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Maxine Lunn is leaving her position as Vice President for Technology Programs at Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology to work in international development.

The Illinois Biotechnology Industry Organization has appointed David Miller to serve as president, effective September 3.

John Wik, director of Delaware's economic development office, is resigning in September to pursue interests in the private sector.

Gary Woodbury, president and CEO of the Small Business Association of Michigan for the past 15 years, has announced he will retire in June 2003.

The number of tech workers immigrating to the U.S. for jobs in the IT industry are down more than 50 percent compared to a year ago, according to figures released by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) this week. With hundreds of dot-com closures and tens of thousands of layoffs in the information and communication technology industries, the drop was expected by many analysts.

Recognizing the potential economic impact of biotech, nearly every state, most colleges and dozens of communities are developing programs to build bio-based economies. Everyone wants a piece of what may be the guiding field for industrial transformation over the next several decades. Is there enough bio for everyone? What strategies work for building bio-based economies? What approaches are states and localities taking, and what's working?

Venture capital investment continued downward in the second quarter of 2002, according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers/Venture Economics/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree™ Survey.

The legal ban on non-compete contracts may have played a role in and continues to affect the development of the high tech sector in California. This is the conclusion of Rob Valletta, Research Advisor, in the August 16, 2002, edition of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Economic Letter. The article, On the Move: California Employment Law and High-Tech Development analyzes the relationship between high tech development and states that do not legally allow non-compete contracts.

Arizona was one of the first states to embrace cluster-based economic development in the early 1990s. While the formal clusters have had varying degrees of success since then, one of the challenges of a cluster-based approach to technology-based economic development is the fractionalized focus across sectors. Because of this, clusters can end up competing against each other for limited public resources, making cross-sector strategies difficult to identify or implement.

The Environmental Protection Agency has posted its selections for the FY 2002 Phase I solicitation of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program.

The Council on Competitiveness, a non-profit, Washington-based organization, is seeking an executive director for its new National Center on Regional Innovation and Competitiveness. The new center will identify and advance innovation-based regional development strategies, conduct regional workshops, and disseminate best practices in managing regional innovation.

Charlotte A. Hayes, president of DCTech, the Washington DC Technology Council, has resigned to return to the private sector. John Sanders has been named interim president, while the council seeks a permanent replacement.

Jim Hayes is serving as interim president of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama as the group works to fill the position. Hayes was a former director of the Alabama Development Office.

Charlotte A. Hayes, president of DCTech, the Washington DC Technology Council, has resigned to return to the private sector. John Sanders has been named interim president, while the council seeks a permanent replacement.

Jim Hayes is serving as interim president of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama as the group works to fill the position. Hayes was a former director of the Alabama Development Office.

William Parsons is serving as acting executive director of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp. Parsons is the vice president of operations.

Correction: Lara Vande Walle is the director of membership and business development for the Maryland Technology Council, not Maryland's TEDCO as was previously reported.

While Congress and the Administration are looking for ways to flatten or even reduce spending for research, entrepreneurship and innovation, leaders on the other side of the pond are committing hard currency to strengthening Europe's position in the global, tech-based economy.

With the recent passage of the state's biennial budget, North Dakota's universities and colleges can now compete for a share of $20 million in matching funds to create Centers of Excellence. The money is the first installment of the state legislature's $50 million commitment to the Centers program, which is the centerpiece of Gov. John Hoeven's initiatives to transform the state's economy toward science and technology.

A ballot initiative designed to bolster the Ohio economy and create jobs by continuing the state’s public works infrastructure program and supporting the commercialization of science and technology-based research was announced last week by Gov. Bob Taft and other legislative leaders. The initiative, to appear on the Nov.

Gov. Donald Carcieri last month announced two new initiatives targeting Rhode Island's science and technology (S&T) and manufacturing industries. On April 12, Gov. Carcieri signed an Executive Order creating the Science & Technology Advisory Council.

Efforts to capitalize Hawaii's $120 million State Private Investment Fund (SPIF) collapsed Friday as a joint conference committee of the state legislature could not reconcile differences between House and Senate versions of the measure. Passage of Senate Bill 1695 was one of Gov. Linda Lingle's top economic development priorities for this legislative session.

States such as Oklahoma must leverage scarce resources if they hope to attract top scientists, stimulate development, and achieve measurable economic impact, says the latest impact report from the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST).

As low-skill, labor intensive jobs are increasingly replaced by technology or outsourced in the emerging knowledge-based economy, a two-tiered labor market has emerged, thus presenting a challenge for workers to either work cheaper or work smarter, says a new report from the Southern Growth Policies Board. Only one of those options is appealing for those trying to improve your standard of living.

During the months of May and June, the SSTI Weekly Digest and Funding Supplement will be published every other week. SSTI staff over the next two months will be completing work on two major projects that require focused concentration. We look forward to resuming the Digest and Funding Supplement on a weekly basis in July. The next issue of the Digest will be May 16.

A draft report from the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) recommends the Department for Homeland Security include a centralized office for research and technology development and the senior-level position of undersecretary for science and technology, according to several published reports.