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Jefferson County, Missouri 

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.

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:

Public corporations headquartered in the U.S. almost doubled the growth rate of their investment in R&D in 2000, according to new data from the advance estimates of annual U.S. corporate R&D released this week by the Commerce Department’s Office of Technology Policy.

With the announcement of the first 30 grants under the Federal and State Technology Partnership (FAST) less than two weeks old (see the October 5 issue of the Digest), the new federal program supporting state efforts to encourage small business technology development and commercialization is in danger of being cancelled.

"If technology is at the core of the Innovation Economy, then investment in research and development is one of the principal drivers in the creation of that technology."

After nearly ten years as the head of America's space program, NASA's longest-serving Administrator, Daniel S. Goldin, has announced his resignation, effective November 17, 2001. He also announced he has accepted an interim position as a Senior Fellow for the Council on Competitiveness in Washington D.C., as he transitions into the private sector.

If one were asked to identify localized examples of the economic spectacle that was the late 1990s, the metro region of Austin, Texas would be on most short lists. A recently completed economic development plan from the tech-soaked Austin suburb of Round Rock, however, reflects the fundamental upheaval or disruption that characterizes the economies of many regions of the country.

Richard Bendis, president and chief executive officer of the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation (KTEC), has accepted an offer to lead the newly created Innovation Philadelphia Corporation. Mr. Bendis has been involved with KTEC since the organization was created in 1987. He was appointed to the KTEC board of directors by the Governor and served as the board’s first chairman. Mr. Bendis served as interim president in 1994 before being named president in 1995.

The Australian Government has enacted new rules to attract international private equity investment in the country’s venture capital community. The rules introduce tax concessions for international investors, including university endowment funds and venture capital fund-to-fund vehicles. The rules will treat these investors in the same way as pension funds, exempting them from capital gains tax on their Australian investments.

The National Science Foundation has launched the new, online Industrial Research and Development Information System (IRIS) to provide easy access to information on industrial R&D performance across a broad range of years and criteria.

Alabama

A Letter from Bozeman, Montana

Location-based tax incentives to encourage the clustering of technology companies in distressed areas or around research universities has grown in popularity since Michigan's smart zones were created several years ago.

Securing the multi-year funding needed to properly ramp up technology-based economic development (TBED) initiatives can be difficult in states with annual budget cycles and tight revenue streams. Fortunately, there is one federal agency that provides financial assistance increasingly toward local and regional projects matching the interests of the nation's TBED community.

As part of a new initiative to address pressing ethical, legal and social questions raised by recent advances in genetic and genomic research, the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) has awarded approximately $20 million in grants to fund interdisciplinary centers within universities around the country over the next five years. NHGRI is one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The need for programs to encourage science, math and technology education (SMET) among most minority groups becomes evident when one consider the nation’s need for a high skilled workforce, the growing portion of the total population divided among minority groups, and the low percentage most minorities represent of science and engineering professionals.

Measured over a three-year period, minority women-owned businesses had similar survival rates and employment growth compared to all women-owned firms, according to a recent series of federal reports. However, when measured against other minority women-owned firms, African American women-owned businesses showed greater job loss and lower survival rates.

Real median household income remained unchanged between 2002 and 2003 at $43,318, according to a report released last week by the U.S. Census Bureau. The report, Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2003, includes data collected from the 2004 Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey.

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP), a nonprofit economic development organization based in Philadelphia, seeks someone to serve as director of its investment and entrepreneurial services. Established in 1982, BFTP exists to stimulate economic growth through innovation, entrepreneurship and the development and adoption of new technologies.