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In Blockchain and Economic Development: Hype vs. Reality, experts from the Center for Global Development address the economic development potential of blockchain technology including its potential and existing hurdles to its growth.

In its latest survey of U.S. public perception of manufacturing, Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute found that the majority of Americans surveyed (roughly 8 in 10) view manufacturing as vital to maintaining economic prosperity in the country, but less than 5 in 10 find those jobs interesting or secure, and less than 3 in 10 would encourage their children to pursue a manufacturing career. However, respondents also said they believe future manufacturing jobs will require high-tech skills, be clean, safe and more innovative.

The number of minority-owned employer firms in the United States inched closer to the million-mark in 2015 after growing by 4.9 percent from the previous year, according to recently published data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs. The 996,248 minority-owned employer firms in the U.S. employed roughly 8.0 million people in 2015 (6.2 percent increase from 2014) and had payrolls of $254.0 billion (8.0 percent increase from 2014).

From Main Street businesses to technology startups, research has shown the rate of new business formation in the United States has plummeted since the 1970s. In the past year, the Digest has frequently cited research from the Economic Innovation Group (EIG), the Kauffman Foundation, and the Federal Reserve on the impacts of declining dynamism on America’s economic outlook. A recent letter by economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco suggests that an often-overlooked aspect of business formation is the availability of labor, and that policies that seek to improve and deepen the labor pool may help increase new business growth.

Over the past week, the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations has passed bills to fund commerce and science, transportation, energy and water and agriculture. Regional Innovation Strategies would be funded at $21 million, an increase of $4 million over FY 2017. Other innovation proposals received mixed support, as the Senate cut $3.2 billion from commerce, justice and science funding and another $400 million from agriculture.

As we enter the second half of 2017, the U.S. venture capital (VC) market is driven by several noticeable trends. After peaking in 2015, the current VC market continues its slow decline in the number of deals, but Q2 of 2017 saw a spike in mega-rounds – rounds of $100 million or more. These mega-rounds are accompanied by strong fundraising efforts including a record-setting mega fund launch.

Some states are better positioned for success in the data economy than others, but all have opportunities for growth, according to a recent report from the Center for Data Innovation. To determine The Best States for Data Innovation authors Daniel Castro, Josh New, and John Wu use 25 indicators across three dimensions: data availability, digital infrastructure, and human and business resources. The authors suggest that all states are capable of improving their capacity for data-driven innovation. To do so, they recommend that state policymakers: make their data accessible and transparent; develop infrastructure items such as broadband Internet and smart connectivity; and, support the use of data to make existing industries more competitive.

The U.S. Department of Treasury released its final annual report for the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), which provided funding to states for lending and investment programs. “Venture capital” programs, often structured for pre-seed (13 percent of funds), seed (27 percent) or early stage (45 percent) investments, attracted $4.2 billion in immediate private financing against $327 million in federal dollars.

With a focus on improving health, driving economic growth, and expanding the country’s research capacity, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world. Because of NIH’s central role in supporting science, technology, and innovation, a better understanding of the agency’s footprint may be helpful to the technology-based economic development practitioner community.

In an effort designed to stimulate economic growth and workforce development in Ohio and New York communities, KeyBank Foundation announced a $24 million grant awarded to JumpStart, Inc. The grant represents the foundation’s single largest philanthropic commitment to date.

Foreign investors expended $373.4 billion in 2016 to acquire, establish, or expand U.S. businesses — a 15 percent decrease (approximately $66.2 billion) from $439.6 billion in 2015 — according to an infobrief from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Of that $373.4 billion, approximately $5.6 billion was deployed to support the creation of new businesses.

SSTI encourages organizations dedicated to serving entrepreneurs to participate in the creation of a new primary data set on the impacts resulting from your efforts. The deadline for participation is August 16.

There are numerous opportunities for leaders at community colleges to collaborate with the private sector around combatting the skills gap and making workforce development programs more effective for students, according to a new report by Elizabeth Mann of Brookings’ Brown Center for Education Policy.

On the heels of delaying the International Entrepreneur Rule (IER), the White House has endorsed a bill that would grade candidates for immigration. A total of 60 organizations, including SSTI and many of our member organizations, stated their opposition to the move in a new letter. It is not clear why the IER’s standard of investible businesses would not fit into the legislation’s merit-based system.

In partnership with the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the Innovations in Food and Agricultural Science and Technology (I-FAST) prize competition.

After arduous processes in both Kansas and Rhode Island, the states have newly-enacted budgets in place that have retained some funding for TBED initiatives. Kansas was able to fund programs that will focus on a skilled workforce and research and development, while Rhode Island will see the creation of a pilot program for free tuition at community colleges through a scaled-back version of the governor’s proposed RI Promise.

Kansas 

Over the last several months, economic development organizations, universities, and their partners have announced new efforts to create the building blocks for entrepreneurial development in rural communities. Examples include i2e announcing new efforts to expand entrepreneurial support services to rural communities in Oklahoma and three Indiana universities partnering to support startup growth in rural regions across the state.

A House bill that would allow manufacturers to sell up to 100,000 self-driving cars each and bar states from restricting their operation passed both its subcommittee and the Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously last month. Concerned about potential job loss, unions representing truck drivers successfully lobbied the House to exempt commercial trucks from the “highly automated vehicle” definition the law affects for the time being.

Cybersecurity efforts have been increasing across the country. In July, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who also serves as chair of the National Governors Association (NGA), announced that 38 governors signed A Compact to Improve State Cybersecurity – a multi-state, coordinated cybersecurity effort focused in three areas that will

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that startup firms (small businesses that were five-years-old or younger and had full- or part-time employees in 2016) were twice as likely to be adding jobs and growing revenues but more likely to be higher credit risk than mature firms. The 2016 Small Business Credit Survey: Report on Startup Firms provides an in-depth look at the financing and credit experiences of the startups.

More can be done at the state level to encourage growth in U.S. manufacturing, according to a recent presentation by Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). In the presentation, held earlier this month at the National Conference of State Legislatures’ (NCSL) summer meeting, Atkinson suggested that there is a role for state policymakers to address each of the four T’s related to sound manufacturing policy: trade, tax, technology, and talent.

SSTI’s analysis of approved FY2018 state budgets continues with a review of action by the Georgia and Utah legislatures. Stability is the word for both states with level funding for the Georgia Research Alliance, Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, and Utah’s USTAR program. The Georgia legislature did approve the governor’s proposal to increase funding for scholarship programs by $50 million.

Georgia

Washington, D.C. – From teaching high school students in rural western Kentucky how to become entrepreneurs to connecting entrepreneurs with a worldwide network of partners in a virtual hub, organizations are finding innovative ways to build regional prosperity.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that is withdrawing a December 28, 2016, final rule concerning Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) investments in passive businesses – a small entity that does not engage in regular and continuous business activity.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced the recipients of 27 Design and Development Launch Pilots as part of its INCLUDES initiative. The initiative is aimed at enhancing U.S. leadership in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) discoveries and innovations through a commitment to diversity and inclusion. The 27 pilots feature public-private partnerships that will develop blueprints for broadening STEM participation and are funded through two-year, $300,000 grants.