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Voters disapproved of several tax-cutting measures appearing on statewide ballots across the nation — a good sign for states facing huge budget deficits. A proposal to roll back the sales tax from 6.25 percent to 3 percent failed to garner support in Massachusetts, saving the state's projected deficit from doubling in the next year, according to Stateline.org. Colorado voters also rejected tax-cutting measures, including an amendment to prohibit the state from borrowing.

The Board of Directors of the Oklahoma Manufacturing Alliance is seeking a new president who will play a leading role in developing strategy for modernizing Oklahoma's industrial base. The successful candidate will possess strong leadership skills, demonstrated administrative ability, entrepreneurial management skills, organizational awareness, political sensitivity, and the ability to establish rapport with numerous constituencies.

SSTI's ninth annual Tech Talkin' Govs series highlights new and expanded TBED proposals from governors' state of the state, budget and inaugural addresses. The first installment of the series includes excerpts from New York and North Dakota.

Many of Washington's programs aimed at enhancing the skills of educators in science, technology, education, and mathematics (STEM) fields will continue to receive state support in the coming biennium under Gov. Christine Gregoire's budget proposal - while other TBED initiatives did not fare as well.

North Carolina is a nationally-recognized center for basic research due to its sustained investment in higher education and TBED-related projects.

A recent assessment by the National Research Council (NRC) of  the National Nanotechnology Initiative's (NNI) Strategy for Nanotechnology-Related Environmental, Health, and Safety Research concluded the NNI's research plan does not provide a clear picture of the potential risks of nanotechnology, nor does the plan include adequate research goals and comprehensive research needs regarding nanotechnology-specific health and safety issues.The NRC's assessment finds the NNI's stra

Energy issues are anticipated to be a central focus of the Obama Administration. Its first budget request, expected in late February for FY 2010, will show if money for R&D will follow that focus. Which states stand to gain most from an increased emphasis on energy research?

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?

The U.S. Census Bureau has released a new data series tracking employment changes at the establishment level. This data allows users to track the expansion and contraction of employment within existing businesses and creation and destruction of jobs through the birth and death of firms. In addition, the Census Bureau has broken down the data by firm size, age, sector and state.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski unveiled his fiscal year 2009-11 recommended budget this week, highlighting the need for targeted investments in nanoscience, manufacturing, and renewable energy research based on recommendations developed by the Oregon Innovation Council.

Due to overwhelming interest, SSTI's first poster session, held at SSTI's 12th Annual Conference in Cleveland mid October, is now available online 24 hours a day - 7 days a week. You can view more than 35 posters celebrating why states, regions, universities and related organizations engage in technology-based economic development (TBED).

North Carolina's $1.2 billion dollar investment in bioscience over the past decade has helped to build a $45 billion dollar a year industry in the state, according to a new study released by the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. The report finds that North Carolina's bioscience employment numbers have grown 18.5 percent since 2001, the fastest in the nation.

Six teams were selected as winners of the i6 Challenge, a new innovation competition led by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration (EDA), in partnership with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The i6 Challenge seeks to identify and support the nation's best ideas for technology commercialization and entrepreneurship in six different regions of the country. The winning team from each region will receive $1 million from EDA to support their project and may be eligible for additional awards from NIH and NSF.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) announced the selection of 10 regional economic development and job creation efforts through a new pilot program, Innovative Economies, that supports small business participation in regional economic clusters. SBA's funding is designed to expand the opportunities and the role small businesses play in these regional collaborations. The awardees were selected from among 173 applicants. Awards went to organizations in: Alabama, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio and South Carolina.

With 37 governorships up for election in 2010, one thing is certain: Transitions in state and local economies are on the horizon. In a special series leading up to the November elections, SSTI is tracking news, reports, and analysis from the gubernatorial candidates to report on the most pressing issues for the tech-based economic development community. Over the next several weeks, we'll highlight announcements and campaign platforms from select states across the U.S. The first installment includes competing jobs plans in Iowa unveiled by incumbent Gov.

Since 2006, Michigan's economic development programs designed to transition its economy from the traditional manufacturing-based economy to an economy driven by clusters of innovative manufacturers and service providershave led to more than 24,407 direct and indirect jobs created or retained, the creation of approximately 1,500 new companies and almost 900 patents.

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.