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People

Debra Elston has been named the Federal Highway Administration's director for research, technology, and innovation deployment within the Office of Research, Development, and Technology.

Garza Fernandez, president of the Southern Arizona Industry and Aerospace Alliance, announced her resignation to devote more time to the Technology Development and Research Institute.

Arthur A. Garcia has been appointed director of the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund in the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Until his appointment, Garcia has been administrator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Housing Service.

People

Debra Elston has been named the Federal Highway Administration's director for research, technology, and innovation deployment within the Office of Research, Development, and Technology.

People

Garza Fernandez, president of the Southern Arizona Industry and Aerospace Alliance, announced her resignation to devote more time to the Technology Development and Research Institute.

People

Arthur A. Garcia has been appointed director of the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund in the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Until his appointment, Garcia has been administrator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Housing Service.

People

Elizabeth Gatewood has been named director of Wake Forest University's new Office of Entrepreneurship and Liberal Arts. At Indiana University, Gatewood was the Jack M. Chair of Entrepreneurship and the director of the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

People

Paul Hiller, formerly managing director of the economic development arm of the Irvine Chamber of Commerce, is the new president and chief executive officer for the Inland Empire Economic Partnership.

People

Linda Johnson, president and chief executive officer of the Center for Information Technology Enterprise, has announced she will be leaving the position this fall to return to her academic career at Western Kentucky University.

People

Bruce Mehlman and Alex Vogel have formed a new firm, Mehlman & Vogel, Inc. The company offers clients a full range of public affairs services including strategic planning, message development, coalition management, legislative and executive branch lobbying, corporate positioning, guidance for political activities and public relations.

People

Arundeep Pradhan is the new director of the Office of Technology and Research Collaborations at the Oregon Health and Science University. Pradhan was the head of technology transfer for the Colorado State University Research Foundation.

NSB Indicates Global Race Tightening for R&D Leadership

2004 S&E Indicators includes chapter of state-level metrics The U.S. remains the world's leading producer and net exporter of high-technology products, ranking among the global leaders in research and development (R&D) spending. However, ongoing economic and workforce changes make the outlook for the future uncertain, according to Science and Engineering (S&E) Indicators 2004, a biennial report of the National Science Board (NSB) to the President.

S&E Indicators shows, for example, the U.S. now ranks 17th among nations surveyed in the proportion of its 18- to 24-year-olds earning natural S&E degrees. In 1975, the U.S. ranked third.

VC Stays Course in First Quarter with $4.6B Invested

Venture capital (VC) kept up a steady pace in the first three months of 2004, according to the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers/Thomson Venture Economics/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree™ Survey. Investments in the first quarter of 2004 totaled $4.6 billion going into 618 companies, the data show. The figure is below the $5.2 billion invested in the fourth quarter of 2003, but above the first quarter total of a year ago, $4.2 billion.

Life Sciences companies outpaced other industries for the seventh consecutive quarter, among MoneyTree™ Survey highlights. Investments in the sector totaled $1.3 billion, or 27 percent of all venture capital, and remained near their 12-year high reached in 2003. Biotech, alone, accounted for $943 million, while Medical Devices garnered $325 million.

High-Tech Tax Credit Bill Renewed with Minor Revisions

Amid criticism from taxpayers, legislators in Hawaii agreed to renew the widely debated bill that extends high-technology tax credit for another five years, without a provision requiring the disclosure of companies that receive the credits, the Honolulu Advertiser recently reported.

Act 221 was first enacted in 2001 to encourage high-tech business in Hawaii and to diversify the state’s economy away from tourism and the military. Based on a survey of businesses that claimed the credits, the state Department of Taxation says the tax credits helped generate at least 600 new jobs in 2002, with an average salary of $46,000.