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The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce unveiled a new website targeting the region’s entrepreneurial community. The Nashville Entrepreneurial Center provides insight and advice on starting a new company, local business and innovation news and several ways to connect to other entrepreneurs and investors. Though the site already offers a blog and social networking features, the group plans to expand their services to include additional resources for entrepreneurs seeking funding and other types of assistance.

Kathy Collins has been appointed as the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Network (WEN) regional director in Madison. Previously, Collins worked as the technology and financial development manager in the Commerce Division of Business Development.

Ron Cox has been appointed as the assistant dean for economic development in the engineering college at Iowa State University. He retains his current position as director of CIRAS, the Center for Industrial Research and Service.

A complete description of this opportunities and others is available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced Thursday his plans to create a new Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship within the Department of Commerce and launch a National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Both new initiatives will help leverage the entire federal government on behalf of promoting entrepreneurship in America. The new office is expected to announce additional initiatives in the coming months.

The opportunities for improving the partnership your TBED effort has with the federal government appear to be improving rapidly. Are you ready? Is the TBED community ready? SSTI's Annual Conference theme, Seize the Moment, was developed around this growing momentum. Timely and highly interactive plenary sessions, 16 intensive breakout sessions and some of the most forward-thinking TBED practitioners and policymakers will be on hand with hundreds of your peers at SSTI's Annual Conference, Oct 21-23. Shouldn't you be there?

The national recession that began at the end of 2007 is "very likely over," according to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Recovery, however, may be a long way off. Because states were affected differently by the economic downturn in both timing and impact, recovery for state and local economies is likely to occur at different times. Moody's Economy.com predicts, according to an MSNBC article, that job growth will return first in five states: Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Texas, and Washington.

The differences in economic performance among the metropolitan areas with the largest populations are vast, as a few metros already are emerging from the recession and others are in danger of being left behind, according to a recent brief by the Brookings Institution. To be issued every quarter, last week's MetroMonitor: Tracking Economic Recession and Recovery in America's 100 Largest Metropolitan Areas examines changes in employment, unemployment rate, gross metro product (GMP), housing prices and foreclosed properties through the end of June 2009.

Each year, Southern Growth Policies Board honors Southern initiatives that are improving economic opportunities and quality of life in the region. The 2010 Innovator Awards will be chosen from creative initiatives in the region that aim to help communities recover from the recession. Innovator Awards are presented annually to one organization in each of Southern Growth's 13 member states, and winners are recognized at Southern Growth's Annual Conference. The deadline for nominations is Nov 6.

Tom Ballard was named director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Partnerships Directorate, formerly known as Technology Transfer and Economic Development. Ballard had been serving as the organization's interim director since August 2007.



The Howard County Economic Development Authority appointed Larry Collins as a new technology manager and as executive director of the new Howard Technology Council.

Tom Ballard was named director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Partnerships Directorate, formerly known as Technology Transfer and Economic Development. Ballard had been serving as the organization's interim director since August 2007.