SSTI Digest

Arkansas Tech Council in Formative Stages The nucleus of a new regional technology council is taking structure in Central Arkansas. The Arkansas Capital Corp. has launched Techpreneur, a new forum for the area's biotech and information technology entrepreneurs to be modeled after Washington, D.C.-based Netpreneur. The fledgling group initially will allow people to share ideas and network, but additional activities such as mentoring and educational services may be added in the future. Colorado Biotech Groups Merge The boards of the Colorado Biotechnology Association and the Colorado Medical Device Association have unanimously voted to merge into a single stronger entity to be known as the Colorado BioScience Association. Combined, the two groups have more than 200 business members employing 17,000 people in the state. The new group will be based in the Colorado Bioscience Park Aurora and will be led by Denise Brown, former executive director of the Colorado Biotechnology Association. Indiana Launches $72M Biotech Fund of Funds Upgrading its…

Editor's Note: Because there are so many great conferences of potential interest to the technology-based economic development community, SSTI typically limits announcements to the calendar page on our website. The timely nature of two upcoming events leads us to a rare break with our editorial policy. ASME Congress Presents Forum for Addressing Manufacturing Crisis With much of the nation reeling from the structural upheaval of the U.S. manufacturing base, the world's largest gathering of engineers, industry leaders and policy makers could not come at a better time. The 2003 Congress and Research, Development and Design Expo will be held Nov. 15-21 at the Marriott Wardman Park and the Omni Shoreham Park in Washington, D.C. In addition to hundreds of committee meetings, the 2003 technical program offers eight industry tracks including Homeland Security, more than 550 reports, and the latest information on trends and advances in the mechanical engineering arena. One conference program that may be of particular interest to Digest readers is a session looking at ways to avoid the…

Eight of the nation's leading scientists and engineers were named on Oct. 22 recipients of the 2002 National Medal of Science — the nation's highest honor for researchers who make major impacts in fields of science and engineering. Administered by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the White House, the medal recognizes career-long, ground-breaking achievements and contributions to innovation, industry or education. James Darnell of Rockefeller University and Evelyn Witkin of Rutgers University were among those who received the medal for their advances in scientific theory and developments. Darnell discovered RNA processing, while Witkin confirmed the notion of DNA repair. Leo Beranek of Cambridge, Mass., a retired leader in acoustical science for the military and the arts, received the medal for engineering. James Glimm of Stony Brook University was honored for his work in shock wave theory and other cross-disciplinary fields in mathematical physics. John Brauman of Stanford University received the award for chemistry. Three other honorees in the physical…

Looking to launch a biotech initiative? Getting into commercializing university research? Are tight budgets leading to more rigorous program evaluation? Even if you are simply wanting to help your community understand the importance of technology, any of these efforts should get easier with the 12 new titles added to Resources for Building Tech-based Economies, SSTI's publications catalog. A three-page supplement of the new titles is now available on the SSTI website and, combined with the full catalog, more than 125 great resources can help make your programs more effective and your job more rewarding. As always, SSTI sponsors and affiliates receive a 10 percent discount on all purchases. Both the new titles supplement and complete catalog are available online as PDF documents at: http://www.ssti.org/Publications/publications.htm

Bruce Mehlman, assistant secretary of commerce for technology policy in the Department of Commerce, will become the new executive director of the Computer Systems Policy Project on Dec. 1. Mehlman has run the Technology Administration's Office of Technology Policy since 2001. The Association of University Research Parks has recognized Sandia National Laboratories for the 2003 Excellence in Technology Transfer Award. Over the past five years, Sandia has participated in 183 new cooperative research and development agreements with industry partners to jointly develop technology that is incorporated into commercial products. In addition, Sandia has had 1,472 technical advance disclosures, 639 new non-federal entity agreements to assist partners in addressing specific technical challenges, and 415 commercial licenses that have transferred technologies developed at Sandia to the private sector. Congratulations to Del Schuh and his staff at the Indiana Business Modernization and Technology Corp. (BMT), honored as the Project of the Year in the Economic Development category from the…

Bruce Mehlman, assistant secretary of commerce for technology policy in the Department of Commerce, will become the new executive director of the Computer Systems Policy Project on Dec. 1. Mehlman has run the Technology Administration's Office of Technology Policy since 2001.

The Association of University Research Parks has recognized Sandia National Laboratories for the 2003 Excellence in Technology Transfer Award. Over the past five years, Sandia has participated in 183 new cooperative research and development agreements with industry partners to jointly develop technology that is incorporated into commercial products. In addition, Sandia has had 1,472 technical advance disclosures, 639 new non-federal entity agreements to assist partners in addressing specific technical challenges, and 415 commercial licenses that have transferred technologies developed at Sandia to the private sector.

Congratulations to Del Schuh and his staff at the Indiana Business Modernization and Technology Corp. (BMT), honored as the Project of the Year in the Economic Development category from the National Association of Management and Technical Assistance Centers. The award, BMT's second in as many years from the group, was for a program entitled, "Moving from Distress to Commerce through Collaboration."

James Souby, executive director of the Western Governors' Association for the past 13 years, is resigning to become president and CEO of a new private think tank.

Ask most state and local technology-based economic development (TBED) professionals what they are trying to accomplish in their community or region and the majority will probably draw on a few of the well-known high tech centers of the country for examples. Many books, studies and reports have scrutinized the success of Silicon Valley, Boston, Seattle, Austin, etc. For example, the desire to replicate the success of Silicon Valley, has led to litany of "Silicon <insert geographic term here>" branding across the country. Another easy example to point to is the outrage so many communities felt when their metro area didn't make the top ten in the Brookings Institution's seminal report, Signs of Life: The Growth of Biotechnology Centers in the U.S. Why are TBED proponents so prone to wanting to be the biggest? The same size-envy doesn't permeate all aspects of public policy on growth. Few of cities the size of Peoria, Boise, Akron or Burlington would claim in their ten-year growth strategies that they want to become the next New York City, Tokyo, Los Angeles or Chicago. To help bring the goals…

In mid-September, Governor Rod R. Blagojevich unveiled a new approach to economic development in Illinois– regionalism. While several other states currently use or have explored a regionalized approach to delivering state economic development services, the concept is new for Illinois. The Governor’s plan divides the state into ten separate economic regions by finding areas with similar economic strengths and similar economic needs, and then creates a separate regional economic development plan for each. More than 20 state agencies, boards and commissions will be involved in the creation and implementation of each regional plan. Each plan will contain 15-25 tangible actions that the state can take to help create jobs, and give communities the tools they need to attract businesses. Items in the plans will range from creating needed infrastructure like roads and industrial parks to providing job training and consulting services through workforce development programs and new entrepreneurship centers to programs to help promote tourism. "It's time we stopped using a one size fits all approach…

At a time when North Carolina is experiencing record-setting layoffs, the dot-com bubble has burst, and traditional industries are undergoing critical changes, North Carolina needs a cohesive, bipartisan economic development strategy that embraces the dynamics underlying the new economy, according to a new report issued by the Institute for Emerging Issues. Jump Starting Innovation: 10 Principles to Guide North Carolina’s New Economy, is being sent to 5,000 policy makers, business leaders and university officials around the state and the nation. The report aims to help these leaders develop new ways of thinking about innovation, technology and creativity and the role they play in the state’s economy. Developed out of the 2003 Emerging Issues Forum, key points of the report include: State government needs the capacity for ongoing, independent assessments of alternative economic development strategies. Private sector leaders, especially those from the new economy, must shoulder greater responsibility for helping set strategic priorities for the state. Universities can further…