SSTI Digest

Stefanie Sanford has joined Texas Governor Perry's office as Policy Director for Technology & Telecommunications

Tom Unruh has announced he is leaving the National Governors' Association Center for Best Practices.

Pennsylvania has been a leader in tech-based economic development for more than two decades. With more than $208 million for tech-based economic development initiatives, the 2001-02 Budget Request submitted by Governor Tom Ridge this week shows why the state remains at the forefront of the field. Coupled with the $61 million in education technology, "Brain Gain," and digital divide initiatives proposed (see Pennsylvania's entry under this week's Tech Talkin' Govs article below), the state is developing a cradle-to-grave strategy for competing in the New Economy. 



The technology-based economic development proposals include: 

In a follow-up to Maine Governor Angus King’s call for every 7th grader to have a laptop computer that they would use in school and could take home, the Task Force on the Maine Learning Technology Endowment has recommended that every student and teacher in the 7th through 12th grades be provided with computers that would be wireless and portable. The computers could be used in the classroom and, pending school district permission, be taken home. 

The Washington DC metro area is widely recognized as one of the country’s technology hubs. Unlike the country’s other major tech centers, however, which have been heavily focused on computer technology for several decades (see Annalee Saxenian’s Regional Advantage for a discussion of Silicon Valley and Route 128, for instance), the nation’s capital region went through a significant restructuring during the 1990s as a result of the New Economy and federal government downsizing. 



The tech-based boom of the New Economy has not been shared evenly across the metro area, however. A recent study revealed that, during the seven years of 1993-2000, the region enjoyed a growth of 379,500 jobs – with more than 23 percent of those jobs being in the technology industry. The District of Columbia employment base, though, shrunk by nearly 47,000 jobs during the period. The city lost 79,200 government jobs over the seven years, more than two-thirds of them in the federal sector. 



Such a substantial transformation in so little time presents new challenges for the local non-governmental organizations dedicated to expanding economic opportunities for the area’s lower income residents. DC Agenda, the independent nonprofit organization that commissioned the study, is working to confront these challenges. 



Understanding the scope of the change was a critical first step for DC Agenda. The civic group works in partnership with existing service provider organizations and institutions to overhaul the systems serving low-income residents and strengthen the capacity of local government and community-based organizations. 



The study characterizing D.C.’s tech industry was prepared for DC Agenda by George Mason University researcher Stephen S. Fuller. While presenting the dichotomy of the District versus the metro region, it also reveals some significant differences between the Washington and Silicon Valley areas. For instance, while technology industry directly generates 28 percent of the gross regional product for Silicon Valley, it accounts for 16 percent of the Washington metro economy. 



The Washington area is much more dependent on the services sector of the tech industry, which makes up 86 percent of all tech jobs in the Washington area. By comparison, only 42 percent of Silicon Valley tech jobs are service-based. 



Tech employment accounts for nearly 11 percent of all jobs in the Washington DC metro area and more than 22 percent in Silicon Valley. In striking contrast, tech employment for the District of Columbia only represents 1.5 percent of all private sector jobs. 



The study found that the city’s small technology community was based largely on information technology that grew from entrepreneurial activity dependent on market access to federal and international business opportunities. Access to the large suburban tech industry was also important for partnering and subcontracting opportunities. 



Fuller recommends promotion of the city’s market access, coupled with offering incentives as marketing strategies for the District to pursue to further grow its tech-based industry. 



The complete report can be found on the DC agenda website

http://www.dcagenda.org/pages/m_dc_publications.htm 

Editor's Note: The sixth and final installment in our review of the Governors' inaugural addresses, state of the state addresses, and budget messages for 2001. Previous weeks' installments are available on our website http://www.ssti.org/Digest/2001/headlines01.htm 

In light of major economic changes due to technological transformation, increased globalization, and changing demographics over recent years, and the resulting effects of rising workforce insecurity, the Office of Workforce Security in the Employment and Training Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), will hold its first national research conference. 



The conference will focus on issues related to impacts, trends, and challenges of the macro-economy to workforce development, the significance of recent changes in workforce development, workforce competitiveness in global economy, workforce security in the New economy, and major policy options to promote economic opportunities for the workforce. 



The office has issued a call for papers to be presented at the event. Papers selected for the conference also will be published as part of the Office of Workforce Security Occasional Paper Series. Travel and accommodation expenses for invited presenters will be paid by the Office of Workforce Security. 



Papers must be received by March 16, 2001. For more information, see the

February 9 online edition of the Federal Register or see “News” on

http://workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/

The Office of Technology in the Utah Department of Community and Economic Development seeks an Assistant Director for the Centers of Excellence Program. The position's responsibilities include promoting the development of new and established Centers that will assist the state economy to expand in focused technology areas. Deadline for application is February 23, 2001. More information on this and additional career opportunities in tech-based economic development can be found at the S&T Job Corner: http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm 

Two new programs from the U.S. Small Business Administration are designed to infuse new capital into economically disadvantaged rural and inner city areas and strengthen existing businesses through technical expertise and mentoring.



The New Markets Venture Capital program (NMVC) is anticipated to spur as much as $15 billion in economic development in distressed areas, while BusinessLINC (Learning, Investment, Networking and Collaboration) is designed to assist small firms by providing access to technical assistance, business advice, market knowledge and contracting opportunities that come from relationships with larger companies.



The NMVC program will provide $150 million in government guaranteed funds for investment by 15 to 20 VC companies to be selected competitively by the SBA. The venture capital companies will be community-based for-profit organizations with management that has proven track records of investing capital in small businesses for the purpose of community development. The companies must raise at least $5 million in investment capital which will be supplemented with the issuance of SBA debentures. No interest payments will be required for five years.



Existing community development venture capital companies and groups with equivalent experience may also apply for New Markets Venture Capital Company designation. The application is available on the SBA website at http://www.sba.gov/INV/venture.html

Editor's Note: The fifth installment in our review of the Governors' inaugural addresses, state of the state addresses, and budget messages for 2001. The first four articles in the series were over the past four weeks. Those issues of the SSTI Weekly Digest and all other previous editions are available on our website: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/2001/headlines01.htm

With President Bush announcing the creation of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, some analysts and practitioners are pondering the implications for economic local and state development efforts.

There is so much happening in state and local tech-based economic development across the country that we’re adding a new Digest feature: the Regional Roundup. Our goal is to provide 1-2 sentence coverage of news stories, reports and resources demonstrating the variety of activities underway to build a stronger tech-based economy. Of course, whenever possible, we’ll include a link or contact for more information.