Funding Supplement for Members Only in 2006 As long-time subscribers to the SSTI Weekly Digest know, during the past five years SSTI has published a separate element of the newsletter identifying federal and foundation funding opportunities that support either tech-based economic development directly or scientific inquiry and R&D.

After several months of debate regarding a number of economic development initiatives, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed into law a major economic stimulus bill. However, unhappy with portions of a separate tax break package for businesses, the governor vetoed two of the 10 bills.

At the end of November, President Bush signed the fiscal year 2006 Appropriations Bill for the Department of Energy & Water, H.R. 2419. A summary of the Administration's budget request for DOE is available in the Feb. 14 issue of the Digest. Highlights of the bill include:

Note: This is the first in a series of articles SSTI will be running over the next several weeks to provide synopses of selected breakout sessions from SSTI's 9th Annual Conference, held Oct. 19-21, 2005, in Atlanta. Ideas for 2006 conference sessions can be forwarded to skinner@ssti.org.

In another wing of the InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta, site of SSTI's 2005 conference, participants shared what their states and regions are doing in the area of encouraging the development and deployment of alternative energy.

The rise in the late 1990s in the concept of a "new economy" was coupled with the rapid growth in research and innovation investment within the information and communication technology (ICT) sector. When the dot-com bubble burst, some state and local strategies were revamped to look for the next big thing, which in many places was biotechnology or nanotechnology.

To help entrepreneurs start and manage businesses, the Kauffman Foundation recently launched Kauffman eVenturing™ ( www.eVenturing.org).

The U.S. Census Bureau has recently released the 2003 Model-based Estimates of Income and Poverty for States from the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates Program (SAIPE).

On the heels of the release of two roadmaps calling for increased state support for advanced manufacturing and information technology (IT), Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack announced plans to spend $50 million "to attract leading scientists to Iowa and spark new research and product development," according to the Des Moines Register.

The available pool of equity capital grew substantially last Thursday as the board of trustees for the $31.7 billion Alaska Permanent Fund approved the placement of 8 percent of the fund's value into alternative assets, such as venture capital funds and hedge funds. The Associated Press reports the current value of all alternative investments held by the Permanent Fund totals $292 million.

While Indiana has demonstrated strong competitiveness in industry and university R&D and performed well in entrepreneurial programs, the state lags most of its regional competitors and many of the 50 states in terms of production of new innovation workers and educational attainment, says a new report from Techpoint and the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.

Last week, Congress passed HR 2862, the fiscal year 2006 appropriations bill for State, Science, Justice, and Commerce. SSTI covered the federal budget request in the Feb. 14 issue of the Digest.

The Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) has released the 92-page summary report for its 14th annual survey of university licensing, revealing steady growth in the field. AUTM U.S. Licensing Survey: FY 2004 provides quantitative information about licensing activities at universities, hospitals and research institutions across North America.

Robert Cresanti was nominated by President Bush to become the next undersecretary of Commerce for Technology.

Jim Denn was named deputy executive director of the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR).

Robert Cresanti was nominated by President Bush to become the next undersecretary of Commerce for Technology.

Jim Denn was named deputy executive director of the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR).

Peter Gold was appointed associate provost for economic initiatives at Rutgers-Camden.

Eric Griego was appointed assistant secretary of economic development for the New Mexico Economic Development Department.

Hunt Lambert was selected as the new associate vice president for economic development in the Colorado State University system.

Jim Pennekamp will be the executive director of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville's research and business park, effective Dec. 1.

John Reardon will be new Charles County Economic Development Department chief in Maryland, effective in December.

Steven Weathers is the new president and CEO of the Regional Growth Partnership in Toledo, Ohio.

As off-year elections go, the Nov. 8, 2005, election was pretty quiet across the country if you weren't running for mayor in one of 300-plus municipalities up for grabs or governor of New Jersey or Virginia.

New Jersey and Virginia were the only two states to choose governors in November 2005, with both states having open races. Below is a description of each governor-elect's position on TBED.

Chris Copenhaver, an employee of the Department of Economic Development in Roanoke, Va., was named the city's first entrepreneurial specialist.