SSTI Digest

Last week, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) announced the findings of Michigan: The High-Technology Automotive State, a new study that demonstrates that the state’s high-tech workforce is dramatically larger than previously reported by national rankings. The MEDC study shows that the American Electronics Association (AEA) uses a narrow definition of high-tech in their annual ranking, Cyberstates 4.0, which was released the next day.

Abstracts for the FY 2000 grant awards for the USDA Small Business Innovation Research Program have been posted on the agency’s website: http://www.reeusda.gov/sbir/ Chris Busch and Jill Kline reported statistics on the distribution of proposals and awards by state in last week’s Wyoming SBIR Initiative Newsletter. For this issue and other archived editions of their resourceful newsletter, visit: http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/sbir/newsletters.htm

Alabama

The Alabama Commerce Commission, appointed by Governor Don Seigelman last year, has released an executive summary report of recommendations for a long-range strategic plan for economic development in the state. The Commission recommends the creation of a scholarship program with no minimum grade point average requirements to provide free tuition to high school graduates who enter targeted vocational and technical programs in two year colleges or technical schools. The Commission also recommended the creation of privately run Alabama Research Alliance involving the state’s six research universities. The Alliance would distribute an unspecified amount of funding for research projects designed to produce new products, businesses, and jobs.

The National Governors' Association has released its third paper in the New Economy Series. Nurturing Entrepreneurial Growth in the New Economy, written by Thom Rubel and Scott Palladino, outlines eleven different approaches states have implemented to encourage entrepreneurship:

The Department of the Navy has published a list of 104 inventions that are owned by the federal government and are available for exclusive or partially exclusive licenses. The list and contact information are available for review on the SSTI web site at: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/052600t.htm

Sue Rhoades is leaving her role as State Coordinator with Ben Franklin Technology Partners in Pennsylvania to take a position in the private sector. As a result, the Ben Franklin Technology Partners are seeking candidates to fill her position. The posting, as well as several other S&T career opportunities, is available on the SSTI website at: http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm

Two quarterly surveys of venture capital investments were released during the past two weeks. Both report record levels of venture-backed investments for the first quarter of 2000, in spite of the jittery stock market. While the figures vary between the two surveys, both identify the same investment trends. For instance, both surveys found that among the states, Georgia, Illinois, and New York experienced the greatest growth in deals. Summaries of both reports are provided below. 

After two years of partisan politics and court battles, the Montana legislature last week overwhelmingly passed HB 1, a $46 million, five-year appropriations package to fund several state science, technology, and economic development initiatives. The legislation brings to close a saga that began with a successful court challenge to the funding mechanism for S&T programs. Governor Marc Racicot called a special session of the legislature this year specifically to address the need for funding. 

The National Science Foundation has released two statistical reports that present several science and engineering statistics by state: 

The McKnight Foundation has committed $44.5 million over ten years to support scientific research in neuroscience/memory and brain disorders. The McKnight Endowment Fund will support three national fellowship programs: 1) Scholar Awards, which link basic researchers and clinical scientists or physicians who are in the early stages of their careers; awardees receive $75,000 per year for up to three years; 2) Memory and Brain Disorders Awards, which encourage novel applications of neuroscience research to clinical problems related to memory and brain disorders; and 3) Technological Innovations in Neuroscience Awards of up to $100,000 per year for two years to encourage multidisciplinary research and technical innovations. The Endowment Fund is also the sponsor of the annual McKnight Conference on Neuroscience in Aspen, Colorado, organized to share research developments and foster interaction among all the awardees. 

On Tuesday, WorldCom and Brown University announced grants for 20 programs in 19 states to link public schools or community organizations with local colleges or universities to develop educational technology projects for youth in underserved areas. The grants were awarded through Making a Civic Investment, a $5-million, five-year program funded by WorldCom and administered by Campus Compact, a national coalition of nearly 700 college and university presidents based at Brown. 

Forbes magazine, in conjunction with the Milken Institute, released on Monday its second annual "Best Places for Business and Careers" - a ranking of the top 200 metropolitan areas in the United States. The Forbes-Milken Institute list looks at two critical factors to determine which metro areas are the most dynamic: jobs and earnings, and high-technology growth and output. All of the numbers were provided by the Institute's Regional and Demographic Studies group as part of its ongoing research into how high-tech impacts regional economies. 



The top ten metro areas were: 



1. Austin-San Marcos, Texas 

2. Atlanta, Georgia 

3. Santa Rosa, California 

4. Boulder-Longmont, Colorado 

5. Boise City, Idaho 

6. San Diego, California 

7. Orange County, California 

8. San Antonio, Texas 

9. West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Florida 

10. Colorado Springs, Colorado 



To view all 200 rankings and the full story, go to http://www.forbes.com/tool/toolbox/bestplaces/00/index.htm.