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The Kansas Technology Enterprise Corp. promoted Kevin Carr to the position of chief operations officer.

The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University announced that Jon Fjeld is the executive director of its recently unveiled Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

The Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland, College Park named Dan Goodman as its first technology commercialization fellow.

The 82nd Annual Congress of Cities in Charlotte, N.C., elected Jim Hunt, a councilmember of Clarksburg, W.Va., as the new president of the National League of Cities. Hunt follows Washington, D.C., Mayor Anthony A. Williams.

The Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) selected Vicki Loise as its first executive director.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels named Mitch Maurer, president of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), as the new state secretary of commerce. Maurer replaces Pat Miller, who stepped down to resume her role as president and CEO of her company, Vera Bradley Designs, Inc.

BioMed SA, a recently founded technology council to promote the development of San Antonio’s health and bioscience community, selected Ann Stevens to serve as its first executive director.

After several months of debate regarding a number of economic development initiatives, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed into law a major economic stimulus bill. However, unhappy with portions of a separate tax break package for businesses, the governor vetoed two of the 10 bills.

Robert Cresanti was nominated by President Bush to become the next undersecretary of Commerce for Technology.

Jim Denn was named deputy executive director of the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR).

Robert Cresanti was nominated by President Bush to become the next undersecretary of Commerce for Technology.

Jim Denn was named deputy executive director of the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR).

Peter Gold was appointed associate provost for economic initiatives at Rutgers-Camden.

Eric Griego was appointed assistant secretary of economic development for the New Mexico Economic Development Department.

Hunt Lambert was selected as the new associate vice president for economic development in the Colorado State University system.

Jim Pennekamp will be the executive director of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville's research and business park, effective Dec. 1.

John Reardon will be new Charles County Economic Development Department chief in Maryland, effective in December.

Steven Weathers is the new president and CEO of the Regional Growth Partnership in Toledo, Ohio.

Facing a projected budget deficit of more than $600 million, Gov. Tim Kaine told lawmakers the state must invest more money in research and commercialization efforts to accelerate Virginia’s progress in key areas.

 

Building on a successful legislative session in 2007, Gov. Lingle is requesting additional funds to supplement various ongoing TBED programs.

 

A long-delayed equity capital program in Montana is on its way to becoming a reality. Montana, which received no venture capital investment in 2006 according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers Moneytree survey, has struggled to attract the interest of venture capital firms. The Montana Equity Capital Investment Act, sponsored by State Sen. Jeff Mangan and signed by Gov. Brian Schweitzer in 2005, was intended to make the state more attractive to outside investors, but never seemed to get off the ground.

 

Policymakers and practitioners continually seek new ideas to integrate into their overall TBED strategies in order to capitalize on innovative approaches and remain a competitive force in the global marketplace. Over the last few months, two new concepts in TBED aimed at supporting higher education have surfaced in New York and Wisconsin with two distinct goals: achieving the status of a world-renowned research capital and increasing college graduates to raise per capita income.

 

Earlier this year, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reported that the U.S. had fallen from fourth to 15th in broadband penetration among OECD countries (see the June 13, 2007 issue). This report came as little surprise to states that have been struggling to extend and improve high-speed Internet service, particularly in rural areas.

By creating Ontario’s Regional Innovation Networks (ORIN) three years ago, the provincial government experimented with how to establish customized systems-specific, but network-integrated approaches to strengthening and supporting regional innovation.

In the quest for a region to become more innovative or attain higher levels of degree attainment, expanding the size of existing education institutions or increasing the number of community colleges and universities seems to be a somewhat practical strategy. But how long after these institutions are created or expanded do they produce a measurable impact on a region’s innovation environment?

 

Patent activity is a commonly used indicator of a state or region’s innovation capacity. SSTI has prepared a table illustrating the number of patents issued from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) per 100,000 employees for every state and the District of Columbia for each of the five years from 2002 to 2006. Additionally, the percent change in patents per employee over the five-year period was calculated. For the U.S.