SSTI Digest

The number of states reporting cost overruns, budget cuts and use of their fiscal reserves has grown significantly over the last three months, according to a report released last week by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). State Fiscal Outlook for FY 2002 - January Update addresses budget problems in FY 2002 and looks at fiscal developments affecting FY 2003 budgets. Data collected from state legislative fiscal offices by NCSL indicate that more than three-quarter of the states have implemented budget cuts or holdbacks and more than half are tapping their rainy-day accounts. All but five of the 50 states report that revenues are below projections. The future offers little hope for a quick recovery, as 37 states already report budget gaps in next year's revenue forecasts. Tax proposals to help balance FY 2003 budgets are under consideration in 19 states. Fifteen states already have tapped reserve funds, the report says, with another 10 reporting that they may have to take such action to balance their budgets.…

Royalty payback requirements and expanding roles for universities are among the changes outlined by the U.S. Department of Commerce in The Advanced Technology Program: Reform with a Purpose. With goals of improving the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) and providing "stability" — making the program more palatable to its perennial Congressional detractors — the Department of Commerce has identified six structural changes within ATP. Since its first competition in 1990, ATP has provided $1.8 billion in funding for more than 580 projects supporting early-stage, high-risk research. For much of its history and despite several independent evaluations, the program has seen protracted appropriations battles with the House of Representatives. Even the President's FY 2002 budget request, the first submitted by the Bush Administration, proposed a funding hiatus for ATP while the program was reviewed. (Congress appropriated $185 million for ATP in FY 2002.) While giving a nod to ATP critics, the high-profile release of Reform with a Purpose by Commerce Secretary Don…

Earlier this week, Governor Don Sundquist and the Tennessee Technology Development Corp. (TTDC) released the New Economy Strategy, a broad plan to improve the state's economic viability through science and technology. The strategy encompasses many new initiatives to complement TTDC's existing portfolio of tech-based economic development efforts. Using six focus groups across the state, the planning process drew input from more than 175 people involved in research, economic development, science, and technology. Specific recommendations are organized to address five objectives: Build an Entrepreneurial Culture in Tennessee — calls for entrepreneurial education, angel investment networks, angel investment tax credit, increased venture capital investment, and continuing the annual venture capital forum. Turn Ideas into More Tennessee Companies and Higher-Quality Jobs — streamline the university and lab tech transfer practices; increase tech licenses granted by universities and federal labs; develop more tech incubators and networking;…

The San Diego Work Force Partnership recently released four strategic plans as a blueprint to prepare San Diego's workforce to compete in the changing global economy. Initiated as part of a broader Regional Workforce Development Strategic Planning Initiative, the plans reflect the concerns of area businesses for developing and maintaining skilled workers. San Diego Regional Technology Alliance, a nonprofit organization, and San Diego State University completed the plans, which evaluated workforce development trends in four local industry clusters — biosciences, computer and electronics, software and computer services, and visitor services. To study and formulate recommendations for the clusters, the plans' focus was to identify cluster employers' current training needs, data needs for educators and employers, and strategies to improve ongoing communication between educators and employers. Key findings suggest that regional workforce committees be created around each industry to improve communication between industry and education.…

The Maryland Technology Development Corp. (TEDCO) and the Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED) recently presented the first part of a two-phase study by the Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies entitled The Genealogy of Maryland Entrepreneurs. Phillip Singerman, executive director of TEDCO, and David S. Iannucci, Maryland Secretary of DBED, provided the information Feb. 4 during the fifth annual State of Technology in Maryland Summit in Annapolis. Highlights of the first phase of the study reveal the following about the history of Maryland businesses: Maryland pillar companies and entrepreneurs have produced and financed successive generations of new companies. The state's business cycle has seen inventors and founders evolve to management teams with the infusion of new capital. Research institutions, including universities and federal labs, have resolved intellectual property issues to move commercialization forward. Immigrants have made significant contributions throughout the state's history. The…

Leaders of Central Indiana's top research, academic and economic development organizations announced on Wednesday an effort to develop the region as a world-class center for the life sciences industry. The Central Indiana Life Sciences Initiative — led by the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP), the City of Indianapolis, Indiana University, Purdue University and the Indiana Health Industry Forum — will seek to increase the number of jobs, businesses, and research opportunities in the life sciences industry in Central Indiana through four goals: Leverage sufficient investment capital for life sciences projects. Retain and attract a critically skilled life sciences workforce. Strategically market the region as a world-class health and life sciences hub. Develop successful collaborations, including a downtown research community. CICP will head the Initiative with staff support provided by the Mayor's Office and IHIF. Initial funding of nearly $1 million comes from CICP and the City of Indianapolis. The city's contribution of $750,000 was negotiated…

This is the fifth installment in the "Tech-talkin' Govs" series which provides highlights of programs, policies, and issues included in the Governors' addresses related to tech-based economic development. Connecticut John G. Rowland, Budget Address, February 6, 2002 http://www.state.ct.us/governor/news/budget2002.htm Announced "21st Century UCONN," a second ten-year $1 billion bond schedule of rebuilding and revitalizing the University of Connecticut. Ohio Bob Taft, State of the State Address, February 5, 2002 http://www.state.oh.us/gov/MajorSpeeches/sos2002.htm To address the brain drain, provide workforce investment money to help create 10 new graduate retention programs throughout Ohio by the end of the year. Third Frontier Project — invest $1.6 billion over the next ten years to provide better research facilities and create new centers of innovation. The Project includes: $500 million over the next 10 years for the Technology Action Fund and the Biomedical Research Fund. Derived from the state'…

Two independent surveys of venture capital investments made during the fourth quarter of FY 2001 suggest an end to downward trends in the flow of money and number of VC placements. MoneyTree™ Survey The fourth quarter 2001 results of the MoneyTree™ survey measuring venture capital activity across the country are now available online. This is the first survey conducted since the merger of the two most widely known quarterly investment surveys, the PricewaterhouseCoopers/Venture Economics MoneyTree™ Survey and the quarterly survey conducted by the National Venture Capital Association. With total investments of $7.1 billion, the fourth quarter data provides evidence that the VC community's reluctance to invest, which started in the third quarter of 2000, was finally reversing itself. Figures for both the total number of deals and total investments were higher than the third quarter. According to the report's highlights, the biotech and software industries showed the most strength, respectively capturing 14 percent and 22.…

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA), formerly known as the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, may have cut the amount of research funding it is required to award small tech companies, but the Department of Defense still must meet its full 2.5 percent set-aside obligations, points out Senators John Kerry of Massachusetts and Christopher "Kit" Bond of Missouri in a strongly worded, bipartisan letter to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The Senators are the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship, respectively. An eleventh hour insertion in the 2002 Defense Appropriations Act reduced MDA's set aside requirement for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program from $148.8 million to only $75 million [see the 1/11/02 SSTI Weekly Digest for more information]. The Kerry-Bond letter reminds Secretary Rumsfeld that the Small Business Act requires the Department of Defense to award 2.5 percent of its entire extramural R&D budget to tech companies with fewer than 500 employees — regardless…

With the goal of supporting partnerships that unite the efforts of local school districts with science, mathematics, engineering and education faculties of colleges and universities, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has released the first request for proposals (RFP) for the $160 million Math & Science Partnerships (MSP) initiative. Involvement of additional stakeholders, especially states, is highly encouraged, according to the RFP. The program seeks to improve student outcomes in high-quality mathematics and science at all levels, from pre-K to 12. By stressing partnerships, MSP emphasizes that mathematicians, scientists and engineers participate in the effort to impact the teacher workforce and to work with teachers and administrators to substantially improve student achievement. NSF expects teachers and higher education faculty, as well as administrators and school guidance counselors, to be significantly involved in proposal development and program implementation. In making award selections expected to total 85-90, NSF will look for innovative approaches that…

The first-ever Mississippi Innovation Index was released Wednesday by the Mississippi Technology Alliance. Targeting technology-based economic development in Mississippi, the Index groups baseline data into eight categories and establishes a data collection process for 24 science- and technology-related indicators. Initial analyses suggest: Wealth Creation: Wages, though below average, are increasing the most in higher wage establishments. Research Capacity: Mississippi has huge federal investment, good university investment and low industry investment in research and development (R&D). University Research Capacity: While the level of federal investment is good, the state has seen decreased R&D expenditures in recent years. The Index reports the state has weak research-commercialization linkages. Business Research Capacity: Relatively little industrial research exists in the state; the business environment may not be conducive to R&D activity due to workforce, infrastructure and capital investment shortfalls. Technology Business…

Kansas, Inc., a nonpartisan public-private organization, recently released the findings and recommendations of its team of economic development consultants and more than 1,100 Kansans as a comprehensive update to Kansas' economic development strategic plan. Making the Knowledge Economy Work for All Kansans emphasizes commitment to a cooperative environment by both public and private sectors in Kansas. Considered the state's most ambitious look at economic development in nearly 15 years, the report highlights five strategic objectives, including 47 policy recommendations, that address the challenges facing Kansas: The need for sufficient, sustainable enhancement in economic development; The importance of a better-educated, better-trained and adaptable workforce; Implementation of a strong information technology and communications plan that will bring the benefits of cutting-edge technology to all Kansans; Policies to stabilize and rebuild rural Kansas; and, The enhancement of Kansas through the globalization of markets, improved tax policies for business…