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The Census Bureau report released last week, 2000 Annual Survey of Manufactures, Geographic Area Statistics, provides annual data from 1997 through 2000 on the number of all manufacturing employees, number of production workers, value added by manufacturers, cost of materials, value of shipments, and new capital expenditures for manufacturing establishments by state. The data cover manufacturing industry groups such as food, apparel, lumber, chemicals, computers and transportation equipment.

The U.S. Small Business Administration and My Own Business, Inc., have jointly created a free, online entrepreneurship course for small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs. The announcement was made at the Conference on Women Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century in Washington, D.C., earlier this week.

Arizona

The Ohio Department of Development, which works collaboratively with businesses, communities and the Ohio Legislature to develop financial and technical programs, seeks to fill the position, Grants Administration Manager. The position's duties include managing the outside Grant Administration Team, assessing project results and progress, and performing other duties assigned by the Deputy Director of the Technology Division.

A recent collection of weekly headlines gathered by the Montana Associated Technology Roundtables brought to our attention the annual world academic rankings compiled by the Institute of Higher Education at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

For the past two years, the school has identified the world's top 500 academic institutions based on a weighted scale of six indicators:

Governors will be forced to make cuts in education, health care and transportation budgets in light of the recently passed stimulus package that will reduce state revenues but provide no financial assistance for states facing increasing health care costs, says the National Governors' Association (NGA).

Louisiana Governor Mike Foster's economic development plan calls for $37 million for a Biosciences Initiative, at the state's top research universities, $15 million to support industry clusters for regional universities, and $8.4 million to spur enrollment growth in community and technical colleges. Coupled by a $150 million bond issue, funding for bioscience endeavors would equal a $187 million investment.

Because knowledge-based services can be supplied anywhere across the world due to increased international investment in IT infrastructure, future U.S. competitiveness hinges on diversification and broadening of the technology-based manufacturing sector, according to NIST Senior Economist George Tassey.

To shed light on the strengths and weaknesses of the region's biotechnology cluster, Carnegie Mellon University's Center for Economic Development (CED) has published A Biotechnology Action Plan for Southwestern Pennsylvania. The CED report says the Pittsburgh biotechnology cluster largely depends on the amount of available venture capital and the development of new technologies and that total funding levels must be increased to continue biotech development.

President Bush has nominated Elias Zerhouni, executive vice dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, as the new director of the National Institutes of Health.



San Diego Community College Chancellor Augie Gallego has been selected as the new chairman of the American Council of Education, only the second community college executive to hold the position since the organization's founding more than 80 years ago.

President Bush has nominated Elias Zerhouni, executive vice dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, as the new director of the National Institutes of Health.