SSTI Digest

Arizona The Arizona State Legislature has agreed to pull $10 million from the Arizona Job Training Program due to a current budget crisis, according to the Arizona Daily Star. A temporary agreement until the Legislature adopts the state budget, the cut in funding for the  program would preserve grants that have been approved but have  not been awarded. About $400,000 for program funding would remain until July 1. The training grants provided through the program enable companies to administer formal training to boost their employees' skills; it is the only state program in Arizona that provides in-house training. Cleveland, Ohio The Lubrizol Corporation recently presented CAMP, Inc. with a major intellectual property donation valued at $22.4 million. The donation, which includes patents and related know-how for intelligent fluids, systems and related software, will be used to develop new manufacturing companies in Northeast Ohio. CAMP's Manufacturing and Technology Complex, which will house the donated Lubrizol technologies, is…

The Ohio Department of Development, which works collaboratively with businesses, communities and the Ohio Legislature to develop financial and technical programs, seeks to fill the position, Grants Administration Manager. The position's duties include managing the outside Grant Administration Team, assessing project results and progress, and performing other duties assigned by the Deputy Director of the Technology Division. Candidates must show the following: a Bachelor of Science in Business or Public  Administration or a related area of study; a minimum of five years  experience in public administration, economic development or a related field; proficient in the use of computers (e.g. Word, PowerPoint, Excel, database spreadsheets); and excellent written & verbal communication skills. Candidates also must be able to travel up to 40 percent of time. Previous supervisory experience is  preferred. More detailed information is available on SSTI's website at: http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm

Governors will be forced to make cuts in education, health care and transportation budgets in light of the recently passed stimulus package that will reduce state revenues but provide no financial assistance for states facing increasing health care costs, says the National Governors' Association (NGA). H.R. 3090 contains a three-year, 30 percent bonus depreciation provision that would cost the 45 states with corporate income taxes calculated under federal rules an additional $14.6 billion over three years, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. This comes as the states, nearly all of which are required by law to balance their budgets, are facing a cumulative $50 billion budget shortfall. What may further complicate matters is a new study from The Council of State Governments (CSG) that shows states could lose an additional  $14 billion over the next nine years in projected Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) tobacco settlement payments. States have collected $1.6 billion less than projections made in the MSA in 1998, the CSG study…

Louisiana Governor Mike Foster's economic development plan calls for $37 million for a Biosciences Initiative, at the state's top research universities, $15 million to support industry clusters for regional universities, and $8.4 million to spur enrollment growth in community and technical colleges. Coupled by a $150 million bond issue, funding for bioscience endeavors would equal a $187 million investment. For the Biosciences Initiative, The Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy for Vision 2020 recommends that the state invest $28 million in one-time capital expenditures and $9 million in annual revenues, beginning with the new fiscal year on July 1. Included is the Louisiana Health Research and Clinical Care Initiative, the $150 million bond issue that would cost the state $15 million a year to repay. Funding for this initiative — designed to update the state's medical schools' facilities and equipment and attract faculty — would come from interest earnings and tobacco settlement funds. It includes $70 million for a Capital Challenge Fund, $50 million for an Equipment Fund…

Because knowledge-based services can be supplied anywhere across the world due to increased international investment in IT infrastructure, future U.S. competitiveness hinges on diversification and broadening of the technology-based manufacturing sector, according to NIST Senior Economist George Tassey. Tassey's lastest report, R&D and Long-Term Competitiveness: Manufacturing's Central Role in a Knowledge-based Economy, lays out the critical role manufacturing and manufacturing R&D plays in the U.S. economy, presents the dire forecast for low-R&D intensive manufacturers, and presents a framework for analyzing federal R&D investment strategies consistent with a national innovation system. Tassey also argues that the zeal or enthusiasm for information technology that dominated policy discussion during the past few years and overshadowed and "induced and unbalanced perspective" on the appropriate strategies to secure economic competitiveness. Manufacturing accounts for 17 percent of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP…

To shed light on the strengths and weaknesses of the region's biotechnology cluster, Carnegie Mellon University's Center for Economic Development (CED) has published A Biotechnology Action Plan for Southwestern Pennsylvania. The CED report says the Pittsburgh biotechnology cluster largely depends on the amount of available venture capital and the development of new technologies and that total funding levels must be increased to continue biotech development. Dividing the biotechnology/biomedical cluster into three sub-clusters — pharmaceuticals, instruments and devices, and tissue engineering — the report draws a comparison with other regions, including Boston, Philadelphia, San Jose and Chicago, and observes that Pittsburgh ranked 165th nationally in 1998 in biotechnology patents per biotechnology employee. One of the region's strengths, the report says, is the high level of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards in biotechnology received from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, including the National Institutes of Health. Between…

President Bush has nominated Elias Zerhouni, executive vice dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, as the new director of the National Institutes of Health. San Diego Community College Chancellor Augie Gallego has been selected as the new chairman of the American Council of Education, only the second community college executive to hold the position since the organization's founding more than 80 years ago. Rod Linton has been tapped to lead Utah's new Office of Science & Technology within the Dept. of Community & Economic Development. Mike Keene is the new State Science Advisor and Director of the Centers of Excellence Program. Shaye Mandle has resigned as president of the Illinois Coalition to accept a position as the new executive director of the East West Corporate Corridor Association in DuPage County. George Newstrom was sworn in as the Virginia Secretary of Technology. Newstrom succeeds Don Upson, who is returning to the private sector for technology consulting…

President Bush has nominated Elias Zerhouni, executive vice dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, as the new director of the National Institutes of Health.

San Diego Community College Chancellor Augie Gallego has been selected as the new chairman of the American Council of Education, only the second community college executive to hold the position since the organization's founding more than 80 years ago.

Rod Linton has been tapped to lead Utah's new Office of Science & Technology within the Dept. of Community & Economic Development. Mike Keene is the new State Science Advisor and Director of the Centers of Excellence Program.

Shaye Mandle has resigned as president of the Illinois Coalition to accept a position as the new executive director of the East West Corporate Corridor Association in DuPage County.

George Newstrom was sworn in as the Virginia Secretary of Technology. Newstrom succeeds Don Upson, who is returning to the private sector for technology consulting.