SSTI Digest

120 Other Metro Areas included in Analysis for Northeast Ohio A study of the Northeast Ohio economy provides a different way of analyzing and tracking the impact of economic development initiatives by mathematically analyzing economic data and determining there are eight key factors of regional economic growth. Dashboard Indicators for the Northeast Ohio Economy, released by the Fund for Our Economic Future, establishes statistical correlations between economic growth in jobs, output, worker productivity and per capita income, and the eight key factors (skilled workforce, urban assimilation, racial inclusion, legacy of place, income equality, locational amenities, business dynamics, and urbanization/metro structure). The study demonstrates that when regional economies chart strong growth, they tend to score well in most or many of the eight categories, and when regional economies chart weak growth, they tend to score poorly in the eight categories. The study provides a different perspective than most indicator reports for measuring the impact of economic development activities. The…

As competition for leadership in stem cell research heats up across the nation, legal battles and the introduction of new legislation are becoming commonplace among many states. Following is a round-up of recent news on stem cell research legalities and legislation in several states. Legal Challenges in California, Illinois Last Friday, an Alameda County, Calif., Superior Court judge ruled the Stem Cell Research and Cures Act, or Proposition 71, to be constitutional in its entirety. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) decided to move forward with its first round of grants earlier this month, despite the legal challenges. CIRM announced 16 awards totaling $12.1 million to train the next generation of stem cell researchers using funding from the sale of $14 million in bond anticipation notes. According to a New York Times article, the challenge tied up the $3 billion in bonds approved by voters in 2004 (see the June 7, 2004 issue of the Digest), and officials instead sold $14 million in bond anticipation notes…

One of the latest examples of the important role a foundation can play in tech-based economic development strategies comes from a recent $15 million donation to Tulsa University. The Chapman Trust, established after the deaths of Oklahoma oilman James Chapman and his wife Leta Chapman, made the donation to perpetually endow nine new junior faculty positions at the university. University President Steadman Upham announced the creation of the nine Wellspring Professorships in his Spring 2006 letter to the campus, saying the positions were all related closely to "the goals of the strategic plans of the collegiate deans." All nine tenure-track positions also mirror the globalization, entrepreneurship and diversity issues raised by many in the tech-based economic development community and popular business press of late: Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship, Economic Development, and Business in the College of Law Assistant Professor of International Business with a specialization in China in the College of Business Administration Assistant Professor of Biochemical Engineering in…

The notion that, since a 2003 ruling, small businesses that are majority-owned by venture capital (VC) funds are being unfairly excluded from participating in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is inaccurate, according to a recent study from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Controversy has risen over the last several years over whether SBIR awards can be made to small businesses whose majority owners are venture capital firms. To receive an SBIR award, firms must meet ownership criteria, and in 2002, the Small Business Administration (SBA) clarified that majority owners of firms that receive awards must be individuals rather than corporations. Subsequently, in 2003, an SBA administrative law judge issued a decision stating that VC firms could not be considered "individuals" for the purpose of satisfying the ownership criteria for the program. During fiscal years 2001-04, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Department of Defense (DoD) made 16,019 SBIR awards valued at $5.3 billion. Since the SBA clarified SBIR ownership…

$10M Donation Funds Johns Hopkins Biomed Facility, Research Park The Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University received a commitment of $10 million from the John G. Rangos Sr. Family Charitable Foundation. The institute - intended to provide space for interdisciplinary biological and medical research - will be housed in the first building constructed in the new life sciences park in East Baltimore, an $800 million urban redevelopment project. Groundbreaking for the building was held April 17 in the 80-acre park managed by East Baltimore Development Inc. Kauffman Extends Entrepreneurship Support Across the Pond The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is joining forces with the United Kingdom's National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE) to create a scholarship program for 15-20 of Britain's most promising young entrepreneurs in a move backed by the UK's Department for Education and Skills and its Small Business Service. Beginning in September, the NCGE-Kauffman Entrepreneurship Fellows…

Regional migration patterns between 2000 and 2004 revealed a continuing net average annual in-migration in the South and the West and a net average annual out-migration in the Midwest and the Northeast, according to the Census Bureau’s latest report. Domestic Net Migration in the United States: 2000 to 2004 details recent patterns of population redistribution throughout the U.S. and provides migration data from 1990-2000 to show a historical perspective in migration patterns. On a state level ­ and consistent with regional data ­ states in the South and the West experienced the highest net in-migration (Table 2 of the report). Florida had the largest in-migration of 190,894, followed by Arizona (66,344) Nevada (50,803), Georgia (41,298), North Carolina (39,137) and Texas (36,566). Although Nevada did not incur the largest numerical change in net migration, it experienced the highest net in-migration rate of 23.3. Net migration rate is calculated by dividing total net domestic migration by the average population living in that area over the period and multiplying the…

Carolina Cruz is the first director of the Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise, a $20 million research facility developed jointly by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and the Louisiana Economic Development Authority. Past SSTI conference sponsor ANGLE Technology Group named Mark DeSantis to serve as managing director of consulting and management and Lisa Smith to become vice president of marketing. Lenzie Harcum, former program director at the University of North Carolina SBTDC, is now assistant vice president of biosciences at the NYC Economic Development Corporation. After seven months on the job, Connecticut Innovations President and CEO Chandler Howard is leaving to pursue an opportunity to establish a community bank in New Haven.

Carolina Cruz is the first director of the Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise, a $20 million research facility developed jointly by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and the Louisiana Economic Development Authority.

Past SSTI conference sponsor ANGLE Technology Group named Mark DeSantis to serve as managing director of consulting and management and Lisa Smith to become vice president of marketing.

Lenzie Harcum, former program director at the University of North Carolina SBTDC, is now assistant vice president of biosciences at the NYC Economic Development Corporation.

After seven months on the job, Connecticut Innovations President and CEO Chandler Howard is leaving to pursue an opportunity to establish a community bank in New Haven.

Over the past six years, SSTI has dedicated a portion of the Digest to coverage on the legislative priorities of governors across the nation through the Tech Talkin' Govs series. As they say, talk is cheap. So this year, we are extending that coverage to track how the Governors' proposals fared in the respective legislative sessions. In the coming months, as many sessions come to an end, SSTI will take a look back on the governors' state-of-the-state, budget, and inaugural addresses and report the good, the bad and the ugly of the 2006 legislative decisions. Georgia During his State-of-the State Address (see the Jan. 16, 2006 issue of the Digest), Gov. Sonny Perdue proposed several key initiatives to support tech-based economic development. The legislature approved several of the governor's requests for funding, including: $5 million for a Life Sciences Facilities Fund; $5 million for the ATDC Seed Capital Fund; $4.7 million to the GRA Alliance VentureLab and Patent Fund and funding for two eminent scholars; $4 million for a grant program…