Search

Four recipients selected as best practice models in technology-based economic development were honored during an awards ceremony last week in Cleveland during SSTI's 12th Annual Conference. The awards follow a national competition emphasizing impact and replicability in approaches to building and sustaining tech-based economies.

Bank bailouts may be capturing all of the headlines, but a new initiative from the European Union (EU) promises to inject a considerable pool of money during the downturn to accelerate the development of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. The European Commission, as well as participants from the European research community and industry will contribute nearly 1 billion Euros (U.S. $1.28 billion) to the public-private partnership over the next six years to fund research.

Still no sign of improvement as the U.S. enters the third quarter of its initial public offering (IPO) drought.  Just one venture-backed company made an IPO exit in the third quarter of 2008, according to a release from Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA).

For several years governors across the country have announced life science and biotech initiatives that are as broad as they are large. The devil is in the details, and in most cases related to bio-based economic development, so are the opportunities.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced earlier this month the establishment of five new university-based centers developing interdisciplinary research and education programs in partnership with industry in the areas of biorenewable chemicals, green energy systems, communications networks, medical implants and smart lighting.

Complete descriptions of these opportunities and others are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.

While the Presidential election takes center stage on November 4, voters in several states also will cast their votes on statewide ballot issues affecting the TBED community. In addition to the 11 gubernatorial races and more than 5,800 state legislative seats up for grabs, voters across the nation will consider measures to provide funding for public education, expand investment in alternative and renewable energy, lift restrictions on stem-cell research, and eliminate income tax and state spending caps.

Though the U.S. Treasury's initial proposal for a bailout of the financial sector was only three pages when it was first submitted to Congress, federal legislators did not waste time in expanding its scope.

The U.S. should create a nationwide network of innovation zones which gather the capabilities of entities such as research parks, technology incubators, universities, and federal laboratories according to a recent report from the Association of University Research Parks (AURP).

In the 2002 report Signs of Life: The Growth of Biotechnology Centers in the U.S., Joseph Cortright and Heike Mayer suggested it would take more than a decade for biotech investment strategies to yield fruit  - as measured by NIH funding and biocommercialization efforts.

Southern Growth hired Ted Abernathy, Jr., former Executive Vice President & COO of the Research Triangle Regional Partnership, to serve as its Executive Director, filling the vacancy created by Jim Clinton's resignation in September.

After two years of campaigning, President-elect Barack Obama has begun shaping the agenda for his coming administration. Though nothing is certain at this point, throughout his campaign, President-elect Obama reiterated his support for TBED-related initiatives and plans to increase funding for research and innovation.

Tuesday's elections will allow the Democrats in Congress to expand their majorities in both the House and the Senate. With several races still to be decided, the exact composition of the House is undetermined, although Democrats picked up at least 18 seats, according to the Washington Post.

The outcome of Tuesday's election resulted in several wins and some defeats for TBED among the more than 150 ballot measures presented to voters across the nation. Outlined below are the unofficial election results of select ballot measures from each state's respective election office and local media reports as of Wednesday, Nov. 5.

Eleven gubernatorial elections were held across the U.S. on Tuesday, resulting in the selection of three new governors - with TBED initiatives spread throughout their campaigns' messages.

Democrats took control of five legislative chambers in Tuesday's elections: Delaware House, Nevada Senate, New York Senate, Ohio House, and Wisconsin Assembly.

Oregon

Venture capitalists invested $7.1 billion in companies during the third quarter of 2008, according to the latest Moneytree survey from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). Though this figure represents a nine percent decline from the same period last year, investment levels still show little evidence of the current drought in venture-backed exits.

The University of Utah (U of U) announced last month two significant investments in TBED supported by USTAR, the state-funded initiative to grow Utah's knowledge economy.

Universities in Canada are a major component of the country's science and technology ecosystem, and as gauged by funding, they performed 36 percent of Canada's R&D activities in 2007. In the U.S. comparatively, universities accounted for 13 percent of the R&D performed in the country.

SSTI has prepared a table displaying the amount of funding companies spent on R&D in each state from 2002 to 2006, the state's rank in 2006, the percent change over this five-year period, and the rank of that percent change. For the U.S.

On December 9, two NIST programs will be hosting a meeting to explain how businesses can better take advantage of them. Officials from the Technology Innovation Program (TIP) and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) will provide an overview and discuss future directions for the programs. SSTI is co-hosting the meeting because we see it as an excellent opportunity for TBED organizations and their clients to learn more about and provide input on programs that could see dramatic increases in funding in an Obama administration.

Gov. Bill Ritter announced his administration's plan to inject $12 million into initiatives that promote job training, provide small businesses with access to capital, and invest in the state's New Energy Economy and bioscience sectors.

While which states top the list in the 2008 edition of the State New Economy Index will capture the attention of the media and therefore the majority of decision makers, the most important contribution of the 2008 Index in the current fiscal environment is its overview and final chapter. The Index, released Nov.