SSTI Digest

California's Treasurer Phil Angelides called earlier this month for the nation's largest and third largest pension funds to invest at least $1.5 billion into environmental technologies and environmentally responsible companies. The goal of Angelides' initiative is to improve long-term financial returns for pensioners and taxpayers through investments in the burgeoning environmental technology sector, while also reducing the risks to the pension funds posed by corporate environmental liabilities. The treasurer’s Green Wave initiative calls on California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System to invest a combined $500 million in private equity investments, venture capital, and project financing to develop "clean" technologies that can provide the pension funds with positive, long-term returns. The two pension funds have a total of $250 billion in assets. The initiative also calls for the two funds to invest an additional $1 billion into environmentally screened funds through leading active public equity investment managers with…

The Fund for Our Economic Future, a new collaboration of Northeast Ohio private, community and corporate foundations to support regional economic development, has secured more than $22 million in commitments and is expected to grow to $30 million. Launched last week, the fund is believed to be the largest and most comprehensive philanthropic collaboration of its kind in the U.S. Numerous participants are collectively providing the fund's initial $22 million. A select number of Northeast Ohio nonprofit organizations capable of strengthening the regional economy figure to benefit from the fund. By concentrating its resources on a small number of programs and pursuing them as part of an overall plan, the fund is expected to impact Northeast Ohio's economic revitalization more significantly than any other organized philanthropic grantmaking initiative to date. The fund will address issues such as business retention and expansion, entrepreneurship, technology development and workforce preparedness. Projects that strengthen the region's core cities and demonstrate commitment to diversity in the…

As promised in her 2004 State of the State Address, Gov. Ruth Ann Minner released a New Economy Initiative last week that includes several new elements to encourage economic growth in Delaware. The $34 million package is expected to generate at least $16 million more in federal and private match. Many of the elements of the plan were recommended by the governor's Strategic Economic Council. The largest component of Gov. Minner's proposal is a new $12.5 million Delaware Competitiveness Fund to make one-time investments in companies modernizing their production facilities. As presented in the governor's press materials, the uses for the fund could be quite broad: provided matching grants for implementing new manufacturing processes; bring in new product lines; abate taxes; find buyers for idled facilities; support employee training; and, bring R&D results into manufacturers' operations. Other elements include: Creating a $1.5 million Technology-Based Small Business Seed Fund within the Delaware Economic Development Office to provide nascent tech firms with equity or competitive…

Those arguing that the U.S. is slipping as the world's leader for innovation have another data point to add to their arsenal. The U.S. continues to dominate international patent filings, but America's lead over other countries shrunk 12 percent last year, according to data released this week by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The total of 39,250 international patent applications filed from the U.S. in 2003 was 12 percent less than the 44,609 applications filed a year earlier. The U.S. share of all international patent filings also fell — from 39.1 percent in 2002 to 35.7 percent in 2003. The nation's filings in 2000, for comparison, represented 42 percent of the world's total patent filings. In 2003, inventors and industry from the U.S. (35.7 percent of all applications in 2003), Japan (15.2 percent ), Germany (12.7 percent), United Kingdom (5.5 percent), and France (4.3 percent) topped the list of biggest users of the Patent Cooperation Treaty system (PCT) managed by WIPO. International patent applications received from developing countries continued to rise; in…

Advanced research grants and equity financing are just two items slated for funding in Maine Gov. John Baldacci's $120 million revenue bond package, unveiled last week. The tech-based economic development (TBED) items would receive a combined $7 million in funding. The largest portion of the governor's package, $65 million, is dedicated to land conservation and parks. Other elements address housing, health and environmental issues. For Maine's business and research community, highlights include: $5 million for Applied Research Fund competitive grants for applied research in natural resource-based industries, including forest bio-products, marine research, aquaculture, farming, and fishing. Administered by the Maine Technology Institute, the funds would be used to support development of new products, improved management practices and new technologies. The state funding is expected to leverage an additional $5 million in federal, private and other nonpublic support. $2 million for the Small Enterprise Growth Fund for equity investments of up to $500,000 in small Maine…

"We cannot be satisfied with simply passing stem cell research legislation." So said New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey during his State of the Budget Address on Tuesday, proposing the state fund research specifically in the controversial area. Stem cell research holds promise for treating and curing a host of devastating diseases and disorders, including spinal cord injury, brain injury, Alzheimer's disease, stroke, Parkinson's disease, diabetes, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and coronary heart disease. The best source for human stem cells are embryos, which raises ethical questions. Gov. McGreevey wants the state to make an initial investment of $6.5 million in FY 2005 toward creation of a New Jersey Institute for Stem Cell Research. The proposed center would be run by Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. According to news reports, the Governor's plan calls for approximately $25 million in state funds over five years to create the institute. Additional funding would be derived from private and…

A new plan to grow North Carolina's biotech industry to 48,000 jobs by 2013 and 125,000 by 2023 was released earlier this month by the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, a state-supported nonprofit organization. If implemented, the 108-page plan would cost up to $650 million over five years. That figure does not include the "to be determined" cost for 15 of the plan's 54 recommendations. The 54 action steps span a variety of objectives: Enhance the ability of universities to conduct innovative research and transform new ideas into commercial opportunity; Encourage universities to support and reward faculty entrepreneurial activities; Support the attraction, retention and expansion of biotech companies, with an emphasis on biomanufacturing companies; Boost workforce training programs to prepare workers for jobs in research and biomanufacturing; Strengthen K-12 math and science education to help motivate and prepare future biotech workers; Spread the economic and societal benefits of biotechnology to all areas of the state; and, Address the societal and ethical issues of…

Dr. Russell Bessette has been appointed to the Federal Homeland Security Science and Technology Committee. Dr. Bessette currently is the executive director of the New York Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR). Tony Brown, director of the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund at the U.S. Treasury Department, announced his resignation effective Feb. 27, to become chief executive officer of the Uptown Consortium in Cincinnati. The Wisconsin Department of Commerce named Pamela Christenson as the first director for the new Bureau of Entrepreneurship. Sherry Farwell has been named as the new head of the National Science Foundation's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). Dr. Farwell currently serves as dean of graduate education and research at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Teri Ooms is the first director of the new Joint Urban Studies Center in Wilkes Barre, Penn. BioFlorida named Diana Robinson as its new president. Brian Vogt has been appointed director of Colorado's…

Dr. Russell Bessette has been appointed to the Federal Homeland Security Science and Technology Committee. Dr. Bessette currently is the executive director of the New York Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR).

Tony Brown, director of the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund at the U.S. Treasury Department, announced his resignation effective Feb. 27, to become chief executive officer of the Uptown Consortium in Cincinnati.

The Wisconsin Department of Commerce named Pamela Christenson as the first director for the new Bureau of Entrepreneurship.

Sherry Farwell has been named as the new head of the National Science Foundation's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). Dr. Farwell currently serves as dean of graduate education and research at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.