SSTI Digest

Steven Weathers is the new president and CEO of the Regional Growth Partnership in Toledo, Ohio.

As off-year elections go, the Nov. 8, 2005, election was pretty quiet across the country if you weren't running for mayor in one of 300-plus municipalities up for grabs or governor of New Jersey or Virginia. Issues of importance for the technology-based economic development (TBED) community, however, were on the agenda of the nation's only two gubernatorial elections, several of the few bond issues up, and a dozen or so referenda or constitutional amendments on the ballot. This week's Digest is dedicated to looking at the implications for local and statewide TBED efforts in those states that had significant issues before the electorate. We also want to focus some attention toward November 2006, which promises to be a much more hectic election cycle at the national and state levels of government. In addition to next year's biennial election of the entire U.S. House of Representatives, the seats of 33 senators will be contested, providing the potential for one or both chambers of Congress to shift political majorities. Leadership of 36 of the 50 states also be decided next fall. At least eight states - Arkansas, Colorado…

New Jersey and Virginia were the only two states to choose governors in November 2005, with both states having open races. Below is a description of each governor-elect's position on TBED. New Jersey New Jersey Gov.-elect Jon Corzine handily defeated Republican businessman Doug Forrester by winning more than 1.15 million votes (53 percent) to 956,795 votes (44 percent) in unofficial results. The governor-elect, who is currently a U.S. senator, will replace Democratic Acting Gov. Richard Codey, who will return to the state Senate as president of that chamber when Gov.-elect Corzine takes his oath of office. As the former chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, Senator Corzine put economic development at the top of his agenda during his campaign and said that he will streamline the state’s economic development apparatus and bring the New Jersey Economic Growth & Tourism Commission into the governor’s office. The cornerstone of Senator Corzine’s economic development strategy is his proposal for the Edison Innovation Fund, which would build on the research and technology history of the…

Last Tuesday's election included a major bond package in Maine, a constitutional amendment in Ohio to complete the Third Frontier initiative, budget reform in New York, and additional TBED items in Iowa and Texas. Following are the results from some of the major ballot and bond issues within the states. Iowa Voters were divided on the issue of whether or not to form municipal communications utilities in their communities. According to the Des Moines Register, 17 communities passed the measure and 15 counties defeated it. The proposal, strongly supported by OpportunityIowa, does not commit the city to building or financing communications utilities, the article states. Instead, cities where the vote passed can now appoint boards to further evaluate the possibility of a utility. OpportunityIowa and other proponents of the measure say that cities should have the right to offer utilities services, especially to keep up with the latest technology in broadband. Opponents argue these types of projects would waste municipal resources. Maine Voters…

As states have wrestled with budget constraints in recent years, many have adopted or are contemplating spending-limit measures, such as Colorado's Taypayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR), or similar fiscal limitations that restrain growth of government spending. In the recent November elections, California voters rejected a spending-limit proposal and Colorado voters suspended their state's restrictive TABOR amendment, allowing the state to keep funds for the next five years. A number of states during the last decade have adopted tax or expenditure limitations (TELs) that are designed to restrain the growth of state and/or local governments on either the tax side, spending side or both. The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) says that as these approaches to fiscal restraint become more popular, policy issues associated with fiscal limits are under review and will have an impact on how those states considering such restraints or amending existing restraints move forward. According to a NCSL September 2005 report, State Tax and Expenditure Limits-2005, “23 states have spending limits…

Southern Growth Policies Board, a regional public policy think tank, is accepting nominations for its Innovator Awards. These awards are presented annually to recognize innovative southern initiatives that improve the quality of life in the organization's 13-state region - Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia - and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The 2006 Innovator Awards will be chosen in the context of the Southern Innovation Initiative, a year-long series of events that focuses on the importance of innovation to the South’s economy. Each nominated initiative must use technology as an integral component to accomplish goals; be truly unique; be something more than a new product, process or service; and provide a track record or other measures of success. Nominations are due Nov. 23, 2005. Award winners from each state will be recognized at the Southern Innovation Summit on June 4-6, 2006, in New Orleans. For a complete list of award criteria and to nominate a program online, visit http://www.…

A plan to increase Maine's R&D activity to $1 billion by 2010 was revealed last week by the Department of Economic and Community Development's (DECD) Office of Innovation and the Maine Science and Technology Council (MSTAC). The level of R&D activity in Maine currently stands at $430 million. The science and technology action plan creates a road map toward achieving the objective of higher per capita income, set forth in the State Planning Office's 30 and 1000 Plan, created in 1998. According to DECD, Maine still lags the nation on many key innovation measures. For example, the Corporation for Enterprise Development's annual report card ranks Maine last in the nation in number of science and engineering graduates. The state ranks 40th in patents produced and 42nd for university spin-outs. Without bold action, Maine will lose out to other states and other countries, leading to loss of high-wage jobs and declining prosperity, the report states. On the upside, however, the state has attracted $610 million in federal and private funding through a $…

Four recently published papers from the Federal Reserve Banks of Philadelphia, San Francisco and Chicago center around TBED issues including the role of cities in the 21st Century, the biotechnology industry in the Midwest, state R&D tax credits, and R&D spending during recessions. Links to these papers and more than 1,000 additional TBED-related research reports, strategic plans and other papers can be found at the Tech-based Economic Development (TBED) Resource Center, jointly developed by the Technology Administration and SSTI, at http://www.tbedresourcecenter.org/. 21st Century Cities Have Transformed into Centers for Consumption Senior economic advisor and economist from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Jerry Carlino, discusses some of the economic functions of cities, focusing on economic activities that make firms in cities more productive and more attractive to urban households. In The Economic Role of Cities in the 21st Century, Carlino says agglomeration economies are increasingly concentrated on the consumption side and quality of life issues have become a more…

Colorado The Rocky Mountain Technology Alliance (RMTA) is a recently formed regional development organization for applied research and technology development whose membership includes universities, government organizations and private businesses. The goal of RMTA is to assist its member organizations by pursuing collaborative programs that will produce intellectual property for new products and businesses. Its mission also includes creating manufacturing solutions to support successful commercial growth and national security. The alliance will cater to a cluster of high tech companies, educational institutions, and government facilities located in the Rocky Mountain Technology Corridor, which stretches from Northern Colorado to Southern New Mexico. Indiana To boost community and economic development successes and achieve greater efficiency in use of resources and volunteers, several local Indiana groups should combine operations, according to the 19-member Lafayette-West Lafayette Economic & Community Development Working Group. The group spent the last…

Wisconsin manufacturers must adapt to a fast-changing world in order to grow and succeed in the 21st century. That is the thrust of a recent study of the state’s industrial economy recently released by the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership (WMEP). In 2004, Wisconsin’s manufacturers generated more than $46 billion in gross product, employed 512,630 workers, produced $90,000 in gross product per employee, and exported $14 billion in manufactured goods, the Wisconsin Manufacturing Study shows. By 2008, the study projects the state's manufacturing gross product will be $54 billion. Wisconsin has 13 statewide "driver" industries that are the underpinning of its industrial economy, according to the study. Wisconsin’s primary driver industries include agricultural and industrial machinery, fabricated metal products, electrical equipment, wood products, paper and dairy product manufacturing. The report suggests the state's 13 such industries give it a competitive advantage and demonstrate the diversity of the state's manufacturing economy. The study's…

There were recurring themes underlying the design and development of SSTI's 9th Annual Conference, Investing in a Brighter Future: Building Tech-based Economies, held Oct. 19-21 in Atlanta, Georgia: inevitability, irrelevance and inspiration. Our two keynote addresses by Rob Atkinson and Duane Ackerman elucidated the inevitability of change and the opportunities presented by the challenges of globalization. Twenty spirited breakout sessions highlighted local and regional efforts to avoid economic irrelevance through strategic investments in science and technology. And, based on the feedback we've received, the discussions in the breakout sessions, and the spirited conversations overhead during the reception and networking breaks, SSTI believes many of the 354 conference participants came away inspired to improve their own efforts to strengthen their local, state or regional economy through technology-based economic development. The event couldn't be considered a success without the eager participation of those 354 TBED enthusiasts from across the globe and the active support of the conference's local hosts…

One comment we receive numerous times each year at SSTI's annual conference is that people wish more of the key decision makers and TBED practitioners in their regions had attended the event to make it easier to re invigorate their entire efforts to promote growth through science and technology. The easiest way to accomplish that is to host SSTI's 10th Annual Conference next fall! SSTI has received many questions from local, regional and state organizations wanting to host the premier event for the tech-based economic development profession in 2006. Letters of intent from prospective nominees are due by Nov. 16, 2005. We will be accepting nominations of host organizations and locations for SSTI's 10th Annual Conference until Dec. 23, 2005. Held in October or early November each year, SSTI’s annual two-and-a-half day event attracts approximately 350 participants from more than 40 states and several countries. The conference is especially designed for those engaged in tech-based economic development on the local, regional, state or national level. To be the host organization or…