SSTI Digest

Ann Lansinger, the director of the Baltimore's Emerging Technology Center, has been named the first president of the Maryland Business Incubation Association, a new organization representing the state's eight publicly funded incubators in the state.

SSTI has learned through the KTEC SBIR Bulletin that Clyde Engert will be retiring as Vice President of Innovation & Market Research at KTEC on July 1, 2001. Mr Engert has been a long-active champion of state SBIR outreach and financial assistance. His services will be missed by Kansas companies and the national SBIR community.

SSTI welcomes Brandon Lawrence to its staff as a Graduate Research Assistant. Brandon holds a BS in microbiology from Miami University (Ohio) and is working on his MBA at Ohio State University.

A new biotech-opolis in Quebec soon may serve as one of the best organized business centers for biotech, biopharmaceutical, and biocomputer companies in the world, government leaders hope. The Quebec government, Investissement Quebec, the City of Laval, Laval Technopole and Institut national de la recherche re scientifique (INRS), are investing $250 million over five years in cash, in-kind donations, and forgone tax revenues to support the massive cluster project. Additional partners include various academic, economic and scientific communities in metropolitan Montreal and Laval. The City of Biotechnology and Human Health of Metropolitan Montreal, or Biotech City for short, will function as a business and science center, with more than $100 million alone coming from INRS to equip the city with major scientific facilities and to restructure the INRS’s Armand-Frappier campus. The INRS focuses on research and learning at the graduate school level while responding to the economic, social and cultural needs of Quebec. Biotech City – being situated on…

Editor's Note and Commentary: The changes proposed by the Small Business Administration for the policy directive governing the administration of the $1.2 billion federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program are substantial. Some of the controversial changes proposed include blending STTR and SBIR dollars during Phase II, allowing agencies greater flexibility in setting award sizes, and creating the opportunity for impropriety in award selection. Public comment on the draft changes will be accepted by the SBA until June 18, 2001. SSTI would like to commend the SBA Office of Technology for its receptivity over the past several months to input on issues relating to the SBIR Program, including addressing nearly all concerns raised by state tech-based economic development practitioners in the design of the new Federal and State Technology Partnership Program (FAST). Those who have been involved even tangentially in the SBIR Program since the early 1980s should recognize the SBA SBIR Office's new openness is unprecedented and most likely reflects directly upon its current…

The leading indicator of a metropolitan area's high technology success is a large gay population, according to Technology and Tolerance: The Importance of Diversity to High-Technology Growth, a new study published by the Brookings Institution's Center on Urban & Metropolitan Policy. The study's authors are Richard Florida of Carnegie Mellon University and Gary Gates of the Urban Institute. Nine of the top ten cities as ranked by a Gay Index developed by Florida and Gates were in the top 15 “Tech-Pole” Rankings conceived by Ross DeVol of the Milken Institute (see America's High Tech Economy). Florida and Gates conclude “[g]ays can be though of as canaries of the knowledge economy because they signal a diverse and progressive environment that fosters the creativity and innovation necessary for success in high-tech industries.” Using four indices, 1990 census data, and the Milken Institute’s measures of high-tech concentration, the new analysis revealed other indications of diversity, such as a high concentration of artists or foreign-born residents…

Encouraging local sources of capital is a common element of most tech-based economic development efforts. The broad strategies to accomplish this typically include forums, investor groups, tax credits, CAPCOs, and public seed capital to fuel fund development. A different approach was made almost two years ago when Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge announced the state was giving a $200,000 grant to Redleaf Group, a West Coast venture capital group to open its Atlantic headquarters in Pittsburgh. (see the Pittsburgh story in the 7/23/99 issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest). Besides the obvious advantage to the state's economic development strategy of increasing deal flow for local businesses by having venture capital nearby, that inducement grant appears to be producing more notable fruit for the state. Redleaf Group is in the news again for its recently formed partnership with the University of Pittsburgh to launch a new business accelerator. In addition to traditional incubator services, the new Oak Leaf Networks will provide…

After adjustments for inflation, Gross State Product (GSP) for the nation grew at an average annual rate of 4.0 percent from 1992 to 1999, according to estimated just released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), U.S. Department of Commerce. GSP measures value added in production. The fastest growth rates for 1992 through 1999 were experienced in Arizona (7.3%), Nevada (7.0%), Oregon (6.8%), Colorado (6.6%), Idaho (6.6%), New Hampshire (6.3%), Utah (6.3%), New Mexico (6.2%), Georgia (5.8%), Texas (5.4%), and North Carolina (5.1%). The BEA attributes the strong performance of these states partly to their strengths in business services and in high-tech manufacturing. While real GSP grew in all major industries, it was notably strong in the areas of business services and high-tech manufacturing, trade, real estate, security trading, and communications. The Bureau’s report includes tables presenting GSP statistics for all 50 states and the District of Columbia annually from 1992-1999 and by major industry group. BEA also revised…

New Mexico The New Mexico Information Technology and Software Association (NMITSA) has hired its first staff: Randy Burge is the new president, Pete Inman is vice president of policy and development, and David Sahd is vice president of operations and marketing. According to the Council of Regional Information Technology Associations, NMITSA was the last such group to change from all-volunteer staffing. New York Joe Magno, former Executive Director of the New York State Science & Technology Foundation, is founder and chairman of the New York State Software Network (NYSSNET). Organized in November, NYSSNET's goal is to sustain, strengthen and grow the software industry of the state. The nonprofit has secured a $1.1 million information technology training grant from the Department of Labor and is holding a SmartStart Venture Forum this fall. Ohio Crain's Cleveland Business reports the Northeast Ohio Software Association, based in downtown Cleveland, is opening its first satellite office at the Great…

Jim Tate has been named Science Advisor for the U.S. Department of Interior. Until his appointment, Dr. Tate served as Advisory Scientist for the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. Julia Wilson is the new Executive Director of the San Diego Telecom Council. She formerly was director of corporate and foundation relations for San Diego State University. The Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development has hired Lawrence C. Mahan to serve as the state's senior biotech executive. Maria Estela de Rios has been named chairwoman of the New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership Board of Directors. She is executive vice president of Orion International Technologies, which is based in Albuquerque. Return to the top of this page

Jim Tate has been named Science Advisor for the U.S. Department of Interior. Until his appointment, Dr. Tate served as Advisory Scientist for the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory.

Julia Wilson is the new Executive Director of the San Diego Telecom Council. She formerly was director of corporate and foundation relations for San Diego State University.