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By nature, angel investing is a risky endeavor. Angels are often involved with unproven seed- and early-stage companies and are frequently the first outside investors to become involved in a new venture. Despite these risks, a report released by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Angel Capital Education Foundation argues that angel investors working through investor groups often achieve attractive returns.

The University of Michigan announced last month that it will spend $30 million in the next five years to hire an additional 100 junior tenure-track faculty members to build multidisciplinary research and degree programs.

Federal budget uncertainties, higher health care and retirement benefit costs, a reduced retirement rate and added costs from a structural change from nonprofit lab management have all been mentioned as reasons for the enactment of a workforce reduction plan at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The goal is to decrease the number of lab employees by 500 to 700 workers, and the National Nuclear Security Administration has formally approved the plan, as outlined by Los Alamos’ Director Michael Anastasio.

Federal funding for R&D in academic science and engineering fields totaled more than $30 billion in fiscal year 2006, yet it was not enough to outpace inflation, according to data collected by the National Science Foundation (NSF). After adjusting for inflation, the 2.9 percent increase in federally funded academic R&D expenditures in FY 2006 from FY 2005 was actually a 0.1 percent decline.

So far this year, SSTI's Funding Supplement has made its subscribers aware of more than 1,400 different opportunities to secure funding. If you aren't a subscriber, your client companies, academic researchers, and state and local TBED efforts are at a significant disadvantage!

For the better part of the year, lawmakers in Michigan have faced the daunting task of balancing both a budget shortfall for fiscal year 2007 and a nearly $1.6 billion deficit for FY 2008. An agreement between Gov. Jennifer Granholm and lawmakers was reached in the early morning hours of Oct. 31, following a one-month extension of the deadline and a brief government shutdown.

Robert Cresanti was nominated by President Bush to become the next undersecretary of Commerce for Technology.

Jim Denn was named deputy executive director of the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR).

Robert Cresanti was nominated by President Bush to become the next undersecretary of Commerce for Technology.

Jim Denn was named deputy executive director of the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR).

Peter Gold was appointed associate provost for economic initiatives at Rutgers-Camden.

Eric Griego was appointed assistant secretary of economic development for the New Mexico Economic Development Department.

Hunt Lambert was selected as the new associate vice president for economic development in the Colorado State University system.

Jim Pennekamp will be the executive director of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville's research and business park, effective Dec. 1.

John Reardon will be new Charles County Economic Development Department chief in Maryland, effective in December.

Steven Weathers is the new president and CEO of the Regional Growth Partnership in Toledo, Ohio.

Listen or read the business news media and the dreaded “R” word, recession, is back in common parlance. State revenue cycles seem to feel it first. Already, with more than a dozen states projecting budget deficits for both current and coming fiscal years, it seems certain: Spending cuts in programs and services and/or tax increases are imminent. The nationwide housing market slump, the rising cost of energy and health care, and increased state spending are cited as a just a few of the reasons for shortfalls in state budgets.

Although Missouri frequently ranks in the top 20 states for federal research grants and academic R&D, the state consistently ranks much lower in the creation of new high-tech companies. A recent report by Dr. Mark Parry of the University of Missouri-Kansas City Bloch School of Business suggests that early-stage high-tech entrepreneurs and companies have been unable to secure sufficient capital to launch successful ventures.

Three major announcements were made in Singapore last month focusing on R&D of new technologies and educating the workforce to produce specialized graduates in upcoming fields.