SSTI Digest

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell is set to release his fiscal year 2006-07 budget request later this week, which is expected to significantly redesign the state's investment in biotechnology and life science research, according to materials released by the governor's office. Since passage of Act 77 in 2001, the Pennsylvania Department of Health (PDEH) has used 19 percent of the state's tobacco settlement funds to fund biomedical-related research projects through the Commonwealth Universal Research Enhancement (CURE) program. The program provides formula and competitive grants to universities to support research priorities set by PDEH. Gov. Rendell is proposing that the Commonwealth borrow $500 million to finance a new bioscience research initiative named after the late Pittsburgh scientist, Dr. Jonas Salk. The governor proposes to maintain half of CURE's funding level, but use the other half - or just under 10 percent of the state's share of tobacco settlement funds - to repay the bonds. The move is expected to provide greater flexibility in the use of the funds and hasten any economic…

Not all of the pieces critical to building an innovation-based economy have to cost hundreds of millions of dollars, as might be suggested in the Florida and Pennsylvania stories above. Gov. Matt Blunt's Feb. 2 call for the state to provide $2 million for a new Missouri Life Science Incubator - designed to help researchers move their science from the laboratory to commercial businesses - provides a case in point. The proposed facility would be located on the University of Missouri-Columbia campus. The $2 million investment is a new part of the governor's $450 million Lewis and Clark Discovery Initiative, which already includes proposals for two other life sciences facilities at the University of Missouri-Columbia. The first is a new $150 million Health Science Center designed to grow the university’s research base and second is a $15 million plant science research center that will seek to develop and enhance plant-based products. Gov. Blunt proposed the Lewis and Clark Discovery Initiative for the state to invest $450 million for capital improvement projects, new scholarships and endowed…

On Jan. 26, New York Gov. George Pataki and State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno announced legislation to create a $200 million Biotechnology and Biomedicine Research Initiative through the New York State Charitable Assets Foundation. The new program would provide challenge grants that are expected to generate an additional $600 million in federal, nonprofit and private sector matching funds to expand biotechnology and biomedicine R&D at public and private academic and nonprofit biomedical research institutions throughout the state. First announced in the governor’s 2006 State of the State Address, the proposed legislation would establish a two-part $200 million program through the foundation. The proposal allocates $40 million of capital funding - already authorized to finance equipment costs of this initiative - and $160 million to recruit the most talented researchers and scientists and acquire the necessary technology and equipment, among other purposes. Applicants would have to provide a three-to-one match for the funds, which would spur a total research investment of $800 million…

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced the 13 recipients for one of the most anticipated new federal workforce programs to be launched in several years. The $195 million Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) program attempts to integrate human capital issues of talent and skill development into larger technology-based economic development strategies. While that in itself is seemingly unique for a federal initiative, WIRED also requires regional cooperation that crosses political jurisdictions and traditional organizational missions. Each of the 13 regions will receive approximately $15 million in funding over three years to support strategy development, regional network formulation and plan implementation: Coastal Maine (11 counties, including Augusta and Brunswick); Northeast Pennsylvania (nine counties, including Scranton, Allentown and Reading); Upstate New York (nine counties, including Rochester and Finger Lakes region); Piedmont Triad North Carolina (12 counties, including Greensboro and Winston-Salem); Central Michigan (13 counties,…

Despite overall signs of improving fiscal health in 2005, half of the nation’s cities have been forced to raise new revenues to address gaps created by rising employee health care and pension costs, as well as increases in public safety and infrastructure needs, according to a National League of Cities (NLC) survey released last week. Results from City Fiscal Conditions in 2005 show that nearly half (48 percent) of the cities surveyed increased fees and charges for city services in order to balance budgets in 2005. Only 26 percent say they relied on increases in property taxes, while even smaller numbers increased sales tax rates, income tax rates and other tax rates. For the first time since 2001, city fiscal conditions are showing improvements. But ongoing revenue constraints and concerns over potential declines in property tax revenues resulting from slowing real estate markets leave many city officials cautious as they draw up their budgets for 2006. Findings from the survey include: More than three in five city officials say their cities were better able to meet…

Many Wall Street analysts reacted to last month's jobs numbers with fears of inflation, but a new report released by the U.S. Conference of Mayors Jan. 27 finds those new jobs often are associated with smaller paychecks than those before the last recession. A declining standard of living is not a goal for any state or local economic development program, so the findings present new challenges on how to create higher wage jobs in the future. The Metro Economy Report found jobs created after the 2003 recession have paid working Americans about $9,000 less annually than the jobs lost during the recession. The report, released at the organization's annual winter meeting, showed that the 10 sectors that lost the most jobs through the end of 2003 paid an average wage of $43,629, while the 10 sectors with the largest increases in employment in 2004-2005 paid only $34,378, a staggering 21 percent decline. The wage gap has resulted from the combined effects of the loss of high-paying jobs, especially in the durable manufacturing industries, and post-recession employment growth that has been concentrated…

The first two installments of SSTI's annual look at how TBED will play in the 2006 legislative priorities of the governors can be found in the Digest archives on our website: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/digest.htm Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner, Budget Proposal, Jan. 26, 2005 "My budget also includes $632,400 to fund 10 additional math specialists. We put 22 math specialists in middle schools last year, and while I had hoped to add more than 10 this year, we simply cannot do that and maintain our modest budget growth... "I have also included an additional $600,000 for the SEED scholarship program, which offers students the opportunity to pursue a two-year degree at Delaware Technical and Community College or the University of Delaware’s Associate in Arts tuition-free, if they do well in high school and stay out of trouble... "I am recommending we fund more than $20 million for three critical initiatives ­- Year Three of my New Economy Initiative, our strategic fund and vaccine development efforts at the Fraunhofer Center for Molecular Biotechnology." …

Innovation and national competitiveness increasingly are capturing the attention of Congress as the 2006 legislative agenda takes shape. The latest addition is a bipartisan package of three bills introduced to address 20 recommendations outlined in Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future, a National Academies of Science report issued last October. The three-part Protecting America's Competitive Edge Act (PACE Act), introduced by Senators Pete Domenici (R-NM), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), and Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), would greatly increase federal investment in math and science education, basic science and energy research, and R&D tax incentives. According to the Association of American Universities, the package "would authorize 10-percent annual funding increases in basic research at the Departments of Energy (DOE) and Defense, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and NASA, and create and expand a variety of science education programs at DOE and NSF. Other provisions include a proposal to create a new student…

Total funding for research and development is expected to increase by approximately 2.9 percent to $329 billion in 2006, according to the joint Battelle-R&D Magazine annual forecast. The projected increase, from the estimated $320 billion spent in 2005, covers all R&D expenditures across industry, government and academia.   The federal government is expected to spend $96.6 billion funding R&D efforts, a modest increase of 1.8 percent over the $94.9 billion spent in 2005. Industrial expenditures on R&D are expected to reach $211.9 billion in 2006 -- an increase of 3.5 percent over the $204.8 billion expended in 2005. Academia and other non-profits make up the remaining expenditures of $20.4 billion with academia increasing by a slim 1.1 percent and other non-profits increasing by a healthier 3.7 percent. A running - and important - theme revealed from data and trends throughout the report "is that the support of research and development runs the risk of being viewed as an expense and a luxury, rather than an investment, and one that can be shelved…

To survive economically in an innovation-based economy, Fresno needs to foster the creativity of its people and attract others into the population, says a recent report from the Fresno Creative Economy Council. While encouraging creativity to spur innovation and economic growth has captured the attention of cities and regions across the continent, how to accomplish that goal is less clear for many. Civic leaders for the central California community of 460,000 believe they have charted an achievable course. The report to Mayor Alan Autry and the Fresno City Council looks at four spheres of change for transforming Fresno into a community that will retain, attract, develop, and support knowledge workers. These include mindset, smart growth, urban living, and quality of place. Within each sphere are strategic goals alongside several recommendations to be implemented by city leaders. Fresno either will become a part of the creative economy or will exist to provide cheap services to cities and regions that are thriving in the creative economy, the report states. Regions that merely provide services…

Southern Growth Policies Board has launched its 2006 online survey at http://www.southern.org/main/surveyintro.shtml to poll Southern citizens on their attitudes towards innovation and technology, and their role in the economic future of the region. All Digest readers within the Southern Growth's service-area are encouraged to share their opinions and ideas on strategies for increasing the role of innovation and technology in southern businesses, universities and governments, and the potential of technology to create jobs and wealth in the South. The 12-question survey should take only a few minutes to complete. Responses will be incorporated into Southern Growth's 2006 Report on the Future of the South and in presentations at the Southern Innovation Summit conference on June 4-6, 2006, in New Orleans, Louisiana. To learn more about the conference or Southern Growth, visit http://www.southern.org/conf.asp.

Bill Badger announced he will resign as president and CEO of the Anne Arundel County Economic Development Corp. to take an executive position with M&T Bank. Roger Biagi was named to the newly created position of director of government relations at the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research. The North Carolina Solar Center promoted Steve Kalland to the position of executive director. Thomas Persons Sr., president and CEO of the South Carolina Technology Alliance, was appointed to the newly created South Carolina Venture Capital Authority. Toucan Capital announced the appointment of Dr. Phillip Singerman as a new Venture Partner.