SSTI Digest

The West Virginia Venture Connection has named John Hale as executive director.

Kevin Holmes returned to his alma mater, Santa Clara University, to join the Leavey School of Business as executive director of its Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE).

Bruce Kidd is the first director of entrepreneurship for the Indiana Economic Development Corp.

Angela Kreps is the first president of the year-old Kansas Bioscience Organization.

Cliff Long is the first full-time economic development director for Nampa, Idaho. Long had worked for the Idaho Department of Commerce for the past 14 years.

Christopher Price is the executive director for the Piedmont Triad Research Park and senior vice president, Wake Forest University Health Sciences.

Michael Tentnowski is the new director of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Incubator.

Anne Wein is the new executive director of Southeast BIO, a nonprofit organization concentrating on the growth of the life sciences industry.

Senate Version Adds $40M for University R&D, Scholarships With the threat of a presidential veto looming, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed its version of the 2006 Department of Defense (DoD) Appropriations Bill on Oct. 7 at a total level $7 billion below the Administration's request. Of particular note for the tech-based economic development community was the Senate's floor passage of an amendment to provide an additional $40 million for research and scholarships. Overall, House Resolution 2863 provides $390 billion for DoD programs and includes $7 billion less than the president's FY 2006 budget request, the Association of American Universities reports. Co-sponsored by senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Susan Collins (R-ME) and nine other Democrats and Republicans, the amendment provides increases of $10 million for each of Army and Air Force University Research Initiatives over the level approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The Navy would receive an extra $5 million for a similar program. The SMART National Defense Education Program, an initiative piloted in 2004 and proposed by…

Gov. Ted Kulongoski last month signed Senate Bill 838, creating the Oregon Innovation Council to provide him and the legislature with advice regarding business innovation in order to strengthen competitiveness in global markets. The council will include representatives from industry, education and government. In addition, the bill recognizes the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute (ONAMI) as the state's first Signature Research Center and appropriates $7 million for operations and leveraging of private and federal funds. According to the governor's office, every state dollar invested into ONAMI delivers a $30 return through private investment. Among its key tasks, the council will work to increase Oregon universities' role in driving economic growth. The council will provide advice on enhancing educational programs for engineering, science and technology. Another primary goal is identifying and addressing business development issues in key industry sectors such as early-stage funding and entrepreneurial capacity. Gov. Kulongoski also signed Senate…

Gov. Ruth Minner launched over the summer the final component of her New Economy Initiative to provide a network of support and services to technology-based start-up companies. The Emerging Technology Center will partner with private firms, regional organizations and universities to identify gaps in available services and provide access to technology development resources and laboratory facilities for product development, according to the governor's press office. The mission of the center is to seek individuals who have the capacity and desire to become tech-based entrepreneurs. Primarily, the state is interested in identifying those who have recently retired from technology-based corporations, individuals separated from their jobs due to business changes, new residents, professors, and graduate students. Gov. Minner unveiled the New Economy Initiative in February 2004 following her State-of-the-State Address (see the Feb. 27, 2004 issue of the Digest). In July, the legislature passed a capital budget that included funding for all key components of the initiative (see the…

A concentrated effort to support the Sacramento region's many green tech entrepreneurs could lead to Silicon Valley-style success in clean energy technology (CET), says a new report from the McClellan Technology Incubator and the Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance (SARTA). California is already a leader in clean energy, according to the report. For example, a study conducted for the California Air Resources Board revealed that the state supports 180,000 jobs in environmental businesses -- 22,000 of which are in clean and renewable energy. Clean energy also is a growing sector with total worldwide market sales projected to grow by $85 billion over 10 years, and investment in global clean energy has doubled in the past four years, the report indicates. While the Sacramento area has some of the essential "ingredients," it is lacking in others, the report states. The region leads the country in CET research and regulatory knowledge; however, it is lacking a culture of industry-university partnerships and streamlined access to resources of the holders of intellectual capital. Also…