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U.S. angel investors returned to their pre-recession level of activity in 2013, according to the latest release from the University of New Hampshire’s Center for Venture Research (UNH CVR). Investment had plummeted during the economic crisis of 2007-09, and grew over the next few years. Last year however, investment dollars jumped by 8.3 percent and deals increased by 5.5 percent over the previous year. Total investments reached $24.8 billion in 2013, near the market high of $26 billion achieved in 2007.

Building on a bare bones structure for privatizing economic development established last session, Gov. Pat McCrory outlined a plan for transitioning the state’s Department of Commerce to a public-private partnership, effective July 1. The move, according to the governor, will allow for more flexibility to support businesses and achieve savings for the state. Several innovation-focused investments also were presented as part of the recommended state budget adjustments for FY15, including matching and incentive funds for early stage, high-tech companies and funding to assist campuses in commercializing technology.

You talk about your program often, tout its success and share with stakeholders your program’s impact. Why not let the entire country in on your good work? Telling your story helps generate buzz about the value of investing in science, technology and innovation to create vibrant regional economies and improve our nation's competitiveness. All you have to do is send us a five-page narrative describing your most successful innovation-focused efforts. Tell us: What you did, How you do it, How it is funded, How it works, and Why you should be recognized. Winners are announced during a special ceremony at SSTI’s annual conference in Chicago, September 14-16 and are provided a forum to showcase their initiative. Applications due June 17. Learn more: http://www.sstiawards.org/.

In 2012, U.S. science and engineering graduate programs saw a small 1.7 percent drop in enrollment by U.S. citizens and permanent residents, according to data from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Enrollment by foreign students, however, rose by 4.3 percent. NSF notes that 2012 is the second year in a row that saw very little increase in citizen enrollment, following five years of growth in the range of 2-3 percent.

The St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, a group created when the St. Louis County Economic Council and the city’s St. Louis Development Corp. merged last year, has released an ambitious economic strategy for the region. Planners are calling for collaboration between the region’s economic development organizations and startup initiatives, such as Accelerate St.

This week, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker announced the first 12 communities to participate in the federal government’s multi-agency Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP) initiative. The initiative will concentrate federal economic development spending across agencies and departments on key manufacturing regions with strong economic strategies in place.

A project underway between IBM and Louisiana State University’s School of Engineering aims to better meet employer needs by tripling the number of computer science graduates in five years. Hoping to generate more partnerships like these, lawmakers approved legislation supported by Gov. Bobby Jindal that allows colleges and universities to compete for funds in an effort to produce graduates in high-demand areas. A smaller percentage of the funds distributed under the new Workforce and Innovation for a Stronger Economy (WISE) Fund will be based on federally funded research expenditures.

In recent years, national polices supporting university-led innovation have shifted from the linear, science-push model to a model that supports an interactive, reciprocal process of knowledge transfer between industry and university through research parks, university-industry research projects, etc. As these new national polices mature, academic researchers are starting to examine the effectiveness of university-focused policies on spurring innovation and their impact on economic development. A recently released study examines the effectiveness national polices in leading Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries in spurring university-led innovation and the impact of these policies on social and economic development.

The Federal Communications Commission announced a round of funding for rural broadband experiments in price cap areas that will deploy new, robust broadband to consumers. The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration released a series of reports on its broadband grant programs.

Within the past few months, several indices have been released that attempt to rank states based on their entrepreneurial activity. From the perspective of economic development agencies, these indices are particularly helpful in assessing where each state stands according to the numerous ways to measure entrepreneurship. These indices, however, should be taken with a grain of salt; issues can arise when too much importance is placed on these lists for the sake of competition or the need for press.

To revitalize the U.S. manufacturing base, states and private organizations are turning their attention to support university-led, manufacturing Research and Development (R&D) partnerships that reduce the cost of manufacturing domestically and equip U.S. manufacturers with cutting-edge technologies. Responsive to the needs of industry, these partnerships are intended to not only spur innovation, but also support economic prosperity in regions across the country. The Walmart Foundation and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett announced new funding for university-led manufacturing partnerships.

The National Governor’s Association (NGA) announced that it will provide grants, technical assistance and opportunities to align education and training systems with private sector needs in 14 states. Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia have been selected to receive support to build industry and education partnerships and optimize their workforce-oriented incentives.

Global investors are more confident investing in the U.S. than anywhere else in the world, according to a recent survey from Deloitte and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA).  Confidence in the U.S. macroeconomy and U.S. investments has now grown for the third straight year and continues to lead among the 12 countries included in the study. Respondents, however, indicated that they had a negative opinion of the country’s investment policy environment. U.S.

In one of his first appearances at a national economic development conference, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Jay Williams will address SSTI's Annual Conference on September 15 in Chicago.

About 70 percent of 2011 U.S. business R&D spending occurred in 10 states, according to a report from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES). California leads the country in overall business R&D, and nearly every top industry.  Both the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland and Los Angeles-Long Beach area rank in the top three areas for business research.  Other top states include Washington, with high spending on software R&D, and Texas, a leader in semiconductor and mining research.

Recent memoranda issued by the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Science and Technology policy include the support of lab-to-market technology commercialization as a key pillar of cross-agency spending for the upcoming fiscal year.  The White House instructs agencies to explain how resources are being redirected from low priority efforts to multi-agency collaborations in specific fields, including advanced manufacturing, clean energy, earth observation, global climate change, information technology, life sciences, homeland security and research policy-making.

As a wave of new freshmen begins to enter the halls of college campuses, a new trend is emerging – students staying. While the idea of students staying an extra year or two might make some parents cringe, in reality, college towns have proven to be an ideal environment not just for young people, but for young companies as well.

Bloomberg Philanthropies will award $45 million in grants to large U.S. city governments to help improve urban life. Specifically, the foundation hopes to encourage the adoption of the “Innovation Delivery” model in big cities, an approach that relies on in-house innovation consultancy within city halls to deliver data-driven solutions to urban problems. Bloomberg and Nesta released a report on the model earlier this year. The foundation has invited 80 cities to apply.

U.S. state tax revenues declined for the first time since the recent economic crisis, according to reports from the Rockefeller Institute of Government and the Pew Charitable Trusts. The small drop in revenues is not being viewed as a sign of another fiscal collapse, but does indicate that the recovery may be slowing. For the 26 states in which revenues still have not returned to 2008 levels, the slowdown may suggest that a full recovery could still be years away.

Minnesota’s economic future may well be rooted in its historic leadership in agricultural production, according to a new report prepared by Battelle, Agbioscience as a Development Driver: Minnesota Agbioscience Strategy.

Most R&D expenditures are concentrated across just a handful of states, according to recent NSF data on how research and development is funded in the United States.  In 2011, nearly two-thirds of all research and development expenditures came from private sources. In the wake of the nation’s federal stimulus package that saw an upswing in government spending on research and development, most states are beginning to rely more on innovation that stems from R&D conducted and paid for by private sources rather than the federal government.

An Aug 22 Readwrite post drew our attention to a potential “peak app” period arising. That wasn’t the intended conclusion of the ComScore, Inc. according to the authors of the white paper, The U.S. Mobile App Report.

The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana metropolitan area is home to the largest number of manufacturing jobs in the country, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Approximately 510,900 people are employed by manufacturing firms in the Los Angeles metro, about 100,000 more than in the Chicago-Joliet-Naperville area, which is ranked second for manufacturing employment. Other top metros include New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington.

The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) announced that it received state-backing for its Cybersecurity Investment Fund (CIF) – a fund that helps companies across the state develop and commercialize new cybersecurity products. TEDCO will make investments of up to $100,000 to help companies achieve early technical milestones that are critical to the commercialization process.