SSTI Digest

Conventional wisdom in the technology-based economic development community is that increased access to risk capital is critical for building competitive economies. Establishing a causal relationship between early-stage capital and employment growth external to the companies receiving the funds has been difficult, however.

A new working paper from the University of Vienna presents a model linking venture capital investment and job growth on the national level. Does Venture Capital Investment Spur Employment Growth?, written by Ansgar Belke, Rainer Fehn and Neil Foster, finds "a one unit increase in venture capital will increase employment growth by 1.8 percentage points."

The Southern Growth Policies Board has released a toolkit to help communities understand the knowledge economy and how new economic forces affect quality of life and economic development. Seeing the Future: The Knowledge Economy seeks to inform people about the knowledge, skills and resources needed to compete in today’s economy.

Last week, the National Science Foundation (NSF) released the latest edition of Characteristics of Doctoral Scientists and Engineers in the United States, which reports characteristics for 2001. Valuable data is presented in the report on the demographic and employment characteristics of doctoral scientists and engineers in the U.S.

NSF has performed this survey every two years since 1973. Current and past reports can be found online at http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/cdse/start.htm

Tucson gains Community Investment Business Center, New Tech Park building

The Tucson Citizen reports the second incarnation of the Tucson Technology Incubator, which closed in January, has opened as the Community Investment Business Center. The new center, under the auspices of the Community Investment Corp. and funded partially by the Pima County Industrial Development  Authority, offers business assistance with the aid of five University of Arizona interns and limited office space for client companies, according to the article.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology of the U.S. Department of Commerce has announced it is accepting proposals from organizations in Florida, Hawaii and South Dakota to establish Manufacturing Technology Centers under the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Program. Approximately $4 million will be available to support these centers.

Currently, the MEP national system consists of over 400 centers and field offices located throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico. The objective of these centers is to enhance productivity, technological performance, and strengthen the global competitiveness of small- and medium-sized U.S.-based manufacturing firms. Services are provided through the coordinated efforts of a regionally-based manufacturing extension center and local technology resources.

Lloyd Chestnut, vice president of research at the University of Montana is leaving to take the position as vice president for research and technology transfer at the University of North Texas.

Christopher C. Foster is the new state technology coordinator at the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development.

Chris Matthews is the president of the new Chattanooga Technology Council, which held its official kickoff event earlier this month.

Katherine O'Dea has been named executive director of the Rhode Island Technology Council.

Lloyd Chestnut, vice president of research at the University of Montana is leaving to take the position as vice president for research and technology transfer at the University of North Texas.

Christopher C. Foster is the new state technology coordinator at the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development.

Chris Matthews is the president of the new Chattanooga Technology Council, which held its official kickoff event earlier this month.

Katherine O'Dea has been named executive director of the Rhode Island Technology Council.

Dr. Leonard Peters is the new director of the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Tom Walker has been named executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Oklahoma Technology Commercialization Center.