SSTI Digest

Gov. John Huntsman, Jr. named Jack Brittain, dean of the University of Utah Business School, vice president in charge of the new Office of Technology Ventures. Brittain, dubbed the "innovation czar," will continue to lead the business school in addition to his new position.

Gov. Jim Doyle named Mary Burke as the new head of the Wisconsin Department of Commerce. Burke replaces Cory Nettles, who resigned last month.

Rose-Hulman Ventures President Jim Eifert and Executive Vice President Brij Khorana resigned their positions to return to faculty duties at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.  

John Maxson, former president of the Illinois Coalition, was named CEO of The Greater North Michigan Avenue Association.

Michael Relyea was named deputy executive director of the New York State Office of Science and Technology Academic Research.

Gov. Matt Blunt appointed Greg Steinhoff to head the Missouri State Department of Economic Development.

Mel Ustad, current interim vice president for research at the University of South Dakota, is the new director of the state's first Office of Commercialization.

The Kauffman Foundation named Patrick Von Bargen CEO of the Center for Venture Education. Von Bargen was the former managing executive for policy and staff at the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission.

Tom White, president of the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce, announced he will resign his position after 28 years with the organization.

Kim Zentz, CEO of the Spokane Transit Authority, announced she will take a one-year position as interim executive director of the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute.

The first three installments of SSTI's annual look at how TBED will play in the 2005 legislative priorities of the governors can be found in the Digest archives on our website: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/digest.htm

Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle, State-of-the-State Address, Jan. 24, 2005

If the success of its funded companies is revealing, the Maine Technology Institute (MTI) has done well to spur innovative activity in Maine, suggests an independent analysis recently released in the state.

An evaluation of MTI, a state-supported nonprofit, shows the organization's clientele saw employment grow by 11 percent over the last two years. This rate of growth, which surpassed that of Maine's cumulative 3 percent, resulted in nearly 600 jobs added to the economy. The University of Southern Maine's Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) conducted the evaluation, examining MTI-funded companies that completed their projects prior to June 30, 2004.