SSTI Digest

Answering the question of what impact a flat 15% F&A reimbursement rate would have on the nation’s SBIR startups requires real data. The data doesn’t currently exist that we are aware of. As a result, SSTI invites all SBA FAST recipients, state SBIR matching grant programs, life science-based innovation and commercialization offices, and other interested TBED initiatives to join us for a virtual meeting as we launch a ‘citizen-science based’ online record gathering initiative to help inform state and federal policymakers.  Register here. SSTI university members will be invited to a zoom later this week. Academic parties interested in attending that call but are not members of SSTI currently may explore membership here.

President Trump’s nominee to become Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, cleared the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on Feb. 4 by a vote of 16 to 12. A floor vote is expected soon, possibly still this week. Among the agencies within the Commerce Department are two agencies that support core elements of regional innovation and technology-based economic development more broadly. The National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) oversees the Manufacturing Extension Partnership and the Economic Development Administration, which is one of the largest federally supported of core TBED and economic development efforts around the country. Lutnick’s support of the CHIPS Act and sustaining the current structure of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) remain unclear, according to Roll Call. Lutnick is currently CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, a Wall Street financial services firm.  

In this week’s continuing coverage of gubernatorial addresses as they impact the innovation economy, the following highlights have been selected from three of the eight State of the States or budget addresses given between Jan. 28 and Feb. 5, 2025, by the governors from Indiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina. This is the first address for Indiana's new governor, and it provides evidence of economic development being one of his top priorities. Information on previous 2025 State of the States and/or budget addresses can be found here and here. Upcoming addresses and states will be covered in future Digest issues. With the start of the new year, most governors deliver State of the State addresses or Budget addresses laying out their priorities for the coming year. With revenues for many states relatively consistent with forecasters’ expectations, lawmakers, with a few exceptions, continue to maintain cautious or constrained views of their funding priorities and proposed initiatives. As a result, many governors in SSTI’s analysis of addresses delivered so far this season speak more to previously implemented programs and their continued successes rather than…

The launch of a new private equity firm in central Ohio is a reminder of the continuing ripple effects of a decades-long strategy of cultivating an innovation system. If the State of Ohio hadn’t created and provided sustained funding over decades for its integrated array of technology-based economic development programs, the founders of a newly launched private equity firm wouldn’t be in the position now to commit to helping more mid-market companies succeed in central Ohio. Acceptd, an arts-centered platform development company, tapped several different aspects of Ohio’s Third Frontier Program at various times in the startup’s growth cycle before being acquired for a hefty price in 2021. The founders of that company have now launched a private equity firm to acquire middle-market companies. The long-tail returns to Ohio from its decades-long commitment to building an innovation culture—in which financing individual innovation-driven companies is only one part—continue to pay dividends to Ohioans far beyond the standard performance metrics used by public economic development programs. Successful regional innovation system building requires more than…

Readers may have noticed the most populous states end up topping many of the statistical tables related to economic development. Normalizing the data by some relevant, related measure can provide a higher quality look that is a little closer to the “apples to apples” appeal that might help influence some policy issues. For this week’s edition of Useful Stats, SSTI is exploring research intensity as a component of state gross domestic product (GDP) and the research load “carried” by each member of the R&D personnel within the state’s higher education community.   HERD and GDP Higher education R&D (HERD) intensity as it relates to GDP, calculated as HERD expenditures as a percentage of total GDP, indicates the relative importance of R&D spending by colleges and universities to their regional economies and varies greatly across the U.S. Note that HERD survey data is released by Fiscal Year (FY), while GDP data, drawn from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), is released by calendar year. Nationwide, the HERD-to-GDP ratio has consistently ranged narrowly between 0.37% and 0.40%, and, in 2023, had a value of 0.38%. In 2023,…

SSTI’s new analysis of NIH data reveals the agency’s external R&D spending per award has been essentially treading water for the past 25 years in terms of real dollars—rising just 4% since FY 2000 when adjusted for inflation. This slow growth comes despite the crucial role NIH funding plays in technology-based economic development (TBED) policies across many states, particularly in the biomedical and life sciences. However, NIH funding remains a major economic driver as the world’s largest funder of biomedical and behavioral research, having generated nearly $2.50 of economic activity for every dollar spent in FY 2023, according to NIH estimates. While these awards support innovation, academic research, and regional economies, their purchasing power has eroded over time, barely keeping pace with inflation. This edition of Useful Stats examines national and state-level trends in NIH awards (count and funding) from FY 2000 through FY 2024 using data from NIH’s Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools (RePORT).   Brief overview of national NIH award data Before diving into state-level NIH awards, it is important to establish a relative baseline…

Artificial intelligence, market saturation, and shifting demands from both employers and students are driving changes in coding bootcamps and other programs in the tech training sector, according to a recent Inside Higher Education story. These factors have contributed to several closures in the past year: 2U’s bootcamp division (December 2024) Codeup (December 2024) Momentum Learning Triangle coding bootcamp (August 2024) Rithm School (stopped accepting new applications in July 2024) Launch Academy (paused its code school in May 2024) Women who Code (April 2024) Epicodus (early 2024) Kenzie Academy, run by Southern New Hampshire University (2023) Other providers have recently adapted their business models. Codesmith has moved to remote-based programming as of February 2024, while General Assembly, one of the largest bootcamps, introduced part-time options in March 2024. After downsizing in 2023, Ada Developers Academy reopened with a new focus on AI in fall 2024. 2U plans to offer shorter-term microcredentials in place of its bootcamp programming. Is your organization running a tech training program. Let us know your experience by emailing tbedcop@…

In this week’s continuing coverage of gubernatorial addresses as they discuss the innovation economy, the following highlights have been selected from five of the eight State of the States or budget addresses given between Jan. 17 and Jan. 28, 2025, by the governors from Maine, Missouri, New Mexico, Utah, and Wisconsin. Information on previous 2025 State of the States and/or budget addresses can be found here. Additional addresses and states will be covered in future Digest issues. With revenues for many states relatively consistent with forecasters’ expectations, lawmakers, with a few exceptions, continue to maintain cautious or constrained views of their funding priorities and proposed initiatives. As a result, many governors in SSTI’s analysis of addresses delivered so far this season speak more to previously implemented programs and their continued successes rather than rolling out many new programs. However. new priorities growing stronger innovation economies have not been completely overlooked. On Jan. 28, Maine Gov. Janet Mills presented her State of the Budget address to lawmakers. Citing a tight fiscal environment and the leveling off of…

The U.S. National Science Foundation announced awards totaling approximately $40 million to support research and STEM workforce development in Delaware, Guam, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Vermont, according to a January 22 NSF press release. These grants are part of the NSF Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (NSF EPSCoR). “Strengthening Partnerships for Advancing Research Capacity in Delaware” is led by the University of Delaware and delivered in partnership with the Delaware EPSCoR State Committee, Delaware State University, Delaware Technical Community College, Goldey-Beacom College, and Wilmington University. The award abstract, notes that the project is expected to strengthen the data and intellectual property infrastructure among the participating institutions, boost interdisciplinary team-based research, improve communication and access to STEM programming, and support entrepreneurial training.  “Optimizing Research Infrastructure in Guam” is led by the University of Guam in collaboration with Guam Community College. The project’s award abstract states the funding enables “student research experiences to employ a near-peer mentoring…

Regional cooperation economic development is believed to stimulate growth in various ways, including increased trade, enhanced movement of technologies from lab to market, and improved resource allocation. Federal support for innovation-driven growth has increasingly forced applicants to take integrated regional approaches. However, empirical evidence on the specific impacts of such cooperation is scant. New research from the IZA Institute of Labor Economics seeks to address this gap by investigating the interplay between regional cooperation and integration (RCI) and two key economic outcomes: labor productivity and firm-level innovation.  In Regionalism, Productivity, and Innovation, authors Rolando Avendano, Massimiliano Tani, and Lovely C. Tolin analyze data from 170 national economies, including the United States, and 60,000 firms, covering 2010-2021. In doing so, they make extensive use of the Asian Development Bank's Asia-Pacific Regional Cooperation and Integration Index (ARCII). This index provides a framework for assessing RCI across eight key areas, including trade, investment, finance, infrastructure, and population mobility. The study uses a…

Recent headlines have been full of discussion on cryptocurrencies and speculation on significant changes in federal policy related to the technology. Anticipating federal action, leaders of several states are exploring ways to get their own jurisdictions involved in the space. Here are some recent examples, drawing from proposed legislation to implemented policies and structures for acceptance of the financial innovation: States Considering Bitcoin Reserves Alabama lawmakers are mulling the creation of a bitcoin reserve. The state recently established a Blockchain Study Commission, which held its inaugural meeting in July 2024, to explore how blockchain technology could benefit Alabama and how the state might regulate it. Also, Alabama Rep. Mike Shaw announced that he intended to introduce legislation focused on the regulation of cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies. These two coupled actions seek to understand the technology’s implications for economic development in the state and advance Alabama’s cautiously proactive approach to integrating blockchain and digital assets into the state’s financial and regulatory framework. Meanwhile, Alabama State Auditor…

Fewer of the youngest and later stage innovation-driven companies are receiving private venture capital at a time when the country needs more of both to retain our global economic leadership, according to data released in the latest report from PitchBook and NVCA. Across 2024, United States VC has seen an increase in overall deal value (+$47 billion) despite a decrease in deal count (-936) since the prior year, reveals the Q4 2024 Venture Monitor report. Values for each metric still sit below the pandemic-induced highs in 2021 and 2022. By stage, 2024 has, to date, a larger proportion of early-stage and venture growth deals, balanced by a lower proportion of pre-seed/seed and late-stage deals. This edition of Useful Stats will explore 10-year trends, from 2015 through 2024, in venture activity by stage and state using the Q4 2024 Venture Monitor report’s data.   Brief data notes It is important to note that PitchBook continuously identifies new deals and updates their datasets, often leading to increased deals and values over time from figures first announced for any particular year. Thus, older datasets are often more complete, which may cause…