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Transforming as many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as possible into globally competitive firms is a challenge, as most TBED practitioners know. The complexity of combining all of Europe into a single market makes the work even more daunting.

 

To simplify the process for SMEs in more than 40 countries, the European Commission recently launched a consolidated Enterprise Europe Network. The network consolidates the older Euro Info Centres and the Innovation Relay Centres.

 

Gov. Rod Blagojevich unveiled a $25 billion capital plan supporting, in small part, several energy and technology projects, while at the same time eliminating funding in his fiscal year 2009 operating budget for several TBED-related programs within the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO).

 

This year's edition of the Angel Capital Association's (ACA) Angel Group Confidence Report reveals that angel investors are "cautiously optimistic" about their opportunities in 2008, despite recent predictions of a slowdown for the overall U.S. economy. In a survey of ACA members, nearly 55 percent predicted that the number of angel investments made by their group and the total dollars invested will increase this year.

Across the nation, policymakers, business leaders, private foundations and nonprofit groups are investing in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduates to maintain a competitive U.S. workforce. From middle school math and science labs to engineering-centered summer camps and tuition reimbursement for undergraduates who pursue these fields, there is widespread support for STEM graduates.

 

The best path to breaking the cycle of poverty from one generation to the next is a college degree, according to a new Brookings Institution report. Getting Ahead or Losing Ground: Economic Mobility in America reveals 41 percent of degree-holding people whose parents’ income placed their families in the bottom 20 percent of the population, or quintile, now have incomes placing them among the top 40 percent.

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.

During the past two months, five reports have highlighted grim news for state budgets in fiscal year 2008, FY 2009 and beyond, brought on by declining revenues, the crisis in the housing market, increased oil prices, a potential national recession, and structure issues with state finances.
 

Analysts Say Request Going Nowhere
The last budget request of a lame duck administration rarely musters much attention from Congress as its focus is turned toward the next administration and, for entire the House of Representatives, its own re-election. Not one of the previous seven budgets of the Bush years has been passed on time, so no one in Washington expects this one to be the exception.
 

Over the last year, there has been increased public and government attention on issues involving tech-based economic development. For much of the year, Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat has dominated the New York Times bestseller list. A series of reports from the AeA, Council on Competitiveness, and the National Academy of Sciences call for increased action by the federal government.

During his 2006 State of the Union Address, President Bush outlined a decade-long $50 billion American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI) for R&D, education and entrepreneurship. The FY 2007 downpayment on ACI is $5.9 billion, which is accomplished by shuffling priorities within a shrinking federal discretionary budget environment to find $1.3 billion in new funding and $4.6 billion in R&D tax incentives. Specifically, ACI calls for:

Perennially a favorite target for Congressional earmarks, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) budget, at $92.8 billion, is nearly $3 billion below the FY 2006 level of anticipated expenditures. More than three-fourths of the USDA budget outlays for FY 2007 are dedicated to mandatory spending programs such as nutrition assistance, conservation, export promotion and farm commodity programs. The remaining balance of $21.5 billion, $1.7 billion or 7.3 percent less than the FY06 outlay level, is for discretionary programs.