SSTI Digest

NSF’s Regional Resilience Innovation Incubator (R2I2) project has awarded Phase 1 funding to six teams, each addressing specific regional climate challenges and demonstrating solutions. The award includes funding for a seventh team to create the R2I2 National Office, which will support the collective and coordinated implementation of R2I2 award activities.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has asked the state legislature to inject $113 million into programs that support the commonwealth’s innovation economy—including $50 million for the PA Innovation Program, which provides a $30 million allocation specifically designated for the commercialization of life sciences and a $20 million fund to “support large-scale innovation, match federal awards to mitigate risks for start-ups, and leverage Pennsylvania’s best-in-class research and development assets.” Shapiro presented his FY 2025-2026 budget proposal and policy recommendations to state lawmakers in his Feb. 4 budget address. The balance of the $113.5M injection for innovation includes: $17 million for the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority which funds the nationally recognized Ben Franklin Technology Partners, full funding for Keystone Innovation Zone research and development tax credits, which offer early-stage tech and life sciences companies up to $100,000 annually in sellable tax credits from a statewide pool of up to $15 million, $25 million for Agricultural Innovation Grants $3.5 million for a Pennsylvania Regional Economic…

NOTE: The nation's community of technology-based economic development organizations has entered annual report season, and we've already seen several releases from SSTI members. All document the impact TBED can have on advancing research, moving it to market, and helping businesses improve their profitability and competitiveness. To help the TBED community prepare their own annual reports, SSTI is speaking with a few of our members to learn more about their evolving approaches to preparing their annual reports. This week, we share insights from our second conversation based on an interview with Kimberly Metz, senior manager and head of marketing at Ben Franklin Northeast. The first part of this series ran in the Feb 13 issue of the Digest, and is available here. Long before an annual report begins to take its final form, there are typically extensive internal conversations among leadership about what the document should include and what the look and feel should be. The early planning stages for the 2024 issue of the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania annual report were punctuated with a series of collaborative meetings between…

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…

The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) recently awarded  $14.5 million in Appalachian Regional Initiative for Stronger Economies (ARISE) grants for five projects. ARISE is ARC’s multi-state initiative that aims to drive large-scale, regional economic transformation through collaborative projects. These awards included $3,980,996 awarded to Morehead State University to build the aerospace workforce in Kentucky and West Virginia. The university will use ARISE funding to expand its SpaceTrek initiative, which addresses the region’s aerospace workforce deficits. Academic institutions will collaborate with industry partners to implement the SpaceTrek summer program and SpacePrep explorations workshops. These programs will introduce pre-college students to higher education opportunities and careers in aerospace and provide an immersive experience in aerospace subdisciplines, including electronics, telecommunications, and data analysis. ARC awarded $2,870,702 to Thrive Regional Partnership to expand three collaborative capacity-building programs in Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. The partnership will use ARISE funds to expand three…

Despite being hit with a recession brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the latest 5-year impact report from Ben Franklin Technology Partners (BFTP) shows even higher growth than the previous five years. The most recent analysis, The Economic Impact of Ben Franklin Technology Partners, reveals that BFTP generated $400 million in tax receipts for the state and boosted Pennsylvania’s overall economy by $6.1 billion between 2017 and 2021, contributing to an overall boost of more than $30 billion since the program began more than 40 years ago. The BFTP impact study, conducted by KLIOS Consulting and Econsult Solutions Inc., also found that BFTP invested in 612 companies across the commonwealth and generated 5,874 jobs in client firms, plus an additional 10,132 spinoff positions for a total of 16,006 new Pennsylvania jobs. In partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, Ben Franklin provides critical funding, business and technical expertise, and access to a network of valuable resources for early-stage and established companies. For additional information about Ben Franklin or for a full copy or summary…

After a busy election season that saw gubernatorial elections in 36 states, newly elected and re-elected governors delivered their annual State of the State addresses, kicking off new programs and reviewing the conditions of their states. SSTI reviews the speeches every year and covers news of new developments and initiatives the governors have highlighted as they relate to the innovation economy. New programs are laid out here in the governors own words as excerpts from their State of the State or budget addresses. Not all governors delivered a State of the State, and some that did may not have revealed new innovation-related initiatives and so are not included in our coverage. Common initiatives among the governors that touched on innovation included an emphasis on workforce, education and broadband; water issues for Western governors; and, clean energy. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey delivered her 2023 State of the State on March 7 and called on legislators to “look ahead and crate an economic development strategy for the 2030s.” “… I am calling on you to get behind our playbook for economic success, what I am calling The Game Plan.” “We will…

Gov. Tom Wolf awarded $246.8 million to Pennsylvania local economic development partners through the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) this week. The money is expected to help small, socially and economically disadvantaged businesses grow. The Pennsylvania Department of community and Economic Development (DCED) will distribute the funds to partners who will administer the funding to qualifying businesses. The funding is divided between the Direct Venture Investment program ($123 million), which provides funding to economic development organizations that disburse it as seed and later-stage capital for companies, and the Revolving Loan fund program ($123.8 million), which provides funding to economic development organizations to create or capitalize loan funds to support small businesses. LifeX Greenhouses, Inc., based in Pittsburgh, took over one of the state’s three Life Sciences Greenhouse designations in late July and was awarded $14.76 million through the Direct Venture Investment funding. Other economic development organizations that were awarded funds through that program include: Ben Franklin Technology Partners Central & Northern…

Pennsylvania is losing ground in expanding manufacturing opportunities in the state, according to the Pennsylvania Manufacturing Advisory Council, which has issued a playbook to help build the sector’s competitiveness and highlights recommendations for the state to increase its manufacturing opportunities.  Calling the manufacturing sector “critical to Pennsylvania’s economic growth and essential to the economic success of its citizens,” the playbook offers three “game changers” along with additional recommendations including aggressively pursuing manufacturing growth sectors to drive prosperity and investing in the factory of the future.   The Pennsylvania Manufacturing Advisory Council was launched in July 2021 with support from Pennsylvania’s Department of Community and Economic Development to facilitate and energize the attention for manufacturing. The Council seeks to provide a stronger, more unified state-level voice for manufacturers – to tell the story of what Pennsylvania manufacturing is and what it can be. The playbook draws on input from more than 500 manufacturers and is available for download here. 

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced nine additional states whose SSBCI plans have been approved: Arizona, Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Vermont. This is in addition to the five states approved earlier this year: Hawaii, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan and West Virginia. The state plans for the awards will support underserved businesses, innovation programs, investing for startups and more, detailed below. Arizona has been approved for $111 million across three different state programs. Two venture capital programs, Arizona Venture Co-Invest and Arizona Multi-Fund Venture, will split $87 million of the total approved funds. The rest of the allocated funds will go towards the Arizona Loan Guarantee Program. The three programs will all aim to support underserved businesses by creating greater access to capital.  Connecticut has been approved for $119 million, which will be allocated to CT Innovations Equity Fund, a venture capital program, and CT Works Fund, a loan participation program. The state will also be launching two new funds from Connecticut Innovations, The Connecticut Future Fund and…

Alabama, Minnesota and Pennsylvania governors are proposing new or increased funding for innovation initiatives. Alabama could see a substantial increase in its Alabama Innovation Fund, while Minnesota’s governor is looking to boost the state’s startup ecosystem and Pennsylvania would increase funding for the Ben Franklin Technology Partners, which has worked for more than 30 years to grow the state’s innovation economy. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, in her FY 2023 Executive Budget, recommends $32.4 million for the Alabama Innovation Fund, a $20 million increase over the approved amount in FY 2022. Innovate Alabama and the Alabama Innovation Corporation (both established in 2021) receive funding via the Alabama Innovation Fund. The Innovate Alabama Matching Grant Program would make matching grants of up to $250,000 to businesses and organizations that received SBIR or STTR grants. Last year Ivey signed legislation establishing the Alabama Innovation Corporation, a public-private partnership to serve as a catalyst for the state’s growing innovation economy, along with legislation that created the…

Celebrating its 25 years in operation, the National Robotics Engineering Center’s (NREC) success is revealed in an economic study commissioned by Carnegie Mellon University “to inform the future development of boundary-pushing institutions.” Established decades ago as “a new model of academic-industry partnership,” the NREC study, conducted by Fourth Economy Consulting, reveals how the robotics institution changed the economy of the neighborhood, region and robotics industry in Pittsburgh. While not written as a traditional economic impact study, some of the key effects revealed in the study include: $545 million dollars in total funding raised by NREC; 80 new companies created in the field of robotics; 64 percent of NREC employees stayed in the Pittsburgh region and three in five robotics, artificial intelligence, and tech sectors have direct ties to the National Robotics Center; Educational programming including training 250-350 teachers annually that allows the next generations of Pittsburgh’s workers to understand what robotics is and the importance of technology. The full study, Robots in the Backyard, is available here.