SSTI Digest

The University of Cincinnati has appointed Anne Chasser to serve as associate vice president for technology transfer and commercialization in the school's Office of Research.

Ladd Christensen and Martin Frey are the new co-directors of the Utah Department of Community and Economic Development.

Oleg Kagonovich has been promoted to the position of CEO of the Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance. He formerly served as Chief Operating Officer.

Mike Koop, deputy commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Community & Economic Development, is resigning effective March 1 to return to the private sector.

Richard Lunak is the new CEO of Innovation Works and Ron Bianchini has been named chairman of the organization.

Envision Utah appointed Alan Matheson as executive director of the Coalition for Utah's Future, the sponsor of Envision Utah.

Johns Hopkins University has named Jill Tarzian Sorenson to serve as associate provost and director of the Office of Licensing and Technology Development.

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin has appointed Nancy Sturm and Jay Cole to serve, respectively, as the state’s education technology coordinator and governor's liaison for education policy, both new policy positions.

Jason Williamson is leaving his position as vice president of community development for the South Carolina Technology Alliance to become a founding partner in a new start-up tech firm.

The Special Federal Budget Issue of SSTI's Weekly Digest, published electronically in three parts on Feb. 10, is now available for download as a 25-page PDF. As readers are aware, the Administration's budget request proposes significant changes to the federal government's role in supporting economic development, research, investment and community development.

SSTI's budget summary has received considerable praise from many in the nation's tech-based economic development community for its concise descriptions of the proposed impact for more than 225 different programs, initiatives and line items across 19 agencies and departments. It also includes an SSTI editorial and active links to most of the individual federal programs for more information.

For those interested in technology-based economic development, you'll be hard-pressed to find any good news in the President's Budget Request for FY 2006 unless, that is, you're hoping to go to Mars or heavily involved in homeland security. It's become a matter of routine to expect bad news when the federal budget comes out. It's never a surprise to see the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) or Community Technology Centers (CTC) on the chopping block, and there's always a guessing game as to what level the Administration will propose for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). (This time the Administration proposes $46.8 million for MEP, a $60.7 million decrease from FY 2005.)

What is striking about this year's budget request, though, are two general themes: 1) cutting community and economic development spending, and 2) the lack of any type of strategic response toward building tech-based economies across the United States.

Strengthening America's Communities Grants Program The Strengthening America's Communities Grants Program is a new $3.7 billion initiative proposed within the Department of Commerce to provide performance-based grants for both community and economic development. The limited printed information available on the proposal indicates awards will be targeted to distressed areas and low-income audiences with criteria based on job loss, unemployment levels and poverty.

The Administration proposes making the grants flexible in their use in exchange for "strong accountability measures" toward specific economic development or community development goals. The economic development measures identified include increased job creation and new business formation rates. Community development measures include increasing home ownership, commercial development and private sector investment.