SSTI Digest

Automation Alley has named Thomas Anderson as president of the Automation Alley Education & Research Institute. Mr. Anderson also is director of the consortium's Technology Center.

President Bush has nominated Santanu Baruah to be Assistant Secretary for Economic Development for the U.S. Department of Commerce. Mr. Baruah's responsibilities include oversight of the Economic Development Administration.

John Gardner has been named the first vice president for research and economic development for the University of Missouri system.

David Goodrich announced he will leave his position as CEO of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership at the end of the year.

Mike Kazmierski is the new president of the Greater Colorado Springs Economic Development Corp.

Sue Strommer has joined the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds as Chief Executive Officer (NASVF) as CEO. Charlie Spies, the former president and CEO, will remain as president of NASVF.

Only 13 days left to register early for SSTI's 9th Annual Conference! Save $100 by Registering Before Sept. 20, 2005. Registration Form and Most Current Information Available at: http://www.ssti.org/conference05.htm Whether you are seeking new approaches and networking opportunities, or wish to share best practices, SSTI's 9th Annual Conference has something for everyone. Keeping with the theme of quality - not quantity - SSTI is pleased to offer 20 timely and effective breakout sessions. Topics for this year's sessions cover a broad range of old favorites and new subjects to engage participants in thinking about the future of Tech-based Economic Development (TBED). Everything from the municipal broadband debate to new commercialization strategies for universities to alternative energy and TBED. Session titles are listed below according to theme. Find a brief description of each topic along with speakers for the session on the conference website listed above. Offering a full slate for every TBED interest…

With the passage of the state's biennial budget, North Carolina's small businesses are now eligible for follow-on support from the state for research projects funded under the federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. A provision in the budget creates the One North Carolina Small Business Fund, a special revenue fund of up to $3 million to be used for the North Carolina SBIR/STTR Incentive Program and the North Carolina SBIR/STTR Matching Funds Program. Both programs will be administered by the North Carolina Board of Science and Technology. The incentive program provides grants to eligible businesses to offset costs associated with submitting proposals for funding under the SBIR/STTR programs. The grants will reimburse an eligible business for up to 50 percent of the costs of preparing and submitting a SBIR/STTR Phase I proposal, up to a maximum of $3,000. An eligible North Carolina business may receive one grant per year. The Matching Funds Program provides grants to eligible North Carolina businesses to match funds they receive…

Two initiatives aimed at closing the digital divide, particularly among low-income Americans, were announced earlier this month. Maine Free Internet Angus King, former governor of Maine, provided the leadership to get several innovative programs for the state. As governor, King implemented a $37 million laptop program, the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI) in 2000, which provides all seventh and eighth-graders with laptops to ensure they had the computer skills required of the global economy. According to an impact evaluation report by the Maine Education Policy Research Institute, teachers and students view the program an overall success (see the April 19 issue of the Digest). Now, Gov. King is launching a program through the Maine Learning Technology Foundation, in partnership with Great Works Internet, to provide free home Internet access to students who receive free or reduced-cost school lunches. The new initiative applies to all 35,000 middle school students, in addition to some ninth and tenth graders who have laptops issued to them…

The bottom line for all regional economic development initiatives should be improving the quality of life for the area's residents. A new report from the Census Bureau — revealing the increased percentage of the U.S. population living in poverty and median household income remaining flat again, after two years of decline — provides a not-too-subtle reminder for the technology-based economic development (TBED) field. Also released on Tuesday, the Southern Growth Policies Board's new index provides a useful tool for southern communities to track quality of life measures as part of their regional economic development strategies. Released at the Southern Governor's Association meeting in Greensboro, Georgia, The Southern Community Index is a working plan to track the Southern states' progress in building healthy and vibrant communities as part of an integrated economic development strategy for the region. The Index includes 15 quality of life measures considered to be the building blocks of vibrant communities — from access to healthcare, homeownership rates, crime rates and employment rates to…

Ban on Outside Consulting with Industry Remains in Force Last week, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced final regulations regarding reporting of certain financial interests, stock divestiture, outside activities, and awards. The announcement came following a careful review of all comments about the interim ethics regulation submitted by NIH staff, the public, and scientific organizations. The changes, considered sweeping by most media reports and policy analysts, were first proposed in early February (see the Feb. 7, 2005 issue of the Digest.). Three principles guided the crafting of the rules: The public must be assured that research decisions made at NIH are based on scientific evidence and not by inappropriate influences. Senior management and people who play an important role in research decisions must meet a higher standard of disclosure and divestiture than people who are not decision-makers. To advance the science and stay on the cutting edge of research, NIH employees must be allowed interaction with professional associations,…

Many of the readers are new to the Digest since last year's conference, so we're getting questions about how SSTI's upcoming 9th annual conference, to be held in Atlanta on Oct. 19-21, differs from other events. The easiest way to answer that is to let the conference speak for itself — through the comments we received from past participants: "The most relevant conference I’ve attended in the last five years. Great mix of people — connected to others with similar interest that will give me a resource base." “Outstanding organization and right on target topically. The value you deliver attracts an audience that is such a great balance of academics and practitioners in TBED.” "I emerged from this session with eagerness to get back to work on linking research to regional economic development!” “Great networking, great number of options, breakout sessions, great roundtable interaction. Definitely ‘the’ conference for TBED.” "This was an excellent conference, it’s clear you have a great deal of expertise and insight to share…thanks…