The fifth installment of the Tech Talkin’ Gov’s series includes highlights from State of the State Addresses delivered in Alabama, Connecticut, Minnesota and Wyoming.
Alabama
Gov. Bob Riley, State of the State Address, Feb. 6, 2008
One of the continuing challenges for TBED organizations is successfully documenting how their investments and activities influence the economic landscape of their states and regions. SSTI has selected a few recent state reports as examples of impact assessment, each identifying and utilizing certain measurements to help them tell their story. Their approaches may be of interest to other TBED organizations looking to gauge and share their impact with others.
State venture capital programs are an integral part of many state’s technology-based economic development portfolio. These programs can strategically target state investments towards promising high-tech companies at the critical early stages of business development and in areas where private capital is scarce. Venture programs, however, are not always easy to implement. By definition, they require a large fund of investment capital and sufficient manpower to assist and monitor their portfolio companies.
Included within the NSF’s National Patterns of R&D Resources series is data detailing the amount of each state’s total R&D expenditures and gross state product (GSP). Total R&D is calculated by combining a state’s R&D expenditures from federal sources, colleges and universities, federally funded research and development centers, industry and other nonprofit institutions.
It only seems natural that SSTI celebrate the premiere professional development event for the nation's tech-based economic development community in 2009 in a state that, for 20 years, has pioneered innovative approaches to transform regional economies - Kansas. SSTI's 13th annual conference and pre-conference workshops will be held at the Sheraton Overland Park Hotel on Oct. 20-22, 2009.
The Carolina Center for Competitive Economies (C3E) at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, invites applications for the position of Associate Director for Research.
Temi Bova is the new director of Union College's U-start technology business incubator in Schenectady, N.Y.
The Ben Franklin Technology PArtners of Central and Northern Pennsylvania promoted Stephen Brawley to serve as president and CEO.
Temi Bova is the new director of Union College's U-start technology business incubator in Schenectady, N.Y.
The Ben Franklin Technology PArtners of Central and Northern Pennsylvania promoted Stephen Brawley to serve as president and CEO.
Alan Brown was named executive director of the Pennsylvania NanoMaterials Commercialization Center, a newly formed economic development initiative.
The Wright Center of Innovation for Advanced Data Management and Analysis changed its name to daytaOhio and named Paul Cashen as its new president.
Former Lansing Community College president Paula Cunningham is the new director of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth.
Dan Curran is the new director of the Business Development Division of the Nebraska Department of Development.
Ted Ford, former president and CEO of the Edison Welding Institute, recently was named president and CEO of TECHColumbus.
Sandy Johnson, interim CEO of the Mid-American Manufacturing Technology Center, was appointed to the position on a permanent basis.
Roger Kilmer was appointed director of the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership program at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Kilmer served as acting director since Kevin Carr's departure last June.
Sean O'Kane, commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development, is resigning from the position at the end of his two-year term in March to return to the private sector.
BioFlorida President Diana Robinson is leaving to join a private venture capital company once her replacement is selected.
Tim Rubald, interim executive director of the Nevada Commission on Economic Development, was appointed to the position on a permanent basis.
Harvard University President Lawrence Summers announced his resignation this afternoon. Former Harvard president Derek Bok is to serve as interim president for the university.
Four years ago, President Bush launched a nationwide initiative to increase the availability of affordable, high-speed Internet access. The Administration's Broadband Initiative, which included efforts to expand the wireless spectrum available for commercial use and new funding to support broadband research, sought to eliminate the gaps in service that existed in many areas of the country and to improve U.S. competitiveness through its broadband infrastructure.
Gov. Charlie Crist outlined several new alternative and renewable energy initiatives aimed at diversifying the state’s economy and creating high-wage jobs in his fiscal year 2008-09 budget recommendation. Many of the new proposals would be financed by tapping into the state’s budget reserves and relying on casino and lottery revenues.
Gov. Brad Henry unveiled the details of his fiscal year 2009 budget recommendation earlier this week, providing a substantial increase in funding to the state’s lead TBED agency and proposing a permanent funding mechanism for cutting-edge research through the EDGE Endowment.
Several months of debate leading into a special legislative session late last year was not enough to convince lawmakers to approve funding for two of the governor’s major TBED priorities. With the release of the fiscal year 2008-09 budget recommendation, Gov. Ed Rendell is again asserting the importance of the alternative energy legislation and the Jonas Salk Legacy Fund, urging lawmakers to quickly enact the initiatives.
Measuring the strength of a state or region’s economy, particularly the elements related to tech-based economic development, is a tricky but vital tool for developing and updating TBED policies. Several challenges present themselves when deciding what information to present on the elements of the innovation system and assessing the region’s health and performance relative to appropriate surrogates.