elected and re-elected governors delivered their annual State of the State addresses, kicking off new programs and reviewing the conditions of their states. SSTI reviews the speeches every year and covers news of new developments and initiatives the governors have highlighted as they relate to the innovation economy. New programs are laid out here in the governors own words as excerpts from their State of the State or budget addresses. Not all governors delivered a State of the State, and some that did may not have revealed new innovation-related initiatives and so are not included in our coverage. Common initiatives among the governors that touched on innovation included an emphasis on workforce, education and broadband; water issues for Western governors; and, clean energy. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey delivered her 2023 State of the State on March 7 and called on legislators to “look ahead and crate an economic development strategy for the 2030s.” “… I am calling on you to get behind our playbook for economic success, what I am calling The Game Plan.” “We will…

The Angel Capital Association (ACA) reports seed stage investments accounted for almost 60% of the total angel deals in 2021, up from 50% in 2020.  These seed stage angel investments represented more than half of the $950 million invested by 180 ACA member groups in 2021.  ACA estimates that portfolio companies raised more than $5 billion, suggesting leverage of more than 5X their initial angel investments. Based on member-submitted direct investment data, the 2022 Angel Funders Report provides an overview of early stage investment trends. Angel investments in health and life sciences firms surpassed those in software, fintech, and hardware. Medical technology and health technology markets, while down from 2020’s COVID-driven levels, remained the leading verticals in 2021. Diversity in angel investments proved to be a mixed bag in 2021. Women-led firms landed fewer deals, but those initial investments increased by an average of $99,000 to reach an average initial investment of $296,000. The average initial investment in Black-led firms was about 50% less, dropping from $299,000 in 2020 to $146,000 in 2021. Meanwhile, initial angel investments in companies with…

Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves called on business leaders to “lean into” partnerships with the public sector to strengthen the United States’ position as a global tech leader during remarks at a recent Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) summit. In his speech, Graves emphasized the crucial role that innovation in business models, human capital, and talent management strategies, including diversity and inclusion, play in driving U.S. tech leadership domestically and abroad.

This week, the U.S. Department of Commerce updated its timeline for funding opportunities that support semiconductor and related manufacturing, as well as relevant R&D facilities. The department still intends, as first stated in its strategic plan last fall, to make funding for chip fabrication facilities available later this month. The funding opportunity for related manufacturing will be made available in “late spring.” The announcement, which was made over email, states that funding to support the construction of semiconductor R&D facilities is planned for “early fall” but does not specify if that opportunity would encompass all or just some of the research centers and networks funded in the CHIPS and Science Act.  Separately, the agency made two public notices for information collection that appear to be related to the CHIPS manufacutring funding in the Federal Register for comment: one is a meeting request form (comments open until Feb. 13) and one is a notice of interest form (comments open until Feb. 23). SSTI’s Tech-based Economic Development Community of Practice recently discussed these programs in its webinar overviewing…

Editor's note: The Senate appropriations subcommittees were formally updated after this article originally published. They have been updated to reflect new assignments. The 118th Congress is now sufficiently organized to know who will sit on each committee that is most directly-relevant to federal innovation and entrepreneurship policy. These new rosters include new leaders. In the Senate, both the commerce committee (Sen. Ted Cruz) and small business committee (Sen. Joni Ernst) have new ranking members. In the House, not only has control switched parties, but there are four new leaders among the eight chair and ranking member seats with important roles in this area. See the lists, below, for an explanation of important committees and their full membership. SSTI works to educate each of these committees about the importance of regional innovation economies through its Innovation Advocacy Council. Organizations interested in learning more about federal policy in this area or how to educate your delegation should contact SSTI (contactus@ssti.org). Members marked with an asterisk (*) are new to the committee since the start of the previous congress.…

Although freshman enrollment in higher education increased 4.3% in fall 2022 compared to the previous year, total enrollment declined by 0.6% and still remains below pre-pandemic levels. Total enrollment of both undergraduate and graduate levels is down about 1.11 million students (5.8%) compared to fall 2019. Freshman enrollment in community colleges, which had taken a greater hit during the pandemic, is up 6.1% over fall 2019. The new data on enrollment was released by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Public four-year institutions saw a 1.4% decline in enrollment (-88,000 students), while private for–profit four-year institutions increased 5% from fall 2021 (29,000 more students). Graduate enrollment fell 1.2% after two years of consecutive growth. The Current Term Enrollment Estimates (CTEE) from the research center also features new analyses of race and ethnicity, undergraduate and graduate enrollment by major field at the state level, and institutional selectivity.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) requests input from stakeholders on place-based innovation activities leveraging research institutions, such as (but not limited to) DOE’s national laboratories and sites. Feedback collected as part of this RFI will inform DOE’s future program planning and development efforts. The RFI is an opportunity to provide input on how DOE can catalyze and sustain place-based ecosystems across the country. The request includes a list of guiding questions about regional characteristics as well as existing and potential place-based regional innovation activities to inform responses. This RFI is not a Funding Opportunity Announcement, prize, or other solicitation. The comment period concludes on March 28. In the press release, DOE Under Secretary Geraldine Richmond notes, “Place-based innovation initiatives are key to the success of DOE’s mission going forward … DOE National Labs are catalysts to make sure the benefits of the new energy economy reach all corners of the nation so that communities can thrive." Review the full notice and submit feedback via Regulations.gov. 

This past December, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) sent out letters of encouragement, or discouragement, to applicants in the competition for up to $7 billion in federal funding to support the development of regional hydrogen hubs. Of the 79 original applicants, 33 were advised to move forward with writing a full application. The DOE has not released a list of the groups that were encouraged to submit a full proposal but did allow the groups to announce their status on their own. A report from S&P Global identified 18 of the 33 finalists, and other news has been trickling out through local news outlets and group announcements. Some of those that received notice of encouragement to proceed with a full proposal include: Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub Alliance for Reliable Clean Hydrogen Energy System Hub Decarbonization Network of Appalachia (DNA) H2Hub Great Lakes Clean Hydrogen Coalition Halo Hydrogen Hub Hawaii Pacific Hydrogen Hub Heartland Hydrogen Hub Mid-Continent Clean Hydrogen Hub Mid-Atlantic Clean H2 Hub Mid-Atlantic Hydrogen Hub Midwest Alliance for Clean…

On Tuesday, Feb. 1, SSTI’s new TBED Community of Practice hosted its first webinar as part of a multi-year effort to build capacity among Economic Development Administration (EDA) grantees to achieve greater impacts and strengthen the overall practice of technology-based economic development (TBED). Webinar participants learned about new funding sources and how they can support regional innovation economies. Chivas Grannum and Amanda Kosty of EDA’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship discussed two programs supporting TBED activities — Build to Scale and the STEM Talent Challenge. Build to Scale has two parts, the Venture Challenge to promote commercialization capacity and the Capital Challenge to assist with access to capital. The STEM Talent Challenge provides two-year grants addressing near-term workforce needs in regional innovation economies. SSTI Vice President Jason Rittenberg presented on other programs across the federal government, including the U.S. Economic Development Administration, U.S. Small Business Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, the…

From 2002-2021 (the last 20 years for which data is available), the total U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP adjusted for inflation, or Real GDP) increased by approximately 45%, from $13.5 trillion to $19.6 trillion in chained 2012 dollars. On a per capita basis, county-level real GDP increased by an average of 36% over the past 20 years, with a range of growth from -77% (Brooks County, Texas) to 3,950% (Culberson County, Texas). Across the country, 2,539 counties experienced an increase in real GDP per capita growth between 2002 and 2021. The plurality were located in Texas (192 counties), (Texas alone has 8% of all U.S. counties), followed by Kansas (100), Georgia (97), Iowa (96), Montana (93) and Nebraska (92). Several states showed consistency in their county-level growth. Three states — Hawaii, North Dakota and Rhode Island — each experienced real GDP per capita growth in all of their counties. Three others saw particularly strong state-level growth — Nebraska (99% of counties), Iowa (97%) and Kansas (95%) — even if a few counties did not experience an increase. The remaining 568 counties experienced a decrease in real GDP per capita. Texas and…

The South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA) had an economic impact of over $1.15 billion in FY 2022, through follow-on funding, grants awarded, investments made by affiliate SC Launch Inc, job support and more,  according to their annual report. This total is an increase of almost 15% from their economic impact in FY 2021. The report was compiled by SCRA with assistance on the economic impacts provided by the University of South Carolina Darla Moore School of Business.  SCRA, chartered by the state legislature in 1983, was created to support the state’s innovation economy by contributing to technology-enabled growth in academia, entrepreneurship and industry. SCRA member companies and SC Launch Inc. portfolio companies received over $85.2 million in follow-on funding in FY 2022. Since the 2006 inception of SCRA’s investment affiliate, SC Launch Inc., $2.33 billion of capital has been raised. In addition to follow-on funding, SCRA and SC Launch Inc. awarded $4.75 million in grants and investments to member companies, SC Launch Inc. portfolio companies, and academic institutions during FY 2022. These investments are aimed at, “advancing…