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Spokane Economic Development Council president Mark Turner has announced his resignation.

Jeff Wadsworth has been named the next director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Wadsworth was a former deputy director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Larry Willard, president of the University of New Mexico Board of Regents, is leaving the position to become chairman of the New Mexico Economic Development Corp.

Upon ruling in favor of a $50 million bonds issue last month, the Oklahoma Supreme Court cleared the way for an endowed chairs program at colleges and universities throughout the state .

In the Dec. 19, 2005 issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest, an editor's note highlighted the mega-investments several states are making to establish themselves as significant players in key research areas.

Increased funding for research centers, a laptop program, and investments in higher education were highlighted in South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds' fiscal year 2007 budget address last month.

Last month, voters in Arkansas narrowly rejected a major bond proposal targeting technology and capital upgrades in higher education and actively supported by Gov. Mike Huckabee, leaving many to wonder what went wrong.

It is no coincidence that every article in this issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest touched on some aspect of higher education's role in promoting economic growth. Knowledge-based economies driven by innovation require strong and successful institutions of higher learning. Those same types of economies, particularly when applied on a global scale, present unique challenges to sustaining educational and research excellence with academia based on older models of financing and leadership.

Fred Tompkins, professor and interim dean of the University of Tennessee (UT) College of Engineering, has been named interim executive director of the UT Research Foundation.

With preparations for SSTI's 7th Annual Conference on October 20-22 well underway, we have received many questions from local, regional and state organizations wanting to host the premier event for the tech-based economic development profession in 2004. Because of the increased interest, SSTI has bumped up its schedule for selecting the 2004 site. We are accepting nominations of host organizations and locations for SSTI's 8th Annual Conference until July 11, 2003.

SSTI is declaring its independence from publishing an issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest on July 4. The Digest will resume on July 11.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) could have more money to spend on science and tech initiatives in fiscal year (FY) 2004, thanks to a 63.1 percent increase in R&D funding approved Tuesday by the U.S. House of Representatives. Approximately $900.4 million – or $348.4 million more than the previous year – will go toward DHS's Science and Technology (S&T) budget in FY04.

South Carolina's three major research universities were awarded a total of $30 million this week to establish the state's first six centers of excellence, according to The State, a Columbia, S.C.-based newspaper.

As many states are striving to increase their academic research capacity in areas that will strengthen long-term economic competitiveness, the governor of the Lone Star State is pursuing an alternate course that closely resembles traditional business recruitment and retention models.

The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) has issued a new study showing Maryland continues to underperform in some key areas of innovation while leading competitor states in other areas.

The St. Louis BioBelt announced this week it is well along in launching four new initiatives designed to position the region as a "location of choice" for start-up and evolving plant and life science companies.

A new 225-page report released by the U.S. Department of Commerce examines employer demand for information technology (IT) workers, the IT education and training landscape, and the role of employers and workers in IT education and training. Education and Training for the Information Technology Workforce, mandated by the American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act of 2000, highlights five broad findings:

Rosellen Kraus has announced she will be leaving the Central Florida Technology Partnership at the end of the summer.

The Virginia Institute for Defense and Homeland Security has named Hugh Montgomery, Jr. as the consortium's first director, effective July 1.

Rosellen Kraus has announced she will be leaving the Central Florida Technology Partnership at the end of the summer.

The Virginia Institute for Defense and Homeland Security has named Hugh Montgomery, Jr. as the consortium's first director, effective July 1.

Neil Shpritz, executive director of the BWI Business Partnership in Maryland, is retiring in October.

With the state's current fiscal year winding down and a $1 billion deficit looming for the next one, Ohio has re-emphasized its commitment to building a stronger economic future through research and technology with a series of multi-million grant announcement over the past three weeks.

The Washington Technology Center (WTC) has created a new program that will make obtaining access to early-stage seed capital easier for companies outside the Puget Sound. WTC is Washington's statewide science and technology organization.

For Texas, the appropriate role for the state to serve in fostering economic development continues to evolve. With the passage of Senate Bill 275 earlier this month, the third organization in seven years will take the lead to encourage economic growth — this time with a strong focus on clusters and technology-based economic development.

Citing inadequate information available to those who oversee technology incubators, yet emphasizing the incubators' significant and measurable impact on communities, the U.S. Department of Commerce's Technology Administration has released a study that highlights 17 of the nation's top incubators. A National Benchmarking Analysis of Technology Business Incubator Performance and Practices details the role business incubators have in technology development strategies.