SSTI Digest

The Lab-to-Market (L2M) subcommittee of the National Science and Technology Council’s Committee on the Science and Technology Enterprise is launching a $325,000 prize competition to highlight successful examples of innovation ecosystems, particularly existing resources that support underserved communities or remarkable responses to the pandemic environment. There are three categories for applicants with an informational webinar scheduled for Sept. 25, before the portal opens on Sept. 30. The prize competition will also recognize impactful ideas for using prize funds to develop strong connections and support within the R&D innovation ecosystem. The three categories in the competition are: •    “Super Connector” – Prizes of $10,000 for current efforts successfully including networks of underrepresented communities in the R&D innovation ecosystem.  •    “Ecosystem Responder” – Prizes of $10,000 for timely and effective responses to the pandemic environment.  •    “Visionary” – Prizes of $25,000 for the most creative and actionable ideas to build an inclusive R&D innovation ecosystem.…

For the first time, individuals with defined measures of professional knowledge, will be allowed to participate in private capital markets without having to meet the traditionally required income or net worth levels. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has broadened the definition for who the commission views as an ‘accredited investor’ and a ‘qualified institutional buyer’. The amendments to the definition also expand and update the list of entities that may qualify to participate in certain private offerings to include tribal governments and other organizations. With these amendments to the accredited investor definition, the SEC aims to expand investment opportunities in private markets. Prior to these changes, any individual, regardless of professional knowledge, was required to maintain a net worth of $1 million or an annual income of $200,000 ($300,000 if combining with a spouse), to be considered an accredited investor. With the expanded definition, outlined in detail below, the SEC believes that it can maintain investor protections while opening the door to broader participation within the private capital markets. The definition of…

A recent brief shows the troubled relationship between student loan debt and entrepreneurship. The report, Student Loans and Entrepreneurship: An Overview from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, found that of those student borrowers who currently own or plan to own a business, nearly half reported that their student loans affected their ability to start a business. Additionally, among those who did start businesses, higher levels of student loan debt were negatively related to business income and employment.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has launched the National Council for Expanding American Innovation (NCEAI), an initiative aimed at expanding innovation and entrepreneurship in America. The council consists of leaders in industry, government, and academia. The USPTO created the council to develop a comprehensive national strategy to build a more diverse and inclusive innovation economy. “Through the National Council for Expanding American Innovation, we plan to develop a national strategy for promoting and increasing the participation of underrepresented groups as inventor-patentees, entrepreneurs, and innovation leaders,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. In particular, the council plans to focus on increasing the involvement of women and underrepresented groups in STEM and the innovation economy. The USPTO will publish ongoing reports as the council progresses towards their goals. Additional information on the NCEAI can be found here.

Consideration of a state’s trends in the distribution of SBIR awards by federal agency may help program leaders and policy makers optimize the design and performance for state and regional support of innovation-based startups. For instance, knowing which federal agencies provide the dominant share of awards in a state can inform a program’s marketing and outreach efforts, and, more importantly for the startups being assisted, it can guide recruiting the right mix of mentors and knowledge assets to a program’s technical assistance capabilities. The data also can inform efforts to attract investors and potential customers with similar alignment of interests with companies in a state’s SBIR portfolio. SSTI’s focus this week on the agency distribution of SBIR awards by state over the past decade reveals some interesting insights. Next week we will take a deeper dive into the data and examine awardee distribution trends at the regional level. An exclusive SSTI analysis reveals that for the 10-year period from 2009 to 2018, two federal agencies were the top contributors to SBIR/STTR spending in every state and the District of Columbia. The Department of Defense (DoD) accounted for the greatest SBIR/STTR spending in 29 states while the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was the greatest funder in 22 states. This trend remains the same when including 2019 award data, although it is important to note that as of the writing of this article, DoD’s complete 2019 SBIR/STTR data was not available.

[Update Oct. 1] Editor’s note: On Sept. 25, the Trump campaign released a new document, “The Platinum Plan,” containing proposals described as “President Trump’s promise to Black America.” Our original story has been updated to reflect new proposals stated in this plan. In advance of the Republican National Convention, the Donald Trump reelection campaign released a second term agenda. This plan contains 50 items, most of which are goals (e.g., “Create one million new small businesses”), but some provide insight to more specific policy actions that the administration could pursue. Combining the relevant items from this plan with the White House’s actions over the past term, we can identify possible implications of a second Trump administration for science and innovation. If the Trump campaign releases more detailed plans for a second term, SSTI will provide updates. As organized in SSTI’s coverage of Joe Biden’s plan, this overview of Trump’s proposals is broken down into the following topics: higher education, immigration, infrastructure, Opportunity Zones, research and development, small business, and workforce development.   Higher…

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA), a public-private partnership that works with both the University System of Georgia and the Georgia Department of Economic Development to expand the research capacity at the state’s universities and seed and shape startup companies. When it was formed in 1990, GRA was a new kind of enterprise. Leaders in state government, private industry and academia all came to the table to strengthen cohesion among Georgia’s public and private research universities – and, ultimately, to bring more research dollars and discoveries to the state. Today it is recognized as a key player in building the state’s reputation as a center of discovery and invention.

Coming off a holiday that celebrates workers across the country, today’s labor market is struggling to recover from a peak set in 2000. States whose labor market still hadn’t fully recovered from the Great Recession are facing an even greater economic disadvantage from the pandemic. A new report by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that the average prime-age employment rate (adults between the ages of 25 and 54 who have jobs) in 24 states had not fully recovered from the Great Recession before COVID-19 hit. The report considers the prime age employment-to-population ratio, which provides a different perspective on jobs than the unemployment rate. That ratio peaked at 81.9 percent in April 2000, and stood at 80.6 in January of this year before diving to 69.7 in April and climbing its way back to 75.3 in August, according to Federal Reserve Economic Data.   “With the recession triggered this year by the coronavirus, the workforce now may have to dig out of an even deeper hole than after the last downturn,” the Pew report notes. The new downturn and the potentially lengthy recovery carry major fiscal implications for states. Lower employment means less tax…

As manufacturers become more reliant on automation, advanced control systems, and remote work, the threat of cyber-attacks with the potential to damage critical infrastructure and even shut down an entire plant’s operations has never been greater. In response to the general lack of preparedness by the manufacturing industry to prevent and react to cybersecurity threats, Manufacturing x Digital (MxD), an advanced manufacturing institute, has released its comprehensive hiring guide for employers, both large and small, to help fill the cybersecurity workforce gap in the manufacturing industry. The Hiring Guide: Cybersecurity in Manufacturing, which brought together more than 25 industry, academic, workforce development and government organizations, identifies 247 cybersecurity-related jobs in manufacturing. “American manufacturing must build a skilled new army to protect our factories, products and intellectual property from cyber-attackers who lurk in the shadows. All manufacturers, no matter their size, have a vested interest in helping develop a strong and resilient cybersecurity workforce," according to MxD CEO Chandra Brown. Among the positions outlined in the…

Over $1 billion has been awarded for the creation of 12 new quantum information services (QIS) and artificial intelligence (AI) research institutes across the country over the course of the next five years, according to an announcement from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation. With this investment, the White House hopes the newly created institutes will “spur cutting edge innovation, support regional economic growth, and advance American leadership in these critical industries of the future.” NSF, alongside the Department of Agriculture, has focused an investment of $140 million towards the development of seven new AI Research Institutes across the country, based primarily on university campuses. NSF predicts that throughout the following year these new research hubs will also draw over $300 million in additional investments. A map of the recently announced Research Institutes, along with details on each Institute’s focus, may be found here. DOE’s awards total $625 million, to be distributed over the next five years, aiming to help establish QIS Research Centers at Argonne,…

The Economic Development Administration’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIE) released a funding opportunity this morning for a new STEM Talent Challenge. The opportunity provides $2 million in total to governmental and nonprofit entities working to implement STEM apprenticeship models in their regions. Applicants may request up to $300,000 for an 18-24-month project, and no more than $50,000 may go toward planning and development, which should generally be completed within the first six months of the project period. EDA is seeking projects that will expand work-based learning for adults, increase regional innovation capacity, and expand diversity in STEM. OIE will host an informational webinar on Sept. 9, and proposals are due Oct. 14. The STEM Talent Challenge has been authorized for several years, but FY 2020 was the first time the program was funded. As discussed recently in the SSTI Weekly Digest, the House supports increasing funding to $4.5 million in FY 2021.

A recent report by the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) and the Small Business Administration (SBA) found that participation rates in the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) programs by women-owned small businesses (WOSB) has essentially remained flat since 2011. Although participation rates vary by awarding agency, the report highlights several barriers faced by women entrepreneurs. Despite the gloomy findings, the report features promising practices from entrepreneurial support organizations (ESOs) that may “right the ship” in supporting women entrepreneurs through the SBIR/STTR program.