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The Board of Directors of BioCrossroads, Indiana's life sciences initiative, announced David Johnson would succeed Charles Schalliol as CEO.

Real estate developer Robert Klein II was selected as chairman of California's stem cell oversight committee.

John Merrill will serve as executive director for the Greensboro Center for Innovative Development, a joint millennium campus and research park between University of North Carolina Greensboro and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.

Eric Mittelstadt will become the new CEO of the National Council for Advanced Manufacturing. He replaces founder and current CEO, Leo Reddy.

Wisconsin commerce secretary Cory Nettles is resigning his position and will join his old law firm as a partner.

For all intents and purposes, the SSTI offices will be closed from Dec. 24 - Jan. 3 (although some of us retain the right to stop back into the office for respite when either the in-laws, urchins or eggnog get to be a little much). Next week, SSTI will be switching to a new webhost and, while we do not anticipate any problems, e-mail service may be temporarily interrupted or unavailable. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

This past fall, Vermont released what may be the nation's first statewide effort to lay out an economic development strategy based on the creative economy theories advanced most prominently by George Mason professor Richard Florida.

NBIA Releases Revised Business Incubation Guide

Virginia Bauer, former New Jersey commerce secretary, was sworn in as CEO and secretary of the New Jersey Commerce & Economic Growth Commission.

Virginia Bauer, former New Jersey commerce secretary, was sworn in as CEO and secretary of the New Jersey Commerce & Economic Growth Commission.

The Greater Phoenix Economic Council announced Barry Broome will become the new president & CEO beginning in February.

Michael DeAloia has been named tech czar for the City of Cleveland.

Marlo Jenkins will be the new managing director of TechTown, Wayne State University's research and technology park.

Coming a little late in the year to be included among our Tech Talkin’ Govs series (see Digest issues for Jan. 8, 15 and 29 and Feb. 19), Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland delivered his first State of the State Address on Mar. 14. Below are excerpts from his address calling for a $1 billion investment in alternative and renewable energy technologies over four years.

 

More than 51,000 early-stage ventures took in $25.6 billion of angel investment in 2006, according to the 2006 Angel Market Analysis released Mar. 19 by the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire. The dollar figure reflects a 10.8 percent increase from the 2005 findings. The number of deals made in 2006 only rose 3 percent over the previous year. As a result, average deal size grew 7.5 percent.

 

South Dakota recently announced it is reorganizing its programs to support entrepreneurs and high-tech start-ups. Instead of offering assistance to new firms through small, targeted programs, the state will reallocate the funding for these smaller programs into a larger fund with fewer restrictions on how that money can be spent. The change will allow the state greater leeway to assist expanding businesses, many of which were not eligible for the existing support programs.

Every year, some graduating high school students make the transition to college, many of them choosing to move to another state in order to continue their education. In some states, the number of students leaving the state is greater than the number entering, resulting in a “brain drain.” This net out-migration of students, many of which never to return to the state of their high school graduation, may impact a state’s skilled and competitive workforce, tax revenues, productivity gains, and appreciation of diversity.

The Digest story above details the push to keep high school graduates in-state for their university experience, with the expectation that upon graduation they will positively impact the economy of the state. An essential part of keeping an educated workforce local, however, is the ability for individuals to find gainful employment upon graduation.

Southern Growth Policies Board is polling citizens on their attitudes and ideas about building a competitive Southern Workforce. Visit http://www.southern.org/surveyintro.shtml and share your ideas on how to build a competitive, entrepreneurial workforce to support the southern region's economic development initiatives in high-growth industries.

SSTI serves as the TBED community’s go-to resource and strategic partner when dealing with TBED issues. SSTI’s unique ability to address the information needs of its members comes from the fact that SSTI’s staff and board have been “in the trenches” of technology-based economic development. SSTI’s president, vice president and board members, including former Governors John Engler of Michigan and Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts, have more than two decades’ of direct policy development and service delivery experience.

Evan Barrett was named chief business officer of The Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity in Montana.

Evan Barrett was named chief business officer of The Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity in Montana.

Betsy Biemann will be the new director of the Maine Technology Institute, pending legislative confirmation in January. Biemann currently serves as an associate director at The Rockefeller Foundation.

Brian Fitzgerald will be executive director of the Business-Higher Education Forum, a nonprofit organization that separated earlier this year from the American Council on Education, beginning in January.

Kelly Lewis, a state legislator in Pennyslvania, will be the new president and CEO of the Technology Council of Central Pennsylvania, beginning Jan. 1.