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Hoping to combat and reverse job losses in the manufacturing sector, Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell outlined his blueprint for recovery last month, entitled "Manufacturing Innovation."

Ah, the difference positive revenue figures make for some states' tech-based economic development (TBED) portfolios! In mid-December, Virginia Gov. Mark Warner introduced an amended 2004-2006 biennial budget that is the most favorable yet during the Warner term for programs to promote economic growth through strategic investments in science and technology.

A December gathering of leaders from many of the nation's largest companies raised what could be considered a battle cry for the U.S. to take more seriously the implications of globalization.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has issued the detailed statistical tables for Science & Engineering Doctorate awards for 2003. As was done for 2002, 2001 and 2000, SSTI has compiled a 50-state table presenting the number of degrees and rank for each major field of science & engineering. In addition, SSTI has used population in the form of "S&E doctorates awarded per 100,000 residents" to standardize the data to facilitate comparisons across states.

That is the question facing researchers who have innovative ideas that become marketable products. Researchers who file patents to protect intellectual property rights may diminish the value of the research to potential developers due to "knowledge leakage" to competing developers. Instead, a researcher might approach a developer directly to negotiate an exclusive contract in which a researcher receives some immediate compensation and a stake in the licensed, developed product.

Just what makes firms productive? Economists continue to refine their thinking on the interactions that enhance productivity. Knowledge capital and knowledge relatedness play an active role in increasing firm competitiveness, especially in large, high-tech manufacturing sectors, according to a study presented at a recent conference of the Groupe de Recherche en Economie.

Georgia Tech topped the nation in its efforts to help state and local agencies with economic development, according to a study released by the Southern Growth Policies Board's Southern Technology Council (STC).

Conducted by Louis Tornatzky and Paul Waugaman, senior fellows at STC, Innovation U.: New University Roles in a Knowledge Economy offers comprehensive case descriptions of how national research universities operate in the following areas:

Michigan Governor John Engler recently signed Senate Bills 880, 881 and 999 to help make high-speed Internet connections available and affordable to consumers across the state. Almost unanimously approved in the Michigan House and Senate, the Governor’s broadband initiative was supported by a coalition of more than 50 statewide associations, local groups and companies. The bills are as follows:

Responding to the demands of business leaders to close the nation's workforce skills gap, the National Skill Standards Board (NSSB) has created the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Voluntary Partnership to represent the telecommunications, computer and information industry sector.

NASA's Office of Aerospace Technology has released an integrated strategy, or blueprint, that suggests developing new technology will lead to a new era of aviation. The strategy, while not completed in time to be reflected in the Administration's 2003 budget request, will be used to guide federal aeronautics investments in research, education and development.

As a means of highlighting the performance and composition of state economies, Harvard's Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness, led by Dr. Michael Porter, has published profiles on all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The Census Bureau report released last week, 2000 Annual Survey of Manufactures, Geographic Area Statistics, provides annual data from 1997 through 2000 on the number of all manufacturing employees, number of production workers, value added by manufacturers, cost of materials, value of shipments, and new capital expenditures for manufacturing establishments by state. The data cover manufacturing industry groups such as food, apparel, lumber, chemicals, computers and transportation equipment.

The U.S. Small Business Administration and My Own Business, Inc., have jointly created a free, online entrepreneurship course for small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs. The announcement was made at the Conference on Women Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century in Washington, D.C., earlier this week.

Arizona

The Ohio Department of Development, which works collaboratively with businesses, communities and the Ohio Legislature to develop financial and technical programs, seeks to fill the position, Grants Administration Manager. The position's duties include managing the outside Grant Administration Team, assessing project results and progress, and performing other duties assigned by the Deputy Director of the Technology Division.

Because knowledge-based services can be supplied anywhere across the world due to increased international investment in IT infrastructure, future U.S. competitiveness hinges on diversification and broadening of the technology-based manufacturing sector, according to NIST Senior Economist George Tassey.

To shed light on the strengths and weaknesses of the region's biotechnology cluster, Carnegie Mellon University's Center for Economic Development (CED) has published A Biotechnology Action Plan for Southwestern Pennsylvania. The CED report says the Pittsburgh biotechnology cluster largely depends on the amount of available venture capital and the development of new technologies and that total funding levels must be increased to continue biotech development.

President Bush has nominated Elias Zerhouni, executive vice dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, as the new director of the National Institutes of Health.



San Diego Community College Chancellor Augie Gallego has been selected as the new chairman of the American Council of Education, only the second community college executive to hold the position since the organization's founding more than 80 years ago.

President Bush has nominated Elias Zerhouni, executive vice dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, as the new director of the National Institutes of Health.