SSTI Digest

The University of Utah (U of U) announced last month two significant investments in TBED supported by USTAR, the state-funded initiative to grow Utah's knowledge economy.

Following a recent $15 million donation from the Sorenson Legacy Foundation, U of U officials said they would begin construction next year on the 193,000-square-foot anchor facility for the new Interdisciplinary Quadrangle, which encompasses 11 acres bridging the upper and lower campuses. The Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology Building will be the first of four multidisciplinary facilities and will house advanced imaging and nanotechnology laboratories.  USTAR is investing $100 million in the facility, which is slated for completion in 2012. The goal of the Interdisciplinary Quad is to bridge the university's health professions, engineering, science, business and law sections of the campus.

It's no wonder SSTI's Annual Conference presents such a broad range of perspectives and approaches to TBED each year, when our organization draws in active membership from organizations from all across the continent! For example, with the involvement of the Alaska Manufacturing Extension Partnership, SSTI now has active members in 47 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada.

Membership allows access to the most comprehensive information about tech-based economic development activities across the nation. Our members tell us that one of the greatest benefits of membership is the ability to turn to SSTI when seeking answers to questions or advice on programs. Having answers to our member’s questions and finding the information they need is our top priority. Additional information regarding membership benefits is available at http://www.ssti.org/benefits.htm.

Hamid Ghandehari and Marc Porter, two prominent scientists in the field of nanotechnology, recently were hired by the University of Utah as part of the state's new Utah Science Technology and Research initiative. Ghandehari comes from the University of Maryland, while Porter comes from Arizona State University.

Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman has named Dr. Ragula Bhaskar chairman of the Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED) Board. In addition, GOED has appointed Tamara Goetz as the state's new science advisor.

Richard Nelson has been appointed chairman and CEO of the Council of Regional Information Technology Associations.

Chris Roybal announced he is stepping down as senior economic development advisor of the Utah Governor's Office to become president and chief operating officer of the Northwest Research Corp., effective Feb. 2.

Since the creation of its Centers of Excellence (COE) program 20 years ago, the state of Utah has invested in aggregate $49.4 million, resulting in the development of 185 spin-off companies throughout the years, according to a recent review of the COE program, authored by the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Utah. The COE program, established by the state legislature in 1986 with an initial budget of $3.4 million.  provides funds to university-based research centers that are chosen on the basis of technical merit, the potential for job creation, and a secured level of matching funds from private and federal sources. Each center annually receives $100,000 to $200,000. Currently, there are 66 spin-off companies created from these centers which are still active, employing between 1,500 and 1,800 people.

Ned Weinshenker has been appointed to a restructured position as vice president for strategic ventures and economic development at Utah State University.

Thad LeVar was appointed deputy director of the Utah Department of Commerce. LeVar replaces Jason Perry, who was named director of the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED). Richard Bradford, the former director of GOED, retired from state government after 13 years of service.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. released last week his fiscal year 2007 budget request, providing a substantial boost in funding for the Utah Science, Technology and Research (USTAR) Initiative. In FY 2005, the legislature appropriated $4 million to fund the initial phase of the initiative. This year, the governor is recommending $62 million for infrastructure and programs.

Under the governor's request, $50 million in one-time funding would be used for building new research laboratories at the University of Utah (U of U) and Utah State University (USU). Program funding includes $11 million of additional ongoing money for a total of $15 million to continue attracting research teams to the state and $1 million of ongoing money for commercialization of research and the creation of Innovation Centers.

Within days of taking office in January, Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. dismantled the Department of Community and Economic Development and promised to make significant changes to how Utah approaches wealth generation and economic growth.

Six months into his first term, the governor kept that promise by unveiling a new cluster-based strategy targeting state efforts in seven industry sectors: life sciences; software development and information technology; aerospace; defense and homeland security; financial services; energy and natural resources; and competitive accelerators, such as nanotechnology and advanced manufacturing.

Ladd Christensen and Martin Frey are the new co-directors of the Utah Department of Community and Economic Development.