SSTI Digest

The Oregon Legislature overwhelmingly passed S.B. 853 last week, creating venture development funds to facilitate technology commercialization for students and faculty at the state's seven public universities.

Under the legislation, revenue for the newly created funds will come from donors who, in turn, receive credit on their state income tax returns. The development funds will use capital raised through university foundations to bridge the gap between an idea and the point where private investors become interested.

For many practitioners, the quickest summary of a recent 16-page analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York might be "something has to change." Looking at job creation since the recovery began three years ago, Richard Freeman and William Rogers III state in The Weak Jobs Recovery: Whatever Happened to "The Great American Jobs Machine"? that this is the worst recovery in all post-World War II recoveries.

The analysis states 17 months of job growth since August 2003 has barely kept pace with increases in population. As a result, "It would take employment growth of some 300,000 per month over the next year and a half to bring the employment-population rate to the 64.4 level it held during 2000." The monthly average since August 2003 has been less than half that at 146,000. And that figure is even underwhelming in that other research, the authors point out, indicates as much of 30 percent of all job growth since 2001 has been temporary-help services.

The quality of the economic performance assessment of federal programs has improved, but gaps still remain in the application of the measures used, according to the latest report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Released this week, the GAO report highlights the findings and recommendations of a panel it convened in December 2004 to discuss economic performance measures. The panel of government and academe participants sought to discuss the use of economic analysis, such as benefit cost or cost effectiveness, for helping to assess federal programs' performance. Participants were selected based on various qualifications related to the subject matter. Their findings, as expressed in the report, include:

A new resource published by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) argues that indices claiming to measure the same thing - namely, the capacity or potential for economic growth - often vary widely in their results and are not effective yardsticks of economic potential.

In Grading Places, the nonprofit research institute EPI critiques five major business ranking indices, examining their methodology and validity. EPI observes that the rankings used in each index are based on each organization's own version of an index. Such indices are designed to show which states or cities have the best business climate, for example, yet share only one thing in common -- the agreement that places with lower taxes and fewer government regulations are better.

Rebecca Bagley is the new Deputy Secretary for Technology Investment in the PA Dept. of Community and Economic Development.

Former University of Washington President Lee Huntsman is the first director of Washington's Life Sciences Discovery Fund.

John Shields, president of the Alabama Technology Network since 1996, stepped down June 30. Mike Bailey is the new president.

Rebecca Bagley is the new Deputy Secretary for Technology Investment in the PA Dept. of Community and Economic Development.

Former University of Washington President Lee Huntsman is the first director of Washington's Life Sciences Discovery Fund.

John Shields, president of the Alabama Technology Network since 1996, stepped down June 30. Mike Bailey is the new president.

Maurice Swinton recently announced he has accepted the position of Program Manager for the Advanced Technology Office (ATO) of the Department of Homeland Security. Among its responsibilities, the ATO oversees the agency's SBIR/STTR programs.

Citing a reorganizing, the Delaware Economic Development Office fired 20 percent of its staff (10 positions) last Thursday. According to the Associated Press and local news sources, among those relieved of their duties were Janet Wurtzel, chief operating officer, and Rob Propes, entrepreneurial and small business support director.

The U.S. can watch as another country significantly expands its investments in innovation. This time it's France, as newly appointed Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin last month announced that the national government will double its funding from €500 million to €1 billion for the Industrial Innovation Agency (IIA), and give €350 million to the National Research Agency (ANR).

Just over two months ago, Acting Gov. Richard Codey announced budget shortfalls were delaying the state's $380 million stem cell research initiative (see the April 25 issue of the Digest). Good news for at least part of the initiative, however, came last month in the form of legislation passed by the Senate, which allocated $150 million for construction of the planned world-class stem cell research facility.