SSTI Digest

Mark Benedetto, president of the University of Sioux Falls, has been elected chairman of the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce.

The South Dakota School of Mines and Technology has named Dr. Gautam Pillay to the new position of vice president for research. Pillay was executive director of the Inland Northwest Research Alliance.

Gov. Mike Rounds announced last week the creation of four new specialized research centers at the state's public universities. The $2.8 million in awards mark South Dakota's first foray into using university-based research investments as a tool to grow the state's economy, the governor said. The four 2010 Research Centers are: Center for Infectious Disease Research and Vaccinology, South Dakota State University, $780,000 - This center will foster research leading to the development of novel therapeutic and diagnostic technologies and products for infectious diseases in humans and domestic animals. South Dakota Signal Transduction Center, University of South Dakota, $900,000 - This center will examine the pathways that regulate cell growth and differentiation, cell death, response to stress and the maintenance of constant physiological conditions, with a goal of reducing cardiovascular disease and cancer. Center for Accelerated Applications at the Nanoscale, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, $585,000 - This center will focus on research in the areas of nanoparticles…

Tina Van Camp has been named the director of the South Dakota Governor's Office of Economic Development.

South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds has appointed Jim Hagen to serve as secretary of the governor's Office of Economic Development.

With the recent passage of much economic development legislation in South Dakota, Gov. Mike Rounds' 2010 Initiative would seem to be moving along as planned. The 2010 Initiative, an economic stimulus plan introduced last fall, outlines a series of goals for growth in South Dakota by the year 2010 (see the Oct. 31, 2003, issue of the Digest). Gov. Rounds signed House Bill 1145 on March 3, setting up a $3 million loan program for entrepreneurs and start-up companies wanting to do business in their home state. Under the bill, any entrepreneur or start-up company located in South Dakota can apply for low interest loans. Start-up companies are defined as new technology, communications, service or manufacturing businesses. Some stipulations on HB 1145 apply. Loan applicants are required to provide matching funds equal to the amount of their loan, which could range from $30,000 to $50,000. Applicants also will be responsible for developing a three-year strategic plan for their innovative business concept. They must prove to a state economic development board "with a reasonable probability" their…

Sherry Farwell has been named as the new head of the National Science Foundation's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). Dr. Farwell currently serves as dean of graduate education and research at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.

"If our children are to have the kind of jobs we want them to, this type of facility is one of the finest advantages we can give them for many generations," said South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds in his 2004 State of the State Address on Tuesday. The governor is urging legislators to approve plans to help transform an exhausted 8,000-foot-deep gold mine into a one-of-a-kind national laboratory to study subatomic particles. Since May 2003, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has considered the Homestake Mine to be the preferred location nationally for the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory, according to the governor's office. The deal is not closed, however, because of several outstanding issues, including ownership, indemnity, structural integrity and financing. NSF could still decide not to establish the lab at all. Progress toward creating the underground lab in South Dakota moved a step forward this week when Gov. Rounds signed an agreement in principle with the mine's parent company. The agreement outlines the conditions and timeline for the transfer of…

John Calvin, Secretary of the South Dakota Department of Tourism and State Development, has announced his resignation effective Dec. 15.

In 2010, the end of Gov. Mike Round's second term – should South Dakota voters choose to grant him one – residents of the state will have several precise ways to measure whether or not he delivered on his economic development goals. Gov. Round's 2010 Initiative, released Oct. 15 at Mount Rushmore, is built on a few, very specific and quantifiable goals in tourism revenues, entrepreneurship, and R&D. They include: Improving the state's ranking to at least 30th nationally for funding from the National Science Foundation (in FY 2000, the state ranked 48th); Doubling visitor spending from $600 million to $1.2 billion; Promoting the creation and development of new businesses that will contribute $6 billion to the Gross State Product (for comparison, South Dakota's total GSP grew by $6 billion for the seven-year "boom" period of 1995-2001); and, Assisting in the growth and expansion of existing South Dakota businesses to add an additional $4 billion to GSP. Each goal is accompanied by several specific action items for the newly formed Department of Tourism and State…

South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds announced Friday that John Calvin has been named Secretary for the Department of Tourism and State Development. The newly formed department combines the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, Department of Tourism, Office of Tribal Relations, Division of Cultural Affairs, and the South Dakota Housing Development Authority.

A $500,000 state grant approved Thursday by South Dakota Governor Bill Janklow will help create a center in Sioux Falls for fledgling technology businesses. The center — termed the technology business accelerator project — is being developed by Forward Sioux Falls, a joint-venture economic development partnership between the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce and the Sioux Falls Development Foundation. The center will offer leased space and provide business development services such as accounting, legal assistance and business planning. To date, Forward Sioux Falls has raised approximately $2.5 million for the project. The funding includes the new state grant, a federal grant of $800,000 and $1.2 million of Forward Sioux Falls IV funds. The state grant comes from the South Dakota Future Fund. The goal of the accelerator is to diversify the regional economy by helping entrepreneurs establish the next generation of technology-related businesses. The project’s task force is in the final stages of completing architectural, construction and organizational planning. In October,…