SSTI Digest

After 30 years as leader of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce, Robert Brennan is leaving to become a consultant to the new Office of Corporate Relations at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Maine Governor John Baldacci has nominated one of his senior policy advisors, Jack Cashman, to become Commissioner of the state Department of Economic and Community Development. Cashman formerly served as a Democratic state representative from Old Town.

Cameron Carter is serving as interim president and CEO of Indiana's TechPoint, following Donna Gastevich's resignation to spend more time with her family.

Mike Leavitt of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory has been appointed the Co-chair of the Federal Laboratories Consortium State and Local Government Committee.

Tom Shea with the Office of Economic Adjustment in the Department of Defense has announced his retirement, effective September 30, 2003.

U.S. Department of Commerce Assistant Secretary Nancy Victory has announced her resignation effective mid-August. Victory led the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which manages the $15.4 million Technology Opportunities Program.

As the economy struggles, unemployment rates rise to a nine-year high, and manufacturing continues to shed jobs, the Modernization Forum reports the House Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary (CJS) Appropriations Subcommittee appropriated just $39.6 million for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). The FY 2004 funding would slash the program's funding from the FY2003 level of $106.6 million, a 63 percent cut. MEP, a public-private program, provides small manufacturers with support to bolster domestic production and keep manufacturing jobs in the U.S. The House CJS Subcommittee chose to restore some but not all funds for MEP. The Administration had proposed funding MEP at $12.6 million, effectively eliminating the national program. The House Subcommittee action on Wednesday reverses a position taken by the House and Senate earlier this year when the 108th Congress approved $106.6 million for MEP in FY 2003. The action also belies support from a majority of legislators for full MEP funding. The leaders of the House CJS Appropriations Subcommittees received letters signed by a total of 246 fellow…

Details on a $110 million initiative to create more jobs and stimulate the Massachusetts economy were released yesterday by Massachusetts House Speaker Tom Finneran and other state leaders. The initiative, Mass Jobs: Investment and Opportunity, is an innovation-friendly plan to streamline government functions and encourage growth in emerging technology through capital formation, regional development, and stability in regulation and taxation. The House proposes to recapitalize these funds from the Health Care Security Trust Fund. The proposal includes: Re-capitalization of the Emerging Technology Fund. Administered by MassDevelopment, this proposal would use targeted financial assistance of $55 million to create new jobs. The majority of these funds would be used for "bricks and mortar" investments that can be targeted specifically on technology-based physical infrastructure, making for a permanent development and manufacturing presence in Massachusetts. John Adams Innovation Enterprise. Administered by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, this $40 million…

Ohio Governor Bob Taft today signed into law Am. Sub. House Bill 1, putting into place the newest components of his Third Frontier Project to foster tech-based economic development (TBED) and growth in Ohio. The law creates incentives for businesses to invest in Ohio companies as they commercialize research coming out of private, public and university labs. Among its key provisions, the act: Establishes the Research and Development Investment Fund to help Ohio attract and construct research and development facilities. This revolving loan fund, capitalized with $50 million beginning in FY 2005, will provide low-interest loans to companies that relocate to or expand in Ohio. The act also grants tax credits equal to a recipient's loan payments for the research and development project. Creates the Ohio Research Commercialization Grant Program to help finance commercialization and pilot production of technologies resulting from the federal SBIR, STTR, ATP and other federal cooperative technology programs. And, Expands the Technology Investment Tax Credit Program by…

The previous issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest (June 27, 2003) included a story with the headline "Québec Investing More Than $500M for Biotech." It was the kind of big initiative with a hefty price tag that a few states have launched and most others salivate to replicate. A perfect item for the Digest. The problem is that big initiative never actually happened. Had the story run before June 12 – the day the first budget of recently elected Québec Premier Jean Charest was released – it would have been accurate. However, the new Liberal government cancelled all of the biotech initiatives mentioned in that Digest article, and the budget eliminated or reduced several other government programs and tax incentives promoting science and technology (S&T): Tax benefits for tech-oriented cluster development in designated sites (12 different tax credits eliminated) - In the states, these are the technology enterprise zones that have become increasingly popular policy to encourage geographically specific and industry-targeted development. Québec's tax credits had also…

Business-led partnerships looking to train workers in high-skill, high-tech occupations may get a boost from a series of instructional conferences to be held later this month and in August. The U.S. Labor Department’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) will hold three conferences in 2003 to assist prospective applicants for its H-1B Technical Skills Training Grants competition, under which approximately $50 million is available for new awards. Among other purposes, the conferences will serve to instruct prospective applicants on the goals and principles of the training grants program, with an overview of the Department of Labor's policies and emphases. Participants also can expect to gain an understanding of the required elements of a grant package, the grants review process, and the experiences of successful H-1B grantees. Eligible applicants for the grants will be business-led partnerships consisting of at least two businesses or a business-related nonprofit organization representing more than one business. The partnership also may include any educational, labor, faith-based…

Providence was listed among the top 50 cities in the U.S. in which to do business in a June issue of Forbes Magazine. Now, a new initiative to jumpstart economic development in the Rhode Island capital is aimed at solidifying the ranking. Providence Mayor David Cicilline announced on July 1 the creation of the initiative in an effort to position Providence among the nation's best cities in terms of economic development. Under the initiative, the Providence Economic Development Partnership (PEDP) will be established as a public-private partnership to provide services ranging from logistical support for start-ups to loans for new and existing businesses. The initiative also will implement the strategies outlined in Building Providence’s Creative and Innovative Economy, a report by the Providence Foundation, the Rhode Island Economic Policy Council and New Commons, Inc. Five industry clusters – biomedical research, knowledge creation, design and business innovation, technology-IT and creative elements, and arts and culture – power Providence's economy, according to the report. …