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The United States finished third out of 71 countries in entrepreneurship on the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index (GEDI) according to a report commissioned by the SBA's Office of Advocacy. Denmark and Canada, respectively, were first and second due to strong scores across the three sub-indexes (i.e., Attitude, Activities, Aspirations). ). The U.S. finished first in the entrepreneurial aspiration sub-index but lagged behind in entrepreneurial attitude (6th) and activities (8th). The authors —Zoltan J.

In an attempt to solve the nation's challenges, the Obama administration recently launched challenge.gov. Challenge.gov — a prize platform that cultivates social problem solving — provides Americans with the opportunity to participate in federal government challenges. For their efforts, entrepreneurs, innovators and citizen solvers will be rewarded with prizes and recognition for solving tough problems. In the future, the site will promote and publish challenges from all the federal agencies.

The Baton Rouge Area Chamber seeks an executive director for its Regional Innovation Organization (RIO). The desired candidate will be a dynamic, visionary, and entrepreneurial leader who will launch a new regional acceleration entity that will lead entrepreneurial development in the Baton Rouge area. The individual will have direct responsibility for developing programming and capacity to support best-in-class business acceleration services that prepare companies for rapid growth in the region.

Neal Wade will resign his position as director of the Alabama Development Office in November and has been named senior vice president of economic development for St. Joe, one of Florida's largest real estate development companies.

To attract and grow high technology businesses and streamline its economic development efforts, a task force created in 2007 to study economic competitiveness in Arkansas recommends the state remove its constitutional prohibition on state equity investments in priva

Venture capitalists invested $7.1 billion in companies during the third quarter of 2008, according to the latest Moneytree survey from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). Though this figure represents a nine percent decline from the same period last year, investment levels still show little evidence of the current drought in venture-backed exits.

Universities in Canada are a major component of the country's science and technology ecosystem, and as gauged by funding, they performed 36 percent of Canada's R&D activities in 2007. In the U.S. comparatively, universities accounted for 13 percent of the R&D performed in the country.

SSTI has prepared a table displaying the amount of funding companies spent on R&D in each state from 2002 to 2006, the state's rank in 2006, the percent change over this five-year period, and the rank of that percent change. For the U.S.

After two years of campaigning, President-elect Barack Obama has begun shaping the agenda for his coming administration. Though nothing is certain at this point, throughout his campaign, President-elect Obama reiterated his support for TBED-related initiatives and plans to increase funding for research and innovation.

The outcome of Tuesday's election resulted in several wins and some defeats for TBED among the more than 150 ballot measures presented to voters across the nation. Outlined below are the unofficial election results of select ballot measures from each state's respective election office and local media reports as of Wednesday, Nov. 5.

Eleven gubernatorial elections were held across the U.S. on Tuesday, resulting in the selection of three new governors - with TBED initiatives spread throughout their campaigns' messages.

Democrats took control of five legislative chambers in Tuesday's elections: Delaware House, Nevada Senate, New York Senate, Ohio House, and Wisconsin Assembly.

While the Presidential election takes center stage on November 4, voters in several states also will cast their votes on statewide ballot issues affecting the TBED community. In addition to the 11 gubernatorial races and more than 5,800 state legislative seats up for grabs, voters across the nation will consider measures to provide funding for public education, expand investment in alternative and renewable energy, lift restrictions on stem-cell research, and eliminate income tax and state spending caps.

In the 2002 report Signs of Life: The Growth of Biotechnology Centers in the U.S., Joseph Cortright and Heike Mayer suggested it would take more than a decade for biotech investment strategies to yield fruit  - as measured by NIH funding and biocommercialization efforts.

Southern Growth hired Ted Abernathy, Jr., former Executive Vice President & COO of the Research Triangle Regional Partnership, to serve as its Executive Director, filling the vacancy created by Jim Clinton's resignation in September.

SSTI's 14th Annual Conference agenda features some of the most relevant topics designed to help your efforts to support regional innovation, and this year we're going straight to the top to find out what federal officials, governors, and state policymakers envision on the road ahead for tech-based economic development. Brian McGowan, a senior Economic Development Administration official, will kick off the conference on Tuesday, Sept.

Pressure on state budgets is at a historic high, and, ultimately, it's going to be state legislators that will make the decisions on how limited resources are allocated. The Road Ahead: The View from Legislators will provide you the opportunity to get a candid assessment from two legislators on what is needed to build support for tech-based economic development in this tough environment and what they see as the road ahead.

Everyday more organizations are realizing the potential of mentoring programs to help assist high-tech entrepreneurs and to build stronger tech industries. In recognition of this growing trend, SSTI will feature two sessions on entrepreneurial mentoring at this year's Annual Conference. The first, Sustaining Entrepreneur-in-Residence & Mentoring Programs, will examine how these programs recruit, retain and support experieinced mentors.

Bank bailouts may be capturing all of the headlines, but a new initiative from the European Union (EU) promises to inject a considerable pool of money during the downturn to accelerate the development of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. The European Commission, as well as participants from the European research community and industry will contribute nearly 1 billion Euros (U.S. $1.28 billion) to the public-private partnership over the next six years to fund research.

Still no sign of improvement as the U.S. enters the third quarter of its initial public offering (IPO) drought.  Just one venture-backed company made an IPO exit in the third quarter of 2008, according to a release from Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA).

For several years governors across the country have announced life science and biotech initiatives that are as broad as they are large. The devil is in the details, and in most cases related to bio-based economic development, so are the opportunities.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced earlier this month the establishment of five new university-based centers developing interdisciplinary research and education programs in partnership with industry in the areas of biorenewable chemicals, green energy systems, communications networks, medical implants and smart lighting.

Complete descriptions of these opportunities and others are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.

What are the steps in building a successful regional alliance?

How can my region benefit from the Obama Administration's vision for innovation?

Where should I look for funding now with state budgets so tight?

Lawmakers called into special session on Friday approved a $75 million incentive package for a Texas-based energy company to build five biofuel facilities in the state expected to generate 1,000 new jobs through a total $500 million investment. The package approved by lawmakers also includes $4 million for a workforce training fund through the state's institutions of higher education and up to $2 million for biomass research at Alcorn State University and Mississippi State University.