SSTI Digest

Last week, the Biden-Harris administration released an initial budget proposal for FY 2022 discretionary appropriations. The document (referred to in Washington as a “skinny budget,” not because of the overall size of spending but because it serves as more of an outline or framework for the full budget proposal which will come in May) clearly emphasizes the importance of climate change, economic opportunity, equity and health as cross-cutting priorities. For regional innovation economies, these priorities would translate into significant increases in R&D funding, as well as additional funds for tech-based economic development activities. The budget document that is available now is not a full presidential budget recommendation, which is expected in mid-May and, therefore, does not provide a suggested funding level for every federal initiative. Instead, the budget is a messaging document highlighting new efforts and existing activities that the administration would like to expand or otherwise emphasize. This insight into the president’s priorities is particularly useful early in the administration, when the government has not had much of an opportunity to shape programs through actions. Highlights from the budget proposal by agency are available below.

A total of $29 million in grants will be awarded to 44 organizations across the country as part of the Scaling Pandemic Resilience through Innovation and Technology (SPRINT) Challenge provided by the Economic Development Administration. The SPRINT Challenge, with grants ranging from between $200,000 to $750,000, was developed last year with the goal of addressing the health and economic risks brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic through investments in entrepreneurship and innovation. The 44 awardees highlight a wide range of organizations, including nonprofits, higher-education institutions, and entrepreneurial-based groups. Among the winners were a number of SSTI members, including: Launch NY ($750,000) – solving challenges to accessing entrepreneurship support and capital caused by coronavirus by transitioning to virtual mentorship and new financing programs for technology-based startup companies. Medical Center of the Americas Foundation working together with the Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center ($750,000) – establishing a Product Supply and Development Lab to support medical product supply chains and encourage innovation and development of new medical…

While the new administration is rolling out a new infrastructure proposal that includes $100 billion over an 8-year period for greater broadband coverage and affordability, the states have been busy in 2021 with their own broadband proposals. Governors across the country are responding to the digital divide that became even more obvious during the pandemic as students struggled to access online learning, individuals turned to the internet for telehealth appointments, and much of the workforce pivoted to remote work arrangements. This week, we take a look at some of the new broadband proposals revealed in the governors’ State-of-the-State addresses or proposed budgets. Arizona – Gov. Doug Ducey proposed more than $40 million in funding for rural broadband expansion. Some of the funding is dedicated to expanding the Rural Broadband Development Grant Program, a program working to accelerate the development of rural broadband infrastructure directly to homes and businesses. Arkansas - Gov. Asa Hutchinson proposed $30 million in funding to expand high-speed internet into more rural areas of the state. California -  A $10 billion infrastructure bill is…

Although the nation’s nonmetropolitan economies are less reliant on the R&D activity performed by institutions of higher education than the economies of urban areas, researchers in some rural areas show levels of higher education R&D (HERD) expenditures per R&D employee that are on par, or even exceed, their urban counterparts. Policy makers may wish to consider and prioritize the relative “outsized” importance of HERD funding and related research personnel in future policy decisions and public investments that are geared toward select smaller communities and rural places. For instance, innovation-oriented entrepreneurship concentrates around R&D-rich, knowledge centers, and this data indicates that there are non-metropolitan areas that fit that description. However, despite the relative wealth of R&D resources and potential economic development opportunities in these nonmetropolitan research hotspots, it may be difficult to sustain vital TBED-related support functions in some smaller markets without public support. Public support may be required in these areas to make such locations sufficiently attractive for the private risk capital and innovation…

In its effort to support a more diverse tech talent pipeline in the state, the Delaware Prosperity Partnership (DPP), in partnership with JPMorgan Chase, has outlined a plan to boost the tech workforce in the state and help diverse populations’ access pathways into IT. DPP, the nonprofit state economic development agency in Delaware, completed its work on a strategic plan to achieve those goals, that it says is dependent on the state’s ability to align state polices and resources to accelerate the impact of the IT talent strategy. It is estimated that nearly 75 percent of information technology (IT) workers in Delaware are men and 60 percent are white. Only 15 percent of the IT workforce in the state is Black or Latinx, DPP says. The plan will enhance competitiveness of local industries and help residents of all backgrounds explore career opportunities in IT. DPP partnered with 50 local stakeholders representing Delaware businesses, nonprofits, education, and workforce development organizations to create the plan, which addresses three factors: the importance of IT to employers, the accelerated digitization of work exacerbated by the pandemic, and upskilling…

This week, Treasury posted key dates for the State Small Business Credit Initiative, a $10 billion program funded in the American Rescue Plan Act. Per its website, Treasury intends to release the amount of funding available to each state by April 12; states will be required to submit a letter of intent to participate by May 10; and, final applications from states will be due by Dec. 11. The amount of funding available to Tribal governments will be released on May 10, with notices of intent to apply due June 11. The information was provided as part of a refurbished web presence for SSBCI that also moved the original program reports and guidelines to a new location. SSTI is tracking SSBCI developments closely and will continue to share updates as they are available. For more information on the program, contact Jason Rittenberg (rittenberg@ssti.org).

NIST’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) is working with the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) to support projects partnering universities and MEP centers to encourage adoption of advanced technologies by small- and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs). APLU is working with Innovation Associates and Jim Woodell & Company to select three collaborative university-MEP pilot projects to develop and test different models of technology transitioning. APLU is currently soliciting two-page, pre-proposals from university-MEP applicant teams by April 16. Teams are encouraged to create sustainable models involving connections with the broader ecosystem of state technology organizations, community colleges, federal labs, Manufacturing USA institutes and others. Transitioning to manufacturers the new technologies under development in partnership within and independently at universities will be critical to future U.S. competitiveness — advances in digitization, the use of smart sensors, robotics, simulation technologies, advanced materials, nanomanufacturing, and additive manufacturing techniques. The purpose of the current project is to…

A new commentary from a senior policy analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland examines the extent to which disparities exist between Black and whites in labor market outcomes such as levels of labor force participation, unemployment rates, and earnings. Economic inclusion trends have been studied at the national level, but this commentary takes a look at how those disparities vary within and across states with a specific look at the Fourth Federal Reserve District states of Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Relying on monthly data from the Current Population Survey (CPS), the Fed analyst, Kyle Fee, examined differences in state-level outcomes for Blacks and whites in the employment rate, the labor force participation rate, the unemployment rate, and real median hourly earnings. He found that states generally mirror national trends, but the degree of economic inclusion varies over time and across states. For instance, the national black and white (BW) gap in employment shows cyclical behavior where the gap increases during a recession, peaks once the recession ends, and slowly declines during expansions. In 2007 before the Great Recession, the national BW…

As noted in our separate overview, the 25-page American Jobs Plan provides goals, highlights and proposals, but also raises questions about how proposals would be implemented and even exactly how much money would be spent. Those details presumably will come in the near future when legislative language is submitted. The document and much of the news covering it is organized around six goals. For our readership, we have taken a slightly different approach. Major themes and key aspects of the proposal are below. All quoted text is from the AJP summary released by the White House on the morning of March 31, 2021. Thematic issues addressed in the plan Global competition, preparing for the increasing impacts of climate change, reversing human contributions to the climate crisis, and addressing disparities in wellbeing and opportunity experienced by Americans are the overlying thematic issues the plan addresses. The plan is designed so all future federal investments toward one of the thematic issues would not make another issue worse.  For example, in the transportation section, the plan includes this commitment: “Every dollar spent on rebuilding our infrastructure…

Much of the public policy and governmental spending focus to date regarding COVID recovery has been just that: recovery. The infrastructure proposal, the America Jobs Plan (AJP), President Biden unveiled this week represents his proposal to start moving forward.  In remarks about the proposal, he described it as “not a plan that tinkers around the edges,” a “once-in-a-generation investment” that will lead to “transformational progress.” The breadth of the plan and its heavy focus on science, technology, innovation and manufacturing should excite SSTI Weekly Digest readers. Issues that we’ve covered for more than two decades (e.g., digital divide, increasing our R&D investment, regional disparities) are addressed in a scale we have never seen a president propose before. There are a lot of details still to be sorted out. The initial public document outlining the AJP is similar to the executive summary of the annual federal budget: plenty of big numbers wrapped around carefully selected words but short on details or even many breakdowns below the top line figures.     The AJP might not pass in any shape resembling the proposal…

While President Biden’s infrastructure proposal with heavy investments in science, technology and innovation garnered most of the press attention in the last week, a number of other developments occurred in or impacting federal policy, including: In a bipartisan announcement, the combined House Science Committee leadership introduced the NSF for the Future Act to reauthorize the foundation, increase its funding significantly, and creates a new directorate for science and engineering solutions, among other things. Rep Frank Lucas, ranking member of the House Science Space, and Technology Committee, introduced legislation co-sponsored by his Republican colleagues on the committee to double federal basic research spending over a decade. OECD estimates in 2019, the U.S. finally topped the 3.0 percent milestone for R&D’s share of total GDP. AAAS reports, although the 3.07 percent figure is a record high for the U.S., it still places us no better than eighth or ninth in the world. The federal share of that 3.07 percent is only around 0.7 percent. President Biden last week said he’d like to see the federal share of science funding closer to 2.0 percent, a level last seen…

For those looking for examples of the impact state investment, university involvement and tech-based economic development can have in rural parts of the country, one can examine news from Appalachian Ohio that Stirling Ultracold reached a definitive merger agreement on March 22 to be acquired for a reported $258 million by publicly-traded BioLife Solutions. The original lead investor in Stirling Ultracold is TechGROWTH Ohio, one of Ohio Third Frontier’s regional entrepreneurial service providers. BioLife intends to keep the Stirling Ultracold brand intact and maintain existing staff in Athens, Ohio. The 160 employees in the rural Southeast Ohio county is the equivalent on a per capita basis to more than 11,000 employees in Cook County, Illinois (the county Chicago is located in).     TechGROWTH provided multiple rounds of follow-on funding during the company’s startup and growth stages. Lynn Gellerman, executive director of TechGROWTH Ohio and Ohio University’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs’ associate dean of innovation partnerships, said the size of the acquisition makes it the largest venture-backed exit in southeast Ohio…