SSTI Digest

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.

Do faith-based organizations have a role in ED?

One doesn’t have to look too far for evidence that some faith-based groups already are actively supporting the push for local tech-based ED. The National Congress for Community Economic Development’s 1998 national census of community development corporations (CDCs) shows 14 percent (about 500) of all CDCs across the country identified themselves as "faith-based organizations." The NCCED provides resources and support for faith-based economic development efforts. The website is http://www.ncced.org

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.

It is widely argued in the tech-based economic development community that New Economy businesses, specifically computers and information technology, account for the tremendous economic growth of the last half of the 1990s. But does the data support this?

Many tech-based economic development programs recognize the importance of having seed and venture capital accessible to their start up tech firms and entrepreneurs. Some practitioners, though, see a challenge in encouraging equity investment in more conservative, risk adverse regions and localities. The dot-com “correction” of last year probably did not help.

Accurate estimates of the average return on venture capital investment (VC) may help to open the purse strings of hesitant angel and seed funding sources. But what is a valid estimate of the return on individual venture capital investments?

Obtaining an answer to that question has not been easy in the past. In the new working paper, The Risk and Return of Venture Capital, John Cochrane, Professor of Finance with the Graduate School of Business of the University of Chicago, takes on the issue.

Addressing the Digital Divide, workforce development, and technology deployment in education are among the highest priorities of the nation’s mayors, according to Priorities for the New American City, the 2001 action agenda of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Released last week at the Mayors’ 69th Annual Winter Meeting by Boise Mayor H. Brent Coles, the plan outlines dozens of recommendations for the Bush Administration across ten issue areas ranging from drug control to the environment to transportation enhancements.  Many of the suggestions requiring federal funding encourage the use of block grants to maximize flexibility in program design and implementation across cities.

Key recommendations for tech-based economic development include:

With as much emphasis on accessing and applying technology as on creating it, the final report of the Arizona Partnership for the New Economy (APNE) outlines several recommendations to improve Arizona’s position and performance in a tech-based economy.

“While it is important to have industries that produce technology and continually improve it, the real impact of [the new economy] will be felt by the application of technology across a wide range of industries and activities,” says the 36-member task force appointed by Governor Jane Dee Hull.

Editor's Note: This is the fourth installment of excerpts from recent speeches and budget proposals demonstrating the priority governors are placing on tech-based economic development and math & science education.

Maine Governor Angus King, FY 02-03 Budget Request, January 5, 2001 http://www.state.me.us/governor/news/index.html

The Economic Development Administration (EDA) seeks nominations for the second annual Award for Excellence in Economic Development. EDA established this award to recognize outstanding economic development activities of national importance.

The competition is open to all types of nonprofit organizations, nonfederal government bodies, and universities and colleges. Award selections are made by a highly qualified and independent panel of economic development practitioners, academics, and government representatives.

Nominations will be taken until February 16, 2001 in three categories: Excellence in Urban or Suburban Economic Development; Excellence in Rural Economic Development; and, Excellence in Economic Development in Native Communities.

NIST has opened the fiscal year 2001 competitions for funding under 13 different research grant programs: Precision Measurement Grants; the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (known as SURF) in six NIST laboratories (Building and Fire Research, Chemical Science and Technology, Information Technology, Manufacturing Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Physics); the Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory Grants Program; the Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory Grants Program; the Fire Research Grants Program; the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory Grants Program; the Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory Grants Program; and the Physics Laboratory Grants Program.

Applications are due by Feb. 15, 2001, for the Precision Measurement Grants and all of the SURF programs, and by Sept. 30, 2001, for the laboratory grants programs.

The New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program is recruiting a technology transfer and commercialization project manager with a proven track record in related disciplines from the private and/or public sector.

Science policy and tech-based economic development have taken center stage in Idaho with last week’s release of the Idaho Science and Technology Strategy and the supporting new initiatives included in Governor Dirk Kempthorne’s recent budget message.

With the strong tech base in Boise, the wealth of science and technical expertise at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL), and robust state revenues, Governor Kempthorne and the 23-member Science and Technology Advisory Council he appointed believe the key elements are in place to launch a comprehensive strategy for growing and expanding the state’s tech-based economic. The council, which includes the state’s top technology company executives, engineers, educators, and technology experts, recommended several courses of action in the Idaho Science and Technology Strategy:

Editor's Note: The third installment of SSTI's look at recent speeches and budget proposals to demonstrate the priority governors are placing on tech-based economic development and math & science education. Georgia Governor Roy Barnes, FY2002 Budget Address, January 11, 2001 – new and increased funding http://www.ganet.org/governor/speech/press.cgi?prfile=PR.20010112.02