The latest in SSTI's annual "Tech Talkin' Govs" series. Five earlier installments of this 2005 review of governors' legislative priorities concerning tech-based economic development are available through the Digest online: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/digest.htm
Michigan
As the only state to have a net job loss in 2004, Michigan's political leadership recognizes something must change. The state's shifting economy, from one defined principally by its manufacturing sector to one that derives growth equally from knowledge-based industries, is at the center of the matter. Michigan policymakers are challenged to create innovative proposals that preserve one facet of the economy while broadening the other.
A recent proposal by Senate Republicans in Iowa to eliminate the state income tax for residents under the age of thirty has brought the issue of the out-migration of young, educated adults once again to the forefront.
To spur job creation in Ontario, the provincial government recently announced two initiatives focusing on innovation and regional economic growth -- the new Fuel Cell Innovation Program and the newly refocused Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC).
Statewide efforts addressing all of higher education's public purposes are needed to combat the increasing competition and privatization sweeping the nation's public colleges and universities, says a new report from the Futures Project, Correcting Course: How We Can Restore the Ideals of Public Higher Education in a Market-Driven Era.
Creativity and curiosity are key ingredients for innovation, so it is not too surprising that many communities are looking for ways to increase the creative spirit among their residents and businesses. The how-to of nurturing creativity does not follow a simple recipe for easy replication across the country, but a recent World Bank working paper provides a broad platform of key ingredients.
West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin signed last week legislation establishing the Department of Commerce and streamlining the support operations for the state’s economic development efforts. Senate Bill 1002, approved during the recent special session of the West Virginia Legislature, renamed the Bureau of Commerce the Department of Commerce.
Galynn Beer succeeds Johnny Roy as the new chairman of the board of the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology.
Jeff Brancato has been named Associate Vice President for Economic Development of University of Massachusetts.
Galynn Beer succeeds Johnny Roy as the new chairman of the board of the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology.
Jeff Brancato has been named Associate Vice President for Economic Development of University of Massachusetts.
Victor Budnick, executive director of Connecticut Innovations, has announced his retirement effective April 1.
Chris Capelli, currently director of the technology transfer office at University of Pittsburgh, is leaving to become vice president for technology transfer at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
The University of Cincinnati has appointed Anne Chasser to serve as associate vice president for technology transfer and commercialization in the school's Office of Research.
Ladd Christensen and Martin Frey are the new co-directors of the Utah Department of Community and Economic Development.
Oleg Kagonovich has been promoted to the position of CEO of the Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance. He formerly served as Chief Operating Officer.
The Small Business Administration (SBA) is anticipated to release its latest summary statistics for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards soon. Unfortunately, the data typically do not include proposal figures, a useful measure of the general effectiveness or need for SBIR technical assistance and outreach in any given state. For several years, the Useful Stats column of the SSTI Weekly Digest has attempted to rectify this omission and FY 2004 is no exception.
Venture capital investments in Montana may have become a little more attractive last Friday as the Montana House of Representatives passed the Montana Equity Capital Investment Act, moving the legislation to Gov. Brian Schweitzer for his consideration and expected signature.
Tech firms in New Mexico received happy tax news on April 4 as Gov. BIll Richardson signed several bills to encourage economic growth across New Mexico.
New York's Empire Zones Program dodged a veto from Gov. George Pataki as an agreement was met with the legislature to restructure the program. The state budget, signed into law last week, extends the program and allows for an additional 12 zones to be created throughout the state.
Legislation that would extend and expand the federal research tax credit was introduced in the U.S. Senate last month. Senate Bill 627 seeks to make permanent the research credit that was first enacted in 1981 and is set to expire Dec. 31, 2005. The bill, sponsored by Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), also would provide an alternative simplified credit for qualified research expenses and increase the rates of the alternative incremental credit.
Do tax credits pave the way for more investment in R&D and equity investments in new enterprises? Or, do they reward companies and venture capitalists for investments they would have made anyway?
Discussions on these questions can become quite heated and fueled by data supportive of both sides, as two new academic analyses demonstrate.
Gross State Product (GSP) is considered, at least in theory, to be an effective measure of the "value added" by a state's economy. That is, the figure represents the sum of all net industrial activity within the state, where net activity is defined as total outputs (sales or receipts and other operating income, commodity taxes, and inventory change) minus total inputs (consumption of goods and services purchased from other industries or imported).
On the final day of March, Gov. Brad Henry signed legislation establishing a $475 million bond issue for a slate of higher education projects, much of which targets research and laboratory facilities. The Oklahoma Higher Education Promise of Excellence Act of 2005, which the governor called "desperately needed," was one of his top legislative priorities for the year (see the Feb. 7, 2005, issue of the Digest).
The U.S. Department of Commerce announced Friday that President Bush intends to nominate David Sampson as Deputy Secretary for the agency. If confirmed, Dr. Sampson will succeed Theodore Kassinger, who will resign effective April 30, 2005.
Prior to becoming Deputy Secretary, Mr. Kassinger served as General Counsel from 2001 to 2004. Mr. Kassinger has served as Deputy Secretary since July 2004.
Two organizations with seemingly the same goal in mind recently released statistics on the health of their region's technology sectors. Relying on different methods, the Pittsburgh Technology Council (PTC) and the Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance (SARTA) both analyze and report the impact of technology clusters on the local economy.