SSTI Digest

With the return of congressionally-directed spending — more commonly known as “earmarks” — for the FY 2022 budget, nearly 5,000 projects received more than $9.6 billion in such funding. The return of the earmarks followed a 10-year absence after the practice was banned in 2011. SSTI’s review of the spending data, which was collected by the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) from the congressional appropriations committees, showed that projects related to technology-based economic development (TBED) were included in the funding. A number of federal agencies that regularly fund TBED-related projects had a portion of their budgets subjected to earmarks. SSTI’s review identified projects at agencies including: Agricultural Research Service ($62 million for 5 projects); National Aeronautics and Space Administration ($22 million for 21 projects); National Institute of Standards and Technology ($163 million for 27 projects); and, Small Business Administration ($83 million for 128 projects). Examples of funded project titles that appear to have a connection to TBED strategies include: “Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Innovation Equipment;” “East Palo Alto Small Business Incubator…

Since the inception of cryptocurrency mining over a decade ago, the state of New York has become a hotspot for the digital coins, encompassing 19.9 percent of the total U.S. hashrate, or the collective computing power of miners. However, concerns over the environmental impacts of, and high electricity demands for, these mining operations have been increasingly thrust into the spotlight. With the goal of addressing the above, two highly contested bills have been making their way through the legislative system in New York. New York’s Assembly Bills A7389C and A9275, have been passed by the legislature and, if signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, would establish a moratorium on new and renewed air permits for fossil fuel power plants used for crypto mining and establish a state crypto and blockchain study task force respectively. Hochul has previously stated her desire to ensure that any legislation has a balance between economic benefits and environmental consequences. She has not indicated what action she plans to take on the bills. According to the New York Times, Hochul likely has until Dec. 31 to either sign or veto the bills. According to an article by the…

With a $1 billion investment over the next three years, Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) will be a standalone agency within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and is designed to produce quicker research outcomes. Published reports indicate multiple states are currently positioning themselves to host the headquarters of the new agency, with California, Georgia, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas, having stated their interest in hosting the new headquarters. States are making similar arguments as to why their state should host the ARPA-H headquarters. Most arguments, like that of Massachusetts, include citation of prestigious universities, research facilities and biotech companies in the state. Other states, such as Texas, make the argument that there is high demand for medical services in states that may not be thought of initially as healthcare and bioscience hubs. ARPA-H was proposed in 2021 and is intended to be similarly structured to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), but ARPA-H will be focused on healthcare technology innovation and finding cures for diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s…

In November 2021, the seasonally adjusted quit rate reached a record of 3.0 percent, a significant increase from the previous highest rate of 2.4 percent. This phenomenon of rising quit rates is currently referred to as the “Great Resignation.” Investigating the existing data on labor turnover, the historical quit rate data, and the reasons for the rise of quit rates in 2021 are the focus of a recent article from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Monthly Labor Review.

With the end of the current fiscal year just three months away, the House Committee on Appropriations is set to finish marking up all of its FY 2023 funding bills by the end of this week. Similar to last year. the committee’s actions come before Congress has agreed to an overall spending level. Due to the potential for substantial changes when the final FY 2023 budget is passed, this article only covers specific funding levels that are a high priority for the tech-based economic development (TBED) field. Economic Development Administration (EDA) Build to Scale: $50 million (+$5 million from FY 2022) STEM Apprenticeship Program: $4.5 million (+$2.5 million) National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP): $221 million (+$54 million) Manufacturing USA Institutes: $18 million (+$1.5 million) Small Business Administration (SBA) Federal and State Technology Partnership (FAST): $8 million (+$2 million) Growth Accelerators Fund Competition: $5 million (+$2 million) Regional Innovation Clusters: $10 million (+$2 million) Department of Energy ARPA-E: $550 million (+$100 million)…

A new report from the U.S. Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund shares performance data from federally certified CDFIs for FY 2020. Just five of the CDFIs covered in the data are certified as venture funds — a sharp decline from the 14 that were included in the FY 2019 report. However, FY 2020 saw 119 transactions listed as equity investments, an increase from 90 in the prior year. The decline in certified venture capital CDFIs from the prior year likely indicates a drop-off in the number of venture fund CDFIs that received technical or financial assistance funding from the CDFI Fund. The CDFI Fund’s financial assistance awards are one of the federal government’s few sources of capital that can be used for equity investment, so this low participation may be a missed opportunity for regional tech-based economic development strategies. The CDFI Fund report poses a few challenges to fully understanding the role of equity investment activity among CDFIs. Most importantly, many more certified CDFIs are active in the field during any given year than the number that have active federal funding awards, as CDFIs are not required to compete for CDFI…

Total R&D in the U.S. grew from $666.9 billion in 2019 to an estimated $708 billion in 2020, according to recent data from the National Science Foundation’s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) examination of R&D performance in the United States over the past two decades. These findings follow additional trends in the report demonstrating the expanding R&D occurring in the U.S. Additional metrics explored in the NCSES data are national R&D intensity, R&D to GDP ratio, and R&D by performer, source, and type. The report found that R&D intensity has been steadily growing by an average of 3.8 percent annually from 2010 to 2019, a significant increase from the previous decade, where the average annual growth rate was 2.1 percent. The R&D to GDP ratio was 3.12 percent in 2019 and is estimated to be about 3.39 percent in 2020. A ratio above 3.0 percent is recognized by R&D policy analysts as a high achievement. Analysis of R&D performers in the U.S. found that the business sector continues to be the most significant R&D performer in the nation. In 2019, industry accounted for 75 percent of domestic R…

Although Americans perceptions on the economy dipped late last year, their financial well-being increased and hit its highest level since 2013, when the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System survey began. The results of the latest wide-ranging survey, reported in the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2021, also revealed the share of prime-age adults not working because they could not find work had returned to pre-pandemic levels; more adults would be able to cover a $400 emergency expense should one arise than at any point in the survey history; and, 15 percent of workers said they switched jobs in the previous year, with 60 percent of those reporting that the new job was better overall. The number of student loan borrowers who are behind on their payments declined compared to prior to the pandemic and self-reported financial well-being rose strongly with education. The Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED) was fielded from Oct. 29 through Nov. 22, 2021, and included new questions on consumer experiences with emerging products such as cryptocurrencies and “Buy Now Pay Later” products. It found that while most adults did not use…

Chicago has seen 18 percent growth in its technology ecosystem (i.e. technology occupations in technology industries, non-technology occupations in technology industries, and technology occupations in non-technology industries) in the last decade compared to a 1 percent growth in the overall economy, according to the Chicago Tech Effect report from Chicagoland Chamber of Congress and HR&A Advisors. The report might serve as a model for other areas examining the importance of technology in their region’s economy. Chicago’s tech ecosystem employs over 8 percent of the city’s workforce and accounted for 87 percent of new jobs in the area within the last decade, according to the report. “Chicago is fueling upward mobility and greater economic equality,” according to the report, with the median wage in the tech ecosystem 1.5 times higher than the median wage for the overall economy. Further, about 50 percent of tech jobs in Chicago are considered nontraditional (i.e. non-technology occupations in technology industries), which allows a greater number of individuals to participate in the field.   The city has also seen a higher percentage of Black and Latino…

President Biden announced his intent to nominate Arati Prabhakar to serve as the next director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and once confirmed she would also become his chief science advisor. The nomination earned praise from members of Congress, scientists, R&D advocates, and former OSTP directors of both Democratic and Republic administrations. The nomination is historic with Prabhakar being the first woman, immigrant, or person of color nominated to serve as Senate-confirmed director of OSTP. She previously led the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) from 1993 to 1997, starting when she was 34 years old and being the first woman to hold that position. She also served as director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) from 2012 to 2017. Prabhakar has worked with startups, large companies, universities, government labs, and nonprofits across a wide variety of sectors and is both an engineer and applied physicist.

The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) last week announced a new funding opportunity that includes two programs designed to strengthen equitable economic development strategies across the country. One program will add staff resource to local organizations focused on improving economic resilience and competitiveness in distressed regions across the country, while the second will provide technical assistance to enable organizations serving underserved populations and communities to participate in economic development planning and projects. The Economic Recovery Corps program will award one, five-year grant between $20 million and $25 million to a network operator to build, launch and operate an economic development fellowship program in cooperation with EDA. The program would recruit and place at least 50-75 fellows in economic development organizations in underserved communities throughout the nation and will provide information and analysis from across the country to accelerate the adoption of equitable economic development principles. A webinar about the opportunity is being held June 23 at 1:30 p.m. EDT and the deadline to apply is Aug. 5, 2022. …

Manufacturing, healthcare services, information technology, building and construction, and transportation, distribution and logistics are the top five industries by number of applications submitted to the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Good Jobs Challenge, according to EDA. Grantees for the $500 million program are expected to be announced this summer, with 509 proposals totaling $6.4 billion in requested funds submitted from every state and territory. The initiative is focused on removing barriers to training, particularly for those workers hit hardest by the pandemic, including women and people of color. As part of the American Rescue Plan, the Good Jobs Challenge was designed to expand pathways for more Americans to access good-paying jobs and help local economies recover from the pandemic. With a focus on equity, the challenge was launched to build and strengthen systems and partnerships, bringing together employers who have hiring needs with other key entities to train workers with in-demand skills. EDA reports that the proposals’ “commitment to equity is exemplified through applicants’ who provided clear strategies to recruit high proportions of…