SSTI Digest

The following item was prepared by Bill Noxon of the National Science Foundation. U.S. collegiate enrollments in graduate-level science and engineering (S&E) fields rose in Fall 2000 for the second year in a row following several years of declines, according to a new National Science Foundation Data Brief from the Division of Sciences Resources Statistics. However, the entire 2000 increase, and then some, was due to the largest-ever, single-year increase in foreign student enrollees who held temporary visas. The 2000 graduate S&E enrollments rose a modest 0.8 percent over 1999, reaching 414,570 — the highest number since 1996. The all-time high was in 1993 when more than 435,700 enrolled as full-time graduate students. But the numbers declined for the next five years. In 1998, less than 405,000 students enrolled in S&E graduate programs U.S.-wide, representing the lowest total for the decade. In 2000, S&E graduate students with temporary visas reached an all-time high of more than 121,800. From 1998 through 2000,…

Yesterday's Providence Journal-Bulletin reports the Rhode Island Economic Policy Council (RIEPC) has reduced by merger the number of Slater Centers. With the goal of increasing the impact of the state's annual $3 million investment, the restructuring from six to four centers is intended to reduce overhead and administrative costs, allowing more of each resulting center's funding to flow into emerging businesses. The Slater Centers foster industry-university collaborations, build and strengthen relationships among academic institutions, and develop industry clusters. The centers offer business development resources — in the form of investments of up to $100,000 — to nascent ventures while creating a culture of entrepreneurialism. The merger, according to RIEPC officials quoted in the article, also permits center staff to focus more time and energy in the portfolio companies. Two of the original six centers, the Slater Center for Biomedical Technology and the Slater Center for Interactive Technologies, remain focused in their original technology areas,…

Tennessee's Sullivan County took a big step toward reducing the presence of a brain drain when it approved a scholarship program for its high school graduates. Officials in Sullivan County, a community of about 144,000 that neighbors Virginia, established the Educate and Grow scholarship program in May 2001. The program was approved first by the Kingsport (Tenn.) Board of Mayor and Aldermen and, with no dissenting votes, the Sullivan County Commissioners gave way to a $300,000-per-year plan for the program. Under the program's terms, up to 168 students may receive full tuition assistance on a per-year basis to attend Northeast State Technical Community College, and every student in Sullivan County's six high schools and homeschoolers is eligible for the $1,600 in tuition money. Recipients must take at least 12 hours of classes a semester, maintain a C-average, enter college within 15 months of graduating high school, and complete a 60-hour degree at Northeast State within three calendar years. Northeast State, which offers two-year…

The third part in a series, "Tech-talkin Govs" highlights programs, policies and issues in tech-based economic development that were considered in the following governors' State of the State and Budget addresses. California Gray Davis, 2002-2003 Budget proposal, January 2002 http://www.dof.ca.gov/HTML/Budget02-03/00_toc.htm $75 million for purchase of science lab equipment and materials for grades 7-12. A $4 million appropriation to continue the HighTech High School Program, which provides five matching grants totaling $2 million each over two years. Reductions in the Technology, Trade and Commerce Agency beginning in 2002-2003 include: $600,000 from the Manufacturing Technology Program, leaving $5.4 million intact; and $1 million each from the Next Generation Internet Program and the Rural Ecommerce Grant Program, maintaining half of the third-year funding for each program. Consolidate all existing job training programs that provide core employment services, economic development, and job training services to special populations under…

Last week, Texas Governor Rick Perry announced the formation of the Governor's Council on Science and Biotechnology Development. The Council will strive to create a seamless system of innovation from the laboratory to the marketplace in rapidly developing areas of biotechnology — such as biopharmaceutical development, bioinformatics, genomics and nanotechnology. Governor Perry described the Council's mission as one that will ultimately bring more research dollars to Texas higher education institutions, encourage university researchers to get products that advance the quality of life to the market, and create biotechnology jobs — and growing companies — across Texas. Among its responsibilities, the 36-member Council will work to identify ways institutions of higher learning can coordinate efforts to attract federal research funds. Currently, Texas ranks sixth in research funds received from the National Institute of Health and third overall in research expenditures. The Council also will develop a strategy to increase research…

Lincoln, Nebraska Mayor Don Wesely's Technology Council has proposed to end the competition between Lincoln and Omaha for educational and economic resources, favoring a collaboration geared toward economic development, the Associated Press recently reported. The collaboration is expected to create new technology industries and help lessen the struggle for development in territory in and among the cities. Lincoln's strength, the presence of the University of  Nebraska-Lincoln, traditionally has been pitted against that of Omaha — venture capital and telecommunication infrastructure. Pontiac, Michigan Mayor Willie Payne recently announced the sale of $33 million in Tax Increment Financing Authority bonds to finance development at the former site of a state hospital, according to the Associated Press. The bonds, which include $10.2 million to purchase the former Clinton Valley Center, will make way for the Pontiac Oakland Tech Center technology park. Expected to yield millions of tax dollars, new residents and jobs, the $350 million project includes…

Two of SSTI's sponsoring organizations, the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corp (KTEC) and Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology, are looking for strong candidates to fill two critical positions. A brief description of each opportunity is provided below. More detailed information is available on SSTI's website at: http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm Kansas KTEC, a state-owned corporation established in 1984 to stimulate economic development in Kansas by fostering innovation and development of technology, seeks candidates to fill the position of President and CEO. The President and CEO is an executive leadership position responsible for promotion of Kansas business and technology, as well as the administrative and investment management functions of the organization. Reporting to 20-member Board of Directors, the President and CEO leads a diverse decentralized organization with entities managed by technology, innovation, commercialization, entrepreneurial and venture capital professionals from the academic, governmental, and private sectors. The President and CEO manages a budget of…

Yesterday's edition of USA Today reported "the Commerce Department's Manufacturing Extension Program [sic], funded this year at $107 million...would be eliminated [in FY 2003] because the White House says they should be financed by the private sector." The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), a nationwide network of not-for-profit centers in over 400 locations nationwide, functions solely to assist small and medium-sized manufacturers. With centers in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, MEP makes it possible for even the smallest firms to tap into the expertise of knowledgeable manufacturing and business specialists across the U.S. Since its founding, the program has worked with more than 107,000 manufacturing firms. MEP is funded through a three-way partnership between the states, industry, and the federal government. By working to make manufacturers more technologically competitive and efficient, the centers are an integral part of most states' tech-based economic development strategies. More information on MEP can be found at: http://www.mep.nist.gov

With biotechnology taking center stage on several occasions during the past year, President Bush has appointed an 18-member Council of Bioethics to address some of the more controversial aspects of the field. Policy suggestions to emerge from the council are likely to impact the activities of the significant investments many states and localities are making for biotechnology research and seed capital. The Council will consider a range of bioethical matters connected with specific biomedical and technological activities, such as embryo and stem cell research, assisted reproduction, cloning, uses of knowledge and techniques derived from human genetics or the neurosciences, and end-of-life issues. The Council may also study broader ethical and social issues, such as the protection of human subjects in research and the appropriate uses of biomedical technologies. Council members, whose names were released the day before the group's first meeting, include: Leon R. Kass, M.D. — Chair. Addie Clark Harding Professor, College and the Committee on Social Thought at the University of…

The nation faces social and economic crisis unless America succeeds in promoting and taking advantage of racial and ethnic diversity, according to a report released last week by the Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF). In Investing in People: Developing All of America's Talent on Campus and in the Workplace, chief executive officers of leading corporations and presidents of prominent universities note that while the U.S. minority population is steadily increasing, members of most racial and ethnic groups are not making sufficient educational strides. As a result, the nation is headed for a crisis of workforce skills and knowledge, the group contends. The report posits "a large number of the people who will be available to work [in the future] will be minorities — who currently lag behind whites in their training and educational credentials." It warns that without the required investments in improving education for all Americans, tomorrow's workers will not be ready to meet the challenges of a knowledge-intensive economy. The report further calls on business and…

This week, the SSTI Weekly Digest continues its series on governors' State of the State addresses, highlighting those portions concerning programs, policies and issues immediately affecting the tech-based economic development community. Delaware Ruth Ann Minner, State of the State, January 17, 2002 http://www.state.de.us/governor/speeches/2002/011702StOfState.htm Requested the Economic Development Office to make biotechnology a prime focus of the state's Strategic Fund investments. Iowa Thomas J. Vilsack, Condition of the State, January 15, 2002 http://www.state.ia.us/governor/agenda/Condition_of_the_State_2002.htm Proposed a tax credit against college graduates' income that will help offset all or part of their college tuition. Proposed creating a set of incentives to help fuel national venture capital investment in Iowa, encourage Iowa's angel investors to make substantial investments in Iowa startups, and enable those who can invest only a small amount to do so. Kansas Bill Graves…

Describing Maine as making "modest progress" in strengthening its capacity for innovation-driven economic growth, the Maine Science and Technology Foundation (MSTF) released on Tuesday The Maine Innovation Index 2002, a report on Maine's performance in the new economy. The Index measures 30 major indicators that, according to the report, are required for successful innovation-driven economic growth. Of the indicators, 13 showed improvement in the past five years, five showed no change, and three decreased. For nine indicators, five-year data is not yet available. Among the report's key findings: The state's public investments in research and development (R&D) have increased from approximately $2.5 million in 1997 to an historic high of $41 million in 2001. Maine's total funding for R&D has experienced an increase in absolute dollars but has remained relatively flat as a percentage of gross state product (GSP). Federal funding for R&D in Maine has increased as a proportion of the GSP since 1995. The state still lags other states but has made…