SSTI Digest

The US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Utilities Service has released the application guide for the 1999 Distance Learning & Telemedicine (DLT) Program. The DLT program provides financial assistance for schools, libraries, and rural medical services to acquire equipment and telecommunications facilities for optimal service delivery.

Three types of applications and awards are included in the DLT program: grants, loans, and a combination of loans and grants. In FY 1999, the USDA will award $7.5 million in grants, $100 million in loans, and $55 million in combination grants and loans.

More money is available for the FY 1999 DLT program than has been awarded through all six previous funding cycles combined. Since its inception in 1993, USDA has funded 252 projects in 43 states and two US territories, totaling $62.5 million in grants and $3 million in loans.

The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences Division of Materials Research has announced that approximately $22 million will be awarded in FY 2000 for grants to support 10-15 Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSECs).

Awards are expected to range from $500,000 to $5 million per year and last for up to five years. Proposals from existing centers will compete against new proposals. Selections will be made in September, 2000.

The MSRECs are intended to support interdisiplinary and multidisciplinary materials research and education of the highest quality while addressing fundamental problems in science and engineering that are important to society. They are expected to have strong links to industry and other sectors and to develop a national network of university-based centers in materials research.

Adjusted for inflation, state R&D expenditures grew at an average annual rate of 3.3 percent between 1965 and 1995, compared with the nationwide R&D spending growth of 2.5 percent per year for the same period, according to What is the State Government Role in the R&D Enterprise? This report was issued by the Research and Development Statistics Program of the National Science Foundation's Division of Science Resource Studies.

Several R&D indicators included in the report, however, indicate that while total state R&D spending has grown, the states' share of US R&D spending and US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has declined.

The report is based on data collected by NSF or through NSF-sponsored research on periodic surveys of state R&D expenditures and annual academic R&D surveys.

The Ninth Annual Great Midwest Venture Capital Conference will be held November 8-9, 1999 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Indiana Business Modernization & Technology Corp. (BMT) is seeking applications from emerging technology businesses to present their business profiles and capital needs to a variety of potential investors at the event.

Presenter participation is limited to 30 companies. Each selected participant is allotted 12 minutes of presentation time and a display booth in the exhibit hall to facilitate further discussions with prospective investors.

A wide variety of industries have been represented in the past with technology-related businesses, particularly software developers and Internet firms, tending to dominate.

The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Industrial Technologies has issued the solicitation for the Inventions and Innovations Program (IIP). The competitive program provides financial assistance for establishing technical performance and conducting early development of innovative ideas and inventions. Selected projects must have significant energy savings and future commercial market potential.

Total grant funding available is anticipated to be $2.3 million. Two levels of funding are available:

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is seeking nominations for the fourth annual Tibbetts Awards. Named after Rowland Tibbetts, who established the first Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program at the National Science Foundation more than 20 years ago, the award recognizes outstanding contributions of small firms, projects, organizations and individuals involved in SBIR.

More than 200 people and companies have received the award since it was first initiated in 1996. Awardees are recognized at an event in Washington each fall.

The SBA attempts to make at least one Tibbetts Award in every state each year. Nominations are due July 15, 1999.

Nomination forms may be obtained from the SBA SBIR website: http://www.sba.gov/sbir/

The Global Venture Forum is a business development event sponsored by the Osaka Chamber of Commerce to help Japanese and foreign firms find Japanese partners for investment, trade, distribution, and global business.

Since the Global Venture Forum started in 1995, 44 percent of the participants have found business partners.

Approximately 35 firms will be selected to join 15 Japanese businesses as presenters. Selected firms pay a registration fee of $950 which covers meals, one-night hotel accommodations, all AV equipment, a professional interpreter for two days, simultaneous translation, and translated summaries distributed to Japanese organizations, media and businesses.

There is no cost to submit an application to present. Two-page applications are due by June 15.

The State Science and Technology Institute (SSTI) is seeking a Policy Analyst. The Institute serves as a resource center for initiatives in all 50 states that encourage technology-based economic development.

The Analyst's responsibilities include: conducting research on policy issues; interacting with state and federal practitioners and policy makers; writing and producing issue papers and project reports; contributing to a weekly newsletter; responding to requests for information; and working with staff, board members, and sponsors on a variety of projects.

Candidates should have excellent written and verbal skills; strong research and organization capability; the ability to work independently and as part of a team; and, a dedication to creating a quality product.

As Wall Street waited for the Dow to top 10,000, venture capital investments were also reaching a new high, according to the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers Money Tree Survey. Venture-backed investments rose to a record $4.286 billion during the first quarter of 1999, a 41 percent increase over the first quarter of 1998. The survey's previous record of $3.77 billion was set during the third quarter of last year.

Washington's technology boom hasn't been enjoyed equally by most communities outside of the Seattle or Spokane urban areas. Two laws recently passed by the Washington legislature are intended to provide tax credits, infrastructure financing, and other incentives to spread the economic benefits of technology into the state's most rural counties.

House Bill 2260 grants 100 percent, seven-year Business & Occupation (B&O) tax credits to businesses in rural counties engaged in providing "help desk" technologies to other businesses. After the seventh year, the credit is reduced to 68 percent.

The bill also gives a $1,000 B&O credit for each new software manufacturing or software develop-ment job created by any business in rural counties. The credit may be applied each year for up to six years provided the job is maintained.

The Department of Energy has announced 16 awards under the 1999 solicitation for the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program. The following table presents states with companies and academic institutions or federal labs selected in the competition. Only five of the awards were made to projects in which the company and university are located in the same state. Award information is posted at http://sttr.er.doe.gov/sttr/ 

Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology is seeking a new President and Chief Executive Officer. The CIT president's primary responsibility will be to assist the Secretary of Technology in implementing the Commonwealth's technology strategy by developing and directing CIT's key role in the strategy. Applications are due by June 22, 1999.

The Maine Science and Technology Foundation is seeking a Director of Policy Analysis to manage the development and implementation of the state's science and technology policy and the measurement of the impact of science and technology on the state's economy. Applications are due by June 15, 1999.

Full position descriptions for both can be found on the SSTI home page at www.ssti.org