SSTI Digest

North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley was recently joined by Congressional, university, and local and business representatives last week in announcing a 180-acre expansion of Piedmont Triad Research Park in downtown Winston-Salem. The biotech park will include a new research campus for Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Richard H. Dean, M.D., president and CEO of Wake Forest University Health Sciences (WFUHS), described the multimillion-dollar initiative as "a major commitment to transform our economy from one driven by manufacturing to one led by technology."

The park currently covers a five-block area and includes four multi-story buildings, more than 20 tenants, approximately 600 employees, and a total payroll approaching $25 million. The acreage of the proposed expansion is more than 10 times the size of the current park and would be in close proximity to both Winston-Salem State University and Salem College.

The Southern Innovation Index, a strategic plan created with the governments of 13 Southern states and Puerto Rico to promote innovation, entrepreneurship and economic growth in the South, has been released by the Southern Growth Policies Board, a bipartisan public policy group based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

The index identifies 56 benchmarks and 10-year targets for each of the Southern Growth member states — Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the commonwealth of Puerto Rico — to track the progress of technology and innovation initiatives in the region. It includes state-by-state data and summaries relative to the publication's primary goals:

The amount of time a technology-based economic development (TBED) professional can spend out of the office for professional development is limited. So are travel funds. That's why SSTI packs so much into its annual conference — already the largest event in the country dedicated to improving state, local and regional TBED efforts.

And the premier conference for the field keeps growing. Since the agenda was printed, one session and additional speakers have been added to the October 2-3 event in Dearborn, Michigan (see below). Building Tech-based Economies: From Policy to Practice is two full days with more than 30 breakout and plenary sessions specifically tailored to meet the professional development needs of those interested in TBED. The updated conference agenda and speaker bios are available on SSTI's website: http://www.ssti.org/conference02.htm [expired]

Enrollment in graduate-level computer science and computer engineering (CS&CE) programs continued to grow in 2000-01 as the number of new undergraduates majoring in CS&CE declined, according to a survey released earlier this year by the Computing Research Association (CRA).

The annual CRA Taulbee Survey of Ph.D.-granting CS&CE departments in the U.S. and Canada discusses trends in enrollment, production, and employment of Ph.D. degrees in CS&CE and provides salary and demographic data for faculty in CS&CE. Except for faculty salary information, which is presented for the current year, data are given for the preceding academic year.

The Chronicle of Higher Education has released online the 2002-3 Almanac of Higher Education, an annual collection of facts and figures about U.S. colleges and universities. Published annually at the end of August, the Almanac includes data on students, professors, administrators, institutions, and their resources, as well as state-by-state profiles of higher education in the U.S.

Included in the Almanac's overview is a look at college enrollment trends, demographics, faculty pay, tuition and fees. The Almanac uses several tables to illustrate such statistical indicators as average tuition and fees, expenditures, state appropriations, state spending on student aid, research spending by universities, and federal funds for research at colleges and universities.

• Jerald Coughter, industry director for biotechnology and medical applications for Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology (CIT), has been named executive director of Governor Mark R. Warner’s Advisory Board for the Virginia Biotechnology Initiative.
• Ray Gilley, president of Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission, has been appointed chairman of Workforce Florida.
• Caroline Young has been named executive director of the Tennessee Biotechnology Association and director of the Tennessee Technology Development Corporation's life science initiative.
  

Jerald Coughter, industry director for biotechnology and medical applications for Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology (CIT), has been named executive director of Governor Mark R. Warner’s Advisory Board for the Virginia Biotechnology Initiative.

Ray Gilley, president of Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission, has been appointed chairman of Workforce Florida.

Caroline Young has been named executive director of the Tennessee Biotechnology Association and director of the Tennessee Technology Development Corporation's life science initiative.

Golden LEAF, the statewide foundation established in 1999 to use one-half of the state's tobacco settlement for the long-term economic advancement of North Carolina, has announced an $85.4 million economic stimulus package it believes will significantly improve North Carolina's economy and make the state a leader in the biosciences industry. Foundation officials anticipate the public investment stimulating at least $350 million in new private and federal funding biotech activity in the state.

The centerpiece of the package is a commitment to invest $42 million in bioscience/biotechnology companies developing or manufacturing their products in North Carolina. If those investments are successful, the Golden LEAF Board anticipates making additional investments of $108 million over the next six years, bringing its total investments in the bioscience sector to $150 million.

Other elements of the package include:

Cities predict a stressful future for their budgets, which have been hurt by the economic downturn and the surge in local homeland security spending, according to the annual survey of city finance officers conducted by the National League of Cities (NLC).

For the first time since 1993, a majority (55 percent) of the surveyed finance officers said that their cities are less able to meet their city’s financial needs compared to the previous year (2001). The increased pessimism is based on slower-than-expected growth in revenue from sales, income, and tourist-related taxes combined with new responsibilities on homeland security, rising healthcare costs, and increased spending on infrastructure. Also, state budget woes — the National Conference of State Legislatures projects a $57.8 billion gap in revenues for the states — have exacerbated cities’ fiscal plight as states reduce funding to municipalities.

Washington Governor Gary Locke announced the formation of the Northwest Energy Technology Collaborative (NWETC) at a signing ceremony on Wednesday attended by the founding members. The Collaborative is a joint, voluntary effort of business, government, nonprofit, industry and educational institutions in the Pacific Northwest — Avista Corporation, Bonneville Power Administration, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute, and Washington Technology Center — who share the common goal to position the region as a recognized leader for innovative research, education and product development for energy technology markets around the world.