Over the last several months, there has been a flurry of activity in government-supported efforts focused on addressing the skills gap faced by manufacturing firms and other key S&T industries. The intent of these programs is to develop industry-led partnership that align workforce development efforts with the needs of specific local industries to unlock a region’s economic prosperity.  In July, two new initiatives were announced that may help provide a data-driven guide for these efforts in the future.

For the 10th consecutive quarter, the venture capital (VC) industry invested $10 billion in a single quarter after investing $15.3 billion in Q2 2016, according to the MoneyTree™ Report from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA).

When the U.S. government made their R&D tax credit permanent in December 2015, it made a long-term commitment to using incentives to entice private firms to invest in research and development, joining many countries around the world. Although most studies find that R&D tax incentives promote R&D, there is little consensus on the extent of this effect. A recent firm-level analysis from the United Kingdom finds some of the strongest evidence to date on the effectiveness of R&D tax credits in incentivizing innovation. At the same time, however, other studies suggest other elements of a national economy such as education and infrastructure may be more important.

In an effort to advance entrepreneurship among their student bodies and grow their regional entrepreneurship ecosystems, six historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) will receive up to $24,000 in support services as part of a new program from the Delta Regional Authority. Funds from the HBCU Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Initiative will primarily be used for universities to work with partners to identify entrepreneurial resources within the regional system, categorize strengths and weaknesses, and to strategically build around opportunities. Additionally, the selected schools will each host a two-day technical assistance and rapid acceleration workshop that seeks to teach student entrepreneurs about the types of skills and resources needed to launch and scale businesses. Student entrepreneurs will then pitch their ideas for a chance to be selected to present at Founders Weekend, where finalists will receive mentorship with successful minority entrepreneurs, business model development, and other services.

A new report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers provides a broad overview of student loan-debt in the United States and yields some potentially surprising conclusions: while the $1.3 trillion in total student-loan debt in the U.S. may seem like a staggering amount, the authors of Investing in Higher Education: Benefits, Challenges, and the State of Student Loan Debt contend that this is helping, not hurting the nation’s economy. The authors posit that college is best viewed as an investment that typically yields a high return, even with the high upfront costs.

Sixty percent of students drop out or transfer from science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, and more than 50 percent of students pursuing STEM in community colleges never graduate, according to new research from researchers at the University of Missouri (UM) and other partner institutions.

A recently released report finds evidence that Canada’s tech sector – when properly defined – plays an important role in the nation’s economy. In The State of Canada’s Tech Sector, authors Creig Lamb and Matthew Seddon develop a definition of the tech sector based on those industries employing an oversized share of technology occupations. Ultimately, they suggest that the sector is responsible for $117 billion (88.9 billion USD) in economic output, roughly on par with finance and insurance and construction as a percent of total GDP (7.1 percent).

The Department of Defense’s Army Contracting Command released a new federal funding opportunity (FFO) to establish and sustain a Robots in Manufacturing Environments Manufacturing Innovation Institute (RIME-MII) to increase U.S. competitiveness in robotics applied primarily in manufacturing environments. The intent of the new $80 million RIME-MII is to:

The European Union (EU) will commit €240 million (approximately 265 million USD) to create a nonprofit Research and Innovation Institute in Greece that will fund research and innovation to support the country’s efforts to pull it out of prolonged recession and create new high-paying jobs, according to the University World News.

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the National Economic Council (NEC) published a call to action concerning the upcoming National Manufacturing Day (October 7, 2016) &n

On August 10, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signed an extensive economic development bill (HB 4569) into law.

Over the last few weeks, Indiana and Michigan have announced the launch of manufacturing-focused innovation centers to help transform manufacturing sectors that are long-standing drivers of economic prosperity in their respective state into 21st century global hubs for manufacturing innovation. In partnership with key local industry partners, these centers are intended to help spur job creation while reimaging the role of manufacturing in their state through innovation.

Despite global headwinds, advanced industries expanded in the United States from 2013 to 2015, according to a recent report from the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution. Nearly two-thirds of this growth came from only seven sectors, led by tech services and automobile manufacturing, according to the report. Tennessee, Georgia, and Michigan saw advanced industry employment rise the most from 2013 to 2015.

U.S. companies continue to emphasize innovation, as private performance of R&D increased for the fourth consecutive year, according to recently released data from the National Science Foundation. In total, U.S. businesses performed 6.7 percent more R&D in 2013 than in 2012, according to the data, and nearly 19 percent more R&D from 2010 to 2013. Combined, the top 10 states performed approximately two-thirds (65.3 percent) of all private research and development in the United States, led by California, whose $89.4 billion in corporate R&D performance accounted for 27.7 percent of the national total.

Targeted investments in robotics research and development are critical to America’s competitiveness, according to a new roadmap authored by a group of more than 150 robotics experts across academia and the private sector. The plan, From Internet to Robotics: A Roadmap for US Robotics, presents potential research priorities for the field and discusses the workforce development, legal, ethical, and economic ramifications of automation technologies.

Ninety-one percent of apprentices find employment after completing their program with an average starting wage above $60,000, according to a new report from the Department of Commerce’s Economic and Statistics Administration (ESA). In The Benefits and Costs of Apprenticeships: A Business Perspective, ESA researchers performed a case study analysis of 13 apprenticeship programs launched by businesses and intermediaries from a variety of occupations, industries, and regions.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced the Zero Energy Districts Accelerator, an initiative to develop best practices for establishing commercial districts that have net-neutral energy consumption. The accelerator is now one of 12 listed under the Better Buildings Initiative, which also includes dedicated programming for community and manufacturing initiatives.

Venture capital (VC) financing is a highly competitive process that backs only 1 percent to 2 percent of all startups that apply for funding, leaving many searching for financing alternatives.  In this two-part feature, SSTI examines the typical VC model, its advantages and limitations, and next week will highlight alternatives such as revenue-based financing, venture debt, crowdfunding and a new financing model for cleantech proposed

Mosquito-resistant uniforms for U.S. military personnel and a bio-refinery that turned a city landfill into an “energy park” are two new developments resulting from investments in scientific research by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  The USDA Annual Report on Technology Transfer for FY 2015 includes new agriculture-related discoveries, inventions and processes made by USDA researchers, universities and small businesses with the potential for commercial application.

The country’s competitive position in the global economy hinges on developing broad-based understanding and support for federal policies that will spur innovation and growth.  The policy discussions surrounding the high-tech economy should encompass all congressional districts, not just the iconic places like Silicon Valley, according to a report released this week by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF).

University research and development expenditures reached $68.8 billion in FY 2015, an increase of 2.2 percent from FY 2014, according to recently released data from the Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics within the National Science Foundation. While the bulk of the funding (55.2 percent of total R&D expenditures) comes from federal expenditures, in current dollars, federally funded R&D at universities dropped 0.2 percent from $37.96 billion to $37.88 billion in FY 2015. Meanwhile, nonfederal R&D expenditures accounted for 44.8 percent of the total in FY 2015 compared to 43.5 percent in FY 2014 growing from $29.24 billion in FY 2014 to $30.79 billion in FY 2015. The greatest increase came from the business community (which increased their funding by 7.5 percent to top $4 billion for the first time), followed by nonprofit organizations and institution funds. Universities’ own funding of R&D comprises the largest source of non-federal R&D funding, or $16.7 billion in FY 2015.

While the majority of founders say the tech industry is in a bubble (57 percent of respondents),  nine out of 10 founders believe that it’s a good time to be starting a company and are highly optimistic about their own firms’ futures, according to State of Startups for 2016 from First Round Capital – a seed-stage venture firm.

NC Gov. Pat McCrory conceded the election to Democrat Roy Cooper on Monday after a recount he requested in Durham County was showing no change in the election results.  Acknowledging that it was a divisive election, Gov.-elect Cooper said, “I know still that there is more that unites us than divides us.”  Cooper will face a Republican super majority in both chambers of the state legislature.

As a way to support populations that are underrepresented in entrepreneurial activities, the Kauffman Foundation has announced $4.3 million in grants to 12 organizations that provide entrepreneurial support services to women and minorities. The awardees were selected from more than 376 applicants and range in both geography and industry-focus. They will receive awards ranging from $87,000 to $420,000 over the next two years.

This week, America remembers the 75^th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor and its entrance into World War II. Veterans of World War II have had a considerable impact on the current economy: The Bureau of Labor Statistics finds that World War II veterans had the highest rates of self-employment of any period of service.