SSTI Digest

Dr. Lee Eiden, SBIR Program Coordinator for the U.S. Department of Education for nearly seven years, is shifting positions within the agency to work for the Office of Management/Chief Information Office. Dr. Eiden's contributions toward improving the state-federal partnership for SBIR outreach and technical assistance will be greatly missed by the state and local tech-based economic development community.

The director of the Arkansas Department of Economic Development has announced his retirement. Jim Pickens will remain in the position until his replacement is named, according to local news reports.

Pari Sabety, director of Ohio State University's Technology Policy Group, is leaving to become Director of the Neighborhood Markets Initiative, a new program of the Center for Urban and Metropolitan Policy in the Brookings Institution.

The director of the Nebraska Department of Economic Development, Al Wenstrand, is leaving to become executive director of the Florida's Great Northwest, an economic development agency serving the Florida Panhandle.

We recognize that SSTI's annual conference quickly has become the premier professional development event annually for the tech-based economic development field. It's quite an honor, but it is also quite an obligation. Our conference participants have come to expect a level of unsurpassed quality. At least, that's what they tell us in the evaluations. It presents a challenge, but SSTI staff seem to like challenges. We always strive to exceed expectations, so for the 7th annual conference we... polled our sponsors and affiliates to develop an agenda that is packed with 24 dynamic breakout sessions on topics that are extremely timely, filled with useful information for most of the field, and led by some of the top thinkers and practitioners in the field; lined up and confirmed as many of the presenters and speakers as we could before we begin to publicize the event so that you know exactly what you're getting for your money; and, secured great sponsors to ensure the SSTI conference continues to have one of the lowest overall registration fees (which includes most meals) for any…

The backdrop for this year's annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) was painted in budget cuts, tax increases and nearly three years of gloomy economic news. Only adding salt to the wounds, the meeting was held in California, a state whose FY 2003 deficit – now carried over into FY 2004 because of partisan squabbling – could swallow the entire budget approved in more than half of the states in attendance. Nevertheless, the states' elected representatives believe FY 2004 will be better and revenues will rebound, according to the latest NCSL fiscal report, State Budget and Tax Actions 2003. Of the 49 states required to balance their budgets, 43 have done so for FY 2003 by turning first to their reserves, specific fee increases and cost cutting measures, the report observes. The 2003 net increase in taxes at this point, with 42 states reporting, is 1.3 percent of 2002 tax collections. That number may change as more states balance their budgets, but this is only the second time in nine years states have had to bump up taxes. From 1995 to 2001, states lowered…

As states forecast the worst fiscal crisis in half a century may be ending, the nation's mayors, too, see marked economic improvement on the horizon, according to a report released last Thursday by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. However, they remain concerned that the economy is still not generating jobs at a sufficient level for U.S. workers. The organization's second annual Metro Economies Report shows the metro job market shrunk by 1 percent in 2002, evidence of the beginning of a jobless economic recovery, it fears. However, U.S. metros will grow 2.1 percent in 2003 and a projected 3.4 percent in 2004, the report estimates. The report contains data on each of the nation's 319 metro areas, including 2002 and 2003 employment growth figures. In total, U.S. metro economies grew by only 1.8 percent after inflation in 2002, while the national economy grew at a 2.4 percent rate. "We are hopeful that the early signs of economic recovery in our metro areas will gain momentum into next year, and our report gives us reason for optimism," said new Conference President, Mayor James…

The 2004 budget for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as passed by the House of Representatives mid-July, includes $678 million for the Distance Learning, Telemedicine and Broadband program (DLT). Through loans, grants and loan and grant combinations, DLT provides the facilities and equipment to link rural education and medical facilities with more urban centers and other facilities. The goal is to provide rural residents access to better health care through technology and increase educational opportunities for rural students. The 2004 appropriation is $241 million more than the DLT received last year and $264 million more than the agency requested in the Administration's 2004 budget. The House budget greatly shifts the emphasis of the program toward loans, cutting the funding available for grants by nearly 42 percent while increasing the pool of funds available for loans by 67 percent. In all, the House approved $25 million for Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grants, $636 million for Distance Learning and Telemedicine loans, $9.116 million for Broadband Telecommunications loan subsidy…

Late last week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) calling for academic white papers that will focus on specific areas related to social science issues. This is the first step in the review process for colleges and universities that would like to be selected as a Homeland Security Center of Excellence (HS-Center). The Department anticipates selecting at least one HS-Center by end of November 2003 and up to nine more HS-Centers by end of 2004. The university-based Homeland Security Centers of Excellence initiative was developed in response to language contained in the Homeland Security Act requesting the establishment of a coordinated, university-based system to enhance the nation's homeland security. The President's budget called for $10 million in funding for the university programs for FY 2004. "We anticipate the Centers' will pursue research opportunities across a number of relevant areas in the physical, natural, information and chemical sciences and in engineering and the social sciences," said Under Secretary for Science and…

Congressional responses to the Administration's recent proposal to merge the Department of Commerce's technology and telecommunications operations into one coordinated agency ranged from a hearty endorsement to dead in the water, according to Capitol Hill-focused news media. House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier praised the legislation, the National Journal's Technology Daily recently reported, while Senator John McCain, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, is quoted by the RCR Wireless News as saying, "I don't think there is support for that here." The 21st Century Innovation Act of 2003, submitted to Congress by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Don Evans on July 17, would combine the Technology Administration (TA), the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and the e-commerce policy functions of the International Trade Administration (ITA) into one agency which would be called the Technology and Telecommunications Administration. A press release accompanying the legislation stated "the change will enable the Department to better serve the technology and telecommunications…

With the sustained depth of the recession, the IT crash, the rapid growth in unemployment and the speculative office construction craze of the late 1990s, one would expect office vacancies to climb and property lease rates to edge down in many cities. Following this thought further might suggest, with cheaper office space available, the need for publicly supported low-rent technology incubator space would decrease. SSTI sifts through hundreds of publications each week, monitoring issues of importance to the tech-based economic development community. If the above logic holds true, then after nearly three years of recession we should be reading accounts of incubators across the country closing their doors for lack of tenants, right? Well, we aren't and for good reason. Publicly supported technology incubators offer more than inexpensive office space. Nearly all incubators provide access to additional services and facilities that enhance the capabilities of their tenants, increasing the likelihood of sustained growth and expansion. Advanced telecommunications, entrepreneurial business…

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has published online the Science & Engineering State Profiles: 2000-2001, a set of 52 science and engineering (S&E) profiles summarizing state-specific data on personnel and finances. Rankings and totals are given for the 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, and the report includes a data source page. (For Puerto Rico, the data sources for some variables differ from those used to obtain state data; comparable data do not exist on total and industry R&D performance for Puerto Rico.) The NSF databases used include doctoral scientists and engineers; S&E doctorates awarded, including by major S&E fields; S&E graduate students and postdoctorates; federal R&D obligations by agency and performer; total and industrial R&D expenditures; and academic R&D expenditures, including by major S&E fields. Data from non-NSF sources include population, civilian labor force, per capita personal income, federal expenditures, public higher education expenditures, patents, small business innovation research awards, and…