SSTI Digest

Maine Gov. Mark Baldacci has unveiled a new handbook intended to help communities to capitalize upon their cultural resources to spur economic growth. Maine's Creative Economy Community Handbook: Maine State Government Resources for Communities offers advice for community leaders interested in building a creative and dynamic workforce. The guidelines it gives for designing a strategic plan could benefit communities across the country interested in similar initiatives. The handbook is the result of two years of work by Maines Creative Economy Steering Committee following a 2004 conference on the future of the state economy. The study was requested after it was reported that the creative economy was generating $6.6 billion annually in cultural tourism dollars. The committee has drawn upon the work of Richard Florida, who has theorized that networks of educated and entrepreneurial citizens lead to dynamic local economies. The state's Creative Economy Council estimates that 8.3 percent of Maine's workforce is made up of creative workers. These workers include artists, artisans, engineers, entrepreneurs and researchers. In…

SSTI continues this year's "Tech Talkin' Govs" series. The first installment of this 2006 review of governors' legislative priorities concerning tech-based economic development is available through the Digest online: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/digest.htm Maine Gov. John Baldacci, State-of-the-State Address, Jan. 18, 2006 "As part of my economic plan, last fall I presented the State Science and Technology Plan that calls for Maine's annual investment in research and development, including both private and public funding, to reach $1 billion by 2010. Maine currently ranks 10th in the nation in non-profit R&D activity, but we need to do more to compete. My budget includes a down payment – matching money for marine research in the Gulf of Maine and for new businesses launched by the University of Maine. "Now more than ever, we must continue strategic investments in research and development and infrastructure. After today, I'll be proposing additional investment tools ... "... Later this month, I will submit 'Connect Maine' legislation to further expand the…

A plan to increase Maine's R&D activity to $1 billion by 2010 was revealed last week by the Department of Economic and Community Development's (DECD) Office of Innovation and the Maine Science and Technology Council (MSTAC). The level of R&D activity in Maine currently stands at $430 million. The science and technology action plan creates a road map toward achieving the objective of higher per capita income, set forth in the State Planning Office's 30 and 1000 Plan, created in 1998. According to DECD, Maine still lags the nation on many key innovation measures. For example, the Corporation for Enterprise Development's annual report card ranks Maine last in the nation in number of science and engineering graduates. The state ranks 40th in patents produced and 42nd for university spin-outs. Without bold action, Maine will lose out to other states and other countries, leading to loss of high-wage jobs and declining prosperity, the report states. On the upside, however, the state has attracted $610 million in federal and private funding through a $…

Two initiatives aimed at closing the digital divide, particularly among low-income Americans, were announced earlier this month. Maine Free Internet Angus King, former governor of Maine, provided the leadership to get several innovative programs for the state. As governor, King implemented a $37 million laptop program, the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI) in 2000, which provides all seventh and eighth-graders with laptops to ensure they had the computer skills required of the global economy. According to an impact evaluation report by the Maine Education Policy Research Institute, teachers and students view the program an overall success (see the April 19 issue of the Digest). Now, Gov. King is launching a program through the Maine Learning Technology Foundation, in partnership with Great Works Internet, to provide free home Internet access to students who receive free or reduced-cost school lunches. The new initiative applies to all 35,000 middle school students, in addition to some ninth and tenth graders who have laptops issued to them…

If the success of its funded companies is revealing, the Maine Technology Institute (MTI) has done well to spur innovative activity in Maine, suggests an independent analysis recently released in the state. An evaluation of MTI, a state-supported nonprofit, shows the organization's clientele saw employment grow by 11 percent over the last two years. This rate of growth, which surpassed that of Maine's cumulative 3 percent, resulted in nearly 600 jobs added to the economy. The University of Southern Maine's Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) conducted the evaluation, examining MTI-funded companies that completed their projects prior to June 30, 2004. Employment in assisted companies increased by an average of 300 jobs in both 2003 and 2004, CBER data show. For every dollar of MTI assistance, more than $26 also is leveraged in external financing. The $8.1 million in MTI funds distributed over a three-year period, including 2002, were matched by $16 million in private funds. Recipients also attracted about $194 million from federal government agencies through grants, contracts…

Betsy Biemann will be the new director of the Maine Technology Institute, pending legislative confirmation in January. Biemann currently serves as an associate director at The Rockefeller Foundation.

Laurie Lachance recently was named the next president of the Maine Development Foundation, Maine's economic development policy organization. Lachance is a former economist for the Maine State Planning Office.

Janet Yancey-Wrona, director of the Maine Technology Institute (MTI), has been named the Governor's Science and Technology Advisor and the first Director of Innovation for the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development. In her new position, Dr. Yancey-Wrona will oversee the state's research and TBED activities, including MTI, the business incubator program and Maine EPSCoR initiative.

Concerns for wheat and organic markets remain, however While state governments across the country are overwhelmingly in favor of health-related biotechnology, agricultural biotechnology has received a somewhat less enthusiastic reception. That may be changing - however slowly - according to new information released last week by the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology. The group finds state legislatures in 2003 considered significantly more legislation in support of ag biotech than in the entire 2001-2002 legislative session. This increase appears to mark a shift away from efforts to curb violent destruction of field crops and test sites – the topic that dominated the last legislative session. At the same time, the Pew Initiative analysis finds resistance to ag biotech in the Northern Plains States (including Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota) where some growers are concerned that wheat markets may be negatively impacted by the introduction of genetically modified (GM) wheat. In the Northeast (including Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont), state legislators have sought to protect…

When first proposed in 2000, the concept was radical, controversial and expensive. Simply give a wireless laptop to all seventh and eighth grade students and teachers in the entire state of Maine. The problem of expense, initially estimated to be $50 million for 35,000 laptops, took on greater significance as the state's revenues began to decline. Former Governor Angus King persisted and, 16 months later, a scaled back $30 million program allowed seventh-graders to use the computers in class and sign them out for use at home. The following year, the program was expanded to include eighth-graders. As those students, who have now used laptops for two years of instruction, Internet research and homework, move into ninth grade, the State Board of Education has unanimously endorsed a statement urging the state legislature to expand the computer program into the high schools. But is the state's investment making a difference, even with the attractive $300 price negotiated with Apple for each laptop? The anecdotal evidence regarding decreased absenteeism, increased student…

A new fund developed by the Maine Technology Institute (MTI) is expected to lead to greater commercialization of technologies in the northeast state. Created through a reserved proportion of MTI’s annual grantable funds, the Accelerated Commercialization Fund (ACF) will allow previously funded MTI companies the chance to achieve significant growth. To qualify for funding, companies must at a minimum demonstrate significant potential for financial and economic development returns. The financing gap that exists between some companies' research and development (R&D) and sales is the motivating force behind the Maine fund. MTI plans on the investments piggybacking on other investors' terms, generally in the form of equity, and either converting existing debt or providing additional capital to help advance new products toward the market. Approximately $1 million will seed the ACF, with two to three investments made each year. MTI will select only those companies with high growth potential and interest in equity investments, with consideration given to a variety of factors — an investment's…

Advanced research grants and equity financing are just two items slated for funding in Maine Gov. John Baldacci's $120 million revenue bond package, unveiled last week. The tech-based economic development (TBED) items would receive a combined $7 million in funding. The largest portion of the governor's package, $65 million, is dedicated to land conservation and parks. Other elements address housing, health and environmental issues. For Maine's business and research community, highlights include: $5 million for Applied Research Fund competitive grants for applied research in natural resource-based industries, including forest bio-products, marine research, aquaculture, farming, and fishing. Administered by the Maine Technology Institute, the funds would be used to support development of new products, improved management practices and new technologies. The state funding is expected to leverage an additional $5 million in federal, private and other nonpublic support. $2 million for the Small Enterprise Growth Fund for equity investments of up to $500,000 in small Maine…