SSTI Digest

The presentations from last week's conference, Knowledge Clusters and Entrepreneurship in Regional Economic Development, now available online, provide a good introduction to many of the topics and issues to be discussed at SSTI's annual conference, Building Tech-based Economies: Preparing for Tomorrow's Challenges, in Philadelphia, Oct. 13-15. Organized by the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, the Clusters conference included case studies on U.S. and Irish clusters and entrepreneurship as well as: Knowledge Clusters as a Means of Promoting Regional Economic Development Entrepreneurship Policy and the Strategic Management of Places Economic Development in Post Conflict Society: A Cluster-Focused Development Plan Crafting a New Rural Development Strategy Academic Entrepreneurs: Social Learning and Participation in University Technology Transfer Entrepreneurship and Government Policy: An International Perspective based on the Research of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Energizing Entrepreneurship in Rural Communities and Amongst Under…

Location-based tax incentives to encourage the clustering of technology companies in distressed areas or around research universities has grown in popularity since Michigan's smart zones were created several years ago. Last week, New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey signed an Executive Order creating three Innovation Zones – industry clusters centered around and including the campuses of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. The concept underlying the Innovation Zones is to create an innovation triangle – a partnership among tech-based companies, the state’s research universities, and state government. Mutual proximity is expected to lead to partnerships between businesses and universities to better meet research and development needs. The Executive Order directs the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJ EDA) and the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology (CST) to work cooperatively with other state agencies to direct resources that will support financial, infrastructure, workforce and housing…

Securing the multi-year funding needed to properly ramp up technology-based economic development (TBED) initiatives can be difficult in states with annual budget cycles and tight revenue streams. Fortunately, there is one federal agency that provides financial assistance increasingly toward local and regional projects matching the interests of the nation's TBED community. Unfortunately, annual appropriations for the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) have dropped by nearly 20 percent over the past four years, making competition for the federal matching grants that much more fierce as the nation's economy heightened the need to encourage innovation-based growth. Two separate EDA grants awarded last week in North Dakota, totalling $1.2 million, provide examples of how states and local communities can direct the funding toward TBED programs. The agency awarded the Center for Innovation and the University of North Dakota $750,000 toward completion of a second technology incubator, the Ina Mae Rude Entrepreneur Center. The new 20,000-square-foot facility will cost $3.8…

As part of a new initiative to address pressing ethical, legal and social questions raised by recent advances in genetic and genomic research, the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) has awarded approximately $20 million in grants to fund interdisciplinary centers within universities around the country over the next five years. NHGRI is one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). According to NIH, each of the centers will assemble a team of experts in several disciplines such as bioethics, law, behavioral and social sciences, clinical research, theology, public policy and genetic and genomic research to develop innovative research approaches focused on specific sets of issues related to genomic research. The centers’ output, according to NIH, will be critical in formulating and implementing effective and equitable health and social polices related to genomic research. The Department of Energy and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development both contributed significant funding to the effort, which has established the first four centers within the following…

The need for programs to encourage science, math and technology education (SMET) among most minority groups becomes evident when one consider the nation’s need for a high skilled workforce, the growing portion of the total population divided among minority groups, and the low percentage most minorities represent of science and engineering professionals. The Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program in the National Science Foundation (NSF) is one of three federal programs attempting to address the issue. Different in its approach from the NASA and NIH efforts, the NSF program strives to increase the number of minority students completing a baccalaureate degree in a SMET-related field and enrolling in related graduate program by financially supporting partnerships among academic institutions, industry, government agencies, laboratories and professional organizations. Twenty-eight LSAMPs have been funded in 24 states since the program was created in 1991. A new report from the NSF program reviews the performance of a selected group of the oldest LSAMPs and identifies best…

Measured over a three-year period, minority women-owned businesses had similar survival rates and employment growth compared to all women-owned firms, according to a recent series of federal reports. However, when measured against other minority women-owned firms, African American women-owned businesses showed greater job loss and lower survival rates. The National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) released last month five Issues in Brief, providing a state-by-state analysis of trends in survival rates and employment growth among minority women. The briefs are separate reports focusing on African American, Asian American, Latina, and Native American women, along with a minority summary report that provides detailed tables by both state and industry. The reports accompany an earlier brief that examined 923,000 women-owned firms between 1997 and 2000. Overall, 75.1 percent of all women-owned companies were still operating after the three-year period, compared to 75.5 percent of all employer business locations in existence, the report indicated. Therefore, according to NWBC, women-owned businesses…

Real median household income remained unchanged between 2002 and 2003 at $43,318, according to a report released last week by the U.S. Census Bureau. The report, Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2003, includes data collected from the 2004 Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey. In conjunction with the report, the 2003 American Community Survey (ACS) also was released. The ACS is the largest household survey in the U.S., having considered 800,000 housing units per year during its 2000-2004 test phase. Similar to the decennial census long form it is designed to replace, the ACS provides information on money income, poverty and other social and economic indicators. ACS data for 2003 are shown for 116 metropolitan areas, 233 counties and 68 cities, all with populations of 250,000 or more. Rhode Island had the highest percent change in median household income over 2002-2003, at 7.06 percent, based on ACS results. Thirty-five other states experienced positive change in the measure, with Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska rounding…

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP), a nonprofit economic development organization based in Philadelphia, seeks someone to serve as director of its investment and entrepreneurial services. Established in 1982, BFTP exists to stimulate economic growth through innovation, entrepreneurship and the development and adoption of new technologies. The selected candidate will direct the planning, coordination and execution of activities associated with the sourcing and evaluation of BFTP's applicants, among other responsibilities. The candidate also will oversee the client management of portfolio companies in the manufacturing and nanotechnology sectors. Qualifications include having a B.S. or B.A. in Engineering or other technology discipline, preferably with an MBA. Inquiries should be directed to Katie Rotella, manager of administrative services for the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, at katie@sep.benfranklin.org. A complete position description is available at: http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm

The discounts ending this week on registration and accommodations for SSTI's annual conference will pay for much, if not all, of your round trip airfare to Philadelphia, so we encourage you to act soon on both. Or you can use the savings toward having one of your colleagues attend as well! Building Tech-based Economies: Preparing for Tomorrow's Challenges will be held at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel on Oct. 14-15, 2004. Three optional, intensive pre-conference workshops and a tour are offered on Wednesday, Oct. 13. The full conference offers 30 timely and focused breakout session options. The early registration period to attend the premier professional development opportunity of the year ends Friday, Sept. 17. Conference details, including the complete program, slate of participants, and registration form, are available at: http://www.ssti.org/conference04.htm [expired] SSTI has negotiated for its guests an incredible single/double sleeping room rate for the event of $124/night plus tax at the exquisite Loews Philadelphia Hotel. The rate is only good for reservations made by the end of…

Utah State University named J. Michael Brooks as director of its Innovation Campus. He will also serve as associate vice president for research and economic development, beginning Sept. 20. A two-year grant from the Pennsylvania Dept. of Community and Economic Development enabled Lehigh University to announce last week the appointments of Glenn Doell and Graham Mitchell to serve respectively as director of the office of technology transfer and director of the entrepreneurship program. Effective Jan. 1, Donald Kuratko will be executive director for Indiana University's Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Kuratko is currently runs Ball State University's entrepreneurship program. Reports suggest New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey, resigning his office in mid-November, will be named the first director of the Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey. Securing funding for the center has been a legislative priority for the Governor this year. David Winwood is the new director of North Carolina State University's Centennial Campus.

Utah State University named J. Michael Brooks as director of its Innovation Campus. He will also serve as associate vice president for research and economic development, beginning Sept. 20.

A two-year grant from the Pennsylvania Dept. of Community and Economic Development enabled Lehigh University to announce last week the appointments of Glenn Doell and Graham Mitchell to serve respectively as director of the office of technology transfer and director of the entrepreneurship program.