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John Murray has been named executive director of the Maryland Economic Development Commission.

William Rosenberg has resigned from his position as CEO of the Michigan Broadband Authority. which approved its first loan at the end of March for wireless broadband service in several small towns.

William Seelbach has been named Interim President of the Ohio Aerospace Institute.

Elizabeth Sellars is the new manager of Idaho Operations for the Department of Energy.

Michael Witt has been appointed Executive Director of MichBio, the state's bioscience industry association.

A plan to increase Maine's R&D activity to $1 billion by 2010 was revealed last week by the Department of Economic and Community Development's (DECD) Office of Innovation and the Maine Science and Technology Council (MSTAC). The level of R&D activity in Maine currently stands at $430 million.

Four recently published papers from the Federal Reserve Banks of Philadelphia, San Francisco and Chicago center around TBED issues including the role of cities in the 21st Century, the biotechnology industry in the Midwest, state R&D tax credits, and R&D spending during recessions. Links to these papers and more than 1,000 additional TBED-related research reports, strategic plans and o

Wisconsin manufacturers must adapt to a fast-changing world in order to grow and succeed in the 21st century. That is the thrust of a recent study of the state’s industrial economy recently released by the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership (WMEP).

Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell recently unveiled an economic stimulus program that will invest nearly $2 billion in bonds and loan guarantees. The stimulus program is intended to leverage at least $5 billion in private investment in economic development projects, creating jobs in Pennsylvania's small and mid-size cities and towns.

Key provisions of Plan for a New Pennsylvania include:

The past week has marked the beginning of two public initiatives in Washington State to increase the availability of financing for technology firms.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has posted an online version of its 304-page analysis of the research and development portion of the President's FY04 budget request. After a five-chapter overview, which includes a brief look at declining industrial R&D expenditures, the report breaks down the $122.5 billion request for R&D for seven federal agencies.

An update to Louisiana: Vision 2020, a strategic plan to improve the Louisiana economy, calls for creating more quality jobs in the state's high growth sectors. First released by the Louisiana Economic Development Council in 1998, the newly revised plan also stresses the need to place increased importance on early childhood education, teacher quality and math and reading performance among high school students as keys to boosting student achievement.

The business incubation industry has grown dramatically since 1998, both in the number of programs in operation and the depth and breadth of services they offer, according to 2002 State of the Business Incubation Industry, a recent report by the National Business Incubation Association (NBIA).

Corporate, community and independent foundations can be significant sources of funding for local and regional technology-based economic development initiatives. Unfortunately, the first look at growth and giving estimates for 2002 and 2003, suggests foundations may be less charitable than previous years to new and existing grantees.

A recent study released by the AeA reported a decline of 560,000 high-tech jobs in the U.S. over the period from January 2001 to December 2002. However, AeA’s Tech Employment Update may not show the true magnitude of the decrease in high-tech jobs, as the AeA definition of high-tech excludes many industrial sectors with significant R&D investments.

Two of SSTI's sister organizations for promoting technology-based economic development (TBED) had items of potential interest to the readers of the SSTI Weekly Digest in their e-newsletters this week. The highlights below include links for more information.

The Institute for Government Innovations has announced it is accepting applications for the 17th Annual Innovations in American Government Awards, ultimately to identify outstanding examples of creative problem solving in the public sector.

A recent $10 billion judgment against Philip Morris may have the tobacco giant filing bankruptcy. Philip Morris has claimed it cannot post a $12 billion bond to appeal a lawsuit in Illinois or even meet the $2.6 billion payment due mid-April for the 1998 settlement with the states.

There were recurring themes underlying the design and development of SSTI's 9th Annual Conference, Investing in a Brighter Future: Building Tech-based Economies, held Oct. 19-21 in Atlanta, Georgia: inevitability, irrelevance and inspiration.

One comment we receive numerous times each year at SSTI's annual conference is that people wish more of the key decision makers and TBED practitioners in their regions had attended the event to make it easier to re invigorate their entire efforts to promote growth through science and technology. The easiest way to accomplish that is to host SSTI's 10th Annual Conference next fall!

To stimulate equity investment in America's small businesses and create jobs, the U.S. Senate introduced last week the Small Business Investment and Growth Act of 2005.

Examining the components that would most likely be attributed directly to Acting Gov. Richard Codey's proposed $380 million Stem Cell Research Initiative, a Rutgers University study finds that, potentially, the state stands to benefit from an estimated $1.4 billion in new economic activity, approximately 20,000 new jobs, and $71.9 million in new state revenue over the next 20 years.

To improve the way students learn and teachers teach in the areas of science and mathematics, Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri's Blue Ribbon Panel on Mathematics and Science Education recommends 12 specific strategies in four key areas including governance and culture; teacher recruitment; teacher quality; and learning opportunities for students.

Service industries once again outpaced growth in the goods-producing industries across the country in 2004, according to gross state product (GSP) figures released Oct. 26 by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Private services-producing industries grew 5.1 percent above 2003 figures, while private goods-producing industries grew at a 3.1 percent rate.

Correction: In last week's People column, Tom Walker's new title was incorrect. Mr Walker is executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Oklahoma Technology Commercialization Center.

Richard Greene, director of the Arlington Technology Incubator and former mayor of Arlington Texas, has been appointed regional administrator of the U.S. EPA.