SSTI Digest

Technology specialist David Levine, hired by Gov. Joe Manchin in March, is leaving the governor's office to become executive director of the Robert C. Byrd National Technology Transfer Center.

Ed Morrison, formerly with the Weatherhead School of Management in Cleveland, opened the Institute for Open Source Economic Development. He will continue to maintain the EDPro weblog.

Richard Overmoyer, deputy secretary for technology investment at the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, is leaving to join the lobbying group, GSP Consulting.

The Puerto Rico Senate recently confirmed Jorge Silva-Puras as the new executive director of the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company. He previously served as secretary of the Department of Economic Development and Commerce.

The Board of Directors of the EAST (Environmental And Spatial Technology) Initiative invites applications for the position of President/Chief Executive Officer. The EAST model, a result of a collaboration between business and education, is intended to provide K-16 students with access to resources not available in the traditional educational setting. The board seeks a proven leader whose vision and passion for education and technology is demonstrated by a successful track record of innovation, strong management and fiscal integrity. Someone with 10 years of executive management experience is desired. A full description is available through the SSTI Job Corner, http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.

Your kids may not be bored of summer yet, but if you're an avid bird watcher, you know the season has already changed to fall as Yellow Warblers and several species of shorebirds begin their migrations south by July 4. If you find that a little depressing, then SSTI has a perfect suggestion to make certain your summer lasts well into October: Make plans now to join us for our ninth annual conference Oct. 19-21 in Atlanta! The average Mid-October temperatures for the area are ideal for discovering why the Buckhead area of Atlanta is called the "Jewel of the South" or "Shopping Mecca of the Southeast." October weather in Atlanta also is usually perfect for playing a few of the more than 1,100 holes of golf available in the metro area. Shopping? Golf? At SSTI's annual conference? If you are one of our past conference participants or long-time Digest subscribers, you'll know that isn't the purpose of the premier professional development opportunity for the tech-based economic development community. SSTI's…

As the House passed its version of the fiscal year 2006 defense appropriations bill last Monday, "Little R, Big D" once again may describe the country's R&D priorities for the largest component of the federal budget. H.R. 2863 reduces overall funding for defense science and technology (spending categories 6.1, 6.2 and 6.3, respectively, referring to basic research, applied research and advanced technology development) to $13.04 billion -- 0.6 percent from the FY05 appropriations level but 23.9 percent higher than the Administration's request. Much of the $2.5 billion in restored funding, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), is in the form of Congressional earmarks. Nevertheless, actual spending for basic research (6.1) for the entire department would decrease by 4 percent from the FY05 appropriations. Applied research (6.2) would increase by 4.2 percent, and advanced technology development would be reduced 3.3 percent, AAAS reports. All of the later stages of defense research, development, testing and evaluation - the 6.5 through 6.7 spending…

With hopes of creating a geographic concentration of academic and private bioscience research and commercialization, the Louisiana legislature ended its 2005 session with passage of a bill creating a new development authority. House Bill 742, the Greater New Orleans Biosciences Economic Development District Act, focuses on an area of several blocks in downtown New Orleans, but the bill grants the district's board the ability to redefine its boundaries by additional properties, including those outside the Orleans parish. The district may issue bonds to support acquisition of land and construction of buildings and other facilities. The district, as currently defined, already includes the Louisiana State University (LSU) Health Sciences Center, Tulane Health Sciences Center, the Louisiana Cancer Consortium, the Louisiana Gene Therapy Consortium, Delgado School of Nursing, the VA Medical Center, Charity Hospital and Xavier University. The bill's authors hope the district will anchor a growing cluster in the health and bioscience sectors that already employs 60,000 in Greater New Orleans. …

Technology commercialization can be a slow and arduous process, often taking years to reap the benefits of the investment. Recognizing that defense technology innovations move too slowly from the lab to the field, Congress created three programs within the Department of Defense (DoD) to speed and enhance the transition. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently reviewed the oversight of the programs and offered recommendations to DoD. The three technology transition programs target relatively small projects and have a budget consisting of a combined $64 million in 2005. The Defense Acquisition Challenge Program (DACP) was created in fiscal year 2003 to identify and introduce innovative and cost-saving technology and products within DoD's science and technology community and externally into existing acquisition programs. The program's objectives include expanding opportunities for emerging defense suppliers and widening the U.S. defense industrial base, according to the report. Completion time for projects is up to three years and 30 projects were funded since its creation.…

With SSTI's compilation of the FY 2003 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) proposal and award statistics by state, tech-based economic development programs - specifically SBIR assistance and outreach efforts - now have the requisite data to evaluate conversion trends for most agencies during the four-year period 2001-2004. The use of trends over a number of years, rather than single year "snapshots," can be useful for refining a state or local program's efforts, particularly if the program has held conferences, outreach, proposal assistance targeting specific federal agency solicitations or technologies. Trend data also helps to reveal how Phase I awards made within a state are tracking with the overall proposal, award and conversion rates for each agency and comparable states. For FY03, SSTI has aggregated Phase I award, proposal and award-to-proposal conversion percentages for all 50 states and the District of Columbia for nine of the 10 participating agencies -- Environmental Protection Agency proposal statistics were unavailable and the Department of Homeland Security was not a…

James Epolito, the former president and CEO of Accident Fund Insurance Co. of America, will become president and CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) effective Sept. 1. The current MEDC president and CEO, Donald Jakeway, will lead MEDC's international economic development efforts. President and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council, Todd Bankofier, is resigning his position on Aug. 26 to become vice president and general manager for Ensynch Inc., a Tempe-based information technology services and solutions consulting company. ACCRA, a national nonprofit research organization, has named Jeffrey Blodgett of the Connecticut Economic Resource Center (CERC) as president of the Board of Directors for 2005-06, beginning July 1. Terry Blum, dean of Georgia Tech's College of Management, will resign her position on June 30, 2006. The Indiana Health Industry Forum announced James "Mike" Brooks accepted the position of president and CEO effective July 11. Randy Goldsmith resigned his position as president and…

James Epolito, the former president and CEO of Accident Fund Insurance Co. of America, will become president and CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) effective Sept. 1. The current MEDC president and CEO, Donald Jakeway, will lead MEDC's international economic development efforts.