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The average budgets for local and regional economic development organizations fell nearly 3 percent between 2004 and 2005, according to the second annual survey by ACCRA.

University R&D is considered a fundamental element of innovation and technological competitiveness. If R&D spending equates to more R&D, then the 10 percent increase between 2002 and 2003 as reported by the nation's academic community to the National Science Foundation (NSF) would be a rosy sign for America's future.

Over the period 1998-2003, Oregon saw the largest percent change in its academic R&D expenditures funded by industry sources, according to the National Science Foundation's latest survey (see the above story).

The National Governors' Association (NGA) is urging leaders of the House and Senate Commerce-Justice-State (CJS) Appropriations Subcommittees "to maintain the federal government's share of support for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) in the fiscal year (FY) 2003 appropriations."

If states are to emerge from the recession stronger than when they went in, state policymakers must make long-term investments in economic fundamentals such as a skilled workforce, technological capacities and quality amenities, reports the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED). They also need help from the federal government, according to the 16th annual Development Report Card for the States by CFED, a nonpartisan Washington-based think tank.

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP/SEP), an independent nonprofit economic development organization, has announced the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's $2 million commitment to establish the Ben Franklin Investment Partners venture guarantee revolving fund. The fund is the first such development financing vehicle of its kind in the U.S.

U.S. companies had $199.5 billion in R&D investment in 2000, a 9 percent increase over the 1999 total, according to the annual Survey of Industrial Research and Development published by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The survey data is presented in a recent NSF InfoBrief, which shows the total industrial R&D increase to be 7 percent after adjusting for inflation.

The challenges of creating a cluster of companies in related technologies, both the processes and factors for influencing cluster development, are different than the requirements for maintaining the cluster, concludes "Old Economy" Inputs for "New Economy" Outcomes: Cluster Formation in the New Silicon Valleys. The paper contests cluster development is a combination of elements of both new economic theory focusing on increasing returns and old economic theory, which concentrated

Several of the key economic development and science & technology positions have been filled by some of the nation's 24 new governors. Many of these individuals will be involved in setting the state's tech-based economic development agenda and determining budget cuts, reorganization plans or program eliminations to handle the money squeeze. In addition, a few other lead S&T agencies have announced top-level changes.

With the passage of the state's biennial budget, North Carolina's small businesses are now eligible for follow-on support from the state for research projects funded under the federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.

Two initiatives aimed at closing the digital divide, particularly among low-income Americans, were announced earlier this month.

The bottom line for all regional economic development initiatives should be improving the quality of life for the area's residents. A new report from the Census Bureau — revealing the increased percentage of the U.S. population living in poverty and median household income remaining flat again, after two years of decline — provides a not-too-subtle reminder for the technology-based economic development (TBED) field.

Ban on Outside Consulting with Industry Remains in Force

Many of the readers are new to the Digest since last year's conference, so we're getting questions about how SSTI's upcoming 9th annual conference, to be held in Atlanta on Oct. 19-21, differs from other events.

The easiest way to answer that is to let the conference speak for itself — through the comments we received from past participants:

Following the 1998 Master Tobacco Settlement Agreement, states across the country set out to dedicate significant amounts of funding from their share of the settlement to support research and other TBED programs.

On Monday, Sept. 26, 2005, the Economic Development Administration will host a one-hour telecast, to discuss the final report of the Strengthening America’s Communities Advisory Committee.

Placing a high priority on the biosciences as a measure for long-term economic development, the Baltimore Workforce Investment Board (BWIB) has released a strategic plan that aims to ensure growth, in part, by securing a highly motivated and well trained workforce for the city's bioscience sector.

Sixty-nine percent of Kentucky businesses use computer technology to handle some of their business functions, but only 36 percent use the Internet and little more than 20 percent have a website, according to a report released by Governor Paul Patton's Office for the New Economy. Kentucky Prepares for the Networked World, which details computer, Internet and website use among the state's businesses, shows more than 50 percent see "no need" to use the Internet.

The patterns of research and development (R&D) activities vary considerably among those states with the most R&D expenditures, the National Science Foundation's (NSF) latest InfoBrief reports. In 2000, 87 percent of the nation's total R&D investment of $265 billion occurred in 20 states. Only 4 percent of the U.S. R&D total was accounted for by the 20 lowest ranking states.

Ontario is performing from a base of strength in its transition to a knowledge-based economy, according to the Ontario Innovation Index recently released by the Ontario Science and Innovation Council (OSIC). Using 30 indicators, the report measures all aspects of the province's innovation system, from community awareness and support for science and technology (S&T) to levels of investment to support its infrastructure.

The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) has released a report describing its efforts to evaluate the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program created by Congress in 2000. The NMTC program, which has total equity of $15 billion, permits taxpayers to receive a credit against federal income taxes for making qualified equity investments in designated Community Development Entities (CDEs).

Security analysts and policy makers have been concerned with information published in the open scientific literature since WWII and the Cold War. Recently the focus has shifted towards information and research in the biosciences because of the dramatic advances and potential application of this information to bioterrorism.

A new report, Just Clusters: Economic Development Strategies that Reach More People and Places, from Regional Technology Strategies, Inc. (RTS) finds that while cluster-based economic development strategies have the potential to expand opportunities for disadvantaged populations and rural regions, most current cluster strategies do not pay attention to equity issues. The project was made possible through a grant from the Ford Foundation.

With the proper utilization of existing resources, the development of key new programs, strong leadership within state government and coordinated efforts among all programs and stakeholders, Kentucky has the opportunity to become a world leader in specific niches of the life sciences industry, says a report from the Governor's Life Sciences Consortium.

Cluster theories for explaining geographically distinct areas of economic activity have guided state and local economic development policy to varying degrees for the past 25 years. Encouraging cluster growth will be hot in one state’s strategies to encourage growth while cooling or completely absent from its neighbors.