Last week, the U.S. Department of Treasury released the details of its plan to award $100 million in grants to community-based financial institutions. These funds, along with an additional $3 billion in tax credit authority, were allocated to Treasury programs by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) last month.
Utah's 2009 legislative session ended earlier this month with a significant boost in funding to the Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative (USTAR) for recruiting science and technology researchers at the University of Utah and Utah State University.
TechConnect West Virginia (TechConnectWV) released a new plan on Monday to build a larger and more robust technology economy. The report, West Virginia Blueprint for Technology-Based Economic Development, proposes a four-part, general strategy for TBED and targets several key industries for development.
The National Science Foundation has made available the FY 2007 version of its Academic Research and Development Expenditures statistical tables. The release contains detailed information on research expenditures at individual academic institutions.
According to the National Science Foundation, the number of science and engineering PhDs awarded in the U.S. has been increasing every year since 2002. To further examine trends of the PhDs awarded in each state, SSTI has prepared a table showing the number of S&E PhDs per 100,000 residents and each state's relative rank from 2002 to 2006, as well as the percent change in PhDs awarded per capita over these five years and the rank of that change.
Georgia Tech's Advanced Technology Development Center has named Jason Burr director of its Savannah office.
Dr. Dean Chang has joined the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute as the new director of MTECH Ventures.
George Dycio was hired as an economic development specialist for the Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council.
John Gardner will be vice president for economic development and extension at Washington State University, effective July 1. Gardner has been the vice president for research and economic development at the University of Missouri system.
John Griffin has been named acting director of the Ohio Department of Development's Technology Division.
Gov. Jodi Rell nominated Joan McDonald to succeed James Abromaitis as Connecticut's commissioner of economic and community development. McDonald had been a senior vice president with the New York City Economic Development Corp.
Catalyst Connection has named Petra Mitchell as its new president.
Thom Ruhe is leaving JumpStart Inc., a venture organization in Cleveland, to become director of online initiatives at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
John Schaerer is the new director of technology development and transfer for Chattanooga's Enterprise Center.
President Bush nominated William "Woody" Sutton to replace Albert Frink Jr. as the country's manufacturing czar.
Karl Tueller announced he will step down as executive director of the Idaho Department of Commerce Office of Science and Technology, effective July 1. Tueller also serves as a deputy director for the agency.
Nicole Witherbee has joined the Maine Center of Economic Policy as a federal budget analyst and communications coordinator.
Complete descriptions of the position openings described below are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.
William Archey, CEO of AeA, announced he will retire in 2008.
Clay Blair resigned as chairman of Kansas Bioscience Authority.
William Archey, CEO of AeA, announced he will retire in 2008.
Clay Blair resigned as chairman of Kansas Bioscience Authority.
Curtis Brown announced that he will resign as executive director of the Mason City Economic Development Corp., effective July 11, to become the economic development coordinator for the City of Ankeny, Iowa.
This week, Congress passed H.R. 1541, a continuing resolution that extends the SBIR program in its current state until July 31, 2009. The extension provides another four-month window for the two chambers to develop a compromise toward full reauthorization.
Many agencies may see Congress passing their annual appropriations bill six months into the fiscal year as worth the wait, given the increases most science, technology and economic development supporting programs experienced. While some budget bump ups are modest, accommodating little more than inflation and Congressional earmarks, others should result in more grants flowing to researchers, universities, small businsses, and TBED organizations.
The enacted budget funds the Department of Agriculture (USDA) at $106 billion for FY09, with increases over FY08 funding for several programs related to TBED. Most of the USDA appropriation, $86.6 billion, is reserved for mandatory spending programs such as food and nutrition assistance and farm commodity programs.