SSTI Digest

Mike Blouin has stepped down as director of the Iowa Department of Economic Development to become president of the Greater Dubuque Development Corp..

The Northeast Iowa Business Accelerator named Brian Dalziel as its first regional director.

Mary Lawyer is leaving the Iowa Department of Economic Development to be the president and CEO of Des Moines' Downtown Community Alliance, effective Sept. 14.

Summer classes, camps and special programs to stimulate and sustain K-12 students' interests in science and math will be found all across the country during the next few months. A less frequently occurring phenomenon will be taking place in the Great Lakes Region of Iowa, helping a select group of college students to combine entrepreneurship, rural economic development, and recreation. Twenty-four students from three Iowa state universities will participate in a week-long program at the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory on West Lake Okoboji designed to enhance their understanding of rural entrepreneurship opportunities within the state. The facility traditionally offers undergraduate and graduate experiential science courses in a natural setting. In the new program, students will participate in entrepreneurial simulation and seminars with successful entrepreneurs and business and community leaders. Activities include working in teams on a computer-based simulation that incorporates the creation and operation of a new business and a fundraising round where teams present their plans to community volunteer venture capitalists. …

On the heels of the release of two roadmaps calling for increased state support for advanced manufacturing and information technology (IT), Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack announced plans to spend $50 million "to attract leading scientists to Iowa and spark new research and product development," according to the Des Moines Register. Gov. Vilsack, addressing those in attendance at a Nov. 17 economic development conference, said he would authorize $50 million to create chairs at the state's universities, the article states. The money would go toward attracting and retaining scientists and faculty and providing grants for businesses, entrepreneurs and others. To fund the investment, the governor "proposed using money generated by bonds that were backed by the state's share of the multi-state tobacco settlement," the Associated Press reports. The money could also be taken from a pot of $100 million in savings expected to result from state debt-refinancing plans, the Des Moines Register adds. Gov. Vilsack also proposed creating a statewide Lean Manufacturing Institute, per the recommendation of the…

Gov. Tom Vilsack announced that Mary Lawyer will serve as acting director of the Iowa Department of Economic Development. Mike Blouin resigned from the position last week to launch his campaign to become the state's next governor.

After being struck down by the Iowa Supreme Court in 2004, the state legislature recently passed legislation re-creating a $500 million version of its Grow Iowa Values Fund. The bills commit $500 million over 10 years to support tech-based economic development and other economic development initiatives. Gov. Tom Vilsack signed the measures on June 10. Passed late last month, House Files 809 and HF 868 authorize and allocate $50 million per year over the next 10 years to the newly resurrected Grow Iowa Values Fund, which was first proposed by Gov. Vilsack in 2003 (see the Jan. 17, 2003 issue of the Digest). The legislation allocates $35 million per year to the Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED) for business start-ups, expansions, attraction and retention. Universities will receive $5 million per year for capacity-building infrastructure in areas related to technology commercialization, entrepreneurship and business growth, and $7 million will support community college training and retraining programs. In addition, HF 868 expands the state's…

The Iowa Entrepreneurs Coalition has been formed to help advance an innovation- and entrepreneur-friendly agenda in the Iowa legislature.

A recent proposal by Senate Republicans in Iowa to eliminate the state income tax for residents under the age of thirty has brought the issue of the out-migration of young, educated adults once again to the forefront. In recognizing that brain drain leads to the loss of necessary skills for global competitiveness and economic development, policymakers across the nation are responding with innovative ideas.  While the Iowa Senate Republicans have dropped their proposal, a number of other states are pursuing new approaches. Iowa ranks second in states reporting the most brain drain, only ahead of North Dakota, according to U.S. Census Bureau data from 1995-2000 (see the Nov. 7, 2003 issue of the Digest). Current efforts in North Dakota include a tuition reimbursement of up to $5,000 for students in technology and teaching fields who work in the state after graduating from a North Dakota university. Another approach is the state's internship program, Operation: Intern, North Dakota's Future at Work, which matches college students with North Dakota employers. Clemson University also is…

A recent study completed for Iowa calls for continued investment in the biosciences - a 10-year, $302 million plan - to grow the industry and to create new job opportunities for the state. Iowa's Bioscience Pathway for Development, released earlier this month, highlights Iowa’s core competencies and platforms for development of the biosciences industry. The researchers recognize three important assets: strong bioscience research capacity at several of the state's universities; core bio-industrial competencies in sectors such as biomass conversion, traditional biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and medical devices; and a significant workforce base already employed in bioscience-related jobs. In fact, the report contends that Iowa's employment in the biosciences industry is 24 percent higher than the national average, with jobs paying $12,000 more than the state's median income. This large employment base is concentrated in organic and agricultural chemicals, with a focus on industrial applications geared toward energy, industrial commodities and specialty health products. The plan…

Iowa: Davenport Sells City Land for Tech Incubator To jumpstart the city's multi-million-dollar revitalization project, the Davenport City Council voted last week to sell city land to a developer to build a tech incubator, according to the Associated Press. The initial phase of the project, valued at $113.5 million in all, will begin with a 40,000-square-foot facility to house start-up, technology-based businesses. Construction of the business incubation center is slated to be finished by June 2004. Once complete, the center could situate up to 10 new high-tech start-up companies. Kansas: Lawrence Chamber Creates Life Science Task Force High-paying, high tech jobs in the life sciences should become more readily available in Lawrence, Kan., thanks to a task force recently created by the city's Chamber of Commerce. The 31-member Lawrence Life Sciences Task Force is being commissioned with the sole purpose of growing the area's life sciences industry. Scientists, business leaders and public officials in Lawrence comprise the group, which held its first meeting on Nov. 7. In…

Holmes Foster, chairman of the Iowa Values Fund, has announced his resignation.