The South Carolina Women's Business Center has opened its doors and already has 30 customers, the South Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership (SCMEP) recently announced. Headquartered in Columbia, S.C., the Women's Business Center will focus on serving only manufacturing facilities in 2003 but will add services to other types of businesses in 2004.
Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty recently announced the formation of a Biodiesel Task Force to accelerate development of the state's biodiesel industry. The nine-member group will advise the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) on methods to increase production and use of biodiesel in Minnesota.
NorTech – an organization whose mission is to ensure economic growth and leadership in Northeast Ohio by promoting entrepreneurially based globally competitive technology development and commercialization – seeks to hire an Associate Director who will be responsible for all activities associated with one or more initiatives and ongoing high level support for the initiatives.
The Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance announced this week that Clare Emerson will replace Lewis Attardo as executive director.
The Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance announced this week that Clare Emerson will replace Lewis Attardo as executive director.
U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta has named Samuel G. Bonasso as Acting Administrator of the Research and Special Programs Administration following the departure of former Administrator Ellen G. Engleman, who left to become Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.
South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds announced Friday that John Calvin has been named Secretary for the Department of Tourism and State Development. The newly formed department combines the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, Department of Tourism, Office of Tribal Relations, Division of Cultural Affairs, and the South Dakota Housing Development Authority.
Bill Duncan is the first president of the Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute, which held its inaugural event at the end of March.
Christopher Foster has been named technology coordinator for the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development.
John Murray has been named executive director of the Maryland Economic Development Commission.
William Rosenberg has resigned from his position as CEO of the Michigan Broadband Authority. which approved its first loan at the end of March for wireless broadband service in several small towns.
William Seelbach has been named Interim President of the Ohio Aerospace Institute.
Elizabeth Sellars is the new manager of Idaho Operations for the Department of Energy.
Michael Witt has been appointed Executive Director of MichBio, the state's bioscience industry association.
There were recurring themes underlying the design and development of SSTI's 9th Annual Conference, Investing in a Brighter Future: Building Tech-based Economies, held Oct. 19-21 in Atlanta, Georgia: inevitability, irrelevance and inspiration.
One comment we receive numerous times each year at SSTI's annual conference is that people wish more of the key decision makers and TBED practitioners in their regions had attended the event to make it easier to re invigorate their entire efforts to promote growth through science and technology. The easiest way to accomplish that is to host SSTI's 10th Annual Conference next fall!
To stimulate equity investment in America's small businesses and create jobs, the U.S. Senate introduced last week the Small Business Investment and Growth Act of 2005.
Examining the components that would most likely be attributed directly to Acting Gov. Richard Codey's proposed $380 million Stem Cell Research Initiative, a Rutgers University study finds that, potentially, the state stands to benefit from an estimated $1.4 billion in new economic activity, approximately 20,000 new jobs, and $71.9 million in new state revenue over the next 20 years.
To improve the way students learn and teachers teach in the areas of science and mathematics, Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri's Blue Ribbon Panel on Mathematics and Science Education recommends 12 specific strategies in four key areas including governance and culture; teacher recruitment; teacher quality; and learning opportunities for students.
Service industries once again outpaced growth in the goods-producing industries across the country in 2004, according to gross state product (GSP) figures released Oct. 26 by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Private services-producing industries grew 5.1 percent above 2003 figures, while private goods-producing industries grew at a 3.1 percent rate.
The business incubation industry has grown dramatically since 1998, both in the number of programs in operation and the depth and breadth of services they offer, according to 2002 State of the Business Incubation Industry, a recent report by the National Business Incubation Association (NBIA).
Corporate, community and independent foundations can be significant sources of funding for local and regional technology-based economic development initiatives. Unfortunately, the first look at growth and giving estimates for 2002 and 2003, suggests foundations may be less charitable than previous years to new and existing grantees.
A recent study released by the AeA reported a decline of 560,000 high-tech jobs in the U.S. over the period from January 2001 to December 2002. However, AeA’s Tech Employment Update may not show the true magnitude of the decrease in high-tech jobs, as the AeA definition of high-tech excludes many industrial sectors with significant R&D investments.
Two of SSTI's sister organizations for promoting technology-based economic development (TBED) had items of potential interest to the readers of the SSTI Weekly Digest in their e-newsletters this week. The highlights below include links for more information.
The Institute for Government Innovations has announced it is accepting applications for the 17th Annual Innovations in American Government Awards, ultimately to identify outstanding examples of creative problem solving in the public sector.