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A series of separate economic reports, revenue forecasts, and analyses of current trends released during the past week suggests the need for local, regional and state efforts to grow tech-based economies is increasing. As economic development practitioners and policymakers in science and technology prepare for the 2002 program, legislative, and budget cycles, they may want to consider:

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), through the Mathematics Education Trust, funds special projects that enhance the teaching and learning of mathematics at all levels. An organization valuing the use of instructional technology tools, NCTM currently has at least 10 grant opportunities supporting in-service programs, the improvement of professional competence and other related causes.

The vast majority of the nation's four million science and engineering (S&E) occupations are held by individuals with a bachelor's degree education or higher; however, a surprising 22 percent - 1.036 million - are not, according to a National Science Foundation (NSF) InfoBrief released last week.

A recent study completed for Iowa calls for continued investment in the biosciences - a 10-year, $302 million plan - to grow the industry and to create new job opportunities for the state.

Conditions favorable for entrepreneurship in 2003 laid the foundation for job gains in 2004, according to a report issued last week U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) Office of Advocacy. Small Business Economic Indicators for 2003 notes that “the outlook for future small business expansion was positive at the end of 2003” due to the progress of some important economic indicators throughout the year.

Few of us would consider one piece of a jigsaw puzzle to be sufficient for comprehending the whole picture. Similarly, a state or regional strategy to develop a knowledge-based economy is not complete with just one element of a complete portfolio to nurture science, technology and entrepreneurship.

Earlier this week, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced awards estimated to total $65 million over five years to fund six major centers in nanoscale science and engineering. The awards are part of a series of NSF grants – totaling $150 million in fiscal year 2001 alone – for nano research in multiple disciplines. 

In an effort to create a high tech center, officials in Ohio's Butler County anticipate spending more than $100 million during the next five years to increase telecommunications, biomedical innovations, electronic commerce, and other research. Funding for the measure would come from as much as a half-penny sales tax hike, according to a story published August 1 by the Cincinnati Enquirer. 

Whether it's called clusters or localization economies, the aggregation of firms in the same or closely related industries has captured the attention of many state and local tech-based economic development efforts. Understanding the phenomenon and formulating effective public policy to encourage or support clustering presents challenges for practitioners and researchers alike. 

The development and application of new information technologies across virtually every segment of the American economy has resulted in rapid, sustained growth in demand for highly skilled information technology (IT) workers. The Department of Labor estimates between 1983 and 1998 the number of high-skilled IT workers increased from 719,000 to 2,084,000 – an increase of 190 percent, more than six times the overall U.S. job growth rate during this period. 

The 2001 Farm Bill 

Declaring September “Nonprofits & Technology Month,” the Foundation Center has launched a website presenting myriad financial and technical assistance resources to support the acquisition and use of information technology in nonprofit organizations.

SSTI’s fifth annual conference, Creating Opportunity: Tools for Building Tech-based Economies, has been rescheduled for December 3-4. The agenda and location of the conference remain the same.

Citing the input of participants in a series of public hearings among other reasons, U.S. Department of Commerce Under Secretary of Technology Phil Bond announced in a conference call today that a systemwide recompetition for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) would not be held “at this time.” Instead, MEP will use a re-application process that will be integrated into the current review process.

The steady upward trend in venture capital (VC) investments continued in the second quarter of 2004, with $5.6 billion going to 761 companies, according to the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers/Thomson Venture Economics/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree™ Survey. The Q2 2004 figure compares to $5 billion invested in the year's first quarter and $5.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2003..

With the President's signature on the fiscal year 2005 Defense Appropriations Bill last week, the Pentagon received nearly $70 billion for research and development spending, a $4.3 billion increase over that of last year.

Capturing students’ interest in science and mathematics during the middle school years is crucial to America’s future workforce and the nation’s security, according to U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham.

China is focusing on the newest and most promising areas of technology to expand economic growth through the development of high-tech industries, suggests a new report released by the nation's government. The report, 2004 Guidelines for Priority on Key Technology Areas, indicates China will channel investments to 134 key sectors and promote exports, according to an article in The Scientist.

Academic research and development expenditures grew 11 percent in fiscal year 2002, according to new data released by the National Science Foundation (NSF). An NSF report, Academic Research and Development Expenditures: Fiscal Year 2002, finds 625 institutions of higher education in the U.S. collectively spent $36.332 billion in FY 2002. The figure for FY 2001 was $32.723 billion.

If the corporate leaders, educators, scientists, and technology entrepreneurs who make up the Birmingham Area Technology Task Force have their way, Birmingham, Alabama in the 21st century will be a mecca for technology-based businesses and jobs.

State and land-grant universities provide major stimulus to their state and regional economies – generating jobs, attracting and helping create new high-tech businesses, and increasing state tax revenues in addition to providing a well-educated work-force, according to Shaping the Future – The Economic Impact of Public Universities. The study, prepared by National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC), is based on a survey of its 212 member institutions.

The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) is a nationwide network of not-for-profit Centers in over 400 locations nationwide, whose sole purpose is to provide the more than 361,000 small and medium-sized manufacturers in the country the help they need to succeed in a global economy.

With all its promise of connecting businesses and residents of even the remotest areas the country to the global economy, the Internet led most states and communities to invest resources toward the Digital Divide. Will these investments pay off? Will the Internet lead to an economic geographic revolution similar to that caused by past technological advances such as the automobile? 

Since its founding in 1991, the nonprofit Minnesota Technology Inc. (MTI) has been Minnesota lead technology-based economic development organization. Its mission, to help existing small and medium-sized companies apply, develop and commercialize technology, is achieved through three objectives: