The Rural Policy Research Institute, a consortium of Iowa State University, the University of Missouri, and the University of Nebraska, has published a Directory of State Assisted Venture Capital Programs on-line. The 17-page directory includes five sections listing: 16 publicly funded and publicly managed venture capital funds; 31 state-assisted private venture capital funds and quasi-public venture capital funds; 22 state tax credits or incentives for individuals or businesses making venture capital investments; 58 state sponsored or assisted angel networks; and 27 state-sponsored or assisted venture capital fairs. Each list is organized by state and includes contact information. The Directory can be downloaded from:


http://www.rupri.org/front.html

Two venture capital associations and the Southern Technology Council are offering free electronic newsletters to the general public that may be of interest to SSTI Weekly Digest readers. Occasionally stories offered in these publications overlap with Digest articles, however, each provides additional information and perspectives for the S&T community.

The inventions listed below are available for licensing by the Department of Navy.

The Second Session of the 119th Maine Legislature proved to be another watershed event for the state's science and technology sector. More than 20 percent of Maine's appropriated surplus budget was dedicated to increased monies for existing science and technology programs as well as substantial investment in new initiatives. The programs that the Legislature voted to fund include:

Collaboration and partnership among public, private, and non-profit entities have taken on a renewed urgency as states and localities seek quick and cost effective methods to cultivate the necessary environment to foster and support technology-based economies. SSTI’s latest publication focuses on two groups of technology-based economic development organizations that have grown in numbers alongside the New Economy: 1) regional technology councils, and 2) industry associations focused on information technology and life sciences, the industrial sectors most associated with the New Economy. As these groups have become larger and more numerous, their strength as allies in S&T policy has emerged.

The National Governors’ Association has released the fourth, fifth, and sixth papers in its series on the New Economy. The latest two are touted as providing “a blueprint for replicating the economic successes of high tech meccas like California’s Silicon Valley [and] Route 128 in Massachusetts. All six papers can be downloaded from the NGA web site: http://www.nga.org. The three new papers are described briefly below.





Information Technology: Creating Real Change for Small Business, by Jeffrey W. Blodgett, Vice President for Research at the Connecticut Economic Resource Center. The paper calls on the states to streamline business licensing and permitting processes for entrepreneurs and start-up businesses. Then states are encouraged to create web-based service delivery to facilitate and expedite business growth. Blodgett reviewed states’ current web sites, finding only 16 offered visitors the ability to download business forms. Two states had electronic filing capabilities for limited forms.

Vice President Gore announced the release of Digital Economy 2000, the Commerce Department's third annual report on the information-technology (IT) revolution and its impact on the economy. The Department found while IT industries only represent 8.3 percent of the U.S. economy, they accounted for approximately 30 percent of the country's economic growth since 1995. Nearly one-third of all company-funded R&D investments in 1998 were made by IT industries. IT also accounts for at least half of the recent acceleration in U.S. productivity growth. IT employment doubled to 1.6 million during the six-year period of 1992 - 1998. The full report can be downloaded from: http://www.esa.doc.gov/de2000.pdf

The Air Force and the National Institutes of Health have published lists of 69 and 3 inventions, respectively, that are available for license. A list of the patents, invention titles, and, in the case of NIH, summary descriptions can be found on the SSTI Website: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/060900t.htm

We try hard to be objective in the SSTI Weekly Digest and to present information without editorializing. This is one of the rare instances that we will not even attempt to be objective. We have several items involving SSTI to report:

Using a new, proprietary methodology, the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation (KTEC) has conducted a cluster assessment, determining KTEC should focus its commercialization efforts on those specific technology areas where opportunity is high and where the elements are in place to delivery those benefits to the state’s economy. The results, published in Kansas Strategic Technology Cluster Assessment and a Plan for the 21st Century, form a unique blend of cluster analysis, indicator assessment, and strategic planning.

Three bills have been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Representative Vernon Ehlers (R-Michigan) to help reform science, math, engineering, and technology education in grades K-12. These bills, known as the National Science Education Acts of 2000, are designed to re-focus interest and training for those in grades K-12 in all fields of science and technology.

According to a new report by a public-private collaborative project called Ecom-Ohio, Ohio lags many others in the “Net” Economy. The group draws attention to the state’s digital divide among certain population groups and laments slow Internet adoption in small and medium-sized businesses and a lack of public incentives and investment to help correct the situation.

Last week, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National Association of Counties released a report documenting the 1999 Gross Metropolitan Product (GMP) for the nation’s 319 largest metro areas. The 44-page report indicates that 95 percent of high tech job creation between 1992 and 1999 took place in metro areas.

Last week, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) announced the findings of Michigan: The High-Technology Automotive State, a new study that demonstrates that the state’s high-tech workforce is dramatically larger than previously reported by national rankings. The MEDC study shows that the American Electronics Association (AEA) uses a narrow definition of high-tech in their annual ranking, Cyberstates 4.0, which was released the next day.

Abstracts for the FY 2000 grant awards for the USDA Small Business Innovation Research Program have been posted on the agency’s website: http://www.reeusda.gov/sbir/ Chris Busch and Jill Kline reported statistics on the distribution of proposals and awards by state in last week’s Wyoming SBIR Initiative Newsletter. For this issue and other archived editions of their resourceful newsletter, visit: http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/sbir/newsletters.htm

Alabama


The Alabama Commerce Commission, appointed by Governor Don Seigelman last year, has released an executive summary report of recommendations for a long-range strategic plan for economic development in the state. The Commission recommends the creation of a scholarship program with no minimum grade point average requirements to provide free tuition to high school graduates who enter targeted vocational and technical programs in two year colleges or technical schools. The Commission also recommended the creation of privately run Alabama Research Alliance involving the state’s six research universities. The Alliance would distribute an unspecified amount of funding for research projects designed to produce new products, businesses, and jobs.

The National Governors' Association has released its third paper in the New Economy Series. Nurturing Entrepreneurial Growth in the New Economy, written by Thom Rubel and Scott Palladino, outlines eleven different approaches states have implemented to encourage entrepreneurship:

The Department of the Navy has published a list of 104 inventions that are owned by the federal government and are available for exclusive or partially exclusive licenses. The list and contact information are available for review on the SSTI web site at: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/052600t.htm

Sue Rhoades is leaving her role as State Coordinator with Ben Franklin Technology Partners in Pennsylvania to take a position in the private sector. As a result, the Ben Franklin Technology Partners are seeking candidates to fill her position. The posting, as well as several other S&T career opportunities, is available on the SSTI website at: http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm

Two quarterly surveys of venture capital investments were released during the past two weeks. Both report record levels of venture-backed investments for the first quarter of 2000, in spite of the jittery stock market. While the figures vary between the two surveys, both identify the same investment trends. For instance, both surveys found that among the states, Georgia, Illinois, and New York experienced the greatest growth in deals. Summaries of both reports are provided below. 

After two years of partisan politics and court battles, the Montana legislature last week overwhelmingly passed HB 1, a $46 million, five-year appropriations package to fund several state science, technology, and economic development initiatives. The legislation brings to close a saga that began with a successful court challenge to the funding mechanism for S&T programs. Governor Marc Racicot called a special session of the legislature this year specifically to address the need for funding. 

The National Science Foundation has released two statistical reports that present several science and engineering statistics by state: 

The McKnight Foundation has committed $44.5 million over ten years to support scientific research in neuroscience/memory and brain disorders. The McKnight Endowment Fund will support three national fellowship programs: 1) Scholar Awards, which link basic researchers and clinical scientists or physicians who are in the early stages of their careers; awardees receive $75,000 per year for up to three years; 2) Memory and Brain Disorders Awards, which encourage novel applications of neuroscience research to clinical problems related to memory and brain disorders; and 3) Technological Innovations in Neuroscience Awards of up to $100,000 per year for two years to encourage multidisciplinary research and technical innovations. The Endowment Fund is also the sponsor of the annual McKnight Conference on Neuroscience in Aspen, Colorado, organized to share research developments and foster interaction among all the awardees. 

On Tuesday, WorldCom and Brown University announced grants for 20 programs in 19 states to link public schools or community organizations with local colleges or universities to develop educational technology projects for youth in underserved areas. The grants were awarded through Making a Civic Investment, a $5-million, five-year program funded by WorldCom and administered by Campus Compact, a national coalition of nearly 700 college and university presidents based at Brown. 

Forbes magazine, in conjunction with the Milken Institute, released on Monday its second annual "Best Places for Business and Careers" - a ranking of the top 200 metropolitan areas in the United States. The Forbes-Milken Institute list looks at two critical factors to determine which metro areas are the most dynamic: jobs and earnings, and high-technology growth and output. All of the numbers were provided by the Institute's Regional and Demographic Studies group as part of its ongoing research into how high-tech impacts regional economies. 





The top ten metro areas were: 





1. Austin-San Marcos, Texas 


2. Atlanta, Georgia 


3. Santa Rosa, California 


4. Boulder-Longmont, Colorado 


5. Boise City, Idaho 


6. San Diego, California 


7. Orange County, California 


8. San Antonio, Texas 


9. West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Florida 


10. Colorado Springs, Colorado 





To view all 200 rankings and the full story, go to http://www.forbes.com/tool/toolbox/bestplaces/00/index.htm.