SSTI Digest

The second installment to Walkin' the Tech Talkin' Gov Walk (see the April 17 issue of the Digest) covers the outcomes of the 2006 legislative sessions within four states, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii and Kentucky. Following is a synopsis of bills passed and budget appropriations relevant to tech-based economic development and the priorities outlined in respective gubernatorial addresses at the beginning of 2006. Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell signed into law SB 702, An Act Concerning Jobs for the 21st Century, a major component of her economic development strategy (see the Feb. 20 issue of the Digest). The core legislation exempts all manufacturing machinery and equipment from local property tax after a five-year phase out of the tax. Other provisions include: Authorization for new grants to entities operating incubator facilities that house and provide services to small tech-based companies; New programs at Connecticut Innovations to provide venture capital to businesses in early stages of product development and to provide matching grants to micro-businesses that receive…

After seven months on the job, Connecticut Innovations President and CEO Chandler Howard is leaving to pursue an opportunity to establish a community bank in New Haven.

Successful companies are forced to change business strategies as market realities shift. It happens all of the time. Browse the business section of your local bookstore and you'll see dozens of titles preaching the need for companies to adopt, adapt and innovate. The continuing restructuring of the U.S. durable manufacturing sector, as alluded to in the Useful Stats piece below, is a vivid example of the importance of abandoning old mindsets for industry: change or die. Play a quick word association game ending with the word "bureaucracy," and it's pretty likely you didn't associate the word with flexibility, adaptability, innovative or any synonyms for these. Changing philosophies within government is a slow, arduous task. It typically takes a catastrophic event - such as a deep recession, natural disaster or change of political leadership in the legislative and executive branches of government - before many real changes have a chance of being enacted. The final report of Washington's Global Competitiveness Council (see article above) is intended, in part, to help change the individual…

Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell is using the midterm budget request as the vehicle to substantially overhaul how the state supports the entire economic development process. Connecticut Innovations, one of the nation's oldest state-created equity finance programs for tech businesses, would be consolidated with departments that cover focus areas ranging from health education and housing to traditional economic development financing. During her State-of-the-State Address earlier this month, Gov. Rell unveiled her fiscal year 2006-07 midterm budget adjustment proposal and announced plans to restructure the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD). Under the plan, the new Department of Business and Employment (DBE) will provide programs previously administered by DECD, but with enhanced planning and programmatic features, according to the governor's office: A new Office of International Commerce to market the state to both U.S. and foreign businesses; Additional support for Housing and Community Development planning to provide for better planning in conjunction with the…

Chandler Howard, co-president of Bank of America, is leaving to become president and CEO of Connecticut Innovations.

ACCRA, a national nonprofit research organization, has named Jeffrey Blodgett of the Connecticut Economic Resource Center (CERC) as president of the Board of Directors for 2005-06, beginning July 1.

Yesterday proved a big day for supporters of stem cell research as measures advanced in both Connecticut and Massachusetts. The Massachusetts law described in the May 16 issue of the Digest became law immediately after the state Senate voted 35-2 and the House voted 112-42 to override Gov. Mitt Romney's veto. In Connecticut, the House voted 113-27 to pass Senate Bill 934, leaving the measure to Gov Jodi Rell for her signature. While the Massachusetts battle was fairly partisan between the Republican governor and the Democratic controlled legislature, the story in neighboring Connecticut suggests the conflict over embryonic stem cell research is more ideological than partisan. Connecticut Gov Rell, a Republican, included a request of $20 million over two years for stem cell research in her 2006 budget request. The state Senate, controlled by Democrats, agreed with the proposal but extended the commitment to $10 million per year for ten years. The $100 million proposal endorses and funds embryonic and adult stem cell research. A new advisory board and peer…

Recognizing the benefits of a skilled workforce to match the new manufacturing and high-tech jobs of the 21st Century, states are turning to worker training and retraining programs in order to remain economically competitive. During the past month, Tennessee, Nebraska and Connecticut committed a combined total of $37 million for worker training initiatives. The Tennessee legislature approved Gov. Phil Bredesen's 2005 jobs package, which includes $20 million to expand job training across the state and develop a statewide broadband strategy. House Bill 2287 establishes the FastTrack infrastructure development and job training assistance fund within the Department of Economic and Community Development. Funds will be used for infrastructure development and job training assistance grants and loans. Lawmakers in Nebraska agreed to authorize $15 million from the rainy day fund to provide job training under the Nebraska Customized Job Training Advantage. Gov. Dave Heineman referred to the initiative as a "vital recruitment tool" for broader job…

While the topic of embryonic stem cell research has been at the forefront of S&T policy since 2001, attention has shifted to the states in the last six months. Last fall, California voters overwhelmingly approved a $3 billion bond issue to support embryonic stem cell research over the next decade. This vote triggered action in a number of states concerned about the loss of researchers to California and increased activity on Capitol Hill to overturn the Presidential directive that limits the use of federal research funds to only those embryonic stem cell lines derived before Aug. 9, 2001. While New Jersey had already committed smaller levels of funding for embryonic stem cell research through a new state institute, the magnitude and scope of the California referendum led several states to consider their own legislation this year. Calls for multi-hundred-million-dollar investments filled the speeches of some elected officials, while others called for a complete ban on public support of embryonic stem cell research. At the heart of the controversy is a form of stem cell research known as somatic cell nuclear…

Last week's Digest reported on three reports that have been issued recently raising concerns about America's standing in the world in encouraging innovation. Each of the reports suggested stronger action on the part of the public and the private sector to ensure the U.S. will remain competitive. Since the beginning of the year, the Digest has reported through its Tech Talkin' Govs series that the states are making investments for the future. This week, we devote this edition of the Digest to a sampling of how the governors are proposing to put money up to match their rhetoric. Even the most cursory review of state budgets shows that once again the states are setting the direction for the U.S. battle for competitiveness. From $10 million in Connecticut for embryonic stem cell research to new tax credits in Hawaii to spur venture capital, from $41 million in Indiana for building the research enterprise to $38 million for biomedical research in Maine, state action defies classification by geography, size, economic composition and political party. Transcending all of those concerns, the one item…

Victor Budnick, executive director of Connecticut Innovations, has announced his retirement effective April 1.

Gov. Jodi Rell recently announced the results of a study of the strengths and weaknesses of Connecticut’s infrastructure for innovation, technology transfer and development of new businesses. A report prepared for the Connecticut Technology Transfer and Commercialization Advisory Board of the governor's Competitiveness Council presents the results. The report examines successful university-based technology transfer and commercialization initiatives in the U.S. and at the University of Cambridge in England. It notes five factors that could help states position their universities as centers of innovation and business growth: strong academic leadership and research capabilities, availability of early-stage capital, commitment to and support of entrepreneurship programs, and the existence of infrastructure such as innovation centers, incubators and research parks. While Connecticut is home to renowned universities such as Yale University and the University of Connecticut and ranks high in patents generated, the report finds, the state has a relative lack of early-stage capital and incubation space…