SSTI Digest

Brian Vogt is the new director of the Office of Economic Development and International Trade in the Colorado Office of the Governor.

The Association of American Universities has named Pat White to serve as director of federal relations.

Washington Gov. Gary Locke appointed Juli Wilkerson to serve as director of the Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development, replacing Martha Choe, who is now serving as state coordinator for the Boeing 7E7 project.

Shortly after a General Assembly vote last week, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell announced the bipartisan approval of the remaining components to the state’s economic stimulus package. The governor's plan is intended to fuel major new investment in communities across the state. Eight final programs were approved by the General Assembly, adding to the previous five that were passed in December 2003 and February 2004. The passage of all components of Pennsylvania's stimulus package calls for more than $2 billion in investment to attract at least another $5 billion in private investments for community revitalization, site preparation, infrastructure improvement and construction, and businesses. The investments will focus on high-growth companies and provide resources to allow traditional industries such as manufacturing access to new technologies in order to enhance productivity, according to the Department of Community and Economic Development. Tech-based economic development initiatives include: $250 million for the New Pennsylvania Venture Guarantee Program. The program will provide guarantees…

Legislation to create investment tax credits and a technology commercialization grant and loan program was approved by the Wisconsin Assembly just before the close of the legislative session. Intended to encourage high-tech industry and entrepreneurship in the state, Senate Bill 261 is designed to create approximately $62 million in new funding for start-ups. A recent study from Competitive Wisconsin, Inc., a nonpolitical lobbying group of agriculture, business, education and labor leaders, reported that the state is losing ground on key economic indicators of financial, employment and knowledge-based strengths. Venture capital (VC) disbursements per worker in 2002 were down nearly 75 percent from their peak in 2000, the study shows. To help give small businesses the tools they need to be successful and create jobs, SB 261 offers assistance in  three areas: An angel investment tax credit of 25 percent over a two-year period for investments made directly in qualifying new businesses; An early-stage seed investment tax credit for investments of up to $500,000 in start-ups certified…

Increased financial support for start-up companies and the research sector has the attention of Canadian Minister of Finance Ralph Goodale. In the Minister's 2004 budget report, released last month, venture capital (VC) initiatives totaling $270 million (CAN) are targeted for investment. Combined with private sector investments, total VC funding is expected to amount to $1 billion. Canada is uniquely positioned to benefit from the current global economic recovery, the budget report states. The VC funding, which is reserved for the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) and the Farm Credit Corporation, would be directed into four areas: $100 million for direct investments in new technologies; $100 million to support the creation of specialized funds that will leverage additional private equity investment in cutting-edge technologies; $50 million to invest directly in innovative start-up and early-stage companies to further support the commercialization of enabling technologies; and, $20 million over two years for agriculture and agri-food companies. Venture capital…

Although Massachusetts' universities may be at the fore of nanotechnology research and development (R&D), they must continue to win on research for the state to stay competitive for federal funds, suggests a recent report by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) and the Nano Science and Technology Institute (NSTI). Massachusetts is experiencing a surge in nanoscale technologies, according to Nanotechnology In Massachusetts. As of February 2004, close to 100 companies in the state are using or developing the technologies, half of which are within the healthcare and electronics industries. Massachusetts' venture capital community also has invested in companies using or developing nanotech. In 2003, these firms attracted more than $120 million in funding, second only to California's $480 million. For Massachusetts to remain competitive in nanotech R&D domestically and abroad, the report argues, the state's universities must continue producing the innovations that have made the state a leader. Nine Massachusetts universities are said to be involved in nanotech R&D,…

A significant reduction in employment among southwestern Pennsylvania's technology industries in 2002 was not enough to offset signs of a turnaround, according to new data released by the Pittsburgh Technology Council (PTC). Over the second half of the year, a turnaround began to emerge and technology companies accounted for nearly 17.5 percent of the region’s workforce, PTC's annual State of the Industry Report shows. The region's technology industries also experienced an average 4 percent increase in annual wages. Released last month, the PTC report attempts to take a deeper look at the emerging technology clusters found in southwestern Pennsylvania. The updated report considers the contributions of technology companies to the 13 counties comprising the region, drawing on growth numbers from 2002. In all, thirteen key industry clusters are identified by PTC. Covered in this year's edition of the State of the Industry Report are eight new clusters, including: system-on-a-chip, data storage, nanotechnology and micro-electro mechanical systems, cyber security, tissue engineering and regenerative…

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) announced last month a partnership with the Loudoun County, Va., school district to donate $1 million per year to establish a biotech magnet program for area high school students. The nonprofit’s support of the Loudoun district was made in connection with a tax break for a new research campus at Janelia Farm, scheduled to open in 2006. The district is hoping some of the nearly 300 scientists expected to work at the new facility will also sponsor student research programs and act as mentors. An empty wing of the district’s new Dominion High School will house the program that will be open to students through a competitive application process. Students will attend the program every other day, while remaining at their home high school for other classes and extracurricular activities. Two other initiatives included in the partnership are: College scholarships of $7,000 for two outstanding science students from each Loudoun County high school, beginning with the 2004 graduating class. Fourteen students will receive scholarships…

Oklahoma's Higher Education Day, when students and faculty are given the chance to discuss their concerns with the state legislature, recently provided a golden opportunity of sorts for Gov. Brad Henry. Held March 9 at the State House, the event enabled the governor to advocate support for a bond issue that would fund endowed chairs at Oklahoma's colleges and universities. According to Gov. Henry's budget figures, $44 million in private donations are waiting for matching state funds for the endowed chair program. The governor is proposing a bond issue to match those donations. Funding endowed chairs, which enables a college or program to recruit and retain faculty whose reputations elevate its prominence, is a key component of the governor's $1 billion Economic Development Generating Excellence (EDGE) initiative (see the Jan. 23, 2004, issue of the Digest). The EDGE task force, created last August as part of the initiative, consists of private and public sector volunteers that review the state’s economic development efforts and recommend improvements. Eliminating the present backlog in…

A new fund developed by the Maine Technology Institute (MTI) is expected to lead to greater commercialization of technologies in the northeast state. Created through a reserved proportion of MTI’s annual grantable funds, the Accelerated Commercialization Fund (ACF) will allow previously funded MTI companies the chance to achieve significant growth. To qualify for funding, companies must at a minimum demonstrate significant potential for financial and economic development returns. The financing gap that exists between some companies' research and development (R&D) and sales is the motivating force behind the Maine fund. MTI plans on the investments piggybacking on other investors' terms, generally in the form of equity, and either converting existing debt or providing additional capital to help advance new products toward the market. Approximately $1 million will seed the ACF, with two to three investments made each year. MTI will select only those companies with high growth potential and interest in equity investments, with consideration given to a variety of factors — an investment's…

Innovations in public and private institutions could be the key to aligning governance with opportunity, according to the Center for the Study of Rural America's latest annual report. Previous focus for the center has been on how rural regions can build new economic engines, which the report's authors contend is well understood by public and private leaders. What is less understood, they explain, is the need to effectively change how regions reach economic decisions, a process they call rural governance. New governance, suggests Innovations in Rural Governance, will define how decisions will be made within a region and how key institutions of federal, state and local government, higher education and the private sector will work together. Solving jurisdictional boundary issues is vital to the process of bringing partnerships together, the authors explain. In many rural regions, institutions that were created for 19th and 20th century economies are no longer compatible with today’s technology, they say. This has resulted in old jurisdictional boundaries impeding on multi-county…