SSTI Digest

If the corporate leaders, educators, scientists, and technology entrepreneurs who make up the Birmingham Area Technology Task Force have their way, Birmingham, Alabama in the 21st century will be a mecca for technology-based businesses and jobs. A cooperative effort of the City of Birmingham Mayor Bernard Kincaid and the Birmingham Area Chamber of Commerce, the “BATT Force” is charged with developing a strategic plan aimed at fostering the start-up, growth, attraction, and retention of technology industries to the Birmingham area. 



At its initial meeting in late August, the 150-member BATT Force divided into six Work Groups, each of which will spend roughly the next nine weeks studying a specific area related to technology-based business development. The Work Groups will issue reports on their findings, including up to 10 recommendations for action. The Work Group reports will be the basis of the Birmingham Area Strategic Plan for Technology Development, to be presented to the City and the Chamber of Commerce by mid-November. 



The areas to be studied by the BATT Force Work Groups are: 

State and land-grant universities provide major stimulus to their state and regional economies – generating jobs, attracting and helping create new high-tech businesses, and increasing state tax revenues in addition to providing a well-educated work-force, according to Shaping the Future – The Economic Impact of Public Universities. The study, prepared by National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC), is based on a survey of its 212 member institutions. Fifty percent responded to the survey. 



Among the key findings are: 

The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) is a nationwide network of not-for-profit Centers in over 400 locations nationwide, whose sole purpose is to provide the more than 361,000 small and medium-sized manufacturers in the country the help they need to succeed in a global economy. The Centers, serving all 50 States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, are linked together through the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology – making it possible for even the smallest firms to tap into the expertise of knowledgeable manufacturing and business specialists all over the U.S. 



Since its founding, MEP has worked with more than 107,000 manufacturing firms, achieving impressive results for its clients: $996 million in increased revenues, $195 million in cost savings, and $360 million in modernization investment. 



The centers help manufacturers with such issues as process improvement; quality management systems; business management systems; human resource development; market development; materials engineering; plant layout; product development; energy audits; environmental studies; financial planning; CAD/CAM/CAE; and electronic commerce/EDI. 



More information on the Manufacturing Extension Partnership — a gold sponsor hosting an exhibit at SSTI's annual conference Sept. 20-21, 2001 — may be obtained by visiting http://www.mep.nist.gov

With all its promise of connecting businesses and residents of even the remotest areas the country to the global economy, the Internet led most states and communities to invest resources toward the Digital Divide. Will these investments pay off? Will the Internet lead to an economic geographic revolution similar to that caused by past technological advances such as the automobile? 



Combining linguistic theory, economic theory and history, two UCLA faculty members, Edward Leamer and Michael Storper, provide their answer – probably not – in The Economic Geography of the Internet Age. They argue that the economy is increasingly dependent on relationships requiring understanding and trust, qualities developed through face-to-face contact rather than long distance conversations enabled by the Internet. 



Leamer and Storper also suggest that, while the Internet creates many forces for deagglomeration of production, it also provides “offsetting and possibly stronger tendencies toward agglomeration.” The result then will be two-fold, they argue. Geographic dispersion of low-wage jobs – increasing in number as a result of computers “dumbing down” or simplifying formerly skilled positions – will continue, modestly improving the standard of living of low-income areas. 



The Internet also allows the deagglomeration of high-skilled jobs that are standardized by the Internet and computer software applications. While manufacturing and textile jobs were relocated in earlier technological revolutions, skilled service positions now become vulnerable. An example cited in the paper is technical architectural and graphics design work can now be done in China for $3 an hour and quickly emailed back to the U.S. 



On the other hand, Leamer and Storper see clustering of related businesses continuing as well, even for information- and knowledge-based companies, creating greater economic disparities or inequities across regions. 



The authors recommend local and state economic development policies focus on maintaining an educated workforce, creating a supportive business climate, and helping their business community to “stay in the loop” of the global economy. 



The Economic Geography of the Internet Age, released last week as a working paper of the National Bureau of Economic Research, can be purchased from: http://www.nber.org 

Since its founding in 1991, the nonprofit Minnesota Technology Inc. (MTI) has been Minnesota lead technology-based economic development organization. Its mission, to help existing small and medium-sized companies apply, develop and commercialize technology, is achieved through three objectives: 

The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) releases reports and testimonies nearly every day. On the accompanying webpage are summaries from seven recent reports, identified below, that are relevant to state and local tech-based economic development objectives. 

With 90 percent of Chicago’s economy in slow-growth sectors such as manufacturing, retail, financial services and real estate, leaders from business, academia, government and nonprofit groups have joined forces to develop and implement a strategy to establish the city as a key player in the New Economy. Mayor Richard Daley unveiled A New Economy Growth Strategy for Chicagoland earlier this month, accompanied by announcements of new initiatives and commitments by leaders of several entities central to the plan’s success. 



The plan calls for a unified effort toward two goals: 1) make Chicago a prime location for technology startups, and 2) create world-class leadership in priority New Economy sectors of biotechnology/biomedical, wireless software, software development, and emerging technology such as nanotechnology. 



To achieve the first goal, five areas are to receive attention: 

The Industries of the Future (IOF) strategy creates partnerships between industry, government, and supporting laboratories and institutions to accelerate technology research, development, and deployment. Led by the Department of Energy's Office of Industrial Technologies (OIT), the Industries of the Future strategy is being implemented in nine of the country's most energy- and waste-intensive industries: agriculture, aluminum, chemicals, forest products, glass, metal casting, mining, petroleum and steel. 



The effort is unique among federal programs because the IOF research agenda is almost entirely defined by the partnering industry sectors. Industry members of each cluster jointly prepare documents with the industry's vision for the future and a technology roadmap to identify the technologies that will be needed to reach that industry's goals. IOF then provides matching grants for research projects to carryout the roadmap. 



To date, more than 140 first-generation technologies have been transferred to market benefitting industry and society through increased productivity and lower carbon dioxide pollutants. Other benefits include hard savings from energy efficiency gains. From 1979 to 1999, OIT initiatives saved 43.1 trillion Btus and $202 million from energy audits and improvements. Also, engineering students acquire real-life experiences on how to do audits, thereby extending their knowledge into different industries throughout their professional careers. 



OIT also has created Industrial Assessment Centers or IACs to provide RD&D (research, demonstration and development of new technologies) for small and medium-sized manufacturers. Additional aid comes in the form of free audits, analyses and recommendations for efficiency improvements. The 26 university-located centers have saved these firms on average $55,000 per annum. Nearly half of IAC’s recommendations are implemented by the manufacturing plants. 



The Office also administers the National Industrial Competitiveness through Energy, Environment, and Economics (NICE3) and Inventions & Innovation programs. More information on the Industries of the Future and other programs of OIT — a gold sponsor hosting an exhibit at SSTI's annual conference Sept. 20-21, 2001 — may be obtained by visiting http://www.oit.doe.gov/industries.shtml 

Blythewood, South Carolina 

With an estimated population of 450, the community of Blythewood is soon to be home to the largest technology development project undertaken by the South Carolina Department of Commerce, according to an August 9 article in The State. The agency has identified 1,400 acres of land for creation of a research and technology park. Planners anticipate the community's proximity to Columbia, the University of South Carolina, and several large tech businesses will help attract new tech jobs to the area. 



Camden, Arkansas 

The Associated Press reports grants to Camden, totaling $3 million, from the Economic Development Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency are being used to clear and decontaminate a brownfield site to make way for a new business incubator and light industrial park. The incubator facility will be financed by a local sales tax approved by Camden voters to support economic development efforts. 



Lorain, Ohio 

Lorain County Community College is building a $6 million Engineering and Developmet Center to house facilities for software development, computer science programs and the Great Lakes Incubator for Development Enterprises, a technology business incubator. The center will place considerable attention on helping area manufacturing businesses become more technologically advanced or digitized. Manufacturing accounts for 31 percent of the county's employment base. More information is available at http://www.lorainccc.edu/nbbj/etdchome.html 

VentureEconomics, a division of Thomas Financial is now providing online summary information for their quarterly survey of venture capital activity. Until now, findings from the surveys, which are conducted in partnership with the National Venture Capital Association, has only been available by purchase. 



The summaries provide a level of detail that should be attractive to many tracking venture capital investments by region, state, or 20 different metro areas. For each state, data for total investments and number of companies are provided for the past ten years (1991-2001) and the most recent nine quarters (second quarter 1999 through second quarter 2001). SSTI has prepared the accompanying summary table presenting the VentureEconomics 1991-2000 total venture capital investments and number of companies for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. 



Current quarter information for each state is further described by industry/technology sector, by stage, by county, by state of funding source, by state of companies receiving money from venture capital firms located within the state, the most active firms in the state, the companies receiving investment, and venture backed IPOs in the state for the past ten years and the most recent quarters. 



Detailed deal information is available for the three most recent quarters (fourth quarter 2000 through second quarter 2001). 



Similar information is provided for 20 broad metro areas, defined by area code. This definition presents some problems, however, in that some metro areas encompass much larger regions than are traditionally defined by the other metropolitan statistics or media markets. For example, the "Pittsburgh & Ohio metro area" includes the area codes serving the major Ohio cities of Cincinnati, Columbus (but not the Columbus suburbs and southeastern Ohio), Cleveland and much of Northeast Ohio. With the exception of Pittsburgh and the surrounding area code, the western half of Pennsylvania and the northwest quadrant of Ohio are omitted. 



The VentureEconomics statistics can be found at http://www.ventureeconomics.com/statshome.htm 

Natural gas, oil, and coal-based power production has driven and will continue to be integral to America's technological and economic success. To make fossil fuel power production more efficient and environmentally benign, future power plants will incorporate a host of advanced technologies, many of which are researched and funded through the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). Located in Pittsburgh and Morgantown, NETL is a multi-purpose laboratory, owned and operated by the Department of Energy (DOE). NETL conducts and implements science and technology development programs for DOE in energy and energy-related environmental systems. 



NETL's research and development activities are conducted on- and off-site through partnerships, cooperative research and development agreements (CRADAs), grants, and contractual arrangements. NETL partners with industry, universities, other national and federal laboratories, private research organizations, and other federal and state agencies. The nearly 900 research, development, and demonstration projects in NETL’s portfolio are conducted at facilities located in all 50 states and in several foreign countries. 



Currently, NETL is responsible for implementing coal, oil, and gas programs for the Office of Fossil Energy (FE). For almost 11 years, NETL has implemented environmental remediation technologies for DOE’s Office of Environmental Management and has provided support for DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, particularly in program activities that are complementary to FE programs. NETL also provides services for other federal agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Defense, state groups including the California Energy Commission and the Pennsylvania Coal Caucus, and Native American organizations. A part of NETL, the National Petroleum Technology Office is responsible for implementing DOE’s petroleum programs. 



More information on the National Energy Technology Laboratory — a gold sponsor hosting an exhibit at SSTI's annual conference Sept. 20-21, 2001 — may be obtained by visiting the following link: http://www.netl.doe.gov/index-b.html 

Early registration for SSTI's 5th Annual Conference, Creating Opportunity: Tools for Building Tech-based Economies ends on Wednesday, September 5. To lock in the discounted rate, submit your registration by the end of September 5 by fax to 614.901.1696 or online at https://www.ssti.org/registration01.htm Those paying by check are encouraged to submit their registration form by fax or online as well and post the check by regular mail. 



Participation in the conference grows each year; for the 2001 event, we already have registrations for people from more than 40 states, 5 countries and 4 continents. Join us!  



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