Recognizing the economic benefits of engaging young people in science and technology, Ontario's McGuinty government recently launched the Youth Science and Technology Outreach Program. The new program links high school students with researchers to support in-depth mentorship experience and postsecondary career advice.

The Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) recently released Research Activities of the Department of Transportation: A Report to Congress, identifying DOT’s current and projected research, development and technology priorities.

Glenwood Springs, Colo., is the nation’s most entrepreneurial region, according to a study recently released by the U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy and the Edward Lowe Foundation. The region's ranking is based on the Regional Entrepreneurship Index, a measure intended to standardize assessment of entrepreneurship within and across regions.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) is anticipated to release its latest summary statistics for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards soon. Unfortunately, the data typically do not include proposal figures, a useful measure of the general effectiveness or need for SBIR technical assistance and outreach in any given state. For several years, the Useful Stats column of the SSTI Weekly Digest has attempted to rectify this omission and FY 2004 is no exception.

Venture capital investments in Montana may have become a little more attractive last Friday as the Montana House of Representatives passed the Montana Equity Capital Investment Act, moving the legislation to Gov. Brian Schweitzer for his consideration and expected signature.

Tech firms in New Mexico received happy tax news on April 4 as Gov. BIll Richardson signed several bills to encourage economic growth across New Mexico.

New York's Empire Zones Program dodged a veto from Gov. George Pataki as an agreement was met with the legislature to restructure the program. The state budget, signed into law last week, extends the program and allows for an additional 12 zones to be created throughout the state.

Legislation that would extend and expand the federal research tax credit was introduced in the U.S. Senate last month. Senate Bill 627 seeks to make permanent the research credit that was first enacted in 1981 and is set to expire Dec. 31, 2005. The bill, sponsored by Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), also would provide an alternative simplified credit for qualified research expenses and increase the rates of the alternative incremental credit.

Do tax credits pave the way for more investment in R&D and equity investments in new enterprises? Or, do they reward companies and venture capitalists for investments they would have made anyway?

Discussions on these questions can become quite heated and fueled by data supportive of both sides, as two new academic analyses demonstrate.

Gross State Product (GSP) is considered, at least in theory, to be an effective measure of the "value added" by a state's economy. That is, the figure represents the sum of all net industrial activity within the state, where net activity is defined as total outputs (sales or receipts and other operating income, commodity taxes, and inventory change) minus total inputs (consumption of goods and services purchased from other industries or imported).

On the final day of March, Gov. Brad Henry signed legislation establishing a $475 million bond issue for a slate of higher education projects, much of which targets research and laboratory facilities. The Oklahoma Higher Education Promise of Excellence Act of 2005, which the governor called "desperately needed," was one of his top legislative priorities for the year (see the Feb. 7, 2005, issue of the Digest).

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced Friday that President Bush intends to nominate David Sampson as Deputy Secretary for the agency. If confirmed, Dr. Sampson will succeed Theodore Kassinger, who will resign effective April 30, 2005.

Prior to becoming Deputy Secretary, Mr. Kassinger served as General Counsel from 2001 to 2004. Mr. Kassinger has served as Deputy Secretary since July 2004.

Two organizations with seemingly the same goal in mind recently released statistics on the health of their region's technology sectors. Relying on different methods, the Pittsburgh Technology Council (PTC) and the Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance (SARTA) both analyze and report the impact of technology clusters on the local economy.

The source of eadership on specific state tech-based economic development activities greatly influences the design and effectiveness of the effort. It remains to be seen then how the recently launched Arkansas Nanotechnology Alliance evolves locally as its direction originates from the nation's capital.

There are several factors that go into location decisions for biomedical firms. Proximity to strong university research capacity, other biotech businesses, and technically competent workers are all important considerations. With the financial investments many states and localities are making toward the life sciences, however, the field of prospective locations for successfully launching a biotech firm has grown considerably larger than the "usual suspects."

Western Carolina University (WCU) Chancellor John Bardo recently unveiled plans for a comprehensive regional economic development strategy that would more than double the size of the campus and promote university-industry partnerships.

What are the factors of commercial success? As they say in real estate: location, location, location.

So what makes a good location for commercializing innovation? Innovative ideas clearly thrive where R&D spending flows and local patent activity exists. But, do R&D dollars and level of patents also indicate locations for tech transfer?

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) recently released its preliminary 2004 figures for per capita income, revealing average income received by persons grew by 4.7 percent between 2003 and 2004. The change in income was not evenly distributed across the country.

The SSTI Weekly Digest will take its annual spring vacation next week. Publication of the Digest and Funding Supplement will resume with the April 18 issue.

Nearly every university and community seeks to cultivate a niche in new technologies ­ nurturing venture capital, technology transfer and knowledge networks. Many policies have focused on biotechnology as the kernel of future economic development. Meanwhile, budding nanotechnology has started to show its first blooms in the commercial sector.

To encourage investment in high tech companies, the Hawaii Senate recently passed Senate Bill 1695, authorizing $120 million for the State Private Investment Fund (SPIF) and Senate Bill 1696 to allow fiduciaries to make equity investments.

Arizona must begin viewing medical and educational institutions as a major economic driver of the state economy in order to become a leader in the biosciences industry, according to a new report from the Arizona Board of Regents.

While some regional assessments attempt to benchmark economic indicators of smaller regions to those of notable accomplishment such as Silicon Valley or Research Triangle Park, a new study from the Center for Regional Strategies at Virginia Tech compares regions with similar economic and demographic characteristics, a potentially more useful model for other metro areas.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has released Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering: Fall 2002, a collection of 54 statistical tables presenting the distribution of graduate students in science and engineering (S&E) across population segments, fields of science or engineering, and by college and state. Overall long-term trends for S&E graduate students from 1975 to 2002 and short-term trends from 1995 to 2002 by detailed fields are presented as well.

Organizations

The influential 5,600-member American Association for Higher Education announced last Thursday that it would close by the end of the year due to financial difficulties stemming in part from a sharp decline in membership.