SSTI Digest

PricewaterhouseCoopers recently announced that venture capital investments in the third quarter of 1998 set an all-time high of $3.77 billion, just slightly above the previous record of $3.73 billion set last quarter despite the current stock market turmoil. Compared to the third quarter of 1997, investments increased 29% over the $2.92 billion reported one year ago. These findings were released in the PricewaterhouseCoopers Money Tree, a quarterly report of venture capital investments throughout the United States. This survey is a result of the merger of the Price Waterhouse National Venture Capital Survey and the Coopers & Lybrand Money Tree Survey. The following table shows the amount of venture capital dollars invested by region in the third quarter of 1998:   Region Investment Amount % of Total # of Deals Silicon Valley $1,248,007,027 33% 207 …

The long-time executive director of the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology, Jay Brandinger, recently announced his decision to resign as Executive Director of the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology. Consequently, the Commission is seeking an Executive Director. The New Jersey Commission on Science & Technology is appointed by the Governor to oversee a competitive grants program of $20 million annually that spans science and technology research, technology transfer and business development. The Executive Director serves as the Chief Executive of the Commission, overseeing a staff of seven. The Executive Director provides high-level science and technology policy input to the Governor, her Cabinet, her senior executive branch staff, legislators and the legislative committees. He/she also serves as the principal state representative to federal and interstate science and technology agencies and organizations, including the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Advanced Research Projects Agency, the…

Technology 2020, a public-private partnership, is seeking a Director of New Business Development. Technology 2020is supported by a number of large corporate "technology partners" in the Knoxville/Oak Ridge Area of east Tennessee. Technology 2020's primary objective is to leverage talent and reputation of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and grow new technology businesses that will create new jobs and help diversify the economy of the region. Oak Ridge is the nation's largest multi-disciplinary laboratory and is a primary source for technology commercialization. The Director of New Business Development will have a pivotal role in Technology 2020's success in identifying and creating new businesses in the region. Reporting to the President and CEO, the ideal candidate will blend a broad knowledge of business and finance with excellent personal skills and a strategic mindset regarding new ventures. The focus of the Director's work will be to identify or create new businesses in the area and help grow these new ventures. He/she will be expected to not only help start…

The omnibus spending bill signed into law last week also includes extensions of several tax credits, including the Research and Experimentation Tax Credit which expired on June 30 of this year. The R&E Tax Credit is now in effect, retroactively, for the period from July 1, 1998, to June 30, 1999.

Maine and Oklahoma voters both approved ballot initiatives designed to encourage technology-based economic development, while voters in other states elected 13 new governors. Eight legislative chambers also switched control. The Maine initiative authorizes a $20 million bond issue for research and development. The University of Maine system will receive $13.5 million for capital improvements; the Maine Science and Technology Foundation will receive $4.5 million in part for a Research Challenge Grants Program to enhance R&D capacity and productivity; and, the Department of Economic and Community Development will receive $2 million for a laboratory to support applied fishery and marine biotechnology research. Oklahomans approved two initiatives that are intended to promote the commercialization of university research and support university innovation. State colleges and universities will now be able to let a business use its property to work on technology projects, and they will also be able to own technology and equity in private businesses. On the national scene,…

November 17, 1998 The National Association of Seed Venture Funds is sponsoring a seminar entitled "Seed Investing as a Team Sport" to be held in Des Moines. The purpose of the seminar is to expand the attendees' understanding of business investing, help locate a team of like-minded investors in the region, and provide new tools to help optimize investment dollars. For more information, visit NASVF's website at http://www.nasvf.org November 18-19, 1998 The Progressive Policy Institute is sponsoring a two-day conference "Understanding America's Transformation To a New Economy" in Washington, DC. Scheduled speakers include Vice President Al Gore and Sen. Tom Daschle. For more information, contact PPI at 202/608-1235.

The Department of Energy has been unable to demonstrate that it can effectively manage the reform of its national laboratory system, the General Accounting Office (GAO) says in a new report. Consequently, GAO recommends that Congress consider alternatives to the present relationship between DOE and the laboratories. In response to on-going congressional concerns about DOE’s progress in making systemic changes, GAO evaluators were asked to: identify the recommendations by various advisory groups for addressing management weaknesses at DOE and the laboratories, and evaluate how DOE and its laboratories have responded to the recommendations. The GAO study, "Department of Energy: Uncertain Progress in Implementing National Laboratory Reforms," identified nearly 30 reports by a wide variety of advisory groups on various aspects of the national laboratories’ management and missions. GAO asserts that the more recent advisory groups have reported similar weaknesses the laboratories’ missions are unfocused; DOE micromanages the laboratories; and, the laboratories are not operating as an integrated system.…

California is considering expanding its network of Regional Technology Alliances (RTA), which is a component of the Goldstrike Partnership. The Goldstrike Partnership, a program of the California Trade and Commerce Agency's Office of Strategic Technology (OST), supports the development, application, and commercialization of technology to create jobs, respond to industry changes, and foster competitiveness. The program’s goal is to leverage existing regional, state, and federal resources to maximize assistance in the formation and growth of technology-based firms. The RTA model is an industry driven, non-profit private/public partnership. There are currently three RTAs, located in the San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles, and San Diego. OST is looking to establish a statewide network of RTAs that develop and manage technology based industry-driven initiatives. The RTA expansion process has two phases, a study phase and an implementation phase. To determine if the expansion is warranted, the California Trade and Commerce Agency is inviting entities to submit proposals to OST for matching grant…

Nearly 70,000 manufacturers received services from the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) from July 1995 through December 1997, according to a new report released by MEP. Client reported impacts for projects closed from June 1996 to May 1997 increased for the short-term competitiveness indicators compiled by the program. These indicators include: sales ($187 million); labor savings ($8.9 million), material savings ($7.3 million), inventory savings ($25 million), client investment in modernization ($135 million); jobs created (2,095); and jobs retained (3,011). The most recent data, covering the period of July-December 1997, shows that the top four industries served by the MEP are: industrial machinery (16%); fabricated metals (15%); electronics (9%); and rubber and plastics (8%). Technical assistance continues to be the primary activity offered by the program (61%); however, the training and education component has increased significantly (25%). The other major activity is conducting assessments (14%). Centers are continuing to make progress to the MEP target of resources split…

Two of the state-wide issues Oklahomans will decide on November 3 would allow major changes in the way the state conducts technology transfer activities. The purpose of the initiatives is to promote the commercialization of university research and support university innovation. Under current Oklahoma law, public property can only be used for public purposes. Passage of State Question 680 would make an exception for use of public property for certain projects that involve research and development of a technology. A state college or university would be able to let a business use its property to work on technology projects, especially those linked to the institution. State Question 681 would allow state colleges and universities, as well as their employees, to own technology and equity in private businesses. The companies would have to make a product or invent a process or other idea using help from the institutions or their employers. No appropriated tax dollars could be used to invest in the business venture. Both issues are part of a legislative package that was signed into law in May,…

A new report issued by the Council on Competitiveness maintains that the U.S. must have a strong, sustained commitment to investment in science and technology to maintain its global competitiveness. In Going Global: The New Shape of American Innovation, the Council focuses on support for basic research, the need for a skilled talent pool, and favorable legal, regulatory and accounting rules to promote U.S. innovation as three key factors for innovation. The Council looked at several major changes in the global market that have a significant impact on the way companies do business. Those changes include: A new wave of competition from developing economies. The rapid pace of technology churn and development cycle times. Globalization of investment choices. Global availability of talented workers. Globalization of markets and consumer demand. Globalization of research, and A shift of focus away from basic, frontier research and advanced technology with the end of the Cold War. The Council looked at the impact these changes are having on the innovation capacity of five industry sectors:…

Mainers will vote on Election Day on a research and development bond issue that if passed would allocate $20 million to improve the Maine economy by supporting innovative research and development in the fields of biotechnology, computers and other information technology, aquiculture and marine technology, forestry and agriculture, and advanced materials. If passed, funding from the bond issue would be allocated to the following: The University of Maine System would receive $13.5 million for capital improvements and equipment purchases; The Maine Science and Technology Foundation would receive $4.5 million to enhance research and education capability among public and private educational institutions conducting marine research and nonprofit marine research institutions, and to provide funds for a Research Challenge Grants Program to enhance research and development capacity and productivity; and The Department of Economic and Community Development would receive $2 million to leverage $2 million in matching private contributions to build the Gulf of Maine Aquarium Research…