"More than one-third of the nation's loss of manufacturing jobs between 2000-2005 occurred in seven Great Lakes states: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin," write Howard Wial and Alec Friedhoff in a new paper from the Metropolitan Policy Program of the Brookings Institution.
Based on the two versions of the FY 2007 budget working their ways respectively through the House and Senate, the National Science Foundation (NSF) appears to be positioned to receive its first significant increase in funding in many years. Both chambers' versions of the NSF appropriations provide increases above the FY06 appropriations in excess of 7 percent, with the full House approving an increase of 7.9 percent in June.
Last week, North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley signed the budget agreement passed by the state's General Assembly for fiscal years 2006-07. The budget contains many adjustments favoring K-12 and higher education and several allocations for technology-based growth initiatives.
It caught the attention of quite a few people when it was first proposed in early 2001, but Maine's investment in 2002 to provide every seventh and eighth grader with a new laptop - approximately 32,000 students and 4,000 teachers - continues to provide a useful example of the size and type of commitment and risk that elected leaders have to be willing to make to transform the outlook for a state or regional economy. It took strong leadership and determination from then-Gov.
The Department of Education's Committee on the Future of Higher Education has released a second draft of its report on the state of American colleges and universities. As reported in the July 10 issue of the Digest, the document originally released by the committee harshly criticized the U.S. higher education system for wasteful spending, lack of academic rigor, and failure to serve the needs of the national economy.
While much of the attention in the national dialogue on competitiveness and innovation has focused on federal R&D investments and science and tech education, a 62-year-old independent organization of business and education leaders says our attention should be much earlier in the education process. A new report by the Committee on Economic Development (CED) asserts economic development leaders should make quality preschools a top priority.
Cynthia Helphingstine is the new vice president for business development for Inproteo (formerly the Indiana Proteomics Consortium).
Andrea Lohneiss, community development director for Riverhead, N.Y., is leaving to become Suffolk County's commissioner of economic development.
The Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism, in partnership with the University System of Georgia, has appointed Page Siplon and Michael Hale as directors of the Maritime Logistics Innovation Center and the Middle Georgia Innovation Center for Aircraft Lifecycle Support, respectively.
SSTI welcomes Rhiannon Mehring to its staff as a research associate.
Doros Platika is the new chief executive officer for the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse.
Sherrie Priesche, the science and technology advisor to New Jersey Governor James McGreevey, has been appointed as the new executive director for the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology.
James Roberson, president of the Research Triangle Foundation for the past 16 years, is retiring at the end of May.
George Swift is the first executive director for the new Southwest Louisiana Partnership for Economic Development.
The University of Vermont announced that Janice St. Onge has joined the Vermont Business Center as the director of business education.
Kay Wade is the new president of the Oklahoma Professional Economic Development Council. Ms. Wade retains her position as director of the Center for Business Development at the Meridian Technology Center.
The Wright Center for Innovation for Advanced Data Management and Analysis named Charles Walsh as its first president.
George Bald, Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development, has announced his resignation to become executive director of the Pease Development Authority.
George Bald, Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development, has announced his resignation to become executive director of the Pease Development Authority.
Janice Bourque, president and chief executive officer of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, plans to step down once a replacement has been found.
Maine Gov. Mark Baldacci has unveiled a new handbook intended to help communities to capitalize upon their cultural resources to spur economic growth. Maine's Creative Economy Community Handbook: Maine State Government Resources for Communities offers advice for community leaders interested in building a creative and dynamic workforce. The guidelines it gives for designing a strategic plan could benefit communities across the country interested in similar initiatives.
As the authors of the recent Swedish report, The Internationalization of Corporate R&D, pointed out, industrial R&D may increasingly be found concentrated around public and private research institutions with strong research capabilities related to the specific corporation's interests.
Proponents for a higher skilled workforce may be concerned with troubling new statistics regarding high school graduation rates. A new report from the EPE (Editorial Projects in Education) Research Center and Education Week shows that more than 30 percent of the nations ninth-graders fail to go on to graduate from public high schools.
Those arguing that the U.S. is slipping as the world's leader for innovation have another data point to add to their arsenal. The U.S. continues to dominate international patent filings, but America's lead over other countries shrunk 12 percent last year, according to data released this week by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Dr. Russell Bessette has been appointed to the Federal Homeland Security Science and Technology Committee. Dr. Bessette currently is the executive director of the New York Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR).