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Thomas Anderson is the new director of the Automation Alley Technology Center in Michigan.

Colorado Governor Bill Owens has appointed Tim Fritz as the director of the Office of Aerospace and Aeronautics.

The Arlington Technology Incubator (Texas) has selected Geoffrey Grant to serve as the new director beginning July 1.

The Charleston Gazette reports Ron Hatfield, director of jobs development for the West Virginia University Institute of Technology's Technology Research and Development Corp., will also serve as the new executive director of the Upper Kanawha Economic Development Corp.

Joseph James has announced his resignation as head of the Prince George's Economic Development Corporation (Maryland).

The new executive director of the Virginia Piedmont Technology Council is Gail Milligan.

Tucked in the fine print of Illinois' budget bills was language to merge seven financing agencies, according to the June 11 edition of The Bond Buyer. Among the agencies included in the merger are the Illinois Development Finance Authority, the Illinois Research Park Authority (inactive), the Illinois Community Development Authority and the Illinois Rural Bond Bank.

Capital for start-up and early-stage business ventures should become more plentiful in Vermont based on legislation, S. 178, passed in late May. A spokesperson for Governor Jim Douglas appraised the act's total impact as representing a $105 million investment into the state's economy.

On Tuesday, voters in Maine approved Governor John Baldacci's request to issue $60 million in bonds to finance several research infrastructure, economic development and housing related projects. Packaged and marketed as the Jobs Bond, the measure won easily with 60 percent of the vote in this special election. The tech-based economic development portion of the bond will be allocated as follows:

Following extensive public consultation, the French Ministry for Industry and Research has announced a revamped national strategy to boost support for research and development (R&D) activities in France. The plan, to be implemented in 2004, aims to make financial resources for innovative companies more accessible and to increase France’s appeal to the international R&D community.

Some of the key measures include:

In 2003, the nation's 20 top metropolitan areas will generate $4 trillion in output, or 36 percent of the national economy, according to a new report by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the Conference’s Council for Investment in the New American City. However, overall employment growth this year is predicted to be 0.1 percent in those same metro areas, with nine experiencing either no job growth or continued employment contraction.

Meeting short-term budget demands are consuming more and more of state, local and academic tech-based economic development practitioners' time. However, keeping an eye on the long-range funding picture is critical for sustained success. One of the most important federal sources for supporting the research enterprise is the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Breaking new technologies into traditional markets can be challenging, particularly in the energy field it seems. To help overcome that hurdle, the State of Pennsylvania has undertaken a $5 million initiative to help finance the implementation of clean and renewable energy technologies such as biomass and wind power.

Since her inauguration in January, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano has pushed legislation intended to increase university tech transfer and commercialization (see related item in this issue). But will it work? Do economic incentives really encourage university researchers to pursue commercialization goals? Or are academics "pure" scientists, truly beyond monetary motives as many would argue?

With a combined annual research budget totaling $4.8 billion, New Mexico's 12 largest research facilities signed a Memorandum of Agreement on May 30 to help turn intellectual property into jobs for New Mexicans. Members of the newly formed New Mexico Technology Research Corridor (TRC) include:

Arizona Legislation to Encourage Tech Transfer Awaits Voters' Approval

Package Isn't All Governor Expected; Veto Possible

While the nation’s manufacturing sector continues to face major challenges, the National Coalition for Advanced Manufacturing (NACFAM) suggests in a new white paper that the U.S. can compete successfully with low-wage countries if industry and government rally around two basic goals — increase labor productivity by greatly accelerating the use of advanced technologies and leverage national resources through a major expansion of public-private partnerships.

Funding Supplement for Members Only in 2006 As long-time subscribers to the SSTI Weekly Digest know, during the past five years SSTI has published a separate element of the newsletter identifying federal and foundation funding opportunities that support either tech-based economic development directly or scientific inquiry and R&D.

At the end of November, President Bush signed the fiscal year 2006 Appropriations Bill for the Department of Energy & Water, H.R. 2419. A summary of the Administration's budget request for DOE is available in the Feb. 14 issue of the Digest. Highlights of the bill include:

Note: This is the first in a series of articles SSTI will be running over the next several weeks to provide synopses of selected breakout sessions from SSTI's 9th Annual Conference, held Oct. 19-21, 2005, in Atlanta. Ideas for 2006 conference sessions can be forwarded to skinner@ssti.org.

In another wing of the InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta, site of SSTI's 2005 conference, participants shared what their states and regions are doing in the area of encouraging the development and deployment of alternative energy.

The rise in the late 1990s in the concept of a "new economy" was coupled with the rapid growth in research and innovation investment within the information and communication technology (ICT) sector. When the dot-com bubble burst, some state and local strategies were revamped to look for the next big thing, which in many places was biotechnology or nanotechnology.

To help entrepreneurs start and manage businesses, the Kauffman Foundation recently launched Kauffman eVenturing™ ( www.eVenturing.org).

The U.S. Census Bureau has recently released the 2003 Model-based Estimates of Income and Poverty for States from the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates Program (SAIPE).