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On September 17, 2012, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) implemented seven provisions of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act of 2011 (AIA) including:

To reflect an evolving mission that expands the scope of genomics research, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a major reorganization that will establish four new divisions to constitute the National Genome Research Institute's Extramural Research Program. The multi-divisional structure will help the institute pursue its enhanced mission for using genomics to advance medical science and improve human health, which has become a greater focus from its original mission to unravel the Human Genome, according to NIH.

Responding to Gov. Nathan Deal's Complete College Georgia initiative launched last year, all of the state's institutions in the University System and Technical College System have submitted plans for how they will meet the governor's goal of adding 250,000 post-secondary graduates to the state by 2020. For Georgia's research universities, graduating more students translates to more workers prepared to enter careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

U.S. economic policy will require a renewed focus on production and globally traded sectors in order to restore U.S. competitiveness, according to a new report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). Furthering the argument laid out in the recently published book Innovation Economics: The Race for Global Advantage and in last year's report "The Case for a National Manufacturing Strategy", ITIF's Stephen J. Ezell and Robert D. Atkinson present 50 recommendations for federal reform to restore the U.S.' competitive edge.

The quarterly deadline for submitting grant applications to the Economic Development Administration's (EDA) Public Works and Economic Adjustment Assistance programs has been extended from Friday, September 14, 2012, to Thursday, September 20, 2012. This extension covers only the first funding cycle of FY13 and does not affect other EDA grant application deadlines. More information...

Utah Governor Gary Herbert announced a new public-private partnership that will establish the Salt Lake City region as a top ten center for technology jobs and businesses. To achieve this goal, the state plans to undertake a statewide planning process to identify and build on current successes and create greater collaboration in Science Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education.

The old adage "change is inevitable" rings especially true for economic development practitioners who must not only adapt to changes, but anticipate them and employ the best methods to capitalize on new opportunities. SSTI's conference session, Re-Orienting Your Organization for Today's Economy, pulls together three organizations at the local, state and federal level to examine how they have re-oriented their work to reflect the changing economy and the needs of their clients.

Governors and policymakers working toward economic development reform are in a unique position to propose critical changes that would not have been feasible in the past and gain broad support for transforming economic development agencies to better meet the needs of businesses, according to a new white paper from the National Governors Association (NGA). NGA has identified three major challenges states are facing and three foundational strategies to increase effectiveness of state economic development agencies.

As U.S. politicians turn their eyes towards this year's election season, governments around the world continue to focus their efforts on increasing national global competitiveness. Over the past couple months, Australia, China and New Zealand have announced government initiatives to spur innovation, revitalize domestic manufacturing and support R&D.

Borrowing from an industry sector phrase used to describe a complete view of investment impact, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) unveiled its new Triple Bottom Line tool to help economic development practitioners and investors assess, compare and communicate the potential impact of projects. EDA says the triple bottom line approach can help better align economic development investments with other community priorities to maximize impact.

SSTI will be holding a congressional briefing from 1:00-2:30 p.m. on September 12 in Washington, DC, featuring seven of its members. The briefing, "Lessons from the Field on a Path to Sustained Economic Growth and Job Creation," will provide an overview of state, regional and university tech-based economic development efforts and highlight work being done by Ben Franklin Technology Partners, BioSTL, Center for Innovative Technology, Georgia Research Alliance, JumpStart, Michigan Economic Development Corp, and NorTech.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced its first proposed rule that will help make equity-based crowdfunding a reality. The proposed rule (Rule 506) will allow for the general solicitation and general advertising of securities. At this point, however, the rule will only apply to accredited investors — an individual with income of more than $200,000 per year or a net worth of over $1 million dollars, excluding the value of the investor's primary residence.

New efforts to step up technology transfer at the University of New Mexico (UNM) and the University of Tennessee (UT) have resulted in a record number of invention disclosures over the last year. In both cases, much of the achievement is attributed to faulty involvement, including new outreach efforts by the universities and more aggressive and ambitious goals set for the institutions.

Come early or stay late and bring the whole family with you to SSTI's 16th Annual Conference, October 29-30. Atlanta has the biggest aquarium, the coolest Coca Cola Museum, and some of the best golf in the U.S. Outdoor activities that celebrate nature, like the Atlanta Botanical Garden and Piedmont Park abound, as does high culture — from art museums to great shopping. You could spend a month in Atlanta without doing the same thing twice.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced that it is accepting applications for the establishment of Innovation Corps (I-Corps) teams and sites. These programs are intended to provide additional funding and other services to help researchers commercialize NSF-funded scientific discoveries at institutions of higher education.

To better serve all parts of the state by connecting experienced mentors with startup companies, the Kentucky Innovation Network has a new name and logo, a tighter focus, and expanded services. Established in 2002 as the Innovation and Commercialization Center program, the Kentucky Innovation Network will offer services to entrepreneurs from 13 locations across the state, and as part of the re-branding effort, three smaller centers will be upgraded to full-service centers.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the state has started accepting applications for the $25 million "Connect NY" program to promote and expand broadband Internet access. The grants will be awarded to public-private partnerships comprised of internet service providers, local governments and economic-development organizations.

University licensing and commercialization activity remained steady in 2011, with modest increases in most areas of technology transfer activity, according to the most recent edition of the Association of University Technology Managers' (AUTM) U.S. Licensing Activity Survey. AUTM released a preview of its 2011 survey results this week, with a full report to follow later this year.

In comparison to most of its peer states, Colorado's workforce excels in educational attainment and entrepreneurship, according to the first Colorado Innovation Index. The index, published by the Colorado Innovation Network, evaluates Colorado's economy in relation to seven benchmark states, including Arizona, California, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Texas and Utah. Only Massachusetts had a higher percentage of Bachelor's degree holders in its workforce, and only Massachusetts and New York had a higher percentage of graduate degree holders.

The start of a new school year is already underway leading to the often dreaded task of choosing a major. For today's students, balancing a rewarding career with one that offers in-demand employment opportunities has become even more of a struggle. Results from a new survey suggest the engineering field might just fit the bill, however. A survey of more than 1,200 mechanical engineers offers insight into a profession where most hold an optimistic view of their work and their ability to impact lives and meet global challenges.

This week, White House officials announced the names of the country's first class of Presidential Innovation Fellows. The 18 fellows, drawn from the ranks of private sector innovators and entrepreneurs, will spend six months working on five high-impact projects aimed at supporting U.S. entrepreneurs, small businesses and the economy. Read the announcement

Tony Grindberg, executive director at the NDSU Research and Technology Park, has announced his resignation effective Sept. 30. He has accepted a position as the business unit manager for the Aerospace Business Unit of Appareo Systems, LLC. Appareo Systems is headquartered in the NDSU Research Park on the NDSU campus. Grindberg has been with the NDSU Research Park for the past 10 years.

Long-term U.S competitiveness is threatened due to a lack of progress in U.S. child development areas that are the best indicators of human capital development, according to a new report from the Center for American Progress — The Competition that Really Matters. The authors found that U.S. gains in education, health, family income and childhood poverty and pro-family workplace policies have remained stagnate while our competitors including China and India have increased significantly since 1980. If U.S.

On Thursday, the Obama administration announced it had selected the TechBelt region, encompassing northeast Ohio, western Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia, to host the pilot institute of the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI). The new National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (NAMII) will operate as a partnership of more than 60 companies, research universities, community colleges and nonprofit organizations from the region.

The Small Business Administration released two Requests for Information (RFIs) on amendments to the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. In compliance with the SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2011, SBA has made several key changes to the SBIR/STTR programs relating to eligibility, the award process, program administration and fraud, waste and abuse. Although the SBA has already published the final changes, it is requesting comments on the various amendments made.