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Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito are urging Massachusetts legislators to act on their proposed  legislation  that includes $3.5 billion in clean energy and economic development initiatives. The bill includes $2.3 billion in funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and over $1.256 billion in capital bond authorizations to support projects to strengthen state infrastructure, create jobs and invest in all 351 cities and towns in the state. The legislation, called An Act Investing in Future Opportunities for Resiliency, Workforce, and Revitalized Downtowns (FORWARD), includes $1.2 billion in ARPA funds for climate resiliency and preservation efforts, with more than half of that designated for the commonwealth’s clean energy industry.

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center recently released the third report in its Some College, No Credentials (SCNC) series investigating the educational trajectory of U.S. adults who have left postsecondary education without receiving any credentials. This report addresses concerns about low student success rates across the nation and intends to identify opportunities where SCNC students can be encouraged to continue postsecondary programs and earn credentials.

To expand the innovation capacity in the nation, the United States needs to leverage resources, creativity, and ingenuity from across all geographic regions. The National Science Foundation this week announced a new program in support of these efforts: the NSF Regional Innovation Engines, or NSF Engines program.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Convergence Accelerator intends to provide solutions with nationwide social impact at an accelerated pace. Recently, NSF announced the addition of three new research tracks for the 2022 cohort: Track H, Track I, and Track J. The latest research track topics for the NSF Convergence Accelerator include:

This edition of Useful Stats presents an SSTI analysis for the number of SBIR/STTR awards from 2011 to 2020 (the most recently available complete data), examining which agencies make the most awards in each state and how each state’s composition of awards compares to the national profile.

Two federal agencies made the greatest number of SBIR/STTR awards in nearly every state. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) accounted for the greatest number of SBIR/STTR awards in 35 states (including the District of Columbia), growing from 29 states as identified in a previous SSTI analysis for the 10-year period from 2009-2018. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) made the most awards in 15 states over the 10-years from 2011 to 2020, decreasing from the 22 states for the previously examined 10-year period, while the National Science Foundation made the most total awards in two states/territories for the combined 10-year period from 2011 to 2020.

Earlier today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released information on the $500 million pool of technical assistance (TA) funds authorized as part of the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). The agency is allocating $200 million to the states, transferring $100 million to the U.S. Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), and retaining $200 million at this time. According to guidance released by Treasury, states can use their TA funds for legal, accounting and financial services.

Today, SSTI’s Innovation Advocacy Council published a letter to Congress urging the adoption of key tech-based economic development policies in the final version of competitiveness legislation that will soon be conferenced between the two chambers. Known as the U.S. Innovation and Competitiveness Act (USICA) in the Senate and the America COMPETES Act of 2022 in the House, these bills are proposing to authorize new activities to support science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship across numerous federal agencies.

North Carolina is continuing to improve its innovation standing and its research and development enterprise continue to lead among other innovation metrics, according to a new state report. The North Carolina Board of Science, Technology, and Innovation published the eighth edition of its Tracking Innovation report. This report uses 39 measures of innovation capacity to evaluate North Carolina’s standing against other states in the nation.

Earlier this week, legislation was introduced in the Senate that would rescind $2.3 billion from the State Small Business Credit Initiative. The purpose of the action would be to source funds for an additional $10 billion for new COVID expenses; the Senate proposal opts to reduce selected unspent funds from American Rescue Plan Act and CARES Act programs. The cut to SSBCI is targeted at states’ potential third tranches of program funds, as well as 40 percent of the overall SSBCI technical assistance funding.

Despite the shutdown of many business and government activities during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the total number of SBIR/STTR awards made to innovation-focused companies continued to increase over record-breaking 2019 levels, rising 3.7 percent. This edition of SSTI’s Useful Stats examines the total number of SBIR/STTR awards and the top awarding agency by state in 2020.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently awarded nearly $1.2 million to four institutions through its Advanced Manufacturing Technology Roadmap Program (MfgTech). Awards through this program will fund projects in industries and technologies such as microelectronics and biotechnology for up to 18 months to address national priorities for improving competitiveness and vaccine manufacturing capabilities. 

Although no Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) has yet been issued, interested parties have submitted responses to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Request for Information from stakeholders on issues related to the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub FOA strategy.