During the states' fiscal crisis, a number of TBED programs were eliminated, while others survived. SSTI staff spent a fair amount of time analyzing what the survivors had in common, and we boiled the results down to three items that successful TBED programs have in common. While it may seem simplistic, the three commonalities are:
More than 45 days into the new fiscal year, several budget bills have finally moved out of Congress. Representatives from nearly all of the programs highlighted below will be participating in SSTI's fifth annual conference, discussing their priorities, plans and funding cycles for FY 2002. An entire track of breakout sessions has been dedicated toward federal funding opportunities for tech-based economic development programs and their clients.
The Maryland Technology Development Corp. (TEDCO), RESI (a regional economic studies institute at Towson University), and the Maryland Business Incubation Association (MBIA) presented on Thursday the results of the Maryland Incubator Impact Study — a first-of-its-kind study for the state by measuring the economic impact of Maryland's six public- and university-related high-tech business incubators on the state's economy.
Innovation indices or S&T report cards can be useful tools for assessing the health and direction of a region or state's economy. The results can be helpful for determining appropriate policies and programs to affect change and measuring progress. Evolving over the past five years, many states, localities and national organizations have prepared indices.
The President has nominated Sean O'Keefe to be Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. O'Keefe replaces Daniel Goldin, who resigned last month.
Fresno, California
PricewaterhouseCoopers has released the detailed data for the third quarter results of its Moneytree™ survey. The survey found a total of $6.5 billion was invested in 601 financing rounds — a 23 percent decline in dollars and a 16 percent decline in rounds compared to last quarter. SSTI has prepared a table presenting the state-by-state results.
Democrats took the year’s only two races for governor, electing Jim McGreevey in New Jersey and Mark Warner in Virginia.
Voters in Maine passed a bond issue authorizing the state to borrow $5 million for biomedical and marine research and development by Maine-based nonprofit and state research institutions.
States that support a vibrant technology sector are attentive to the quality of their economic development efforts and continue toattract venture capital will outperform those that do not, according to the 2001 Development Report Card for the States.
A group of community leaders bent on revitalizing the Duluth, Minn., economy and ensuring economic opportunities for the city recently moved one step closer toward accomplishing its goals.
The Bridge Syndicate, a non-profit with more than 300 members, recently made public its plan for economic growth, issuing A Positive Vision for Duluth's Economy.
The Wisconsin Legislature presently faces two bills which could greatly boost venture capital funds in the state.
The National Science Foundation Division of Science Resource Statistics has e-published early release tables for the Science & Engineering Doctorate Awards: 2000 report. The data show trends in science and engineering (S&E) doctorate awards by S&E field and recipient characteristics, institutions awarding doctorates, and postgraduation plans of recipients.
Atlanta, Georgia
With disaster comes opportunity for dramatic changes to occur through the healing and rebuilding processes. Floods, hurricanes and tornados have helped to energize devastated areas into becoming more vibrant communities. The deep recession of the late 80s and restructuring of many key industrial sectors ushered in many state tech-based economic development programs, the benefits of which are being felt more than a decade later.
larta has issued its 2002 Federal Technology Funding Guide, a survey of federal funding sources for technology firms. The sixth edition of the guide provides information on more than 90 regularly scheduled programs, hundreds of links to resources on the Web, and a special section funding for technologies to fight terrorism. An index identifies program by technology area or funding emphasis.
Both the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) and the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) would see budget increases in FY 2005 if the version of the Commerce, Justice, State Appropriations Bill that passed the Senate Appropriations Committee last week survives what is expected to be a contentious conference with the House on an mega-omnibus appropriations bill sometime after the election.
More than half since recession "officially" ended
There is little comforting news in a new statistical report for workers in the U.S. information and communication technologies (ICT) sector. Researchers from the University of Illinois-Chicago found the sector lost 403,300 jobs between March 2001 and April 2004.
While it appears that federal programs in the U.S. have succeeded in efforts to increase enrollment in higher education, the nation has fallen behind in retaining college graduates, according to a new report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
During the recent past, heavy loss of manufacturing jobs has created considerable economic upheaval in several states, particularly the industrial heartland of the country where manufacturing represents more of a state's private payrolls than the national average. Michigan, alone, lost 18 percent of its manufacturing-related jobs from 2000 to 2003, a staggering 163,000 mostly high-wage jobs. Still, the manufacturing sector comprises 17 percent of the total jobs in the Great Lakes state.
Seekers for evidence of the increasingly global nature of competition on the research and innovation levels need look no further than some recent announcements stemming from Malaysia.
The role community colleges play in building tech economies has grown substantially during the past decade beyond important, yet traditional, worker training programs. A new compendium from the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE) provides several examples of efforts by its 14-member community colleges and technical schools to foster entrepreneurship. Highlighted programs include:
The presentations from last week's conference, Knowledge Clusters and Entrepreneurship in Regional Economic Development, now available online, provide a good introduction to many of the topics and issues to be discussed at SSTI's annual conference, Building Tech-based Economies: Preparing for Tomorrow's Challenges, in Philadelphia, Oct. 13-15.
Two reports released during this past week examine state fiscal conditions for FY 2002 and a slowing national economy following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11.
State Fiscal Outlook for FY 2002: October Update
Philanthropic individuals and foundations are increasingly vital contributors for tech-based economic development, particularly for "big-ticket" initiatives. Most gifts, such as that covered in the second item below, are tied to a specific relationship with a university or field of research, working independently of the strategies or programs developed by state or local tech-based economic development organizations.