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Jeff Wadsworth has been named the next director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Wadsworth was a former deputy director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Larry Willard, president of the University of New Mexico Board of Regents, is leaving the position to become chairman of the New Mexico Economic Development Corp.

The Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City announced on Monday it will award grants of up to $5 million to 5-7 U.S. universities to make entrepreneurship education a common and accessible campus-wide opportunity. The Foundation works with partners to encourage entrepreneurship across America.

A new book released by the Sierra Business Council (SBC), Investing for Prosperity, suggests new ways for rural regions to achieve long-term prosperity. The 148-page guide brings together many of the latest innovations rural communities across North America are using to grow their economies, improve their towns and build their social capital.

In response to recent requests from SSTI sponsors and affiliates, SSTI has compiled a table summarizing total funding distributed within states in the form of grants and awards by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The table <http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/071103t.htm> includes total amounts and state rankings for NIH awards for each of the years 1998-2002.

The first director of the new Automation Alley Technology Center will be Thomas Anderson.

Nebraska Governor Mike Johanns has appointed Richard Baier as the state's first rural development director. Baier will work closely with the new Nebraska Rural Development Commission.

The first director of the new Automation Alley Technology Center will be Thomas Anderson.

Nebraska Governor Mike Johanns has appointed Richard Baier as the state's first rural development director. Baier will work closely with the new Nebraska Rural Development Commission.

Colorado State Representative Tim Fritz is resigning his seat to become director of Colorado's Office of Aerospace and Aeronautics.

John Hansen is the new Secretary of Technology for the State of Colorado. Hansen retains his position as Chief Technology Officer as well.

Gwinnett County (GA) Commission Chairman Wayne Hill is the new president of the National Association of Regional Councils.

The Indiana Proteomics Consortium has changed its name to Inproteo.

Ohio Governor Bob Taft today signed into law Am. Sub. House Bill 1, putting into place the newest components of his Third Frontier Project to foster tech-based economic development (TBED) and growth in Ohio.

The previous issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest (June 27, 2003) included a story with the headline "Québec Investing More Than $500M for Biotech." It was the kind of big initiative with a hefty price tag that a few states have launched and most others salivate to replicate. A perfect item for the Digest.

The problem is that big initiative never actually happened.

Business-led partnerships looking to train workers in high-skill, high-tech occupations may get a boost from a series of instructional conferences to be held later this month and in August. The U.S. Labor Department’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) will hold three conferences in 2003 to assist prospective applicants for its H-1B Technical Skills Training Grants competition, under which approximately $50 million is available for new awards.

Providence was listed among the top 50 cities in the U.S. in which to do business in a June issue of Forbes Magazine. Now, a new initiative to jumpstart economic development in the Rhode Island capital is aimed at solidifying the ranking.

As the economy struggles, unemployment rates rise to a nine-year high, and manufacturing continues to shed jobs, the Modernization Forum reports the House Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary (CJS) Appropriations Subcommittee appropriated just $39.6 million for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). The FY 2004 funding would slash the program's funding from the FY2003 level of $106.6 million, a 63 percent cut.

Details on a $110 million initiative to create more jobs and stimulate the Massachusetts economy were released yesterday by Massachusetts House Speaker Tom Finneran and other state leaders. The initiative, Mass Jobs: Investment and Opportunity, is an innovation-friendly plan to streamline government functions and encourage growth in emerging technology through capital formation, regional development, and stability in regulation and taxation.

The first two installments of SSTI's annual look at how TBED will play in the 2006 legislative priorities of the governors can be found in the Digest archives on our website: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/digest.htm

Delaware

Innovation and national competitiveness increasingly are capturing the attention of Congress as the 2006 legislative agenda takes shape. The latest addition is a bipartisan package of three bills introduced to address 20 recommendations outlined in Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future, a National Academies of Science report issued last October.

Total funding for research and development is expected to increase by approximately 2.9 percent to $329 billion in 2006, according to the joint Battelle-R&D Magazine annual forecast. The projected increase, from the estimated $320 billion spent in 2005, covers all R&D expenditures across industry, government and academia.

 

To survive economically in an innovation-based economy, Fresno needs to foster the creativity of its people and attract others into the population, says a recent report from the Fresno Creative Economy Council. While encouraging creativity to spur innovation and economic growth has captured the attention of cities and regions across the continent, how to accomplish that goal is less clear for many.

Southern Growth Policies Board has launched its 2006 online survey at http://www.southern.org/main/surveyintro.shtml to poll Southern citizens on their attitudes towards innovation and technology, and their role in the economic future of the region.

A new 225-page report released by the U.S. Department of Commerce examines employer demand for information technology (IT) workers, the IT education and training landscape, and the role of employers and workers in IT education and training. Education and Training for the Information Technology Workforce, mandated by the American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act of 2000, highlights five broad findings:

Rosellen Kraus has announced she will be leaving the Central Florida Technology Partnership at the end of the summer.

The Virginia Institute for Defense and Homeland Security has named Hugh Montgomery, Jr. as the consortium's first director, effective July 1.