Beyond the numerous breakout sessions and insightful plenary sessions, SSTI's 15th Annual Conference offers attendeesseveral activities that other conferences typically don't offer including networking with other practitioners at some of the city's finest restaurants (Dine A-Rounds), maintaining your normal exercise regimen (a morning 5k run/walk) and sharpening your mind (morning Hatha Yoga).
This year's SSTI Annual Conference will provide attendees with many opportunities to explore the issues that drive technology-based economic development. When planning your conference experience, make sure to check out our breakout sessions, which will allow participants to focus on the topics that interest them.
Featured topics at this year's conference include:
As an SSTI conference sponsor, you have the chance to showcase your organization with the decision makers responsible for crafting and implementing local and state-level policies and programs that directly contribute to the nation's competitiveness. Today's marketplace is about belonging and staying connected. No other event brings together so many of the nation's top players in the TBED community.
Now in its fifth year, SSTI's Excellence in TBED awards program has recognized 20 of the most effective, innovative and transferable initiatives for growing tech-based economies from across the country.
This year, six new programs will be crowned winners of this prestigious award, held as models of best practice worthy of emulation. Join your friends and colleagues for a special ceremony celebrating this outstanding achievement following our keynote speaker on Nov. 8. Our first ever recipient of the "Most Promising TBED Initiative" also will be announced.
You've registered for the conference; booked your travel and hotel; made sure your iPod is charged... but have you told your friends and colleagues you'll be attending SSTI's biggest event of the year?
Don't forget to RSVP and look for updates on our social media sites.
This year SSTI is linking with the Ohio Early Stage Summit to offer the unique opportunity for attendees to maximize their time by attending two conferences, three receptions and endless networking opportunities in just three short days and all in the same location.
Renée Winsky, chief executive officer of the Technology Council of Maryland (TCM), has been elected to the board of trustees of SSTI. Prior to joining TCM in 2009, Winsky served as the president and executive director of the Maryland Technology Development Corporation. An SSTI member since 1999, Winsky has been a speaker at SSTI conferences and accepted the 2008 Excellence in TBED award for Commercializing Research Category on behalf of the Maryland Technology Transfer Fund.
Instant Access to Best Practices from 20 Leading TBED Practitioners Over the last four years, SSTI has interviewed many of the nation's experts who are heading up programs recognized for applying innovative approaches to generate substantial economic gains for their region. Each of the 20 podcasts succinctly describe critical components involved in elevating these programs to a level of national recognition and offer advice that is applicable across several sectors of economic development policy and practice.
With less than three months until the start of the 2012 legislative session for many states, governors and state economic development groups are working to define areas of investment seen as key to their state's competitiveness. In Florida, Gov. Rick Scott unveiled a job creation and growth agenda that prioritizes science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education to produce more graduates for a competitive workforce. Meanwhile, leaders in Mississippi and Virginia issued reports that identify industry sectors most likely to grow their states' economies.
Building on a decade of work by the Coalition for Plant and Life Sciences, BioSTL launched last month to provide funding and support for emerging bioscience companies. The group also will dedicate resources such as training and recruiting entrepreneurs and increasing venture capital investment to collectively benefit partner organizations working to increase bioscience activity in the region. Washington University in St. Louis, BJC HealthCare, and the St. Louis Life Sciences Project each committed $2 million per year for five years, totaling $30 million to launch the effort.
Gov. Jay Nixon last week signed into law the Missouri Science and Innovation Reinvestment Act (MOSIRA) nearly two years after first proposing the initiative (see the Jan. 6, 2010 issue of the Digest). MOSIRA creates a funding source to grow research and technology companies by capturing a percentage of the growth in state revenue over a base year (fiscal year 2010) from a designated group of science and innovation companies.
Florida's Institute for Commercialization of Public Research has launched a new loan program for early stage and life science companies developing technologies out of the state's universities and research institutions. The Seed Capital Accelerator Program will match private investment in university spinouts through loans of $50,000 to $300,000. The program is intended to help attract the attention of angel and venture firms to promising university research.
American manufacturing companies cannot fill as many as 600,000 skilled positions — even as unemployment numbers hover at historic levels — according to Boiling Point? The Skills Gap in U.S. Manufacturing, a new report from Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute. This annual skills report provides a stark snapshot of the manufacturing sector's inability to find qualified workers.
U.S. venture capital firms invested $6.95 billion in 86 deals in the third quarter of 2011, according to the more recent release from the PricewaterhouseCoopers and National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) Moneytree report. The figures represent a 12 percent decline in dollars and a 14 percent decline in since from the previous quarter, but an increase in both dollars and deals over the third quarter of 2010. Despite the loss compared to the previous quarter, national venture investment appears to be continuing its gradual rebound from the collapse in late 2008.
The Canadian government must focus its research and development (R&D) support efforts on "the goal of growing innovative firms into larger enterprises, rooted in Canada but facing outward to the world and equipped to compete with the best," according to Innovation Canada: A Call to Action — a new report commissioned by the Honorable Gary Goodyear, the Canadian Minister of State for Science and Technology. The authors contends that Canada has a solid foundation to build its knowledge economy.
Jeffrey Brancato has recently joined NorTech as vice president. Prior to joining NorTech, Brancato was the associate vice president for Economic Development at the University of Massachusetts.
Randal Charlton has announced his retirement as executive director of TechTown, the Wayne State University research and technology park. Leslie Smith, the general manager of TechTown has been appointed to fill the position beginning Nov. 1.
Building on several of the new programs enacted during the regular legislative session (see the June 15, 2011 issue of the Digest), Gov. Dan Malloy last week signed into law HB 6801, a comprehensive legislative package that authorizes $626 million in bonds to support efforts aimed at job creation. The bill has several components to support high-tech entrepreneurship, workforce development, and incentivize manufacturers and small businesses.
The Obama administration recently announced two directives to accelerate the commercialization of research and provide small businesses with streamlined access to federal resources. In his announcement, President Obama tied the directives to his administration's recent jobs push, and noted the need to bypass Congress in order to quickly implement the changes.
The U.S. Senate has passed an FY12 funding bill encompassing appropriations measures for the Department of Agriculture; Commerce, Justice and Science; and Transportation and Housing and Urban Development. The bill includes funding for NASA, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the National Science Foundation, as well as other technology agencies and programs. By combining the separate appropriations bills, the Senate hopes to increase its leverage in conferences with the House.
In Technology Transfer in Southeast Wisconsin, a new report from the Public Policy Forum, researchers call for a "full-fledged collaborative infrastructure" that is adept at transferring technologies developed at the region's research institutions to entrepreneurs that will use them to create businesses and jobs in the region.
The European Union (EU) released its first competitiveness report on all 27 EU member nations and six associated countries — Innovation Union Competitiveness Report 2011. Providing a deeper perspective on European R&D intensity, the report is intended to monitor the progress towards EU and national R&D headline targets and provide economic evidence and analysis to underpin the development of EU and national innovation policies. Twelve key findings are highlighted within the report including:
Louisiana and Texas voters approved measures to provide funding sources for student loans while voters in Colorado rejected a measure that would have temporarily increased taxes to offset cuts for public schools and colleges. Meanwhile, Ohio voters repealed a bill passed earlier this year limiting collective-bargaining rights of state employees. Official results are outlined below:
Just three months after unveiling a statewide regional economic development plan, Gov. John Hickenlooper released a new version of the document that speeds up timelines and adds more specific measurable outcomes to the plan's 24 job creation strategies. The governor also submitted a budget proposal for FY13 that calls for additional funds to help the Economic Development Commission attract high-wage jobs and support initiatives that address distinct market barriers in the energy sector.
President Obama announced the Health Care Innovation Challenge — a $1 billion initiative to support the most compelling new ideas to deliver better health, improve care and lower costs to people enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid and/or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The objectives of this initiative are to:
Gov. Chris Gregoire outlined a series of proposals to boost Washington's competitiveness in the aerospace sector, including support for university research and funding to expand high school workforce curriculum and enroll more university students in engineering fields. By investing in education, research, and expanding tax incentives, Gov. Gregoire hopes Boeing will select the state to build and manufacture its 737 MAX, which the governor calls a once-in-a-generation opportunity expected to support up to 20,000 jobs.