SSTI Digest

A new report from the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) highlights the impact of business and entrepreneurship courses at Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), which have long served as bastions of cultural identity at many American Indian and Alaskan Native reservations and important economic drivers in these prominently rural areas. MBDA finds statistically significant evidence that TCUs with stronger business and entrepreneurship curriculum typically serve the most rural areas, and that these areas have higher levels of self-employment, median earnings, and higher rates of bachelor’s degree attainment than areas served by TCUs without strong business and entrepreneurship curriculum. MBDA claims these outcomes arise from experiential, hands-on business and entrepreneurship learning opportunities based on the unique characteristics and needs of local tribal communities where these TCUs are located. Although additional data is needed to develop more sophisticated models for measuring these impacts, this preliminary evaluation provides support for further developing business and entrepreneurship curriculum at the nation’s TCUs.

Federally funded R&D is a pillar of the U.S. innovation economy, and understanding how that funding is disbursed among the various performers within a state can help regional innovation leaders in developing, designing and implementing investment strategies, programs, and policies. This edition of Useful Stats builds on a previous SSTI analysis of NSF’s recently-updated data on federal R&D funding obligations in 2019, and examines how that funding is distributed within states among industry, universities and colleges, federal agencies, Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), other nonprofits, and state and local governments. Nationally in 2019, the majority of the $138.2 billion in federal R&D funds went to industry performers (31.4 percent), followed by federal agencies (27.8 percent), universities and colleges (24 percent), FFRDCs (10.4 percent), other nonprofits (6 percent), and state and local governments (0.4 percent). However, the mix of R&D performers within individual states is much more variable as seen in the interactive chart below. On the state level, universities and colleges were the top recipients of federal R…

The White House released President Joe Biden’s full budget proposal last week. As previewed in the “skinny” budget, the administration is supporting substantial increases for R&D, workforce and broadband. Support for federal programs that support entrepreneurship and the transformation of research, however, are more mixed. Within this context, here are the top things to know about the budget proposal that weren’t already covered in our reporting of the “skinny” budget. 1. Build to Scale would receive $45 million The budget proposes $45 million for the Build to Scale program at EDA, an increase of $7 million over FY 2021. EDA as a whole would see $383 million (+ $77 million) in programmatic funding, including $84 million for assistance to coal communities (+ $50 million). 2. SBA’s innovation programs increased to $30 million The budget preview proposed a combined $30 million for SBA’s Regional Innovation Clusters (RIC), FAST program, and the Growth Accelerators Fund Competition (GAFC). The full budget now reveals that these programs would each receive $10 million, which is an increase of $4 million for RIC, + $6 million for FAST, and an…

Building on top of the notion that diversity of industry is central to a region’s entrepreneurial success, recent research has noted that the personalities of people living throughout a region also play an important role in local knowledge spillover and the economic diversity of the area. The report, Entrepreneurship in Cities by Sam Tavassoli, Martin Obschonka, and David B. Audretsch, examines the relationship between a city’s entrepreneurial success and its ability to provide a favorable and connected environment for its residents through urban density and local psychological openness. The authors cite the continued influence of urban planning researcher Jane Jacobs, who found that diversity and urban density provided a favorable structural city environment for innovation and economic growth. However, the report notes that the majority of entrepreneurially-minded scholars have built on Jacobs’ research by focusing only on the diversity of industries and firms within a city, leaving behind the human element that Jacobs’ cited as an important contributor to a region’s success. To better understand the relationship between city environments, their residents, and…

Eric Lander was confirmed by the Senate as director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). He will serve as the president’s science adviser and, for the first time, the position will also hold a seat in the Cabinet. Lander, 64, was president and founding director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and was a co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology under former President Barack Obama. In the opening remarks of his nomination hearing, Lander vowed to “make full inclusion and equitable outcomes a high priority” and said he would world to “work to put in place a plan to increase the numbers of women and underrepresented people in the science and technology professions by 50 percent.”

As vaccination rates increase across the country and infections fall, the role of science in combatting the COVID-19 virus is front and center. Last week, we brought you stories about SSTI members’ efforts to help small businesses. In today’s story, we share additional feedback from our members that worked to find ways to fight the virus and others who pivoted to help their students continue to learn in a challenging environment. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Emory University’s non-profit drug development company, DRIVE, quickly repurposed a broad-spectrum antiviral drug it had been developing against influenza and equine encephalitis. In 2018, GRA’s venture development program had invested in DRIVE’s pursuit of drug compounds to fight RNA viruses (of which SARS-CoV-2 is one) — and later, the testing of a therapeutic at Georgia State University. The drug that was launched at Emory reduces the virus that causes COVID-19 to undetectable levels. Molnupiravir is being developed further by Merck and its partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, a closely held biotechnology company, which licensed the drug from DRIVE last year. The drug can be provided as a pill in an outpatient…

This week the Small Business Administration (SBA) released several funding opportunities to support and promote equitable and inclusive economic recovery for entrepreneurs and small businesses. The new Community Navigator Pilot Program will award $100 million to support regional “hub and spoke” networks in providing technical assistance, training, direct financial assistance, and other services to underserved small businesses. The Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC) and the SBIR Catalyst Prize Competition (SBIR Catalyst) will provide a total of $5.25 million in funding for impactful and inclusive approaches for supporting entrepreneurs in conducting R&D. Established by the American Rescue Plan Act, the Community Navigator Pilot Program will leverage the coordinating power of network “hubs” and the direct outreach and stakeholder engagement “spokes” to deliver services to underserved businesses, especially those owned by women, veterans and socially disadvantaged individuals. Award amounts will vary depending on the size of proposed networks and the markets they are able to serve, with total funding ranging from $1 million to $5 million per network.…

Manufacturers in the U.S. have been facing workforce shortages despite nearly six years of recent job gains in the sector. Those gains and more have been wiped out by the Covid-19 pandemic, compounding the labor shortage problem for a sector that has often struggled to keep pace with the changing demands of technology. However, this exacerbated labor shortage shows that robots are not taking all the jobs, only increasing the level of tech skills workers need to do their jobs. A recent report from Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute identifies several of the challenges facing employers in overcoming the shortfall, including weaknesses in local apprenticeship and job skills training programs, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts to broaden the workforce. Despite decades of pressure from foreign producers and companies offshoring manufacturing jobs, the sector still plays an important role in the U.S. economy. For every $1 spent in manufacturing, another $2.74 is added to the total economy. According to the Deloitte report, leaving the current shortfall of roughly 500,000 jobs unfilled could result in a $1 trillion loss to the U.S. economy by 2030.…

The level of federal R&D funding within a state can have important implications for local innovation economies. As such, understanding the amount of federal R&D funding and which agencies provide that funding within a state can help regional innovation leaders in designing and implementing programs and policies. This edition of Useful Stats explores NSF’s recently updated data on federal R&D funding obligations in 2019 by state and agency. Increasing by $12.4 billion over 2018, federal R&D funding reached $138.2 billion in 2019. However, federal R&D spending in states varied widely as seen in the interactive map below. In 2019, the states that had the greatest levels of federal R&D funding were California ($19.2 billion), Maryland ($16.9 billion), Virginia ($8 billion), Massachusetts ($6.8 billion), and the District of Columbia ($6.2 billion). The states with the least amount of federal R&D funding were Vermont ($120 million), South Dakota ($88.9 million), Puerto Rico ($81.8 million), North Dakota ($73 million), and Wyoming ($67.7 million). The pie charts below the interactive map show the agency breakdown of the federal R&D…

Alabama is the latest state that is embracing innovation as a way to grow the state’s economy. On May 19, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation that grew from two top priority measures of the Alabama Innovation Commission — proposals discussed between SSTI and commission members in a meeting earlier this year. House Bill (HB) 540 establishes the Alabama Innovation Corporation, a public-private partnership that will serve as a catalyst for the state’s growing innovation economy, and HB 609 creates the Innovate Alabama Matching Grant Program that will promote research and development in the state. Both measures were passed unanimously in the state’s recently concluded legislative session. The initiatives are funded through the Education Trust Fund Budget (enacted May 11), with the Alabama Innovation Corporation receiving $4 million in funding, and the Alabama Matching Grant Program appropriated $5 million. Last July, the governor announced by Executive Order 720 that she was establishing Alabama’s first statewide commission on entrepreneurship and innovation. The order created the 15-member Alabama Innovation Commission (also known as Innovate Alabama),…

An SSTI data analysis finds that in FY 2020, small businesses were less successful in obtaining Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) funding from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) — particularly from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) — than they were in FY 2019. NIH provides more funding to the SBIR/STTR program in total than the other participating civilian agency combined, and is also the top funder of the program within most states among the civilian agencies. As such — and with the approaching June 4 deadline for applications to the Federal And State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program — organizations dedicated to supporting technology startups and bolstering local innovation economies should consider how to better assist companies prepare and submit quality SBIR/STTR applications to NIH while designing outreach, education, technical assistance, mentorship, and other entrepreneurial support programs.

Recognizing the systemic barriers to economic opportunity faced by women of color, JPMorgan Chase (JPMC) has relaunched its AdvancingCities Challenge in 2021 with a new focus on directly supporting projects designed, led, and implemented by Black women and Latinas. Building on its experience investing in projects focused on supporting inclusive economies, and as part of the larger AdvancingCities strategy, JPMC is seeking collaborative solutions to challenge and disrupt the policies, programs, and institutional practices that have continued to thwart the equitable access to economic opportunities for Black women and Latinas. The AdvancingCities initiative was launched in 2018 with a $500 million dollar commitment over five years to “invest in solutions that bolster the long-term vitality of the world’s cities and the communities within them that have not benefited from economic growth.” Leveraging collaboration across industry, government, philanthropies, nonprofits, and other anchor institutions to dismantle systemic barriers to economic mobility, the 2021 Challenge will award three-year grants of up to $5 million each to approximately eight projects. …